Today, schools are federally funded $16.3 million dollars for food. This kind of power presents great opportunity for schools to make an effort towards rebuilding our youth. One major problem America faces today is childhood obesity. Unfortunately, one in three children and teens in the United States are either overweight or obese. From the late nineteen hundreds, these numbers have tripled in size. Another thing to take into consideration when discussing food, is how it will affect performance.

That popular saying “you are what you eat” actually has some truth to it. Studies show that healthier options lead to better focus, concentration and energy, especially in an educational setting. Not only will this be beneficial during school, but it could have an existing, long-term effect on their eating habits, and overall wellness. Some argue that this healthier alternative does not give families what they want financially. Since the passing of Michelle Obama’s Healthy Hunger-Free Act of 2010, one million less students eat school provided lunches because it was said to be more expensive and regulations were made too restrictive.

In fact, Baldwinsville Food Service Director Brian Wright said that students did not enjoy the taste of the food either. "It is not uncommon to see a student come out of line and go right to the trash can and throw parts of his lunch away before he even sits down," thus, creating more of a waste. Regardless of the new meal plans, schools are forced to reconcile with new “healthy” plans and regulations, some of which are not made ideal and have even created problems among parents, students, and the school systems. Theories have been created, specifically in Chicago Public schools, for creating affordable meal system based off of the health regulations, but feeding off of student experience. Healthy meal plan options in all education facilities should be implemented in order to prevent child obesity, enhance school performance and create lifelong healthy eating habits.

In the past thirty years, child obesity rates have gone from five to seventeen percent. David Glickman, board member of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and Friends of the World Food Program, says that a great portion of the world’s obese individuals are stratified within poor and ethnic minority populations.This being said, Michelle Obama’s change in the education systems meal regulations does not benefit families who cannot amass the expenditure. The rise in cost for school lunches has actually rerouted the potential progress that Obama’s program had hoped for. In all actuality, there was good intent involved; however, Glickman suggests that the implementation of this was not strong enough. Although healthier options were added to the lunchroom, it does not mean that students enjoyed it or even chose to eat it.

Studies demonstrate that individuals with access to a greater abundance of healthy foods consume more fresh produce and other healthful items, and individuals with less access to these foods are less likely to eat a healthy diet. Those institutions entrusted with caring for the nation’s children and adolescents have an opportunity to provide food options for children and adolescents that will not promote obesity and compromise their health, but promote their health and learning. (Glickman)

What Glickman is implying is that, schools are not offering options to students that would encourage them to make the nutritional choice. From the start, the increase in price is going to draw families away. Institutions are entitled to transform a pupils perspective and way of thinking. By introducing healthy, affordable meals while also cultivating a sense of appreciation for the body and well-being, the program may have encountered monumental results. The American Heart Association advises gradual change, small but permanent. Former Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, states that without change, at this rate we could be “the first generation that will be less healthy and have a shorter life expectancy than their parents." A nutritious meal goes a long way and specifically can enhance school performance alongside one’s overall well-being.

When it comes to eating habits, kids in the United States consume up to fifty percent of their daily calories during their school day. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation says that students who consume a healthier diet improve their scores in science and math especially. Miami-Dade County Public Schools performed a study with improving their meal options in 2013, and by 2014 found dramatic rises in their overall school performance and focus: “Students in grade eight showed twice as much writing improvement as what was seen statewide and the district’s third-grade students are leading the state in math scores." The power that the school system holds exceeds far beyond the classroom.

It is the responsibility of school systems to ensure that students concentrate and perform well within the confines of their curriculum. “Healthy meals support school's’ core mission of education, especially when it comes to boosting students’ concentration, focus and cognitive function. A vast body of research shows that improved nutrition in schools leads to increased focus and attention, improved test scores and better classroom behavior." Proper nutrition is unfortunately something that is not implemented in all households; however, with the power that a child’s school holds, healthier alternatives can be enforced and hopefully lead to lifelong healthy habits in our youth’s lives.

While child obesity is a serious concern, they are not the only ones with an unhealthy eating lifestyle. In fact, between 2011 and 2014, thirty six and half percent of our country’s adults were categorized as obese, and only seventeen percent of the youth. This spike in adults’ obesity is thought to be the result of a poor education on health and wellness rooting back to their childhood lives and school education.

Nutritious school food helps students develop lifelong healthy eating habits. It also contributes to a culture of wellness at school, reinforcing nutrition education messages from teachers. Healthy school food can also increase school connected-ness and reinforce to children, families and community that students’ health and well-being are valued.

By emerging students in a healthy setting, they are bound to adapt some level of wisdom that the Healthy School Campaign predicts will trigger long lasting habits. Not only should families be concerned about what they teach their children, but also what they do themselves that might rub off on them. In a household where the parents do not practice what they preach, a child is less likely to listen. Therefore, it is in a school system’s best interest to take matters in their own hands. Teaching the value of a hearty spread will actually influence the choices that students will make on their own. For instance, given the option of a vending machine, students will be able to rationalize the better option for their own well-being. “In Seattle, recent anecdotal evidence shows that revenues from vending machine sales sharply decreased when healthier items replaced other foods in response to a school policy." Given extensive research and debate over the obligations that an education system holds, when students are properly taught and informed about their own health, given the proper meal options, they will be more likely to make the better choice.

When it comes down to it, in a world filled with opportunities and possibilities, we are only given one body to accomplish them in. A popular debate in society is the controversy of school meal plans and whether or they should be of healthy standing. In a utopian society, we would all be wise, strong, and healthy, but in a world of rising obesity, it is important to take in a new perspective. Although some argue that health is not the responsibility of a school system to enforce, students spend up to fifty percent of their day within them. A healthier set of meal options can lead to a decrease in child obesity, enhance school performance, and even lead on to lifelong healthy habits.

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