High School Cafeteria Menus: Healthy or Not?

Back in the day, we didn’t know much about which foods were healthy for us and which weren’t. In today’s modern society, with the help of countless scientists and researchers, we now know that the consumption of too many fatty foods results in an increase in the likelihood of having heart disease. But are we really taking measures to prevent our kids from being affected by this deadly illness?

To be completely honest, no type of food is 100% pure and clean. Even fruits such as apples and oranges have been sprayed by pesticides while growing on trees, and washing them with soap and water still doesn’t remove all of the chemicals present in them. But, they are still more healthy than some of the foods consumed by our kids these days.

High school cafeterias serve such fatty foods as burgers, poutine and pizza. Some of our kids bring lunch money to school nearly every day, and even though we provide them with “bagged lunches”, they sometimes throw them out when we’re not present and instead purchase their favorite deep-fried meals. Vending machines aren’t of much help either, since kids crave chocolate and other candies. So what can we do?

Certain schools have already banned all vending machines from their cafeteria and are even serving healthy meals at lunch, instead of the typical “burgers and fries” repast. This, of course, is only a first step. Simply serving healthy foods won’t change our kids’ attitudes toward eating. We need to explain to them the consequences of consuming too many fatty foods and sweet treats.

Some schools, however, refuse to take part in changing their cafeteria menus, or worse, eliminating their vending machines. Why? Simple. The companies who own said machines are paying the schools a royalty to place them inside their cafeterias and so forth. Why would a school turn down free money? Unfortunately, when it comes to my children, their health comes first, and money second.

There may not yet be a way to entirely prevent our kids from consuming too many types of fatty foods, but we can at least educate them on why we eat certain meals more often than others. Don’t get me wrong. The occasional burger or slice of pizza is fine for the average child. But over-consumption of these “fast-food” meals can and will lead to disaster.

If you want your child to live a healthy, long-lasting life, then teach them now and teach them well. Otherwise, it may be too late to change their minds.