Mr. Trussel
English 4
19 November 19, 2014
Good Food Bad Food Essay America today is known as one of the most well to do countries while also being known as one of the unhealthiest countries in the world. The world’s view of a typical American is overweight with a big mac in one hand and a television remote in the other. The sad truth is that their view isn’t too far off. About 36% percent of all Americans are considered obese. Although many are trying to stop obesity by promoting healthier eating options for children, there are many problems that cause obesity at an early age that are extremely hard to stop. School lunches, parental eating habits, and financial issues all play a big part in child obesity today. A big controversy and problem that has been occurring over the last few years is the concern about the lunches that children and teens receive at their schools. There has been a series of trial and error in trying to develop a way to be able to serve a healthy and easily affordable lunch to children in schools all over the United States. Because the government funds free lunches for many students, schools have been serving processed, cheap food to save on the money they spend. In more recent years, the government took a big leap in helping child obesity by making the budget bigger for school lunches and giving a healthier alterative. In many cases, cheap, processed foods have now been replaced by healthier alternatives and salad bars have been added to many schools. Since 1980, child obesity has gone from 11% to 18%. Although it may seem small now, in combination with all the people who are still working on ideas to help the cause, this change in the school’s lunches may prevent any further growth in the percent of children who struggle with obesity. School lunches are definitely not the only source to cause child obesity. Another big problem that affects the growth in child obesity occurs outside the educational systems; it waits for