Lessons from the Lunchroom: Childhood Obesity, School Lunch

Posted by Union of Concerned Scientists on March 16, 2015

Lessons from the Lunchroom: Childhood Obesity, School Lunch, and the Way to a Healthier Future (2015)

Children need healthy food. This should go without saying, but the current U.S. food system makes it hard to ensure that kids get the kinds of foods they need to grow into healthy adults. The average U.S. child eats only one-third of the fruits and vegetables recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

This problem is especially acute for children from lower-income and racial and ethnic minority families. These children often lack adequate access to fresh, healthy food, while unhealthy processed foods—made artificially cheap in part by federal subsidies—are readily available. Coupled with environmental factors, this leads to a predictable result: high obesity rates.

http://www.ucsusa.org/food-agriculture/expand-healthy-food-access/lessons-lunchroom-childhood-obesity-school-lunch