Wed, Jul 19 2006

Free school lunches for kids may not be such a bargain in the long run

I was a little startled by the news that more than half of our public schoolchildren in California now receive free (or reduced cost) meals at school. The National School Lunch Program has probably helped feed a lot of schoolchildren since it was established in the 1940s, and has been a boon to low-income families.

I would temper that knowledge with the fact that a lot of the current patients fighting heart disease and diabetes are Baby Boomers who grew up eating their school lunches from menus that sprung from The National School Lunch Program. Whether lunch is free, cost-reduced or paid in full by parents, let's hope that future school lunches are progressively more healthful and reflect what we're learning about nutrition. The folks in charge still seem to be pushing dairy products and protein on the students. We don't seem to have a major problem with starvation due to low caloric intake in the US, or a problem with kwashiorkor either. However, cholesterol, heart health and blood glucose levels are all becoming major issues for even the children among us. And I still see a lot of corn dogs, macaroni and cheese and pepperoni pizza on those current menus. If we don't watch what we're doing we'll be giving these kids lunches that might seem like a boost for their school day at first glance, but we might actually be setting them up for a lot of trips to the doctor later in life and we might be putting more of a strain on our already overburdened health care system. Hunger is easily satisfied, in the short term. Eating for the best health requires responsible planning if we aren't all going to pay dearly for it later.

posted at: 11:37 | category: /Food | link to this entry