A Healthy Way to Eat

Your Name
Professors Name
English 115
Date of Submission
Title of Assignment 21
While most s!hools are on the right tra!" as far as ser#ing healthy meals to our
youth $%& there are still some surfa!e' issues (ost !afeterias in the s!hool 'istri!ts offer A
la !arte menus What this 'oes is gi#e our !hil'ren the o))ortunity to sele!t a #ariety of
'ifferent foo' sele!tions% *hi!h may not be healthy for them an' may lea' them a*ay
from the nutritional foo' grou) menu )ro#i'e' by the s!hool !afeteria Naturally "i's are
'ri#en to*ar's fatty an' high !arbohy'rate foo' sour!es su!h as )i++a% ,ren!h fries an'
hot 'ogs% *hi!h all !ontain high !alories% so'ium an' fat All of these foo's *ill lea'
your !hil'ren in an unhealthy *ay of eating an' *ill e#entually lea' to !hil'ren
be!oming o#er *eight an' obese The !hallenge that the s!hool boar's ha#e ha' to fa!e is
ma"ing u) a menu that our !hil'ren *ill *ant to eat an' *ill the foo' they are !onsuming
be healthy for them an' meet the nutritional gui'e lines- .#er the years the s!hool boar's
ha#e ma'e some ma/or im)ro#ements to the nutritional gui'elines for the t*o meals
ser#e' in s!hools% brea"fast an' lun!h 01ramer2At*oo'3 D*yer3 Hoels!her3 Ni!"las3 Et
24425$You !an a'' your thesis here% an' any*here in the intro that *ill ma"e sense&
The e!onomi! issues
An estimate' 6 million s!hool age' "i's all o#er the 7S eat brea"fast an' aroun'
26 million "i's eat lun!h a 'ay With that being sai' $%&*e "no* ho* mu!h of an im)a!t
this is ha#ing on our !hil'rens eating habits (Stang3 Story3 1alina3 Sny'er% 18895 .ne of
the ma/or issues is that most s!hool 'istri!ts offer !om)etiti#e meals instea' of healthy
meals What 'oes this mean- :om)etiti#e meals are meals that "i's li"e3 some e;am)les
in!lu'e !hi)s% !heeseburgers% i!e !ream an' high sugar be#erages <A la !arte sales
in!rease )rofits for s!hools% 01ramer2At*oo'3 D*yer3 Hoels!her3 Ni!"las3 Et 24425= >
!an see *here the s!hool 'istri!ts 'o benefit but the !hil'ren are not eating by the
nutritional gui'e lines set in to )la!e The results are our !hil'ren are not getting enough
!al!ium% #egetables an' fruits )er ser#ing The !alorie an' so'ium inta"e is high an' the
"i's are la!"ing #itamins Another issue that *e ha#e is <stores in our mi''le s!hools an'
high s!hools sell )rimarily high2fat% high2sugar sna!"s 1ey inter#ention )ossibilities
in!lu'e limiting sales of !ho!olate !an'y an' substituting lo*2fat #arieties of !a"es%
!oo"ies% !hi)s% an' !ra!"ers :om)etition *ith !afeterias for sales at lun!htime shoul' be
a''resse' 0Wil'ey3 Pam)alone3 Pelletier3 ?i#e3 Etl% 24445= .ur goal is to !ome u) *ith a
*ay to !hange the menu stan'ar's% limit the times that the s!hools stores are o)en an'
lea' them to a healthy *ay of eating *hile they are young The menu nee's to be
follo*e' by our <Dietary @ui'elines for Ameri!ans (Stang3 Story3 1alina3 Sny'er%
18895= >n or'er to ma"e sure that this *ill *or" out *ell $%&*e *ant to ma"e sure that *e
monitor the )ro!ess an' see ho* the "i's res)on' to the !hange There may be some
!hallenges su!h as% the !ost of labor an' foo' We also *ant to ma"e sure that the foo' *e
are ser#ing is eaten an' not *aste' This is surely a *or" in )rogress We *ill !ontinue to
)ro#i'e e'u!ation to the !hil'ren about healthy eating habits an'$& if !hanges nee' to be
ma'e $&*e *ill ma"e them S!hools ha#e to fin' some ty)e of balan!e 01ramer2At*oo'3
D*yer3 Hoels!her3 Ni!"las3 Et% 24425
Des!ri)tion of the )ro!ess
Ne* regulations ha#e been set into )la!e by the s!hool boar's :hanging the
menus an' re#ising the nutrition inta"e *ill surely lea' us in the right 'ire!tion >n
)re#ious years $%&the e;)e!te' lun!h meal reAuire' <the tra'itional fi#e item minimum
menu% (Pri!e% :harlene3 1uhn% Betsey 18865= These meals in!lu'e' <.ne meatCmeat
alternati#e% one brea'Cbrea' alternati#e% t*o #egetablesC fruits an' one mil" 0(Pri!e%
:harlene3 1uhn% Betsey 18865= This has been !hange' to ha#ing D items on your lun!h
)late% the main !ourse% flui'% mil" an' one other foo' item The ultimate goal is to !reate
a healthier s!hool menu an' to )romote more )hysi!al a!ti#ities into there $their& life
style @oing for*ar' *e *ill offer foo's *hi!h *ill gi#e them the energy that their bo'ies
nee' *hole grain foo's% our meets *ill be ri!h an' full of )rotein% more fresh fruit an'
#egetables% <in!lu'ing 'ar" green an' re'C orange #egetables 0li"e tomatoes% !arrots% an'
s*eet )otatoes 0@uthrie3 Ne*man% 241D5= We *ill begin to !reate a ne* menu for
brea"fast *hi!h *ill be full of nutrition. We *ill ma"e !hanges to the be#erages an' offer
fat free mil" an' lo* sugar /ui!es an' eliminate so'a be#erages from our #en'ing
ma!hines Some of these !hanges *ill refle!t on ho* mu!h the !ost of lun!h *ill be Not
e#ery one *ill be affe!te' by the !hange but the !hil'ren that 'o )ay for lun!h *ill nee'
to "no* that the )ri!e may go u) by a))ro;imately E42F 0@uthrie3 Ne*man% 241D5
The benefits of the )rogram
The benefits to $of&!hanging the menu are that our "i's are no* learning the
im)ortan!e of eating healthy foo' We are tea!hing them the )ro)er )ortions )er ser#ing
We *ill !ontinue to e'u!ate them% *hi!h may lea' them to li#ing a healthier life style an'
may )re#ent them from be!oming o#er *eight or obese We *ill !ontinue to a'' in more
)hysi!al a!ti#ities We *ill han' out annual sur#eys to our stu'ents an' tea!hers an' see
*hat they li"e about the ne* menu an' !ontinue to a'/ust the menu so that the !hil'ren
not only eat healthy but en/oy the foo' that they are eating
:on!lusion
Sin!e *e ha#e ma'e !hanges to the menu $%&the "i's ha#e been getting the
#itamins an' nutrients that they nee' The "i's no* ha#e a better un'erstan'ing of the
foo' )yrami' an' *e are !ontinuously hel)ing them un'erstan' ho* im)ortant health is
an' ho* eating !an effe!t $it&our health The )arents in the !ommunity seem to li"e the
ne* menu an' a))re!iate the health e'u!ation being gi#en to them as *ell as their
!hil'ren We "no* this is a )ro!ess an' !an be slightly !ostly but nothing )uts a )ri!e on
a !hil's life We are gi#ing these !hil'ren the !han!e to maintain a healthy *ay of li#ing
*hi!h starts *ith the *ay that they eat
Geferen!es
1ramer2At*oo'% H% D*yer% H% Hoels!her% D% Ni!"las% T% al% E 02442% Se)tember 415
,ostering healthy foo' !onsum)tion in s!hoolsI ,o!using on the !hallenges of
!om)etiti#e foo's American Dietetic Association (Journal of the American
Dietetic Association)% 085% 122F% Getrie#e' from htt)ICCelibrarybig!hal"!om
Stang% H% Story% (% 1alina% B% Sny'er% ( 01889% (ay 415 (eeting the 7S 'ietary
gui'elines in s!hool mealsI :urrent )ra!ti!es% )er!ei#e' barriers% an' future
training nee's Journal of Nutrition Education% 0J28K5 152% Getrie#e' from
htt)ICCelibrarybig!hal"!om
Pri!e% :% 1uhn% B 01886% (ay 195 Publi! an' )ri#ate efforts for the national s!hool
lun!h )rogram Food Review% 0J1FK5 51095% Getrie#e' from
htt)ICCelibrarybig!hal"!omL
@uthrie% H% Ne*man% : 0241D% Se)tember 415 Eating Better at S!hoolI :an Ne*
Poli!ies >m)ro#e :hil'renMs ,oo' :hoi!es Amber Waves% 12% retrie#e' from
htt)ICCelibrarybig!hal"!om