Healthy School Lunches That Meet New Nutrition Standards: Is School Lunch the Problem?

No, not really. It has more to do with what the parents feed their kids, and that the parents just allow their kids to sit in front of the tv and play video games, instead of sending them outside to play real golf/baseball/bowling. it also doesn't hel0p that schools are cutting phys ed and recess periods. phys ed and recess not only help with weight, it also has a lot to do with working with others, and giving the minds of children a rest because you can only learn and focus for so long even if you DON'T have ADD/ADHD

along with getting rid of gym and recess. Many other things cause it as well. I have already solved the school lunch issue though

Lunches aren't THE problem, they're ONE OF THE problems.

School lunches? No.

the problem is the parents. over weight parents are going to allow over weight kids. you eat right, you teach your kids to eat right and they wont be over weight. school lunches dont help but they arnt the main problem.

Problem for what? Obesity? Nah! Physical education should be taught more in school. More fast food, are too accessible.

They are mostly inedible, if they were as good as they used to be, no problem. but 4 greasy chicken negguts is not healthy. can't tell in the pictures what they are. but thT ISN'T the answer and it NOT the Govts job. They also should not be wasting time worrying about vending machines. Of course they won't spend time taking care of things they are supposed to because they are the criminals themselves.

Come on....speaking from experience 30 yrs ago food in the school cafeteria sucked. Soda machines should not be allowed in schools; they are everywhere nowadays. To much carbs and lack of exercise to burn off the excessive energy. Many, not all fats are not bad for people.

I am talking 80s in the late 80s they started reducing the quality and my mother retired from cooking because she disagreed with it.

Oh. Well, I graduated from high school in 1982.

When they trashed the quality of the food, School PE went down too.

ikr? the greasy breaded stuff doesn't even taste good, nor does enriched bleached bread in my opinion; whole grain has more protein than people think, slower-release carbs, more nutrients & altogether a richer more satidfying taste. and avacados are a good source of healthy lipids/fats, as opposed to many other things behind the counter :p

People can pack there own lunches, but if caesar salad were as cheap as the fries at school I'd buy them.

The Government is the problem

But anything to help. The problem really is at home. Kids being fed unhealthily because it's cheaper for parents such as; McDonalds, Burger King etc..

It is significant, however...

Well ... the food probably sucks if it meets govt. standards and besides the real problem is putting down the fork and backing away from the table.

Government is. Get the fed out of our schools

Partially perhaps, but it's mostly what the parents feed them / allow them to eat.

Jamie Oliver used to do this show where he showed schools how to make a healthy lunch with little money. Maybe they should start a program like that in the USA too. At least that way schools won't be to blame for sure.

you know why kids are fat? becuase they don't hardly do anything. school lunches are school lunches, you only have them once a day. if you wanna blame something blame the kids, its their fault that their fat, lucky for me (yes i'm just like these kids) i don't ever gain weight that easily because i actually exercize thats why i'm not fat. but one last time: BLAME THE KIDS!!!

It has some blame, but not all.

Not the only problem but its a major contributing factor. There's been so many studies showing how awful the nutritional quality of these "lunches" is. Which should surprise nobody given that congress just declared pizza a vegetable. A sane country would encourage PE, provide healthcare for everyone and try to promote healthy eating instead of subsidizing corn syrup and junk food because some shady lobbyists bought off the FDA and congress. But seeing as we don't live in one none of the above is the case.

Much of the crap they fed us in school wasn't worth eating, some days I ate very little of it and went to the snack bar to stock up for those awful times.

Not the only problem but still an issue. True Story: my school got "healthier" by having more can (lot of syrup) fruit and whole grain pizza (peperoni had puddles of grease). It was not a big improvement and just made kids spend more money on chips and snacks instead.

Schools provide a nice, easy target to blame for problems like obesity. Personally, I think it's about 70% the parents.

to a degree.i also think what they are eating at home,if they have physical activities,etc. there are a lot of factors involved in obesity.

School lunches are disgusting. But they're not the whole reason why kids are fat.

Lack of education and too many conflicting health reports about what is good, or bad for us...

and then there's just general stupidity

They are A problem.

IT'S BOTH THE SCHOOL'S AND THE PARENTS' PROBLEM!!!!!!! It's your fault that you let your kid sit in front of the TV all day watching reruns of SpongeBob just as much it's the school's fault that your kid gets pizza and soda like they're at PizzaHut. This does not include parents who send bagged lunch with their kids.

It may not be THE problem, but it is a contributing factor to childhood obesity, along with other meals and overall inactivity.

People really need to stop blaming inanimate things for our problems.

A gigantic cup of fries, a cookie and a soda is not a lunch. Schools should not be serving pizza everyday or fastfood. The regular school lunches are so processed and nasty that students prefer the tasty, yet calorie-filled fast food choices. I always brought a relatively healthy lunch from home as a kid (and I still do as an adult), but I know that all parents can afford this luxury. Kids should not have the opportunity to eat as much junk as they want- many of them have not learned to have adequate self-control.

Some lunches are better than others. I don't fancy my tax dollars going to buy disgusting processed lunches. Most parents are not even capable of sending their children with healthy lunches.
I think you can tell which lunches are good and which are bad:

I think they need to portion control and lead by example. When people come from a family that doesn't have proper nutrition and portion control, they are going to need to be educated in what they should eat. I know it seems ridiculous, but it's not as if they asked to born to people ignorant in this area. It's not their fault.

they shouldnt even bother because most schools now have a salad bar and if you serve that stuff at lunch NO ONE IS GONNA EAT IT

What's wrong with people today? It's not school lunch that's the problem, it's the lack of exercise that's the problem. I remember when I was a kid JFK initiated a vigorous exercise program for all the public schools AND IT WORKED!
If you don't believe me just look around. Today's high school graduations remind me of fat cattle marching up a stockyard ramp.

The problem are the Parents who do not teach the kids what to eat Right and what not to eat correctly

I would say it's the parents problem because they are responsible for the food they're children eat, but I as a student I wonder why theses kids like to eat this stuff, the food at my school's lunch are gross, bringing a lunch from home is something we like to do.

Parents have more responsibility than schools do. Quit blaming others and try to remedy your shortcomings.