Childhood Obesity: Equal Unhealthy Eating Habits

Poor families equal unhealthy eating habits
Angel Davis
English 122
Instructor Richard Bair
October 9, 2010

In this paper the researcher will address childhood obesity. People around the world may think childhood obesity can harm their children or help their kids, but in reality it works both ways. Healthy foods plays a big part in childhood obesity which when you see a child that is overweight you may think they are unhealthy but could just be genetics. This childhood obesity has become a worldwide epidemic base on unhealthy high caloric diet and the lack of parental regulations and a lack of knowledge. The unhealthy role of childhood obesity can cause younger kids to get pick on, low self-esteem or even suicide.
There are many factors
to determine what foods a person eats such as their personal preferences, culture, economic, environmental and political factors. In this paper the reader will understand the economical factor that impacts childhood obesity. The researcher will argue unhealthy meal patterns, a lack of knowledge and lack of money leads to childhood obesity. The researcher will briefly, inform readers the history of why free lunch was incorporated into public school systems? What changes were implemented in schools and how it affected families with little income? The researcher will gather information for the internet and using the Ashford library to access. The importance of this topic is

In pre-industrial times (the first half of the 19th century), the midday meal was often considered the main meal of the day.
It was called dinner. As factories grew, so did the need for people to eat a lighter meal in order to get back to work. Public schools followed this same pattern. American cookbooks reflected this trend by including traveling lunch suggestion (picnic, school, work) in the second half of the 19th century. During this time American school children had three basic choices when it came to lunch: Boarding schools served formal meals, Urban schools often sent children home for lunch, Rural schools let children go home (if they lived close enough) or eat at the school (Olver,
2010).
Boarding schools were rich children and had money to feed their students healthy meals. Urban schools, mainly in poor areas sent their children home to eat food, whether they had food at home or not. Rural schools give their students options to eat lunch. This created problems in academic areas and instituted a new trend of those who could not afford healthy meals. Unpleased with the action parents decided to join forces with the community to implement better nutritional habits. This verified parent concerns of poor eating habits contributing to poor academic achievement.
With these results came change, in the late 19th century hot lunches were implemented into the school systems.
After careful research the plan was schools served a full course dinner instead of lunch. The meal was fulfilling with lot of calories to consume within a forty-five minute window for lunch. After eating lunch children had a few of minutes to burn these calories off by playing outside. The allotted time was not sufficient for their bodies to burn calories to maintain proper weight management.
The American Heart Association recommends eating foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugar. It is best chose a variety of foods to get enough carbohydrates, protein and other nutrients. Make sure you have enough calories to maintain a healthy weight for your height and build. Be physically active for at least 60 minutes a day (American Heart Assocation ,
2010).
We still have not learned from the past the overall objective of serving hot meals was to teach students to select and eat healthy meals at home. Time has brought about a change in the way we eat and live. Today, 20th century school lunch programs have given students choices to select healthy or unhealthy meals. The healthy lunch meals are healthy hot meals an example would be lasagna, green beans, corn and milk. Unhealthy choices in the lunch line are choice of French fries, pizza, nuggets or hamburgers. These meals are higher in fats, refined grains and added sugars. After consuming any combination of meals very little or no physical activities implanted to burn off the high number of calories. Selecting the healthier choice of lunch does not come easy to some children because it is not established in most homes.
Whether the cause be poverty, ignorance, or carelessness, the child is the sufferer, and the painstaking work of the school lunch supervisors to secure wholesome and adequate noon meals for the school children at a minimum cost not only brings immediate benefit to the children, but exerts a widespread influence upon homes and parents, as the children carry to them reports of these concrete lessons in the science of proper selection, preparation, and hygiene of food. The school luncheon must be simple, easily served and economical.
Most families live on very tight budget and school was the only place low income children had healthy hot meals. Low income families depended on the assists of the community to help feed their children. As stated from a project director from the University of Hawaii,
It is well documented that many Americans have diets lacking adequate amounts of one or several essential nutrients or that include unhealthy levels of sugars, fats, and sodium associated which relate closely to a number of serious health problems. The poor diets of many American households result from many factors: poor food choices, poor knowledge of proper nutrition, and insufficient income. Knowledge of the eating patterns and nutrition status of individuals is of fundamental importance to society and public policy (Edmond, 2009).
This generation of children, needs to have the proper nutritional information of how to eat healthy in order to make healthier decisions. However, economically it has become impossible for lower income families to make these choices. Parents tend to buy fast or are ready made meals because both parents are working to make ends meet with no time to cook hearty wholesome meals. Most may argue that low income families can still buy healthier foods if they are getting

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