School Lunches

School lunches

It is a well-known fact that Americans, in general, are fat. American children are obese in actuality more than one-third of children are obese. Many say it's because of the fast food accessible or the added ingredients in the food. See compared to fifty years ago there are many more additives in the foods. There are many theories as to why children are obese, but some say lunch in schools can play an important role. Many school children complain about how boring and gross school lunches are. Many kids want a better option in food choice. If you compare the food options of today to 2008. Then there were better options back then. See my older brother is ten years older than me so he would have graduated around 2008 and when I talk about my school food he's shocked. I go to the same school he did and our lunch food options are very different. So what happened?

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which took effect in 2012 caused changes in our food. Instead of serving greasy pizza, salty French fries and sauced up chicken wings. Meals now have to be lower in fat, calories, and sodium. They also have to contain lean proteins, more fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. Many children neglect the fruits and vegetables they are forced to put on their plate. Many do not eat all of their lunch and they instead bring fatty and unhealthy foods from home.

Yes, parents can pack lunches for their children consisting of healthy foods but not only is that effort but buying healthy food is expensive. It's easier to pay for school lunches. School lunches have to pass a bunch of set limitations, like having the right amounts of each food group and having the right amount of calories. Children in grades 9-12 should have 750-850 calories. Schools must offer students fruits and vegetables with every lunch. The vegetable choices include weekly offerings of legumes, dark green, and red or orange vegetables. Students are required to take at least one half-cup serving of fruits or vegetables with every school breakfast and lunch. Each meal can't contain added trans-fat and no more than 10% of calories can come from saturated fat. Low-fat and fat-free milk: Every school meal offers one cup of fat-free or 1% milk. Flavored milk must be fat-free. To meet calorie limits, milk processors have developed flavored milk with less added sugar. The USDA recently provided schools the option to offer flavored, 1% milk.