Should Nutrition Be Taught and Regulated in School Systems?

Obesity can lead to various different health issues and complications such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (link is at bottom of this blog) more than One-third of Americans are considered obese. There is a growing desire to teach proper nutrition to Americans particularly at

 a young age. I believe that the nutrition of young students is key to their success in the classroom. It should be regulated by the school district that schools do not serve “unhealthy” foods in their cafeterias. A well-balanced diet can reflect on the student’s ability in the classroom. Take for instance a student who has a poor diet, and eats greasy food during lunch. After lunch, the student may be inclined to very sluggish or tired from the greasy food and become less focused in the classroom. Or take another example of a student who may eat a large amount of sugar. If a student has a bunch of candy, cookies, Coca-Cola, etc. at lunch time, their blood sugar may rise and their activeness may rise and their attention may dwindle.

The focus in the classroom is just one simple reason to teach and regulate nutrition in the classroom. The more obvious reason to teach and regulate nutrition is for health concerns. With a third of American deemed obese, there will be a higher number of trips to the doctors and hospitals. Due to this, the costs of health care and the number for doctors and nurses needed will continue to rise.

Schools due not need to completely eliminate all unhealthy foods and sugar products. They may take an initative that current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pushing for. Bloomberg is pushing to reduce the size of soda bottles sold in the city to a specific measurement. This will unlikely prevent obesity, but it sends a message to the public that the nutrition of many Americans is not well and needs to be curbed. It is important for the students and the American public as a whole, that nutrition be taught and regulated within school system.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html