My
recent editorial about the school’s food stereotype was published in the last
newspaper and it gained some attention from Board Office staff. Debbie Harper,
our county’s school nutritionist, came and spoke to me and the rest of the
newspaper staff about the school lunch and breakfast policies.
Did you
know that this generation of children will be the first generation that has a
shorter life expectancy than their parents? There is an increase in the
incidence of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and hypertension in
children. Our school follows the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and
School Breakfast Program (SBP) which help to set guidelines and requirements to
make sure students get and stay healthy. These programs provide balanced and well-nourished
meals that help preventing further health issues.
For
lunch, high school students are allowed 750-850 calories per day. For middle
school students, lunch can contain 600-700 calories per day. In the elementary
schools, students are allowed 550-650 calories per day. The amount served
fluctuates throughout an average five-day week to provide a healthy variation
in calorie intake. Even though it is probably healthier for the average
student, is it still that healthy for high school athletes? Some students eat
at lunch and then that’s all they have until their practices end at five, six,
or even seven.Is that number of calories enough to provide athletes with enough
energy to perform well? Most would say no.
The
USDA’s meal patterns for the NSLP and SBP include five subgroups of vegetables
that count toward the daily and weekly vegetable requirements. Students often
comment about how strange or random some of the food is that’s served in the
cafeteria. A chart showing some of the foods in each group is below. All
information was provided by Debbie Harper school nutritionist at the Jackson
County Board Office. Students are required to have one cup of vegetables a day.
Those vegetables can be chosen from any one of these subgroups. Weekly,
students are required to have ½ a cup of the Dark Green subgroup, one and ¼ a
cup of the Red/Orange subgroup, ½ a cup of Beans/Peas (legumes), ¾ a cup of
Starchy vegetables, and ½ a cup of Other subgroup. I understand the need for healthier portions and calorie control, but sometimes it seems a little too extreme. I’m sure the student body will become less obese and health problems will decrease because it doesn’t seem like there is much of an option not to. I respect the schools decisions and even though I understand the programs better now, I still believe it’s a little stereotypical.
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