A whopping 30 percent of children in public schools are obese.
They’re not chunky, big-boned, hefty, plump, rotund. They’re morbidly fat.
Small wonder. Physical education and recesses are being trimmed because of budget shortfalls. And, ironically, fast-food vending machines are used to help alleviate those shortfalls.
Many high schools even allow fast-food vendors to cater pizzas, hamburgers, french fries and tacos in student cafeterias.
And the federal free- and reduced-price breakfast and lunch programs aren’t helping either. Surplus foods supplied to the subsidized school menus have high fat and carbohydrate contents.
Attention-deficit disorders get the blame, but the likely culprits are refined sugar and caffeine. (21 NOVEMBER 2004)
