Obesity and School Lunches

“Childhood: Obesity and School Lunches” by Rani Caryn Rabin
New York Times, February 4^th, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/health/research/08childhood.html?_r=1&ref=health

Topic: School lunches may be a contributing factor of the childhood obesity epidemic

Summary: A new study of over 1,000 sixth graders found that students who eat school lunches showed higher rates of obesity than those who brought their own lunch to school. The article, although brief, touches on types of food served in school lunch, numbers from the study, the new law requiring lower calorie school lunches, and recognizes that decreased physical inactivity also has an impact on weight. Follow this link to read comments on the article, some of which include additional information on the subject (some sourced, some not). http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/when-its-tater-tot-day-at-school/?ref=health
Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

· Students “who regularly had the school lunch were 29 percent more likely to be obese than those who brought lunch from home.”

· School lunches are typically made of high energy low nutrient food because it is less expensive.

· A Federal law passed in December will limit the number of calories served in school lunches and require a broader selection of fruits and veggies to be made available to kids.

Relevance: With budget cuts to P.E. programs and potential cuts to recess, kids aren’t getting the physical activity they used to at schools. This goes with the topic of educating the whole child. Though this article does not touch on it, there are many interesting things going on in regards to school lunches. Farm to school programs, school gardens, etc.