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School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security

 
mopar28m
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04/21/2010 01:46 PM
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School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
[link to www.ktradionetwork.com]

Unhealthy school lunches pose a threat to national security, according to a group of retired military leaders.

Leaving 27 percent of young adults “too fat to fight,” childhood obesity is jeopardizing military recruitment, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-profit group Mission: Readiness.

The 130-plus retired military leaders making up the organization is joining together to battle the obesity epidemic on the school front.

While putting cafeteria fare on the level of a national security threat may be “dramatic,” “it’s not entirely unjustified” considering how much students eat during the school day, said Karen Glanz, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Schools of Medicine and Nursing.

In the report, the retirees called for less junk food in schools, better nutrition programs for kids and overall better funding for federally provided school lunches. The group also appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday with Sen. Richard Lugar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to show their support for new legislation on the issue pending in congress.

“Since 1995, the proportion of recruits who failed their physical exams because they were overweight has risen by nearly 70 percent,” said Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We need to reverse this trend, and an excellent place to start is by improving the quality of food served in our schools,” he added.

National School Lunch Program at Work

While school lunches would not be the obvious culprit behind the military’s dwindling recruitment pool, the connection from one to the other works a bit like a chain reaction, pediatric nutrition experts say.

According to the USDA, the National School Lunch Program provided low-cost or free lunches to more than 30.5 million children each school day in 2008.

Through a combination of school lunch and breakfast programs, children “acquire close to 40 percent of their daily calories at school,” said Barbara Moore, president of Shape Up America!

If the food provided at school and the quality of education about nutrition isn’t sufficient to teach good eating habits and stave off childhood obesity, then there’s a good likelihood that these overweight kids will not be fit to enroll in the military, Moore sai, because an overweight child has about an 80 percent chance of remaining overweight as an adult.

So while fattening Sloppy Joes are not the only guilty party in childhood obesity, “better lunches are without a doubt a part of the solution,” she said.

On the military end, the report found that obesity is the number one reason that young Americans are unfit to enlist and also the most likely reason that a new recruit will be discharged before their first contract is even up, Mission: Readiness executive director Amy Dawson Taggart said.

And the trend only increases with each passing year, she said.

The reason school lunch reform is so key, Moore added, is that school is an environment in which “we can get to kids” and influence what they eat. At home, it’s much harder to change these habits, she said.

Soldiers of Nutrition
But lunches aren’t the only change to be made in schools, Glanz noted.

“Blaming it all on food is to not recognize that physical activity is a large component, “she said.

Moore agreed, adding that initiatives to up the quality of food in vending machines as well as improve the education kids get about what food they choose to eat outside of school are also essential.

“Since 2006, there’s been a law that requires schools with federally funded meal plans to also establish a wellness committee to address nutrition and physical activity standards,” she said, but these standards are not universally upheld at this time.
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The risk far outweighs any benefit as the risk will vary from child to child.

facebook.com/graphixyourway
Anonymous Coward
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04/21/2010 01:48 PM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
So are parents who don't pack their kids healthy lunches...

But, that won't make the news I suspect.
Anonymous Coward
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04/21/2010 02:57 PM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
So are parents who don't pack their kids healthy lunches...

But, that won't make the news I suspect.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 436473


When I sent my child a sack lunch, he was not allowed enough time to go to his locker to retrieve it and he didn't want to haul it around in his backpack all morning.
Some children who did bring their lunches at times were made to sit and eat it on the floor thus increasing incentives to purchase the school lunches.
F. Albert
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04/21/2010 03:08 PM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
What!?!? Kids are becoming too fat to be disposed of overseas? My G_d what is this world coming to? Can't we just build wider naval vessals and air-transports to get them over to the Gov't designated kill-zones?

Even if some do manage to return as wounded vets, lord knows how long it may take them to starve to death in the streets, with all that extra starch packed away. Just think what that could cost Military Industrial Complex in lost profits. Scandalous!

Well, at least being fat turns out to be a healthier lifestyle than originally suggested.
ZTE

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04/21/2010 03:09 PM

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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
bump
Anonymous Coward
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04/21/2010 03:12 PM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
So are parents who don't pack their kids healthy lunches...

But, that won't make the news I suspect.


When I sent my child a sack lunch, he was not allowed enough time to go to his locker to retrieve it and he didn't want to haul it around in his backpack all morning.
Some children who did bring their lunches at times were made to sit and eat it on the floor thus increasing incentives to purchase the school lunches.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 826286


I just wanted to add that public school is big business. An elementary school principal confided that the cheapest bidder is the one that is accepted to provide the shipped in and re-warmed lunches (and breakfast) for the schools. These same providers make food for the jails and prisons. The cheapest materials are used for maximum profit. My guess was that the mysterious "meats" appeared to be soy. Dried cardboard cold pizza squares, nothing appeared to be fresh. So sad for our children to be fed this crap.
mopar28m  (OP)

User ID: 949291
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04/21/2010 03:24 PM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
Shipped & rewarmed lunches aren't what is fed to the kids at my daughters school, I've seen the lunch ladies hard at work everyday making meals, at all 3 school buildings.
vaccinefreehealth blogspot com

The risk far outweighs any benefit as the risk will vary from child to child.

facebook.com/graphixyourway
Anonymous Coward
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04/22/2010 11:50 AM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
bump
ZTE

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04/22/2010 11:58 AM

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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
I went to a private school, and you had to pay for the school lunches every day like a regular cafeteria. The quality was better, but my parents still made me a lunch. I did convince them to give me $10 a week for lunch sometime around high school, but I'd just skimp out on lunch and pocket the money.

However, I don't think I'd want to touch any school lunch today. They tasted like cardboard and plastic back then (except for the salads), so I wouldn't want my hypothetical kids eating them now.
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 950173
India
04/22/2010 12:02 PM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
Shipped & rewarmed lunches aren't what is fed to the kids at my daughters school, I've seen the lunch ladies hard at work everyday making meals, at all 3 school buildings.
 Quoting: mopar28m

I have mixed thoughts about this.Our govt gives free mid day meals but most often they are not worth eating but students have no other option.
On the other hand,if students start bringing their own lunches,it will create "diversity" which is a hateful thought for TPTB.
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 950173
India
04/22/2010 12:07 PM
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Re: School Lunches Are a Threat to National Security
so its all depedent on parentsIf children are in public school,you cant do much but you can definitely pressurize private school management





GLP