School Breakfast Program for Children’s Health Research Paper

Exclusively available on IvyPanda Available only on IvyPanda

Introduction

Currently, the United States is in a state whereby a majority of children in the country are under-nourished. As a result, some of these kids have become obese mostly due to consuming foods rich in fats and calories. Such foods need to be abolished and new measures put in place to ensure that the dangerous trend is reversed. Food pantries and food banks have all been set up in order to cater for the needs of those that have poor access to healthy foods.

We will write a custom essay on your topic a custom Research Paper on School Breakfast Program for Children’s Health
808 writers online

The new changes in lunch and breakfast programs promote access to healthy foods by ensuring that school children enjoy meals that are beneficial. This paper presents a discussion on the recent changes to the breakfast and lunch programs in the school. This is done by taking a look at the economic issues, special needs of the population being served, process followed in making the changes, and the benefits of the program. There is a need to have a new lunch and breakfast program which caters for the economic status and special needs of the population in order to improve health and nutrition.

Economic issues

Data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that there were more than 35 million people who were food-insecure in 2007 (Wilson, 2009). Children accounted for about one-third of this group of people (Wilson, 2009). These statistics offer proof of how food insecurity remains to be a thorny issue in the country. The high rate of unemployment in a significant number of American households is one of the factors that contribute to food insecurity.

A family that faces food insecurity is usually prone to eating unhealthy foods because such people eat what they can afford. Examples of such families are those that survive on pension funds which do not provide enough cover for food, housing, and medication costs (Wilson, 2009). Another group of people that do not have access to healthy foods are the underemployed. Such individuals usually have different jobs and work on a part-time basis. Therefore, they lack the time or the means to purchase wholesome foods. The new lunch and breakfast program works to ensure that the needs of children from low income families are catered for.

Special needs

There is a need for the new program to cater for special needs of the population for it to be successful. These include obese children and those suffering from diabetes. The relationship between obesity and low income earners who live in deplorable housing is understood in that if such people cannot afford decent housing, they are unlikely to afford healthy foods (Harrell, 2008). The increasing cases of obesity have been attributed to the rising consumption of fatty foods. People with low income usually buy such foods from fast food restaurants because they are cheaper. The new program ensures that such groups of people are catered for by reducing energy-dense foods.

The new changes in lunch and breakfast programs also cater for the needs of children that may have other medical conditions apart from obesity. For instance, it has been noted that some of the children in the school are allergic to certain foods. The same case applies to those that are suffering from diabetes. All this will be taken into account before the final changes in the new program are implemented.

Process

The school management has come up with a few measures to ensure that the new program is effective. One of these measures is to ban the sale of foods that compete with the breakfast and lunch provided at school. Such foods are usually offered at very cheap prices. However, they may contain excessive fats and calories. Furthermore, allowing children to consume foods that have not been tested for compliance with health standards may be detrimental.

1 hour!
The minimum time our certified writers need to deliver a 100% original paper

It is not possible to fully ascertain that the products being sold by vendors are beneficial to the school children. On the other hand, the new lunch and breakfast program can be trusted because measures have been put in place to ensure conformity with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans before any meal is served. It has also been noted that children who have access to snack bars and vending machines in the school consume less fruits and vegetables than those that take part in the lunch and breakfast programs (Harell, 2008). In an attempt to promote increased intake of key nutrients, the management is in the process of denying the operators if such snack bars and vending machines the right to operate within the school compound. Children who are used to snacks from such places are encouraged to join the new lunch and breakfast program for the sake of their health.

Benefits

One of the major missions of making the changes in the lunch and breakfast program was to reduce hunger among school children whose households fall under the food insecure bracket. To achieve this benefit, the school management has incorporated ideas from the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) which aims at providing nutritious meals at low prices. The NSLP has been keen on ensuring school children increase their intake of nutrients such as calcium, zinc and vitamin A (Edelstein, 2014). The new program will see increased intake of such nutrients as well as the availability of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

The program has also set calorie limits to make sure that the meals are age-appropriate. In addition, salad bars are now being offered to the children. One advantage of consuming salad bars is that the children eat more fruits and vegetables, ensuring they enjoy the health benefits of consuming such types of foods. Apart from the NSLP, the new lunch and breakfast program is also in line with the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. The main objective of the WIC program is to provide food supplements that are rich in nutrients to mothers and young children who face the risk of malnutrition (Edelstein, 2014). The school management has integrated the ideas of the WIC to ensure that none of the children lacks proper intake of nutrients regardless of their background.

Conclusion

It is imperative that a new lunch and breakfast program be set up to ensure that such cases as obesity and other health-related disorders among school children are controlled. Proposed changes to the lunch and breakfast programs in the school will be of immense benefit to the health of the children and the population at large. To start with, the new program is cost-effective. This means that the needs of low income earners are catered for. Also, care is given to children with special needs such as diabetics and those with allergies.

The process of implementing the program has also taken into account the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In the long run, the community will reap from the benefits that come with the new program such as reduction in cases of obesity. A successful program that shows the benefits of good health and nutrition practices will, in turn, be emulated by other communities, thereby promoting healthy diets in neighbouring regions as well.

References

Edelstein, S. (2014). Life cycle nutrition. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Web.

Harrell, K. E. (2008). Childhood obesity prevention in the 80th Texas Legislative Session. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest Information and Learning Company. Web.

Remember! This is just a sample
You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers

Wilson, M. R. (2009). Hunger: Food insecurity in America. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group. Web.

Print
Need an custom research paper on School Breakfast Program for Children’s Health written from scratch by a professional specifically for you?
808 writers online
Cite This paper
Select a referencing style:

Reference

IvyPanda. (2020, June 16). School Breakfast Program for Children's Health. https://ivypanda.com/essays/school-breakfast-program-for-childrens-health/

Work Cited

"School Breakfast Program for Children's Health." IvyPanda, 16 June 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/school-breakfast-program-for-childrens-health/.

References

IvyPanda. (2020) 'School Breakfast Program for Children's Health'. 16 June.

References

IvyPanda. 2020. "School Breakfast Program for Children's Health." June 16, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/school-breakfast-program-for-childrens-health/.

1. IvyPanda. "School Breakfast Program for Children's Health." June 16, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/school-breakfast-program-for-childrens-health/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "School Breakfast Program for Children's Health." June 16, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/school-breakfast-program-for-childrens-health/.

Powered by CiteTotal, best essay bibliography maker
If you are the copyright owner of this paper and no longer wish to have your work published on IvyPanda. Request the removal
More related papers
Cite
Print
1 / 1