Should unhealthy foods be banned from schools?
All the Yes points:
- Obesity is on the increase in the developed world, and that includes rising childhood obesity. In t…
- Schools can play an important role in combating obesity as people tend to get into habits about how …
- Bad diet can lead to childhood obesity, and other problems caused by unhealthy eating such as poor c…
- There is a good past example for schools getting involved in diet. Traditionally schools have given…
- Schools teach healthy eating in Food Science and then undermine that by having vending machines full…
- If children try healthy food at school, they can take their knowledge home and introduce new food to…
All the No points:
Obesity is on the increase in the developed world, and that includes rising childhood obesity. In t…
Yes because…
Obesity is on the increase in the developed world, and that includes rising childhood obesity. In the UK it is predicted that over 20% of 2-15 year olds will be obese by 2010. It is important to fight obesity as it causes many health problems and can lead to early death through heart diease, diabetes and strokes.
No because…
Obesity is a growing problem that we should take seriously. But the way to solve it is not to limit the choice of food in schools as children will just fill up on unhealthy food outside of schools. Instead we need to increase the amount of sport and exercise in schools and educate children about eating healthily. At the same time we should encourage parents to provide a balanced diet for their children.
Schools can play an important role in combating obesity as people tend to get into habits about how …
Yes because…
Schools can play an important role in combating obesity as people tend to get into habits about how they eat when they are young. Schools can help to make those habits healthy ones. If you don’t eat fresh food and vegetables at home, you might not get to try them and then you are unlikely to cook them for yourself later. Schools can introduce young people to healthy food.
No because…
Schools need to teach pupils about how to make healthy choices and what makes a balanced diet. They need education on what’s good for you but then need to be given the chance to choose for themselves between an apple and a chocolate bar. Otherwise as soon as they’re out of school, they’ll still eat three chocolate bars because you haven’t changed their mindset. They may even eat more junk food on purpose as an act of rebellion. So schools should serve a range of food, not just salads and other “health foods”, in order to provide such a choice.
Bad diet can lead to childhood obesity, and other problems caused by unhealthy eating such as poor c…
Yes because…
Bad diet can lead to childhood obesity, and other problems caused by unhealthy eating such as poor concentration, tooth decay and vitamin deficiencies. Schools can play a part in fighting these problems by providing healthy lunches in their canteens. Even if this is only one of the meals in a child’s day, schools can have a good effect on the overall diet of their students. If children are eating grilled chicken, vegetables and fruit at lunch rather than fried chicken, chips and cakes, that will have a positive effect on their health, and their schoolwork will improve too.
No because…
A balanced diet includes small amounts of sugar, fat and salt – how do you decide what is healthy and what is not? Portions are key to a healthy diet. If pupils are very active and involved in sport, they may need to eat a lot of calories. You have to teach children and their parents to make responsible choices for themselves. The upbringing of children is mostly down to parents – the state shouldn’t take the job on through its schools.
There is a good past example for schools getting involved in diet. Traditionally schools have given…
Yes because…
There is a good past example for schools getting involved in diet. Traditionally schools have given out free milk and fruit to try and make sure that children get enough calcium and vitamins, in case they are not getting enough at home. In the UK school meals were first made available by a reforming Liberal government a hundred years ago as a way of improving the health of the nation.
No because…
There is a difference between providing something healthy as a free extra and limiting children’s access to food at lunchtime. You won’t make a difference with school meals if a child can just have an extra Macdonald’s burger or three more chocolate bars on the way home if they are hungry. If a school wants to make a difference, they should have more compulsory PE lessons to improve children’s fitness levels.
Schools teach healthy eating in Food Science and then undermine that by having vending machines full…
Yes because…
Schools teach healthy eating in Food Science and then undermine that by having vending machines full of chocolate and crisps outside the classrooms. We wouldn’t let schools have cigarette machines, so why let them sell food which is bad for your health?
No because…
The difference between cigarettes and unhealthy foods is that even smoking occasionally is bad for your health, whereas eating fat, sugar and salt in moderation is not bad for you. It’s important to learn about how to make choices for a balanced diet.
If children try healthy food at school, they can take their knowledge home and introduce new food to…
Yes because…
If children try healthy food at school, they can take their knowledge home and introduce new food to their family. If a family always has frozen pizzas, they could suggest that they have other Italian food too, such as pasta and tomato sauce.
No because…
If children don’t eat healthily at home they are more likely to avoid healthy school dinners. Instead they will bring an unhealthy packed lunch or go out of school for junk food in the lunchhour. Figures show that since the Jamie Oliver campaign in the UK, demand for school dinners has gone down by 20%. So there is no quick fix to encourage healthy eating and school meal campaigns may even be unhelpful. Tackling obesity properly will mean changing our food culture and that will involve the media, advertisers, food retailers and educators all playing a part.
No because By banning junk food you’re just making kids more sneaky, because nobody’s going to give up junk food .I mean what are they going to do, check everyone’s lunch everyday to make sure it’s all healthy food? That would take so much time. They want to control what we eat,but then again we’re in middle school you’re not going to control our decisions for much longer especially what we eat. The school isn’t banning eating junk altogether though,the student are just going to go to
it is more important what the parents say, because it is their child. If the school has a policy of banning junk food because of obesity, then that’s just stupid because it’s the parent’s choice. If you think that the child has to stop eating junk food because of obese then that’s just rude because they’re like anyone else and they deserve to have a little treat here and there. The students are going through a phase where they are growing up
“No because By banning junk food you’re just making kids more sneaky, because nobody’s going to give up junk food”
That’s fallacious reasoning. Try again.
“I mean what are they going to do, check everyone’s lunch everyday to make sure it’s all healthy food?”
No, that’s not what this debate is about; the debate is about providing healthier CHOICES. Most schools serve hamburgers, pizza, chicken nuggets, etc. every day.
“They want to control what we eat,but then again we’re in middle school you’re not going to control our decisions for much longer especially what we eat.”
No, this isn’t some control-exercise, nor is it something you need rebel against. There is no “they”. People just don’t want their kids eating figurative garbage every day for a year. Also, hate to break it to you, but: middle school isn’t the end of your academic life. This debate isn’t just for middle schoolers. Calm down.
“The school isn’t banning eating junk altogether though,the student are just going to go to”
I don’t fully understand what this means, but are you saying that students should just choose to eat healthier? That’s really hard and doesn’t happen. Let’s see… Would your average 12-14-year-old choose salad or okra over a cheesy slice of pizza? No, they won’t. Which is why there should be healthier things put in front of them, so they can make the right choices.
“it is more important what the parents say, because it is their child. If the school has a policy of banning junk food because of obesity, then that’s just stupid because it’s the parent’s choice.”
Most of this debate is FROM concerned parents. Do you think your school cares about what it feeds its students? No, it doesn’t; in fact, the more money problems a school is having, the more likely they are to be feeding you crap. Obesity can be stopped early on if the foundations for healthy decision making (regarding food) is laid.
“If you think that the child has to stop eating junk food because of obese then that’s just rude because they’re like anyone else and they deserve to have a little treat here and there. The students are going through a phase where they are growing up”
Oh lord. You’ve confused obesity with just being fat. Stopping a child from becoming obese when they’re still in school isn’t “mean”. An obese person will have heart problems; an obese person will die an early life; obesity is a LEADING CAUSE of preventable death worldwide. It’s not “mean” to stop a child from killing himself.
we think junk food should not be banned because it provides variety and in secondary school you should know when to stop. we still think that teachers need to tell the pupils how to have a balanced diet with a small amount of junk food in it and schools should promote healthy eating.
We would love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!