Obesity is one of the leading problems in the society today and many persons believe that this stems from the unhealthy eating practices that are present in the schools’ cafeterias. More often than not, students will gravitate towards eating junk foods as this practice is less time consuming and is more fascinating for children who want foods that are appealing to their sight and tastes. But, recent studies have shown that junk food can cause serious risks to the health and lifestyle of children. The problem intensifies as students are able to access junk foods in the school canteens. The consumption of junk food is unhealthy as these foods lack the nutritional value that the body needs to grow and develop. The truth is that school is a place for learning, but learning should not just include the academic framework of the development of the child. It should be the place where children learn the benefits and the challenges that come with social and health development in the body. The truth is that junk foods should be banned in schools as it allows from poor nutritional development and increases the likelihood of health problems in young children.
Researchers show that “junk food is generally defined as food items that have little nutritional value beyond providing fat or sugar” (Junk food 2003) in the body. Additionally, junk food contains ingredients that are highly processed and have “excessive amounts of potentially harmful ingredients like salt” (Junk food 2003) and high fructose corn syrup. Junk foods often taste much better that healthy food and this is one of the main reasons for children gravitating towards junk foods. But, these “tasty” treats lack “the daily requirements of vitamins, protein, fiber, or other essentials” (Junk foods 2003) and as such they created a number of concerns for the health of these children. Most of the snacks that student purchase from the vending machines at schools have low or moderate nutritional value and yet students continue to consume these foods because they are easy to prepare and cost less (Svokos 2014). The excessive junk foods in these canteens in schools can lead to serious health challenges including unhealthy growth and development and obesity.
Childhood obesity arises from the increase in the kilojoules that the students consume through junk foods and this problem intensifies as most students do not perform exercises that will help to reduce the intake of junk foods. The obesity challenges are not the only challenges that students face because of the consumption of junk foods. The problem intensifies as children continue to consume high levels of sugar and fat that are common to junk foods. Students who consume junk foods in school run the risk of consuming a high level of sugar and increase the likelihood of health challenges. Therefore, junk foods must be removed from the school canteens in order to prevent serious challenges for the children.
The consumption of junk foods prevents healthy growth and development of the children. There are chemical additives in junk foods that help to improve or enhance the color and flavor of these products. But, these addictives also increases the level of hyperactivity in children and leads to poor concentration in classes. Additionally, the increase in the hyperactivity among students will lead to a lack of concentration and in turn leads to the decline in educational performance in students. Joel Fuhrman suggests that “there is a clear impact of nutrition on the potential development of Alzheimer’s disease and other late-life cognitive disorders” (Fuhrman 2013).
In addition, the author suggests that “the damaging effects of unhealthy foods on the brain occur throughout life” (Fuhrman 2013) mainly because children’s early diets include pizza, burgers, chicken nuggets, pasta, French fries, sodas and sweetened cold cereals. These junk foods are served daily in many school cafeterias and present a negative impact on the school learning and performance. Parents support the learning and development of their children and yet they allow these children to partake in the junk foods that are served daily in the school’s cafeterias. The truth is that junk foods are unhealthy for learning and performance and therefore parents need to raise the calls for bans on junk foods in schools if they want the best possible outcome for their children.
Schools form the early stages of development and this development should include health development in the eating patterns of the children. School cafeterias earn revenues from the sales of junk foods and this is one of the reasons from schools promoting junk foods. But, Jonathon M. Seidl argues that schools can become successful in enforcing bans on junk food in schools in order to improve and promote healthy eating habits and in turn fight obesity in children (Seidl 2016). The introduction of healthy foods in the diet will not detract from the financial revenues that the schools amass. But even if this occurs, schools should be more concerned with the health of these students and not so much with the financial benefits that they receive from the sales of junk foods in their cafeteria. The reality is that unhealthy snacks cause negative health challenges for children and schools should become responsible for their contribution to the negative health problems that arise from the sale of junk foods in the cafeterias.
In concluding, junk foods are unhealthy for children in many ways. The consumption of these foods lead to obesity and heart related conditions and yet the schools continue to act as the champion of educating young minds academically and forgetting to educate these young minds on healthy eating practices. Children consume junk foods in their homes on a regular basis because of the changes in the family structure and the fact that parents have less time to prepare healthy meals for their children. As such it is important for schools to help these parents to improve the eating patterns of children by removing junk foods such as sodas and other high fructose corn syrup products. In addition, schools should assess the related literature on the health challenges that may arise from the consumption of junk foods on a whole and ban the sales in the schools. This process will undoubtedly improve the health conditions of children and in turn improve the health of the future generations.
Refrences
Dunham, W. (2011) "Junk Food Should Be Banned in Schools." Should Junk Food Be Sold in
Schools? Ed. Norah Piehl. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. At Issue. Rpt. from "Expert Panel Urges Junk Food Ban in Schools." Reuters, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
Fuhrman, J., (2013) Junk Food May Limit Children's Intelligence and Learning Ability,
Retrieved from http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/children-junk-food-may-limit-childrens-intelligence-and-learning-ability.html 5 Apr 2016
"Junk Food." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2015. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.cpcc.edu 25 Mar. 2016.
Seidl, J. "Banning Junk Food in Schools Is Effective." Should Junk Food Be Sold in
Svokos, A. (2014) Children Who Eat More Fast Food Show Less Academic Improvement, Study
Shows, The Huffington Post Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/23/fast-food-school-effects_n_6369284.html 5 Apr 2016
