Food for Thought, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Children represent the future generation that will shape the contours of the world so their safety is important. Their safety does not merely refer to protecting them from crime and criminals such as child molesters, kidnappers, rapists, street and gang violence, and other situations in which they might be harmed. The youth today need to be protected from learning bad eating habits, such as the consumption of fast foods that have a lot of calories and fat. Children need to be educated about how to eat nutritious meals and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Childhood obesity has greatly increased in recent years, which poses many health threats to children and the future of this country. There are several figures and institutions that directly contribute to the eating habits children pick up and how they make their food choices.

A large volume of scholarly research and studies on childhood obesity trends suggest that social marketing and advertising that target poor, minority communities, in addition to other environmental factors, play an important role in rising rates of child obesity. In order gain control over this health problem, public policies need to be passed that directly address childhood obesity, Although unfortunately there is a lack of scholarly research on the correlation between parental negligence and childhood obesity, it is obvious that the epidemic of childhood obesity makes up one symptom of parental abuse and neglect.

Educators And Eating Habits

The education system plays an important role in for how kids unhealthy eating behaviors that children continue to show frequently. Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation investigates this pressing issue and the role of educational settings in teaching healthy eating behaviors and the ability to understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy lifestyles. Children spends about seven hours a day, one hundred and fifty days a year in school. While at school, children eat both breakfast and lunch peripheral to the supervision of their parents, thereby enabling them to choose what they will eat. Because of the financial situation in the majority of American public schools, the food choices in the cafeteria are severely limited. As such, mainly processed foods or foods with high caloric value are served.

Ann Cooper’s “What’s Wrong with School Lunches?” discusses how no one within the public school system has taken ample time to prepare foods for the students that are healthy and beneficial to their overall well-being. Instead, school officials prefer to use frozen foods products such as chicken nuggets, which are not even made from real chicken but other processed meats; hamburgers made from processed meats oppose rather than hundred percent beef; and pre-made desserts that contain high amounts of fat. Schools also have fundraisers to collect funds for certain programs that the budget does not cover. To encourage people to invest, clubs and departments often buy food in bulk from fast food chains and other kinds of junk food such as candy, potato chips, and other tasty, high-sodium treats. Constantly eating these types of foods, combined with an inactive lifestyle, all contribute to early childhood diabetes and obesity. If schools invested more in the health of their students rather than saving money and refusing to spend time putting the interests of the students first, childhood obesity rates would be far lower than current levels.

Social Marketing And Advertisements

In addition to school influences, social marketing and the advertisement of fast food marketing has also resulted in children’s bad eating habits. Within a high-paced and chaotic world, parents often do not have enough time to prepare meals for the family every day. Fast food offers a quick and easy solution when there simply is not enough time in the day to get everything done. McDonalds, Burger King, Chuck-EE Cheese, and other fast food chains target kids specifically through many commercial and children television networks in addition to promotions of the happy meal prepared just for kids, including a fun toy as incentive. After children come home from school and finish their homework, they usually spend the remainder of the day watching television, which inundates them with persuasive messages that fast food is delicious. Several fast food advertisements being promoted, using free toys, animated characters, and even popular movies that appeal to kids, while message that comes across eschews healthy foods and eating. While these companies are promoting their brands, they fail to show any concern for how such unhealthy food will affect children in the short and long term. If they did a better job at promoting foods that are not so high in the salt, sugar, and fat content, yet still advertise the toys, and miniature indoor playgrounds, the children would probably be more excited to eat healthier food. They would be at less of a risk of being obese or getting having diabetes at an early age. It must be noted that children lack the financial ability to decide where they eat their meals and snacks. As such, it is very important for educators and parents to supervise what children put inside their bodies and promote healthy lifestyles and behaviors.

Parental Modeling And Eating Habits

While it is easy to blame the schools and fast food chains for contributing to the unhealthy eating habits of children, resulting in several preventable medical conditions such as early childhood diabetes and obesity, parents are the primary influence in children’s lives over their values, habits, and behaviors. If parents neglect to teach their children about healthy eating, some people consider such parenting abusive. With rising rates of childhood obesity, parents cannot let their children eat anything they please to just so their children like them more. Rather, parents must demonstrate good and healthy eating habits so that their children emulate them. Parents who lack financial stability often have no choice but to serve unhealthy foods because they are cheaper. Parents must become good models for their children to model their behaviors and habits after.

Conclusion

If there are not enough people trying to promote healthy eating habits to kids,

There will be no children of tomorrow. Children are a very important in this world.

They will be the future leaders of the world, so their health is of paramount importance. As such, parents, educators, and policy makers must address the issue of childhood obesity as quickly as possible through collaboration and advocacy in order to protect children from further harm.