How+Do+School+Lunches+Today+Differ+From+What+a+Healthy+Lunch+Should+Be?

__How Do School Lunches Today Differ From What a Healthy Lunch Should Be?__

Sayre, C., (2008, June 12). School Cuisine. //Time. This article focuses on differences between school lunches today and lunches served fifty years ago. Also addressed are general changes that should be made to increase the nutritional content of meals. The author suggests removing foods like ice cream, nachos, and chocolate chip cookies, and provides lists of healthy alternatives. Examples of the healthy foods she proposes are apples, low-fat milk, whole grain bread, and salsa. The author does a good job of focusing on several key nutrients like fat, calories, and sodium when giving examples of common foods served in cafeterias and explaining why or why not they are intelligent choices to include.

Ness, C., (2006, June 11). Retooling School Lunch. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200781,00.html. The article gives an example of a school in Berkeley, California that has overhauled their menu to include healthy items. The program was pioneered by a woman named Ann Cooper, a registered dietitian, who changed the menu to include only items that are made from scratch. The children have responded in a positive manner, as evidenced by the salad bar having a long lineand no one waiting at pizza section. The school has a large budget and is able to afford spending more money for food that is healthier. Another school in Shawnee is led by a food director named Deborah Taylor who tries to incorporate healthy menu items but encounters many barriers: Parents constantly call her to complain when their children are offered only food that is healthy because their kids don't want to eat it. Also, there is little room in the budget to spend more money per child to pay for healthier food items. She has successfully been able to change pizza crusts to whole wheat, and fried chicken nuggets to a baked version, but only "undercover" changes such as these have been able to be made. I think that changing the school menu is a big undertaking, and school like those in Berkeley should be used as models for other schools. The small changes make in Shawnee are excellent, and they should strive to continue to make similar changes little by little.

Wojcicki, J.M. & Heyman, M.B., (2006). Healthier Choices and Increased Participation in a Middle School Lunch Program: Effects of Nutrition Policy Changes in San Francisco. //American Journal of Public Health, //96(9), 1542-1547.// Aptos Middle School in San Francisco was were this research took place. The parents and school administrators were interested in making the school lunches healthier for students because the cafeteria was selling energy-dense food with few nutrients and wasn’t selling many lunches to students who didn’t receive free or reduced lunch. Soft drinks were banned and were replaced with water and 100 percent fruit juice. Meals now include only 30 percent calories from fat. Lower fat, healthier foods were added to a new ala carte menu, including fresh deli sandwiches and sushi. All food items with peanuts are labeled so that those students with peanut allergies can safely purchase school lunch. The result was the school generating over 2000 dollars in sales per month versus the 90 dollars a month before the menu changes were made. This seems like an overwhelmingly successful program, but it may not work in schools with smaller budgets that can’t afford the types of popular low-fat foods added to the menu.

Yeoman, B., (2003). Unhappy Meals. //Mother Jones,// January/February 2003. The National School Lunch Program often acts as a buyer for foods that are showing less demand in the United States. Many of these foods, including beef and milk, are often full of saturated fat. Cheese is another food that shows up frequently on school menus, which is much higher in fat and sodium than how much children should be consuming each day. In the end, children suffer from these foods being pushed in the schools by the lunch programs that are getting good deals. Obesity is on the rise, as well as risks for diabetes and heart disease, and schools should be more worried about feeding children healthy foods.

Nutritious Diet Helps Improve Children’s Academic Performance. //Bio-Medicine.// Retrieved on November 30, 2009 from [|__http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Nutritious-Diet-Help-Improve-Childrens-Academic-Performance-23097-2/__]. This article provides some evidence that eating healthy foods may help students perform better in school. Many suggestions for healthy snacks are given, such as trail mix, pita chips, easily transportable fruit, and flavored rice cakes. The article recommends switching up snacks based on a rotating four week schedule so that boredom with the healthy foods doesn’t occur. Also, low-fat milk is suggested as a replacement for juices and sodas which contain a lot of calories. This article is a good resource for those looking to spice up menus and get children to eat healthy foods without making a lot of changes.