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Bethany Clearwater
English 1010
Dr. Angel
December 8, 2011
Delicious and Nutritious
As a child what his or her !a"orite #art o! attending school is and most students will
#robably say, lunch. $ids lo"e lunchtime% but when the !ood that they are eating is o! #oor
&uality what are they really en'oying( )he truth is that in most schools the lunch #ro"ided is not
o! ade&uate nutrition. *ost schools #ro"ide lunches !or the students but the !ood is chea# and not
healthy. )he children may not be getting the correct nutrient !or their growing bodies i! they eat
#oor &uality !ood. +chool lunches should be more nutritious because% the climbing child obesity
rate, the ids get used to the unhealthy !ood, and it will im#ro"e o"erall health.
)he child obesity rate in America is climbing% anyone can see this 'ust by waling down
the street. )he !uture generation is in trouble when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight.
+ince children are now becoming obese instead o! adults, the children will ha"e to su!!er with
obesity !or a much longer time. ,! an adult becomes obese it may tae a while !or arthritis,
diabetes, and other #roblems to tae !ull e!!ect. +ide e!!ects o! obesity will become #resent
earlier in an obese child-s li!etime. Children are becoming obese because o! inacti"ity and #oor
!ood &uality. ,n #ast generations children would run around outside !rom the morning to the
e"ening, which would ee# their metabolism high. Children in the #resent time would rather sit
in !ront o! the ). #laying "ideo games than running and #laying outside, this does not increase
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their metabolism and children gain weight because o! the lac o! e/ercise. 0ne other reason !or
the childhood obesity is the &uality o! !ood. 1ast !ood is consumed much more than it really
should. 1ast !ood should only be consumed when a #arent does not ha"e time to coo, but most
!ast !ood is consumed now because #eo#le are too la2y and do not want to coo. 1ast !ood is
oay when consumed on occasion but when it becomes a common source o! !ood, then that is a
#roblem. )he !ast !ood that #eo#le eat consists o! a lot o! calories and chemicals. )he !ood a
#erson eats !uels their body, !ast !ood lacs in the ability to gi"e the body #ower.
Children !orm habits "ery easily. +o, when a child eats #oor &uality !ood e"ery day at
school then they will not want to eat any healthy !ood at home. $ids can be "ery #icy too.
Children ty#ically lie a lot o! !la"or and color, but nothing green. ,n a child-s mind the color
green means healthy or yucy. 1ast !ood ty#ically contains a lot o! color and !la"or. )he children
lo"e the !ast !ood because o! the !un colors they see and the high concentration o! !la"ors. )he
color that we see in the !ood is not the true color o! the !ood, but mostly a coloring agent. )he
!la"or we taste in !ast !ood is made o! a !ae !la"oring to mae the &uality o! the !ood seem
higher. *ost children, i! gi"en the o#tion, will tae a #iece o! greasy, color!ul #i22a o"er a
healthy, green salad. ,! school lunches !eed the children healthier o#tions then the ids will get
used to eating healthier meals, and will want healthy yet !un !ood at home too. ,! the children
want healthy !ood at home then the entire !amily can eat healthier% which is a great o##ortunity
!or the whole !amily to eat healthier and set a good e/am#le. 0nce the !amily eats healthier then
the children may learn new habits and will continue to mae healthier choices in the !uture.
+chool lunches should be more nutritious because it would im#ro"e o"erall health. Eating
healthy !ood gi"es your body the nutrients that it needs in order to stay healthy. 3hen a body has
all the nutrients it needs then it is harder to get sic because the nutrients that healthy !oods ha"e
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hel# the immune system stay strong, which #re"ents the body !rom getting sic. )he immune
system loses strength #retty easily i! it does not get the #ro#er nutrition. 3hen all the nutrients
that a body gets is !rom chemicals in #oor &uality !ood then the body gets sic. )he best way to
a"oid getting sic is to continuously gi"e the body the nutrients it needs. ,! school lunches
become more nutritious then the students will be !ueling their bodies with good !ood. )his good
!ood will ha"e the nutrients that they need to stay healthy. )he healthy !ood will ee# the
students healthy and since they will not get sic as easily, student may attend school more. )he
more those students attend school the more they learn, which is the reason the ids attend school
in the !irst #lace.
)here are at least two reasons why school lunches should not be more nutritious,
changing the lunches would be e/#ensi"e, and healthy !ood at school means they will want better
!ood at home. 4ealthy !ood can be #retty e/#ensi"e. +o, #urchasing so much healthy !ood !or
many schools would be a !inancial burden on a city. 3ith the economic struggles that many
cities are going through many #eo#le are !ocused on getting the city bac on course !inancially
and not about the lunches the children are eating. 5lus, since children are habitual i! they start
eating healthy !ood at school e"ery day then they would want better !ood at home too. *any
!amilies may not be able to a!!ord the healthy !ood% which would #lace a huge !inancial burden
on many !amilies. )hese are two reasons why school lunches should not be more nutritious, but
this does not mean that healthier lunches should not be considered.
+chool lunches should be more nutritious. ,! the lunches that ids eat are healthy then
they ha"e the nowledge to continue to eat healthy into the !uture. )he children o! this
generation ha"e only been learning how to eat !ast !ood and #lay "ideo games. 3hen these
children grow u# to be adults then they will not now how to handle themsel"es. )he children do
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not now how to eat healthy. 4ow would they now to do that in the !uture( )he children ha"e
to start learning somewhere. )hey could start with lunches at school, and then #ossibly tae that
healthy !ood in!ormation home to their !amilies. )hen when !amily as a unit starts to eat better
then the children may !eel accom#lished. +o i! children start eating healthy now, then they can
continue to eat better which maes their !uture a brighter #lace.