The other day, the local news channel, Fox40 (I hate it, but it’s the ONLY local news channel in Sacramento) had this segment on how “sooo many” school districts are burdened by the new healthy school lunch rules.
They say that kids are filling garbage cans with healthy food, and not getting enough nutrients to keep them alert and active all day.
While I believe that there may be some problems with the program, and there could be a lot of improvements because it is a relatively new movement, I am willing to bet a lot of the complaints are unwarranted and most likely related to partisan politics. But that’s a topic for another blog post.
Today I read an article on NPR: http://www.npr.org/2012/09/23/161584477/at-school-overweight-children-carry-a-heavy-burden
It basically reports that overweight children incur a cost to schools because they require more health care, special accommodations, counseling, and academic help.
So there you have it. Either we work together to provide a healthier meal plan for kids, or we pay for it when they become unhealthy.
The choice here is pretty obvious.