Introduction
Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges in the United States. Childhood obesity is associated with many health complications that can likely carry on into adulthood causing premature deaths. Research has shown that consuming sugar sweetened beverages has been associated with weight gain. To help combat child obesity government, state, and local policy makers have stepped in to regulate school foods and beverages. “In 1970, Congress amended the Child Nutrition Act to permit the secretary of agriculture to regulate foods and beverages sold in competition with the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Program” (Mello, Pomeranz, and Moran, 2008). Sellers of sugar-sweetened beverages in the United States have agreed to work with schools to phase out the sales of sweetened beverages and unhealthy snacks mainly elementary and junior high schools “(Mello, Pomeranz, and Moran, 2008).
The changes, enacted to fight childhood obesity, by banning the sales of sugar sweetened beverages could cost schools and venders a huge percentage of revenue. The best allocative efficiency practice to reduce or eliminate children from consuming sugary drinks in schools would be to replace the vending machines of their sugary drinks and offer
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With the National Soft Drink Association disputing the role of sugar-sweetened beverages being affiliated with childhood overweight (Mello, Pomeranz, and Moran, 2008), and not everyone agreeing that these products should be taken out of the schools, this continuous situation could be a long legal battle where no positive health outcome is gained and profits will continue to be lost. “Adopting the criterion of economic efficiency implies that society makes choices which maximize the health outcomes gained from the resources allocated to healthcare” (Palmer and Torgerson,
FED UP In the US from since the turn of the century, obesity has been a rising and very serious issue. In the 1980’s, western culture experienced a fitness surge, and the major food corporations began producing new products that were “fat free”, but the issue was fat free food did not taste as good so people would not buy it. To compensate the taste, the food companies replaced the fat with sugar.
America is growing as a nation, and its citizens are growing in pant size. Obesity is a growing problem in America for children and adults; therefore, steps need to be taken to promote healthy foods to stop future health problems. In hopes of decreasing obesity rates, some political leaders like New York Governor David Paterson, have proposed a tax on caloric sweetened beverages (soda tax). This will reduce the consumption of sweetened beverages, thereby reducing the weight of the individual. The money collected from this tax could be returned to communities to support programs promoting wellness.
In a result of this many people, health officials, and parents are complaining because there has been an increase of child obesity. Children grow up learning healthy eating habits and how to make smart food choices which will continue to follow them as they get older. On the other hand, children growing up with
Research shows that children eat more without realizing when they are served larger amounts. Vegetable and fruit intake is dwindling down in youth diets. French fries are the most common “vegetable” that children eat making up twenty-five percent of their intake. Fruit juices are 40% of the fruit intake for children. Because of the shift in cultural norms, there are more unhealthy foods at convenience versus the healthy food that used to be found in many
¨Several critics questioned why the city was making proposal on sugary drinks a priority when some city schoolchildren have no physical education classes.¨ (Washington TImes) In New York, Mayor Bloomberg placed a law on the sizes of soda citizens are allowed to get. However, this caused a lot of controversy on whether the ban was good or bad. Despite the amount of people supporting the ban´s choice, the ban does have some downsides on it. It is not a good idea to limit the amount of a soda a person can purchase (or propose the ban) because it's not applying to all, it's taking rights away from people, and itś not a big deal.
No Vending Machines in Schools According to the American Heart Association, “one in three American kids and teens is overweight and obese.” One of the top-most contributors to this is soft drinks and sugary sweets. Most kids can access these unhealthy foods anywhere they go! Even some schools offer these to children through vending machines.
Today life is on the fast track. People are always on the go and don’t have time to properly take care of themselves or their families. For most Americans, fast food and junk food are ready to grab for a snack or a quick dinner. They don’t slow down to think about how the foods they are eating effect their long term health. Fewer and fewer families take the time to prepare a nutritious meal and are passing down bad habits to their children.
In the article, “Chocolate Milk Gets Nutritionists’ Gold Star”, an online survey of 1, 247 parents represent what opinions there are about serving chocolate milk in schools. To begin with, 84 percent of the parents thought chocolate milk is an “acceptable beverage to serve” in schools. This shows that most parents agree with serving chocolate milk in cafeterias. Another fact found was that 75 percent of all the 1, 247 parents felt that although chocolate milk has added sugars, the benefits of the milk overrules it. This discovery tells me that the parents who took the survey don’t mind that sugar is in the chocolate milk, as long as their children get the nutrients and vitamins that they need.
That is why many propose regulating the purchases of carbonated drinks pact with sugar, or more commonly known as soda. One can of soda contains about 2.5 tablespoons of sugar, and on average, 9% of the daily calories consumed per person is from soda. Due to the high numbers of obesity in America, soda’s and other drinks high in sugar, should be regulated. Obesity can lead to many health problems. Some issues that can potentially occur because of what the person is eating include diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, body pains, and potential death (in fact, one article in The New York Times claimed sugar, more particularly soda, to “might just be the biggest killers via preventable disease in the country”
Providing soft drink’s at school would let the kids to more of a choice for their beverage during school lunchtime. A district once decided to try a test and “the
Since 2000 research has shown that ⅓ of child are now overweight. Teenagers are blaming fast foods industries for their health problems, but no one is forcing them to eat the food. Obesity is a serious issue in the United States now causing some public health groups in california to ask the governor to declare a childhood obesity state of emergency, recording to Daniel Weintraub. I believe that children obesity does start at home and parents are to blame because they are letting their children eat unhealthy foods, lack of exercise, and overall poor choices. Fast food industries have exploded
Did you know that 60% of adults and one in four children in Australia are overweight or obese, making us one of the most overweight developed nations? Almost half of our population comsumes a sugary drink each day. I believe that it is about time we do something about this. With sugary drinks and weight related health problems closely linked, leading experts from the cancer Council, diabities Australia and the Heart foundation say the sugar tax would be a great solution.
Fast food is quickly becoming America 's cigarette, causing more death related diseases than a packet of smokes. Take a look at the food you’re eating and what does it do to your body. ' “Parents are working more than ever before, and unable to monitor what kids are eating at home, schools are selling astronomical amounts of junk food in order to supplement shrinking budgets. It 's a ticking time bomb, and America 's children are exploding”. Food business has been one of the successful economic fields in United States.
Introduction The topic which is critical issues on the implications of teens and children’s consumptions of sodas and other sugary beverages. Beverages are different types of drinks made for human consumption to quench thirst. Sugary drinks or soft drink
Recently, the problem of a possible obesity epidemic in America has risen into the public spotlight. Naturally, people have responded to this negatively, and some have suggested that the government should limit the size of sugary drinks in order to stop this problem. However, government restrictions do not necessarily help with this situation. Overall, restrictions on drink sizes appear to simply be a detriment to consumers who merely wish to enjoy their meals. In addition to this, these limits fail to actually prevent people from drinking anything, thus making no impact on their calorie intakes.