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Today, an astonishing 12.5 million children in America are overweight and 13 million more are at serious risk of becoming overweight.
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In 2001 the Surgeon General declared child obesity as an Epidemic! |
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Unhealthy school lunch and vending machine options are a huge contributor to the rapid increase in the number of overweight kids. |
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Childhood is a time when eating habits are being formed. Offering student’s pizza and fries as alternatives to healthier lunch fare are not only encouraging children to eat high-fat foods during lunch hour, but after school and at home as well. |
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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture 9 out of 10 U.S. schools offer the a la carte programs, (foods sold outside the lunch program) which do not have to meet the U.S. government's nutritional recommendations. |
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Obese children are not only stigmatized for their weight, but more seriously, face severe health risks such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and hypertension. They can also contact gall bladder disease, liver disease, sleep apnea, and may run the risk of high cholesterol. |
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Studies have shown that a child who is obese between the ages of 10 and 13 has an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult. |
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Today, children are so out of shape that even Kraft Foods, Inc., the nation’s largest food company, recently announced that it will no longer bring the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile to schools because of the growing obesity epidemic among children. While Kraft will surely continue to market its fatty wieners to kids in other ways, the move shows that even the country’s largest food manufacturer cannot deny that such unhealthy products have no place in schools. |
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Over the last thirty years, the number of overweight children ages 6-17 has doubled, and more than 25% of children ages 6-11 are obese. Among children ages 12-17, 25% of girls and 18% of boys, are obese. |
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Many schools are getting failing grades when it comes to providing healthy options through lunch, a la carte, and vending programs. This means your child has options such as pizza, burritos, chips, sodas and a variety of other unhealthy calorie packed food items for their daily nutrition while at school. |
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