Introduction
Nutrition refers to the practice of balancing the value aspect of food ingested into the body. It focuses on the qualitative aspect of the food where the value of what is taken is weighed on how well it stimulates the metabolic processes of the human body. In this age and era, information spreads far and wide and therefore any complaints by scholars on their nutrition can be easily passed on to all quarters of the society. For instance, there are online videos showing many school going children complaining about the kind of food they eat. The quality of bad food has become the concern of many parents and even governments especially when there are suspicions of psychological effects related to poor nutrition. There are also physical effects that accrue to students due to poor nutrition in schools. The situation is such that the first Lady Michelle Obama has been involved in many attempts to bring a change to the state good of nutrition within the school diet i8n the year 2010.
Children in schools complain of bad food and staying hungry while on the contrary, many food containers are thrown away from the institutional cafeterias all over the country. The kids are used to junk foods while the majority of school diets advocate for healthy foods like cereals. This is where the healthy versus hungry debate ensues as many questions are posed regarding the student’s knowledge on healthy food.
Previous school nutritional systems have failed in a way. A survey conducted in 2010 indicated that one child out of three in America is obese which places them at a risk of suffering diabetes at a tender age. This might be hard to believe but the fact is that majority of American school going children have been overfed, yet they are not adequately nourished. Fifteen years ago, guidelines on school meals were put into place. However, the guidelines failed to meet the recently established nutritional guidelines that were put into place by nutrition experts. This necessitated the American Congress through the bi-partisan majority to pass The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The Act was meant to ensure that nutritious meals were supplied to the children in America (Levine, 2008).
Nutrition in schools has also failed since there are certain children who need more food compared to what they are being served. A good example is those kids is those kids who take part in sporting activity. Schools need to slightly vary the diet for these special cases. The children can be enrolled in supplementary programs to supplement their diet. In addition, snacks can be offered to them after school or after they have taken part in the rigorous activity. There is also another option where schools can offer students milk with low fat content, fruits and vegetables to those children who require additional calories. Supplements brought by students from home can also be used as an addition to children in the school’s sports teams.
Positive Strike in School Food
Food provided in school is not all to blame for the bad nutrition of children in school. The healthy food provided is not really what the students want to eat. The food served is rich in fibre which helps during digestion. School food has little junk which cuts down on the chances of obesity.
As a matter of fact, not all people within the school community enjoy the healthier school food provisions. There are hungry teachers and even students who they cannot acquire the calories they need from the school food they are served (Robertson &Robertson, 2008). They resort to junk food to satisfy their hunger and fill up the deficit left on their calorie requirements. Junk may satisfy the hunger but the effect is short-lived. The addition of more calories does not necessarily imply a higher nutritional value.
Failure of the School Diet
There is a big problem when it comes to giving children the kind of food they need and the kind of food that they like. The difference comes about as a result of the quantity of calories desired by children. The old lunch components had fewer calories compared to the new ones. Some of the foods currently given to students are made using unhealthy ingredients and fried in vegetable oil. This exposes children to the risk of coronary diseases at a tender age. The kids may also develop lifetime conditions like diabetes and certain types of cancer. School nutrition has failed in the context of quality on a very wide scale (Schumacher & Queen, 2007).
The diet in school provides only a third of the calories that are needed by a child on a daily basis. This implies that the diet is not adequately balanced leading to children with an impaired immune system who are prone to disease infection. Children need an adequate amount of calories to support growth and development. Even in circumstances where children are provided with the right number of calories, it is important to focus on the type of calories given to the children and not just their number. On the other hand, it is unrealistic for children to try and meet their nutritional needs within one school meal. Children should have well balanced breakfast and energizing snacks in order to maintain energy levels.
Psychological Effects of Bad Nutrition in School
The role of nutrition in mental health is often under-recognized. There is sufficient evidence that connects diet to short-term and long -term mental health. The evidence points to the fact that food plays a crucial role in the growth, development, prevention and management of precise mental health problems. These include depression, Alzheimer’s disease and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Children who are well fed exhibit an urge to take part in mental activities compared to those who are malnourished. They concentrate better in class and actively take part in co-curricular activities like play outside the classroom. Their response to circumstances is better and they are sensitive to with a better memory because they are attentive. On the other hand, malnourished children with nutrition problems tend to have slower brain development hence they may lag behind in class learning and overall peer activity.
Nutrition directly impacts the brain. Certain foods like specific species of fish are known to stimulate brain development and improve overall intelligence. There is need to improve the nutrition in school so as to boost the academic performance of the children.
Physical Effects Nutrition
People who consume many calories within a day are not guaranteed to receive the nutritional requirements of good health. Thousands of calorie content is found in fast foods. Many people who take fast foods are bound to miss the essential minerals and vitamins found in vegetables and fruits. The results may be serious. For instance, a child or an adult who has Vitamin A deficiency may suffer blindness while Vitamin C insufficiency may lead to a condition named scurvy. Such vitamins cannot be found in fast foods. There are other signs and symptoms of malnourishment such as thinness and general body weakness.
Children who are victims of poor nutrition also have weak bones due to deficiency of Vitamin D. Their bones are prone to fracture in the course of play and other activities.
The effects of poor nutrition on the body are long term in certain occasions. Some of the p0ermanent effects of poor nutrition include heart disease, diabetes, infertility as a result of poor development of the reproductive system and cancer (O’Dea, 5). Poor diet and the illnesses that accrue to it often have a negative impact on the individual’s self esteem and their social relationships in general. They often feel like they are not like the rest of the society hence malnutrition is proven causative agent of stigma in society. It is worse for a kid who grows with such stigma.
Conclusion
Well structured nutritional diets are meant to help school going children to develop well into healthy teenagers and adults. However, the institutions have failed to come up with a well developed plan to make this effective. The nutritional issue in schools needs to be urgently addressed so that future generations of children will enjoy the benefits of a society that is committed to feeding its children quite well. Diets that eliminate certain food groups need to be done away with. They should be replaced with more flexible3 diets that can be tuned to meet the needs of children. If such a practice is adopted, some of the social problems like obesity will be half won.
Works Cited
Levine, Susan. School Lunch Politics: The Surprising History of America's Favorite Welfare Program. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. Print.
O'Dea, Jennifer A. "Suggested activities to address body image issues, eating problems and child obesity prevention in school environments." (0): Print.
Robertson, Catherine, and Catherine Robertson. Safety, Nutrition, & Health in Early Education. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning, 2007. Print.
Schumacher, Donald, and J A. Queen. Overcoming Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence: A Guide for School Leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, a Sage Pub. Co, 2007. Print.
