Schools Find Healthier Eating Choices For Children
The Gainesville Sun
Childhood obesity has tripled in the last 20 years. Nearly 17 percent of U.S. children are considered obese. In response to this alarming trend, school systems are taking action to help students adopt healthier eating habits.
One reason school systems have not historically offered healthy alternatives for kids is the increased cost in higher quality foods, such as whole grain bread or fresh fruit and vegetables.
Dr. Stephen R. Daniels, pediatrician-in-chief at Children's Hospital Colorado in Denver, discusses ideas for battling childhood obesity in a recent article from The Gainesville Sun. Daniels highlights that schools need to partner menu changes with nutritional education programs to ensure childhood obesity decreases.
"While public policy and legal approaches are important, what's especially exciting to me is that individual schools, principals, teachers and community members are in many cases taking this problem into their own hands and saying, 'What we can do to solve it?'," said Daniels.
Read more about how school systems are teaching children to eat healthier and what creative intitiatives some schools have already started.
