Should Junk Food Be Banned in Public Schools? Essay Example

Background Information

There has been an argument about the food that is being served to children in public schools. It has been documented in the media that Americans are becoming obese and their children are following the same pattern. The children in public schools are developing a lifetime of poor eating habits that start early in life. These children learn these bad habits in the public school system that lead to a lifetime of serious health conditions as the grow and develop into teenagers and adults. The parents have some control of the children because they provide the unhealthy junk food as well. As a result, the children developed serious health complications including obesity as they enter adulthood. The public school should be held accountable because the children spend 90% of the time at school. The public schools should be responsible for laying the foundation for children to eat healthy.

Purpose of Statement

The purpose of these articles will support the banning of junk food in the public schools. These trend needs to implemented at the public schools which teaches and guide the parents in helping their children make healthier food choices.

Source

Source 1:  S., Ashakiran, and Deepthi R. (2012). Junk foods and their impact on health. Journal of Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (JKIMSU) 1(2), 7-15

Source 2: Frazier, J. P., Land, M., Hsieh, P., & Barratt, M. S. (2014). Junk food seen at pediatric

Clinic visits: Is it a problem? Clinical Pediatrics, 53(4), 320-325.

Source 3 Robinson, E., Harris, E., Thomas, J., Aveyard, P., & Higgs, S. (2013). Reducing high calorie snack food in young adults: a role for social norms and health based messages. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 10(1), 73-80.

Source 4 Basavaraj, S. S., Raghavendra, B. B., Jamil, M., Kavya, P. P., Deepa, R. R., Kavya, G. G., & Kiran, B. B. (2011). A study of patterns and determinants of junk food consumption among students. New Indian Journal of Surgery, 2(4), 271-272.

Source 5 Buck, C., Börnhorst, C., Pohlabeln, H., Huybrechts, I., Pala, V., Reisch, L., & Pigeot, I. (2013). Clustering of unhealthy food around German schools and its influence on dietary behavior in schoolchildren: a pilot study.International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 10(1), 65-74.

Sources

Source 1 S., Ashakiran, and Deepthi R. (2012). Junk foods and their impact on health. Journal of Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (JKIMSU) 1(2), 7-15

Topic Junk Foods and Their Impact on Health

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show the devastating effects of obesity and how it leads to other diseases such as diabetes.

Methods and Participation

The author performed research on the obesity. The determine from extensive research on obesity that over 300,000 deaths are related to junk food with fast food restaurants in the vicinity. The analysis found that there is a relationship between obesity rates along with poor health associated with living in close range of junk food stores or fast food.

Conclusion and Findings

The conclusion is the junk food is a combination of fat and sugar, which destroys the individual’s daily calorie intake that leads to obesity.

Relation to your topic

The article stresses the importance of children learning how to eat healthy. The article points out that obesity are a disease that can be eliminated with healthy food options. The article relates to my problem statement that junk food should be banned from public schools. The articles points out the statistics and primary reasons for the children becoming diabetic at an early stage in their development.

Source 2 Frazier, J. P., Land, M., Hsieh, P., & Barratt, M. S. (2014). Junk food seen at pediatric

Clinic visits: Is it a problem? Clinical Pediatrics, 53(4), 320-325.

Topic 2 Junk Food Seen at Pediatrics office

Purpose

The purpose of this article was to show how parents are leading the children with poor healthy habits. The public schools can ban the junk food, which would in turn force parents to stop sending unhealthy food to school.

Methods and Participation

The researchers performed a cross-sectional survey that was performed at the University of Texas Medical School. The goal of the survey was to document how much junk food was being consumed. The medical staff completed a convenience sample with the families asking about junk food. The survey was completed over a 10-month period. The studies were completed at the time of visit at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. The convenience survey is performed when the patient checks in for a visit with the physician. A convenience sample included 738 families with children from 4 to 16 years old. The patients were very receptive to completing the study. However, the observation was the most accurate indication of children eating junk food. It was reported regardless of race, creed or culture over 94% of families with children in the clinic had junk food.

Conclusion and Findings

The finds are the parents are just as responsible for the children’s growth and development however; they use comfort foods that are usually sugar, fat or high calorie intakes. The pediatricians indicated that parents need to educate on what constitutes a good dietary habits.

Relation to your topic

The study results indicated that the majority of the families carried junk food for their children to the pediatrician’s appointments.  This relates to my topic that the schools need to ban junk food, which will encourage the students not to bring junk food to public school.

Source 3 Robinson, E., Harris, E., Thomas, J., Aveyard, P., & Higgs, S. (2013). Reducing high calorie snack food in young adults: a role for social norms and health based messages. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 10(1), 73-80.

Topic 3 Reducing high calorie snack food in young adults: A role for social norms and health based messages

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show how young adults are constantly reminded about eating unhealthy foods.

Methods and Participation

The 3 x 2 method of the study was a socially controlled environment with participants eating junk food. Prior to taking the survey, the participants were informed it was a food and eating study. The participants looked at a poster with controlled positive health messages. The participants were told to create a specific mood which would attached to whatever snack that was chosen in the setting. The basics of this study were to present food groups, which the participants would, chose groups of food to eat. The goal was to find out the choices participants would make with some suggestions on healthy foods and those without it.

Conclusion and Findings

The conclusion is the social messages had no bearing on what the participants eat during the study. This means that the public schools have the most influence over a person even though commercials or television may encourage children to eat junk food.

Relation to your topic

The article relates to my topic because it explains that the media or other social influences are not stronger than the day-to-day encouragement of junk foods at the public schools.

Source 4 b Basavaraj, S. S., Raghavendra, B. B., Jamil, M., Kavya, P. P., Deepa, R. R., Kavya, G. G., & Kiran, B. B. (2011). A study of patterns and determinants of junk food consumption among students. New Indian Journal of Surgery, 2(4), 271

Topic A study of patterns and determinants of junk food consumption among students.

Purpose The purpose of this article is to show the damage junk food can do to children and the habits of poor eating choices of adolescents.

Methods and Participation

The number of participants were 760 from the medical practice of Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Science. The type of study that was completed is a cross-sectional study with simple random sampling. The method of testing was pretesting and validated with a mix of close and opened questions. This was anonymous survey that data was collected using a database created in MS Excel. The statistics were calculated using SPSS software. They had over 93% participation and most were males at 63.6 percent in group ranges of 14 to 16 years of age

Most of the study subjects were males (63.6%) and in the age group of 14-16 years (60.9%).

Conclusion and Findings

The conclusion supported the theory that teenagers are reflecting the poor eating habits of what they have been taught at home or in the public school systems. The teenagers choose chocolate, cakes, candies and other junk food as choices to eat. The students also shared they eat French fries on a regulator basis. They made these food choices whether with friends of family. .

Relation to your topic

The article supported my theory that teenagers are being taught bad habits which they continue eating junk food as an adult. In addition, the children have been taught for years by their own parents on which junk foods to buy.

Source 5 Buck, C., Börnhorst, C., Pohlabeln, H., Huybrechts, I., Pala, V., Reisch, L., & Pigeot, I. (2013). Clustering of unhealthy food around German schools and its influence on dietary behavior in school children: a pilot study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 10(1), 65-74.

Topic: Clustering of unhealthy food around German schools and its influence on dietary behavior in school children

Purpose The purpose is to support the argument that public schools should ban junk food. This article shows how students are bombarded with fast food places around the public schools plus advertising that indicates they must eat.

Methods and Participation

The study was an fast food and grocery store coded for food choices which identified which junk food was being purchase with cross reference to the sex, age, parents education and income. This was based on a database of by Germany’s statistical information concerning public school children.

Conclusion and Findings 

There are geographical locations of fast food near the locations of school and where a child lives that shows that the marketing is directly to the teenagers in German. However, the study indicated that just because the teenagers are near the influence of fast foods do not mean that is the primary influence.

Relation to your topic

It relates to my topic because it supports the theory that schools spend the most time with children. They determine the types of food they eat every day. This article indicates that in Germany, the students based on sex, age, education and income was not a factor. The primary factor was the students learned bad eating habits in school.

Final Conclusion

The overall theme of the junk food articles is the amount of damage junk food does to the body. The primary influence is where children learned to eat junk food at the school. The additional fast food advertising contributes to the student’s bad eating habits. The bottom line children are being taught bad eating habits. In addition, the consensus is the children develop diabetes because of junk food. There needs to more research to determine why some children eat junk food but do not get fat while others continue to eat junk food becoming obese.  The research question would be” Does the child that is obese get fat because of genetics but not junk food?”