Numerous students from all ethics and grades enjoy a lunch program at their respective educational institutions daily. Notably, students need to recover from the lost energy in the process of learning by having a meal that will keep them more dynamic and attentive in their education. This situation is achievable through public schools having school lunch programs, where all the students, regardless of social class, race, age, or any other perspective, have equal access to school lunches. School lunch is a meal that students are provided in the middle of the day. Notably, the benefit of school lunches in public schools varies with countries. Markedly, in developed states, the school lunch is a basis of a healthful meal. On the other hand, in developing states, school lunch is an enticement to send students to school and continue learning. It is a food security source and helps children become healthier and industrious adults, thus assisting in breaking the poverty and starvation cycle. However, it is essential to give school lunch a new and improved form. Most public schools are concerned with the easiness of meal preparation instead of concentrating on their quality. Many public schools lack skilled personnel to prepare meals with nutritional value and thus simplify preparation. Students end up getting low nutritious benefits, which adversely impact their body performance and studies at large. Also, it's high time that public schools introduce student food choices in school lunch programs to cater to students' different diet needs. Essentially, public schools should make significant changes in the school lunch to improve the outcomes of the student and generally, their overall health.
The changes in the school lunch program change significantly connect with history. The first lunch food was attended in Germany by Benjamin Thompson. Markedly, children were paid or compensated in the American Revolutionary War by simply being given something to eat and clothes to wear. Thompson is attributed to introducing the potato to the European poor's diet with cooking equipment such as pressure cookers and drip coffee makers. In the United Kingdom, great changes have been on the headlines since the time school meals were made a norm in school. Notably, in the United Kingdom, the National School Meals Policy was initially published in 1941. The policy set the first nutritional guidelines for school lunches, stipulating that all schools should offer a balanced meal that includes the correct level of proteins, fat, and calories (Radday, 2020). In the U.S., the gap of social disparity was characterized by the industrial age. Fortunately, there was the entire education realm in a position to improve. During this industrial period, poor children enough were suffering from undernourishment and hunger due to low incomes in their families, according to Ruis (2011). Boston and Philadelphia were the first cities to implement a program of school lunches in the United States. Supporting organizations such as Starr Center Association and Women's Education embraced school lunch programs. The students were served hot school food in a cost-effective way, and all students were able to afford to buy it. Teachers realized the benefits of school lunches to students both physically and mentally. At the time, the federal government was not involved until the school lunch proved to benefit everyone, including farmers and laborers. Initially, school lunches were handled by private organizations whose main interest was local children’s welfare. After the validation of the National School Lunch Act, which advocated for a typical meal and a nutritious meal in 1946, the school lunch program became official (Lyson, 2017). Lately, the government and the community are putting pressure on public schools to make significant changes to the food that is served in educational institutions. Essentially, the school meals should meet standards and be of high quality and nutrition for the well-being of students. Through the eradication of illnesses by consuming healthy meals, students get a chance to grow both physically and mentally and thus positively affecting their school performance. Healthy food predominantly entails agricultural food products such as fresh fruits and vegetables with low-fat content. Moreover, students have to be given diverse food choices to meet their specific body requirements. It is crucial to comprehend that students are trying to fight obesity and be issued meals with fewer fats and calories. These school lunch changes will have incredible impacts on students.
Various motives call for more nutritious food necessities proposals and a wide variety of food choices for different students. Essentially, the student’s nutritional needs are entirely different from that of adults. Students in public schools are restricted in access to a large quantity of food, and thus they need small quantities of high quality. The food needs to be in dense and valuable nutrients to allow growth. Students are undergoing the growth and development of body muscles and the brain. Nutrition is critical for a child's brain and attentiveness and learning at school. Unfortunately, a lack of a low standard of diet lowers concentration, results in unpleasant behavioral issues, and adversely affects the level of students’ discipline. Lower-quality diets, such as meals with higher sugar and fat, content have an impact on the overall functioning of the body. Contemporary, there is increasing in the number of students in the adolescent age group with obesity complications. Public schools should have a relatively budget and choose meals that are appropriate for students. Moreover, the public should adopt a lunch program that prioritizes students’ choice of meals. In school, different age groups require a unique diet. Young students should be given food with different nutritional values compared to that of adolescent students. Also, there has to be a difference in meals between male and female students. Notably, girls undergo fast growth and development, most particularly during their puberty stage. Boys, on the other hand, tend to be more active body-wise and thus require energy-giving foods. Public schools must implement the new structure of the lunch program to meet various students' needs and improve students’ health.
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The proposal of having nutritious food and students’ choice of food have vital impacts. Higher-quality foods positively affect students and their adult life. Markedly, a well-balanced meal advances the learning process and memory. A study shows that a meal diet with a higher level of saturated fats, calories, and sugars, such as cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets, may impair learning and memory (Shakersain et al., 2018). Students barely have fewer sick days when fed a portion of highly nutritious food, which improves attendance and fosters education performance. Secondly, a high-nutrition meal helps to boost the level of concentration. Food products such as vegetables and fruits contain a higher content of minerals and vitamins, which significantly impacts cognitive abilities and concentration mentally wise. Furthermore, school meals with high nutrition improve school discipline and thus results in fewer school problems. School meals with little chemical additives and low sugar content decrease the insubordination level and cause hyperactivity among students. Still, a highly nutritious school meal assists students in achieving higher performance notches. In addition, school meals of high quality are a great factor in reducing the obesity rate among students. Research shows that in America today, almost two years old will develop obesity by attaining the age of thirty-five (Kones, 2011). Nevertheless, the adverse cases of obesity can be solved through public educational institutions, including healthy food in the programs related to the provision of lunch meals. Students in states that have nutritional ideals that are strict for school food show a rate of obesity than those in states with relaxed protocols. As evidenced by Roberts (2014), Japan is one of the world's most prosperous nations with nutritious school lunch programs and has recorded relatively low obesity among children. This is a clear depiction that adequate food tends to reduce the obesity level. Also, nutritious meals form better future habits. Markedly, the patterns of eating that children acquire in early life reflect in their adulthood. If children learn to prefer healthy foods, they will repetitively choose the same nutritious food in the future. Healthy foods in the long term ensure overall stable health. Besides, the school food choice needs to be included in the revamp process of school lunch. Students should be allowed to have a wide range of nutritious food options. By doing this, each student will choose according to their preference. Notably, some students have obesity, so they have to eat meals with less fat and calories. Besides, they are students who have a special diet due to some biological factors, and thus including a range of choices will ensure each student is served and satisfied. Moreover, female students have unique body functioning, such as menstruation, and thus provide a broad range of food varieties, such as nuts, legumes, and seeds, that will assist in catering to these unique conditions. Decision-makers must play an essential role in ensuring that public schools provide the best meals to students to achieve these significant school lunch program reforms.
The change in the meal program must be followed by various implementations that relevant decision-makers have to make. Essentially, national governments have interventions and given out directives that the National School Lunch Program must adhere to. President Barack Obama played a noteworthy role after the validation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The critical objective was to raise the lowest nutrition standards for lunch in public schools (Brown, 2018). The government should offer subsidies to schools to ensure that they can purchase food commodities of high nutrition. The National School Lunch program has to collaborate with healthy companies to supply nutritious food in the school. The organization should also offer training, technical assistance, and research to improve public schools' nutrition. Public schools should go in line with directives that the National School Lunch Program specifies: offering fruits and vegetables in meals, increasing the number of whole grains in lunch programs, and reducing sodium content in meals; schools should offer fat-free verities, establish grade-specific calories bounds, and eliminate trans fats. Moreover, public schools should develop school farms where they grow agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables. This is to reduce the amount associated with buying from local farms or companies.
However, the implementation of these policies is facing challenges. First, there is more waste of food as schools have to prepare a wide range of foods. Secondly, the higher food cost is hindering schools from accessing the most nutritious food products. Besides, it is becoming a challenge in obtaining food products that have the specified calorie requirements and the option of the federal. Still, planning and implementation of the school lunch are becoming a challenge. Public school students have different tastes and needs, so schools find themselves with the challenges of selecting the best meals that will accommodate everyone while paying attention to their preferences or medical reasons. Still, employing qualified personnel to ensure that school meals are prepared most appropriately is expensive, mainly for schools with low finance. Again, companies or farms that supply raw foods or ingredients required for a healthy meal may compromise the situation by supplying food products of low quality that do not meet the standards enacted by the National Lunch Program. Public school management must formulate policies that will help to counteract these challenges and overall provide students with the right quantity and healthy food.
In summary, school lunch needs only not to be a typical meal but also a nutritious one. School lunches should revamp to achieve long-term benefits. Many children are reported to have obesity, which is mainly attributed to the poor diet provided in public schools. School cafeterias offer junk foods and high-calorie meals, affecting students' performance, concentration, and general health. The standard of nutrition states to improve the general productivity of students, meals should be of high quality with correct nutrients. For better outcomes, fruits and vegetables should be a priority and be included in all school lunch food as they are fat-free and calorie-free. Also, public educational institutions should make reformations to the school lunch program by having a wide variety of healthy and nutritious foods to make sure that students enjoy their food preferences. Notably, the decision-makers should implement effective policies that schools have to obey to provide students with the appropriate meal. Primarily, the government should fund public schools to ensure that they can access foods with higher nutrition. It is essential to understand that an increase in public schools' food quality means increased school fees. Therefore, government and relevant policymakers should give public schools subsidies to ensure even the less fortunate students get equal access to healthy food.
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