Healthier America?

Hello!

               So today I’m doing another blog that shows one argument, with the opposing argument being shown in Countrywoman’s blog, found here: http://everythingcountseventually.blogspot.com/.

               As most people age 6 to 18 probably noticed when they started school a month or so ago, school lunches have been given a makeover. On December 13, 2010, President Obama signed legislation making healthier meals an option for schools, with the bonus of the school being reimbursed six cents per healthy meal served. In Iowa schools this was made the only option as of the 2012-13 school year. It’s changed the content of the meals, as well as portion size.

               Overall, this is not a bad idea. It ensures that students get at least one healthy meal a day, but it’s not the end-all solution. Changing how a kid eats at school isn’t going to change his or her lifestyle, especially students that already have certain habits engrained into them, like middle and high schoolers. If you go home and eat fourteen buckets of chicken after school, having smaller portions with more whole grains in them isn’t going to stop you from helping KFC meet their daily quotas.

               It’s also not just the kids that would have to change their habits for obesity rates to lower much. Parents are the ones who buy the groceries, so if they shop for unhealthy foods, then the kids can’t really help that. It also helps to develop the bad habits that will keep them shopping for bad foods even when they’re shopping for themselves.

               So although the new legislation for healthy foods is a great start, it won’t change much in my opinion. Many kids that it affects have the habit of eating unhealthily already engrained into their everyday lives. So I believe that more steps need to be taken if we really want to call America a healthy place.

               Thanks for reading!

Matt Finley