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Veronica Mandella

Andrea Reilly

English 100

April 14, 2020

The Problem with School Lunches in America

Schools around the country are telling students that a healthy school lunch consists of

fruits, vegetables, milk, and grains. While this may be true, the lunches served in schools do not

meet the nutritional guidelines for healthy school lunches. In fact, schools have resorted to

serving food from places like Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Wendy's, and Domino's because it is

cheaper. The type of food and the nutritional quality of school lunches needs to be changed

because the school lunches that are given to kids are high in fat, sodium, and highly processed.

The USDA reports that school lunches far exceed the recommended five hundred

milligrams of sodium, and "less than a third of schools stay below the recommended fat

content" (Bushweller 31-34). The lunches served in schools are classified as kid-friendly, and the

two most common items on a school lunch menu are cheese pizza and fried foods. These

unhealthy fried foods served in school lunches are the types of foods that we perceive to be

kid-friendly. The average child has up to 50% of their vegetable servings consist of French fries.

Just 10% of all children in the United States regularly consume the recommended daily amount

of fruits and vegetables (Gaille). In reality, if parents and schools serve veggies that are

prepared well and are made appealing, they will eat it as if it was junk food.

An example of this was when Mrs. Obama's food initiative coordinator hosted a group

of children at the White House. The First Lady harvested and cooked the vegetables with the
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children. According to Sam Kass, the First Lady's food initiative coordinator, "those kids ate

salad like it was going out of style -- like it was french fries -- and they ate peas like they were

the best thing they had ever tasted" (qtd. in Larsen).

The school lunches that are currently served in schools across America include many of

the foods that we consider junk food. These foods such as French fries, pizza, chicken nuggets,

and other fried foods are becoming an increasing concern to parents. One of the many

concerns is the amount of sodium found in school lunches. Research shows that kids in the U.S.

consume an average of 3,387mg of sodium per day. That is 1,087mg over the daily limit of

2,300mg of sodium that is deemed healthy for kids to consume (Aubrey). On top of that, the

USDA is planning to weaken the criteria for sodium and whole grains in school. This new criteria

for school lunches will fail to meet with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Having unhealthy lunches served to kids in schools is not only teaching them that this

food is good to eat but is also telling kids that “junk food” is not that bad for you as it is served

to them for lunch. This might not even be the biggest issue that comes from school lunches

either. Research has proven that kids that eat lunches that are high in fat and sodium and are

low-nutrition foods like those served in schools are less likely to perform as well in school.

One solution to this problem could be incorporating an educational program in schools

teaching kids about healthy eating. This program could be an extra unit in health class or

another class in itself that covers nutrition and healthy eating. This program would show

students what a healthy diet is at a young age and will focus on appealing to the children about

why they should want to eat more fruits, veggies, and unprocessed foods. If we teach kids
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about eating healthy and incorporate it into their lives at an early age, it will put them on track

to eating healthy for the rest of their lives.

Schools could also incorporate healthier alternatives to the foods they already serve. For

example, if they are serving white bread, they could switch to whole wheat instead. Some other

substitutes could be using hamburger patties with less fat, eliminating fryers and grills,

substituting frozen for canned vegetables, serving fewer baked desserts, increasing the use of

unsweetened fruit juices, and removing potato chips from menus. As well as replacing some

foods for healthier ones, schools can serve more fruits and veggies and have a salad bar

(Bushweller 31-34). Incorporating these substitutes and other healthier foods into school

lunches across the country can not only teach kids about how to eat healthier at home as well

as school.

Educating students on eating healthier and serving healthier lunches in schools is only

part of the solution. Parents also need to be educated about eating and cooking healthier foods

at home. By doing this, parents will hopefully incorporate healthy eating in their homes. A

healthy diet at home will teach kids that this is the right way to eat and will be beneficial to

them in the long term. If both their school and home environment teach the students healthy

eating, it will show them that that is the right way to eat and will put them on the right track to

eating healthy for the rest of their lives. Educating parents on healthy eating can be done in a

couple different ways. Schools could host a type of seminar for parents, educating them about

how important a healthy diet is and how they can cook healthier meals at home.

Schools could also send home newsletters about healthy eating and cooking at home. In

these newsletters, parents will be educated about healthy food and cooking healthier meals.
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The state or school district can send out a newsletter each month to parents who have a child

enrolled in school. The newsletter will contain information on facts about eating healthy,

guidelines on foods that are deemed healthy and unhealthy by the USDA, recipes for meal ideas

that can be made easily at home, and ways to help get involved to make school lunches better.

Making these changes to school lunches across the country is slow to come, but it is a

change that needs to happen. Studies have shown that 38.2% of students who eat school lunch

are more likely to be obese compared to 24.7% that eat home lunch (Laino 1). The same study

also showed that these students proved to have higher levels of LDL, which is bad cholesterol.

The lunches served in schools are having a negative impact not only on students' health, but

according to Dr. Nestle at the schools where healthier lunches are served, "teachers in these

schools swear that the kids behave and learn better," they "do not bounce off the walls after

lunch, and show fewer signs of learning disorders" (Larsen).

In conclusion, there are many ways to incorporate healthier school lunches and have

kids want to eat these lunches. Some of these solutions are easier than others to achieve, but I

believe that each answer to this problem is possible. To achieve healthier school lunches across

the country, parents, teachers, and schools need to make a group effort demanding for

healthier school lunches. With this demand, we can make a big difference in shaping the future

of lunches served in schools. A future of healthy school lunches will not only benefit the

students in making them healthier for the good of their futures, but teachers and parents will

have an easier job in managing the kids in their classrooms and home lives.
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Works Cited

Aubrey, Allison. “More Salt, Fewer Whole Grains: USDA Eases School Lunch Nutrition
Rules.” NPR, NPR, 7 Dec. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/12/07/674533555/more-
salt-in-school-lunch-fewer-whole-grains-usda-eases-school-lunch-rules.

Bushweller, Kevin. “Is School Nutrition out to Lunch?” Education Digest, vol. 59, no. 3, Nov.
1993, p. 54. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9311037576&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Gaille, Luise. “27 Unhealthy School Lunches Statistics.” Vittana.org, vittana.org/27-unhealthy-

school-lunches-statistics.

Laino, Charlene. “School Lunches Linked to Kids' Obesity.” WebMD, WebMD, 15 Mar. 2010,
www.webmd.com/children/news/20100315/school-lunches-linked-to-kids-obesity#1.

Larsen, Elizabeth Foy. “The Problem with Your Child's School Lunch and What To Do About
It.” Parents, Parents Magazine, www.parents.com/recipes/familyrecipes/quickandeasy/the-
problem-with-your-childs-school-lunch/.

“Are Healthy School Lunches WORKING?” Scholastic Choices, vol. 31, no. 6, Mar. 2016, pp.
2-3. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112893827&site=ehost-live&scope=site.