Cuckoo’s Egg

Obesity is one of the most concerned and talked about issues among today‘s society and for the past several years as well. A lot of concern pertaining to obesity has to do with where to put the blame and what actions of an individual has led to the dramatic weight gain. There are many in society who point the blame towards fast food restaurants, junk food and so forth. Several individuals also focus on the countless number of health risks that can be caused by obesity. For example a person’s potential life span can be shortened, his or her cardiovascular system can be affected negatively, diabetes becomes an issues and there are many other life threatening diseases involved with obesity as well. In the era Americans now live in, the opportunity to gain weight in an expedient matter is not at all difficult. Local ads, television commercials and so forth seem to center more on the latest snack or the new burger that is more tastier and larger than the last. Or if one wants to catch a movie on a Friday night he or she must not forget to have their large bag of buttery popcorn right beside them and a soft drink to wash it down. Therefore the focal point of obesity in today’s society leans more towards prevention and treatment if obesity occurs, however the perfect solution has yet to come about.

A lot of experts feel that the key to preventing obesity is to approach it from childhood a stage in life where obesity seems to be taking its toll. “Today many children in the United States suffer from an over consumption of calories, fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar”(Physicians Committee). The start to an unhealthy day for any child usually begins with his or hers’ breakfast. Children usually have a bowl of cereal high in sugar for breakfast which is only the start to the other unhealthy foods he or she will consume throughout the day. A lot of children today live amongst a society where they have a great chance of being outlived by their parents do to the rapidly growing threat of childhood obesity. It now seems the best way to go about childhood obesity is by starting where children spend a great percentage of his or her lives and that is in school. Scores of children do not understand the affects the bag of chips they eat everyday for snack can have on his or her health. If a child is not overweight at all he or she might be led to believe that the risk of gaining weight and having health problems does not apply to them. Which makes educating a child within his or her school systems is ever so important because the threat of childhood obesity is now reaching an all time high.

Prevention of obesity is witnessed through the news and media on a daily basis. Most notably seen through the school systems as many school districts try to implement a healthier diet program through their school lunches. Nonetheless deciding whether or not the new healthier diets that have been implemented within school lunches are beneficial to a child’s health is a huge debate. A lot of the school districts take a different approaches towards their school diets but for the most part they all emphasize on one thing, that is providing the children with the vitamins and minerals they need to benefit his or her strong body development and limit the chances of obesity. Several schools also want to put into practice vegan diets which are built from grains, vegetables, fruits and beans. Schools in Detroit and Fairfax county are taking part in this diet and several other counties are following lead especially in realizing they benefits soy milk and other calcium rich drinks. “Numerous scientific studies have concluded that vegan diet…offer the most weight-controlling and disease-fighting protection of any dietary pattern”(Physicians Committee).

To ensure that school districts are moving forward with their plans of limiting childhood obesity a lot of states have organized programs to monitor the school district’s efforts. Such as the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine which uses a “more comprehensive system for rating the districts’ school lunch offerings”(Physicians Committee). This committee goes in a little further in governing a child’s eating habits by ensuring that health improvised school lunches are indeed actually healthy. A lot of monitoring committees such as the physicians committee want to see a decrease in the level of fat and cholesterol and an increase in the amounts of vitamins, minerals and fiber. More of the committee ratings of lunch programs are now based more on “…information from a nutritional analysis”(Physicians Committee). Another aspect of childhood obesity that can be prevented within the school systems does not just include the school lunches but also snack and drink vending machines. “Healthier vending policies were common this year, with seven of eleven school districts reviewed scoring full points in that area”(Physicians committee).