Obesity: Lunches Aim to Limit Kids Exposure to Junk Despite Data Indicating School Food Doesn’t Matter

michelle obama can stfu!

This is only a very small part of the problem. The kids are not going outside and playing like we did when we were kids. They will be active if the parents are active. Get them off the couch and make them go outside even if it is with their laptop.

When I was in high school, I couldn't go across the street to get food. Two reasons; 1. The closest place to get food was a block away and they only had candy bars. 2. We weren't allowed to leave campus.

Michelle isn't trying to take away their junk food at home and across the street. She is, however, trying to make a difference in the one place where she can. Can't see how it would hurt..Kids don't look like the healthiest bunch to me. Why would anyone fight this?

For some kids, the only food they get is at school and that includes breakfast and lunch. I applaud Michele Obama for doing this. It is time someone put an end to childhood obesity. This and more exercise should help.

The data showing that the junk did not matter was tainted, since it was compared to the regular government mandated food on the lunch menu, and since most of the food on the regular lunch tray is junk food- there was no major difference.

The government standards for our children (which are a joke) allows menus with high fructose corn syrup, high levels of sugars, bad starches, unhealthy fats (instead of the necessary good fats needed for brain function and nutritive absorption ) and chemically altered proteins.

When you put the a la carte junk up against the junk on the actual menu (lunch tray-and do not even get me started on the horrid mess served for breakfasts) there is little difference in the garbage being fed the kids and damage being done to their bodies.

And the silly comment that school is a small portion of the child's food intact is ridiculously misleading. The same government standards that schools are mandated to use in their food programs are also in day cares not to mention that most schools and day cares are now serving breakfast too…so the majority of children ARE being fed the garbage that the government mandates for most of their DAILY dietary intake.

I am glad to see this happening! When my son was in elementary school, and they started serving breakfast, I was glad until I found out what they were serving for breakfast. The first day my son had breakfast, I asked what he had eaten, and when he told me a donut and milk I was incredulous since we did not feed him sugar at home! So, the next morning I went to the school to see if there was more offerings than donuts. To my dismay, there were donuts or sugar filled cereal! Needless to say, I started feeding him breakfast at home again!
In addition to modifying the food choices, the budget cuts in the states do not need to focus on educational cuts. Schools all across the country have such deep cuts that the physical education has become minimal. The kids now days have become too sedentary with video games and television as babysitters. Yes, there are sports teams but that does not encompass all kids. Parents and schools need to get kids moving!

As you said, Michelle is trying to make a difference in the one place she can…the schools. She CAN'T take away the junk children may eat at home and she CAN'T take away the junk available to children across the street. Granted, as April Youngblood also said, this IS small part of the problem, but there needs to be a start somewhere. This is a start, and if there isn't a start, nobody will get anywhere. Besides, if children keep getting bombarded with junk food where ever they look, no wonder they are obese.

Yes it was worth it because a lot of under priviledged children eat breakfast AND lunch at school when they qualify for free meals. That's 2/3 of thier meals at school. All the more reason for the school meals to be healthy is if those children from low-income families do not have the proper food at home due to lack parent's income.

the real problem is what is being served at home and the lack of exercise at home!! Kids eat only 180 meal s in schools out of over 1,100 meals in a given year. That isn't making them fat! Studies show they are ibexes at 6 schools have only just gotten them! Beside schools now don't serve unhealthy food anymore. It's all federally regulated.

I have a feeling either way, school lunch will continue to be shitty.

I went to have lunch with my daughter and was shocked at what I saw! Pizza with french fries…who does that. So I started asking her daily what was on the menu, and all I can say is the balance is not there. Carb on top of carbs. She was eating breakfast and lunch at school needless to say that is not happening anymore.

I agree with you about the quality food and exercise at home.

However, The federally regulated food that the schools serve is extremely unhealthy. I fought very hard in my child's district to eliminate the harmful food and serve real food, and the government mandated regulations got in the way.

The food that is allowed is -as I stated in my comment -above very very unhealthy.
" The government standards for our children (which are a joke) allows menus with high fructose corn syrup, high levels of sugars, bad starches, unhealthy fats (instead of the necessary good fats needed for brain function and nutritive absorption ) and chemically altered proteins."

Please understand that the government pulls the info that it uses to mandate our behavior from the lobbyists groups that yell the loudest in Washington and should Never take the place of parental education and good sense.

I do not disagree that what is going on at home is usually not anything to write your grandmother about (check out the line at the local drive thru on any given night…kids (with developing brains) getting their latest serving of McNuggets (which is not even a real food, and I would not feed them to my neighborhood mongrel) and their 2nd or 3rd daily dose of high fructose corn syrup.

And 180 meals a year is on the low side. As I said, many schools now serve 2 meals a day and day cares use the same mandated menus and they are year round and serve 2 meals and a snack or two each day.

Lack of exercise is a huge problem and needs to change, but the damage to our children through unhealthy eating is not just a weight issue, it also includes the internal damage done on a cellular level by the bad foods.

Garbage in Garbage out is very trite…but true. Can you imagine the developmental issues and problems that might be avoided if we understood the importance of feeding the machine the proper foods during inception and development.

I agree the problem is the kids not being active. Too bad it is so unsafe to let the kids out of the house. When I was a kid we could go out roam the neighborhood and it was safe now days it is too unsafe.

Charlotte Scott – That's exactly what happened to me. When I saw what was on the daily menu (government approved and mandated) My head almost exploded.

Just like you said. Carb on top of carb. Then they took away the 2% milk which was THE ONLY healthy fat on the menu (needed to absorb the nutrients in the milk and the food) and replaced it with skim mile (chalk water)-which should never be given to a child unless they have some rare intolerence

Of course it matters. We need to educate our young in what is a healthy meal since most of them are not getting this education at home. Exposure to new foods expands their acceptance of different foods. If you expose a child to veggies and fruits than they can learn that they really like some of them.