Healthy students

As summer begins, so does the conditioning and training of many student-athletes. While some kids exercise, others remain at home unaware that they are undermining their health. Culpeper County Public Schools is one of many participants in the National School Lunch Program. The food service department serves about 1,068,000 meals annually (including breakfast and lunch). The Director of Food Services, Greg Beamer, said that students consume about 27, 000 servings of green beans, 17,300 servings of grapes, and 762, 592 cartons of milk annually.

“Food sales-both meals and ala carte items-sustain the food service portion of the school budget,” Beamer said. “The staff continually searches for food products that are not only wholesome, but economical- and just plain tasty.”

What is not mentioned, however, are the favorable snacks, or extras available to students daily. Behind the counter students are offered brownies, cookies, and dessert assortments from zebra cakes to ice cream. Of course these tasty treats are in addition to the price of lunch, yet that is not all that is available to students. Before they are offered any of these wonderful snacks, they are also able to purchase an extra dish, side, or drink.

For an elementary school student the buying power isn’t personally overwhelming, but when parents find themselves continuously replenishing their child’s lunch accounts, this is why. With some credit given to fast food industries and probable unhealthy eating habits at home, the contribution of school food could be one of the many causes for student health issues.

In the middle and high school levels, French fries are served every day. In addition, the high school has added vending machines (although they are supposed to be off limits during school hours) that offer a variety of candies, chocolate, cookies, chips, and other sugary products. Not to mention, the soda and drink machines that are meant to follow the very same rules.

The average walking distance of a high school student to and from class is about two miles per day, with few exceptions. As Eastern View High School prepares to open, walking distance will decrease along, possibly, with the health of some students. Not only are children offered these options, but also failure to incorporate them into the lunch menu creates conflict on a different level.

I chose this subject this month because I believe parents deserve to know what their children are eating and need to know that they have to take control before conditions such as diabetes and obesity arise.

The school system does deserve credit for working so hard and putting out fruits and vegetables in a conscientious effort to promote nutritional wellness, but the extras are neither nutritional nor necessary. The only way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is to eat healthy and exercise regularly. Throughout the summer I strongly encourage you to ask your kids to do just that.

Tiffany Reed is a rising junior at CCHS. E-mail