It is not a hidden fact that your diet plays an essential role in your mind and has an effect on your mental and physical health.
When an individual is healthy enough, he is capable of participating in various physical activities. And this is not restrained to only adults but also applicable to children. Healthy diet and nutrition have a remarkable impact on their academic performance, their behavior in the classroom, and so on.
During the 2012–2013 academic year, more than 30 million students participated in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report. By providing healthy lunches, schools can help their students perform better in the classroom and improve their overall health. But do school lunches always prove to be healthy and nutritious for students? Let’s find out! In this content, we’ll tell you the impact of school lunches on a child’s mental and physical growth.
Lunch Standards in The US
Lunch standards were improved in 2012 when the U.S. government updated the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. It went through a lot of changes that include fruits, vegetables as a separate meal. Grain choices are provided like whole grains in different meals in different sizes, reducing the usage of sodium and trans-fat. But the shocking fact says that not all schools implemented this diet for their students, which means not all students ate this healthy option.
Increase in Obesity and Other Weight Issues
One of the significant consequences of school lunches in children is obesity and other weight problems in children across the nation. According to the Weight-Control Information Network, about a third of kids and adolescents in the United States are overweight or obese.
Even if the school provides health and nutritional diet, many schools permit their children to consume the la carte foods, destroying the calorie-rich and high in the fat diet that contains sodium, sugar. This is extremely unhealthy and has a lot of risks attached to it.
Unhealthy diet and its adverse effects on your Physique
Weight gain is not the only reason why school lunches have a big no. Consequences of poor nutrition are quite harmful. Children who consume too much fat, sodium, or processed food and very less number of vitamins and minerals are likely to develop a high risk of chronic problems.
These risks might majorly include diabetes, kidney stones, bone loss, cancer, and heart disease. The further dangers for kids who are active and who need more calories than the normal limits are also at risk and may end up feeling weak, fatigued, or nauseous during sports and exercise.
Effect of Unhealthy Food On an Individual’s Mental Health
Correct nutrition is done for better academic performance, so kids who consume unhealthy lunches tend to score fewer grades and suffer a bad academic performance and face tough time coping up with other kids. These had various long-term effects as well. According to a 2012 article published, not getting enough essential nutrients at meals may lower kids’ I.Q. scores, memory capacities, excellent motor skills, social skills and languages skills into early adulthood and beyond. A child’s poor dietary habits can even influence his sleep patterns, which may affect cognitive behaviors and academic abilities. According to the results of a research review published in 2004 in the “British Journal of Nutrition,” children who are micronutrient-deficient may exhibit more aggressiveness, less mental endurance and lower intelligence test scores.
Advantages of early morning breakfast
Children who are accustomed to having an early morning breakfast have better concentration ability in their school hours than the kids who skip the morning breakfast. Eating morning breakfast improves a child’s math scores and improves mental performance. .” According to pediatrician Dr. William Sears, children who eat breakfast also participate more in class discussions, are better able to handle complex problems in class and get better grades. In particular, a breakfast meal containing a balance of protein and complex carbohydrates boosts school performance for the remainder of the day.
Why are School lunches so fascinating?
According to research done in 2005, public schools lunches seemed too appealing to students, but they had an exactly opposite effect on their health. Children have easy access to school cafeteria that offers plenty of unhealthy options that includes pizza, nachos, cookies and snack cakes, French fries, chicken fingers, and chips. Though they have a healthy alternative to them like wraps, baked chips, and salad bar, they have never been on the choice list of these kids.
But taking these unhealthy options out of the school may incur a significant loss for the schools and lose profit.
According to Karlloren diet website, nearly all high schools and 43% of middle schools contain vending machines and snack lines with items that are not chosen on a health basis, but a profit basis. 20% of schools have started serving Pizza Hut and McDonald’s food (who strikeout as the leaders of the fast-food industry) in the past few years, the website also states.
It is the school board’s responsibility to realize the purpose, to educate and improve the lives of children, and prioritize the children’s health before thinking to make enough money and filing their own pockets.
The menu list of one of the schools like the Bonneville Academy include items like as baked chicken nuggets, pear slices, and salad with low fat and in breakfast, they have sausages, pancakes and more, to everyone’s shock these choices were still appealing.