If pizza is classified as a vegetable, then same-sex marriage should at least be given the same respect and be constitutionalized. Both issues are arguable, but they follow the same logic. The pizza issue, however, is prioritized as Congress voted last week against the Obama administration to downgrade the nutritional value of school lunches.
The National School Lunch Program’s nutritional guidelines, signed by former President Harry Truman in 1946, haven’t been updated in years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one-third of children are either overweight or obese. Approximately 17 percent of 87.5 million children and adolescents ages 2-19 are obese.
Looking at the pizza pie, it all adds up.
Children receive about 40 percent of their daily calories from school lunches. They have been getting bigger portions of less healthy foods and sugary drunks.
If “time-efficient” parents allow their kids to purchase and put mystery meat from money-making pigs into their mouths, then why should we even bother to protect the youngsters?
As Whitney Houston sang in “The Greatest Love of All”: “I believe that children are the future. [Feed] them well and let them lead the way.”
With that being said, the health of a nation is the wealth of a nation. The generation of potential doctors, engineers, artists and farmers, among other contributors of society will reorganize itself. The infrastructure will change as bodies deteriorate with type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among other chronic illnesses. Not only will alcohol and drugs be the anti-Christ of this generation, but the very source for survival will eventually destroy the minors. If the ‘50s worried about polio and the ‘80s marked the rise of autism spectrum disorders, then is obesity the accepted disease of the current generations? Will allowing corporations who make frozen pizza and tater tots save the country money, or will the hospital bills eventually discard the cutbacks in the long-run?
Children can wait until they’re licensed drivers to hit up Wienerschnitzel or any other fast food chain. Until then, we can say that we tried to watch over our children like a Good Samaritan, while the government is more concerned about budgeting.
So are you with the U.S. Surgeon General’s call to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity? If so, what are you doing to stay healthy?
When you say tomato, I say fresh potatoes!