Walk into a crowded room of people, and say “Our children are our future” or simply “children are so precious” and every head in the room is bound to nod amid a chorus of hearty and thoughtful whispers of “yes, yes”.
Yet somehow we ship our precious futures to school everyday without too much thought about what they will eat. So a hamburger, greasy fries, cookies, and chips, soft drinks are piled high on the plates of children nearly everyday.
A pittance is given towards healthy eating in the form of milk, and in some schools, a salad bar. This is not enough when the main part of their diets does so much to undermine good health. Foods that work directly against the health of our young people should not be allowed in schools.
Every day scientists find some new use for whole grain, an added benefit to eating your spinach, or uncover details of just how the lycopene in tomatoes benefits our eyesight. However, I have yet to hear of any health benefits of salt, margerine, and sugar.
Even with mounting research verifying that greasy and high sugar meals lead to serious health problems, and that fruit, vegetables, and whole grain, are actually major preventative agents against these same life compromising conditions, we turn a blind eye to the school diets that are leading to poor circulation, heart problems, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes in children.
There should be no choice between a school supplying healthy food for their students and buying books for a proper education. If we can see how closely related meals are not only to good health but the ability to comprehend and retain knowledge, there would be as much attention paid to meal preparation in our schools.
A handful of schools around the nation have successfully incorporated meal programs that are nutritious. These schools have reported only a small difference in cost for the program. They have also recorded dramatic improvements in the classroom, towards the student’s academic success. Class attentiveness and participation improved, grades improved, and the children’s overall temperament was by far more agreeable.
This not hard to imagine since we already know that sugar makes children hyper, unable to focus, and then as the sugar leaves their body, they become irritable. Ask any parent who has taken care of a child on a candy high.
Parents have a great role to play in the eventual lifestyles of their children by the habits which they allow them to form in their youth. By preparing healthy meals for their children while insisting that the school system do the same, a positive difference will be made for our precious futures that will echo our “yes, yes” into their future.
Yet somehow we ship our precious futures to school everyday without too much thought about what they will eat. So a hamburger, greasy fries, cookies, and chips, soft drinks are piled high on the plates of children nearly everyday.
A pittance is given towards healthy eating in the form of milk, and in some schools, a salad bar. This is not enough when the main part of their diets does so much to undermine good health. Foods that work directly against the health of our young people should not be allowed in schools.
Every day scientists find some new use for whole grain, an added benefit to eating your spinach, or uncover details of just how the lycopene in tomatoes benefits our eyesight. However, I have yet to hear of any health benefits of salt, margerine, and sugar.
Even with mounting research verifying that greasy and high sugar meals lead to serious health problems, and that fruit, vegetables, and whole grain, are actually major preventative agents against these same life compromising conditions, we turn a blind eye to the school diets that are leading to poor circulation, heart problems, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes in children.
There should be no choice between a school supplying healthy food for their students and buying books for a proper education. If we can see how closely related meals are not only to good health but the ability to comprehend and retain knowledge, there would be as much attention paid to meal preparation in our schools.
A handful of schools around the nation have successfully incorporated meal programs that are nutritious. These schools have reported only a small difference in cost for the program. They have also recorded dramatic improvements in the classroom, towards the student’s academic success. Class attentiveness and participation improved, grades improved, and the children’s overall temperament was by far more agreeable.
This not hard to imagine since we already know that sugar makes children hyper, unable to focus, and then as the sugar leaves their body, they become irritable. Ask any parent who has taken care of a child on a candy high.
Parents have a great role to play in the eventual lifestyles of their children by the habits which they allow them to form in their youth. By preparing healthy meals for their children while insisting that the school system do the same, a positive difference will be made for our precious futures that will echo our “yes, yes” into their future.
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