Childhood: Obesity and School Lunches
I immediately thought of confounding factors in the study's data. I'm still unconvinced of the bias in the study cited -- children who qualify for free lunches generally come from lower socioeconomic status which already places them at risk for obesity. At the same time, as a physician, I was shocked at how uninformed I was about the school lunch situation in the US. Lunch trays contain low nutrient value foods (corn and potato products) that are not very constraining on the school budget.
Clearly, providing healthier food-options would lighten the obesity epidemic for future generations. Perhaps with more health-conscious decisions will be made at the national level, signaling a change for the better.
- ONE pound of fat is equal to ROUGHLY 3500 calories. So, if there is a dessert eaten every day for 10 days... it'd be 350x10... or a pound of fat gained in 10 days.
- There are websites where you can see your children's lunch menu online and help them make better choices. For example, www.schoolmenu.com
- A healthier alternative, may be to pack a school lunch for your children. Bento boxes with fun nutritious meals that your kids can enjoy eating might be a bit time-consuming, while promoting better eating habits in the long-run.
- Eating healthily IS expensive...
- There are numerous recipes which can be found online. One popular book on Amazon.com is titled "501 Bento Lunches: 501 Unique Recipes for Brilliant Bento" which can liven up any lunch box with colorful nutritious recipes.
