Rationale
Nutrition is an aspect of education that is much overlooked. School systems assume parents take the leading role in educating children nutritionally, parents assume school lunch programs are nutritionally sound. Thus the leading influences of nutritional education are left to advertising and peer pressure. Many science programs glaze over nutritional facts, and many cover the digestive system, however there is a lack of concrete understanding of solid nutritional choices.
Ironically, an epidemic of childhood obesity is constantly plastered in news reports, television programs; it is often the topic of widespread communication. According to the American Academy of Childhood Psychiatry, between sixteen and thirty three percent of all American children are obese. According to the American Academy of Childhood Psychiatry, Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise 2. Children must be educated in nutritional decisions. Their own health and the health of our nation are at risk. Health related risks of childhood obesity include an increased risk for cardiovascular disease as well as Type 2 diabetes 3.
Our children are obese and yet school districts have done little to combat the issue much less empower children to make solid nutritional decisions for themselves. Physical education is one of the first extracurricular areas to get eliminated in a budget crisis. Health education is nearly non-existent. Additionally, our urban schools are surrounded by mini-marts and quickie stops that sell the bare necessities and lack any fresh food components. Many schools are miles away from full service groceries that carry fruits and vegetables. Children from these areas are far more likely to lack transportation options to access garden-fresh foods.
When fresh foods are precious few, organic options are nearly an impossibility to obtain. Speak of buying organic foods, or growing your own, many students from socioeconomically struggling urban environments simply have no experiences with either choice. However, nutritionally educated communities urban, suburban, or rural demand fresh food choices, organize farmers markets, and seek options for their communities. The key is educating our student populations to better empower future nutritional decisions and generations.
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