Preview

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Analysis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1608 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Analysis
Introduction
Approximately 30 million children standing in school lunch lines have had to goodbye to the cheesy pizza, salty fries, chocolaty brownies, and many other yummy foods in exchange for and are turning their noses up to the changes that have been occurring. They have made 180 degree turn to fewer calories, lower sodium, more fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 went into effect with the push of the First Lady, Michelle Obama. While it is not the favorite choice of many kids across the states, there are pros and cons to the act (Murphy, 2015). In the last 30 years childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents. In 1980, the percent of children from the ages of
…show more content…
The act will also create a model for USDA commodity products used in school meals. To end childhood hunger the HHFKA wants to offer school meals for ‘at-risk’ children and develop a universal meal service to be eligible would be based on your community as a whole. They want to make it easier for low- income kids to access to meals if they are eligible. Lastly, the HHFKA will provide training to food service staff by requiring annual training and provide certification in ensure the procedures are being met for program protocol and food safety methods/standards. The HHFKA has set aside $4.5 billion in funding for the provisions and programs over the next 10 years to accomplish these items. Although the act was signed in 2010 nothing went into effect until the 2012-2013 school year, with a small portion in 2011-2012 school year, and some parts yet to come due to the fact that they will require regulations that will have to go through the public rule-making process (NEA, 2015).
Perspective 1 The students are not pleased with the changes that occurring on their menu and the results are showing. Cafeteria staff in schools have said the trash cans are being filled with untouched foods and the cash registers are ringing up
…show more content…
About 5 years later the childhood obesity rates are beginning to level out and some believe House Republicans are wanting to push it to the side, but many are in support of the Act and firmly believes we should continue to keep healthy school meals and are voicing their opinion. Michelle Obama shared in a column, The Campaign for Junk Food, in May 2014 that she is proud to say we had one goal to end the childhood obesity in our generations so that future children born will grow up healthy. Today nearly 90% of schools are meeting the nutritional standards for school meals. Mrs. Obama also believes this is a win for parents who are trying to feed their children balanced meals at home so their children’s meal at school isn’t giving them junk food defeating the purpose. Taxpayers spend $10 billion a year for school meals and no one wants to see that money go towards junk for their children. The First Lady is not standing alone on this subject, but has rallied support from several groups such as the National Education Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart and Stroke Association, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, The New York Times, and several others (Fns.usda.gov,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The purpose of this meal program is to make available a low-cost free meal to the children of schools so that they keep a balanced nutritional diet along with study. This program started under National School Lunch Act, which is appropriately signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to the fact that price exceeds quantity, students are refusing to eat. The National School Lunch Program claims to “provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to more than 31 million children each school day,” (National School Lunch Program 1) but do they mean it? Often times the factor of nutrition is questionable in the food provided in school lunches. An example being one day a student who does not possess the benefit of the National School Lunch Program’s free lunch decides to eat the so-called “nutritionally balanced food” (National School Lunch…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Childhood obesity has swept America up from under its feet. However, the fall of the blame of this epidemic still remains unclear. The role of parents in children’s healthy eating habits comes down to what food they are buying to put on the table, how much time they are willing to put into preparing healthy meals, and how well they educate their children on nutritious value. Alongside the parents, the role of the government in children’s healthy eating habits is in marketing, advertisement, federal policies in pricing, and the regulation of food served in a child’s school cafeteria. I had never really focused on or considered this issue until after reading Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss. Who is to be held responsible for this obesity epidemic is something that has long since remained controversial, and is a topic I desire to write my final research paper on.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The need for this program and its awareness is crucial. There are more and more children developing diabetes, and high blood pressure due to obesity. President Barak Obama signed a “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act” law in 2010. “The program is a nutritional overhaul to school breakfasts and lunches to combat childhood obesity and provide meals at a free or…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Recently there has been revisions to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and schools were required to overhaul their entire menus to provide the students with healthy and nutritious foods including fruits and vegetables. The new school lunch rules are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which has been implemented this fall. (Post Standard) The Hunger Act allows the USDA the opportunity to make reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs. With these revisions come strict guidelines from the federal government that each school district must follow in order to receive funding and reimbursement (National School Lunch Program, 2012, August p. 1). In this essay i will be comparing the positive and negative effects of these recent revisions to the NSLP. I will then discuss whether or not these changes are beneficial to the children receiving the meal and whether NSLP is leaving children hungry or helping children make healthy food choices.…

    • 1572 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2011, March). The food assistance landscape. (Economic Information Bulletin No. 6-8). Washington DC: Economic Research Service. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/129642/eib6-8.pdf…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A “flagship” of the new plan, along with the reduction in sodium and high sugar sources, is the new two thousand calorie meal plan. Now, a large complication with this is that this two thousand calorie meal doesn’t change at all. Whether it be Elementary School or High School. A large high school who does various activities in school or after require many more in order to at least feel full enough to continue on. It’s hard to imagine how they could possibly function with so few calories compared to the amount they burn in a given day. This is simply unhealthy for many students. Whether or not they eat the food this “healthier” food it’s overall less healthy for the growth of…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The article Are Food Subsidies Making Our Kids Fat? Tensions Between the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act and the Farm Bill and its author Melissa Mortazavi (2011) set out to "examines the strengths and weaknesses of the most recent reform of federal attempts to address childhood obesity and children's nutrition: The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA).(pg. 1703). In her article she sets the time line of the governments involvement of nutrition as early as the times post WW II. She argues that during those times the crisis was in-fact the inadequate amount of food for Americans and children especially. The National School Lunch Act was initiated to provide food for children while also allowing agriculture to thrive with the demand for…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To sum up, School lunches are healthy enough because they help foster and low-income children to have meals,it’s helping stop childhood obesity, and helping the government. The low-income children and foster kid will get to eat a healthy lunch and could potentially stop hunger. This plan is beneficial for a national problem, childhood obesity. The government however believes that the government is too controlling and parents can't be trusted. Michelle Obama’s program is very important and they should keep this plan…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The effort was introduced by first lady Michelle Obama, who is also leading a national push to encourage more exercise.Parents may well be providing their children with nutritious meals at home, but a habit of cafeteria french fries and sweets can put a dent in the most rigorous regimen of good health.The new standards don’t represent a drastic departure from previous school menus; they just incorporate better options. French fries have not been banished, but now they’re baked and made of sweet potatoes. Sweets are still in evidence, but they are in the form of fruits. Kids can still have chocolate milk, but it must be non-fat or skim milk.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If we do not improve our lunches kids will not have healthy eating habits. If we start eating too much junk food kids will get obese and lazy. The school boards should care about what they are feeding their student.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This program made it so students were able to eat food surpluses that Congress had allowed the government to purchase (Hiemstra). The NSLP has evolved throughout the years, and now school lunches are readily available for everyone. However, The National School…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    School lunch may not be every students favorite part of the day, but lunch can make a big impact on a child. Study shows that,” a change in lunch can make an effect on the obesity rate”(Walshmedpagetoday). The gov’t should control school lunches to reduce the obesity epidemic and health risks. School Lunch has been around for a long time in fact school lunch was started by President Harry Truman in 1946. School lunch is offered to all students to provide a nutritionally balanced meal everyday for low or free cost.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The state of school lunches has been a point of debate for many since Michelle Obama’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act signed into law December of 2010, giving full authority to the USDA in setting the nutritional standards for all foods regularly sold in school lunch lines, stores, and vending machines. The law was set to provide additional funding to meet the updated standards, however, the cost was severely underestimated. Using data provided by Medicaid, eligibility for the free or reduced school lunch programs has seen a definite increase, although participation has not (Lee, 2010). In a press release, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius was quoted saying “The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is a significant step forward in our effort to help America's children thrive and grow to be healthy adults... By increasing the number of students eligible to enroll in school meal programs and improving the quality of food served, this legislation simultaneously tackles both hunger and the obesity levels currently affecting too many communities across this nation.” I would like to draw attention to her careful wording of “...step forward in our effort...” A subject as incredibly important as the nutrition of…

    • 1591 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Barack Obama was elected as president back in 2008 first lady, Michelle Obama, took action to end the childhood obesity crisis in America. Her ‘Let’s Move’ campaign was aiming towards ending childhood obesity once and for all. The many approaches she took were acceptable starts to combat this issue, however, her ideas she followed through with didn’t seem to work, as childhood obesity rates continued to increase. As the rates for childhood obesity continue to rise, the citizens of America are questioning who’s going to stop it and how they plan to fix it. There are many factors that have allowed for childhood obesity to become a major issue in the nation, and sometimes changing or fixing these factors are easier said than done. But who…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics