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Children believe their schools provide the truth – almost without question.  They learn through their senses.  In most classrooms, sight and hearing are the main pathways for acquiring knowledge. In the lunchroom, education is through all 5 senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing.  Yes, hearing.  Children are told that the lunch they are served is good nutrition – and that simply is not true.  The foods they are served will rob them of their health and beauty – they are eating a very high-fat, highly-processed version of the standard American diet.  The impact of this education lasts a lifetime.

The National School Lunch Program of the United States Department of Agriculture, which gives schools more than $6 billion each year, is supposed to provide healthy meals to children, regardless of family income. Yet, at the same time they are supposed to subsidize agribusiness, by promoting the sales of beef and milk.   In 2001, the USDA spent a total of $350 million on surplus beef and cheese for schools -- more than double the $161 million spent on all fruits and vegetables, most of which were canned or frozen.

Matters are made worse because even the current harmful recommendations are not being followed. Despite a government mandate that school lunches and breakfasts meet federal dietary guidelines, University of California-San Diego researchers found California middle school students eat one-half, rather than the recommended one-third, of their daily allowance of fat, in their school cafeteria lunches.¹

Our Children are Fat and Sick

A study by the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, of 6728 adolescents in grades 5 to 12, found that approximately 24% of the population was overweight. Almost half of the girls (45%) reported that they had at some point been on a diet, compared with 20% of the boys.²  Eating disorders were reported by 13% of the girls and 7% of the boys. These overweight children were also found to be more likely to have low self-esteem, depression, suicidal tendencies, and substance abuse.

But the story is more tragic.  As a general doctor (internist), I have cared for hundreds of children – and most of them are sick.  Through my personal conversations with them I have discovered the vast majority suffers from headaches, body aches, and stomach aches.  Their skin is oily and marked with acne.  Constipation is a constant problem and when relief comes it is often painful and accompanied by bloody bowel movements.  If these harms were inflicted upon children with a wooden stick, the perpetrators would be put in jail.  Since the source of injury is a fork and spoon, and these practices are sanctioned by the US government through the school lunch programs, their suffering is accepted almost without question.

Fat and sick children soon become adults with even worse health problems and the costs become staggering with cancer, heart disease, and strokes, as well as orphaned children, lost spouses, reduced productivity, and financial burdens from extravagant medical care.  The problem must be stopped and our children are the place to start.

You Say Children Won’t Change – Wrong!

I learn my most important lessons from my students and patients – school children are no exception.  In 1980 I gave my first talk to high school students at Punahou in Honolulu, Hawaii.  The usual questions about protein and calcium followed my one-hour presentation, and then one student caught me by surprise by asking, “How do we get our parents to eat this way?”  Other students followed with similar concerns.  In the past, all I had heard was from the parents in my office who complained their children would never give up ice cream and burgers.  I now realized that acceptance of this healthful message has nothing to do with age – it just requires people who care about themselves, wanting the most out of life.  Our children want to be healthier – but they need our help.

Change One Child and Change the World

For adolescents there is nothing more important to them than their physical appearance.  Remember what happened when one trend-setter in a middle or high school introduced a new hair, makeup, shoe, or dress style?  Within two weeks most of the other children followed these fashions, which changed their superficial appearance.  Deeper improvements in personal attractiveness are not so easy. No matter how much they cake on the Clearasil, the greasy skin and pimples remain.  Every effort to hide their expanding abdomens and thighs fails.  And the hurt from this ugliness goes deep into their souls.

Imagine the impact of one overweight, pimply-faced boy or girl drastically improving his or her appearance.  The stampede for this “magic potion” would be unstoppable – even if the miracle was a healthy low-fat, vegetarian diet and some exercise.  Furthermore, when it was discovered that the foods were more delicious than the standard fare provided by their school, and that this kind of eating was good for the planet and furry animals, all resistance would cease.  The ripple effect would be enormous.  From one student to an entire school, to the school system, to a community, to the country, to the world – just like short skirts, teased hair, pink lipstick, ninja turtles and hoola hoops once did.

Now is The Time to Begin

Changes are beginning in small ways.  You can read about them in this issue in the article on “Healthy Beginnings.”  Meet with your school board and PTA. Demand a healthy plant-based alternative for the school meal program.  You will be amazed at how little resistance you will encounter – the time is now for better health through proper nutrition for our children.  My goal – as is yours – is: Stop the Suffering from the Malnutrition Now Rampant in Our Schools.

References:

1.  Zive M. Sources of dietary fat in middle schools.  Prev Med. 2002 Oct;35(4):376-82.

2.  Neumark-Sztainer D.  Weight-related behaviors among adolescent girls and boys: results from a national survey.  Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000 Jun;154(6):569-77.

2003 John McDougall All Rights Reserved