Contreras 1 Abigail Contreras Dr. Bradley ENGL 1301-336 12 Sept. 2022 Food not being what it seems to be Americans have normalized quick and easy breakfast as “healthy” when the truth is they’re as bad as sugary desserts. Julia Belluz and Javier Zarracina state how similar breakfast and dessert really is “muffin = cupcake; smoothie = milkshake; granola = streusel top; yogurt = ice cream; waffle = cookie” (468). Not only does breakfast go wrong for children but they also have unhealthy lunch at school. “despite the move to relax the nutritional standards of school lunches, there are things families … can do to combat childhood obesity” (Democrat and Chronicle Editorial Board ,462). With the school board giving children a break on their lunches they are expecting the parents to balance out their eating . The same parents who tend to think the breakfast served to their child is gonna give positive results. Due to the misinformed Americans, children eat what they believe to be healthy despite the fact that it just increases the probability they will grow obese. The American government recommends no more than 12 teaspoons of sugar a day per person but residents consume about 23 a day. Most of the sugar is consumed just in the breakfast that is so called healthy. Desserts are being disguised as breakfast and us americans are falling completely for it. The average american wakes up every morning heading to either work or school and stops at the coffee shop for a quick muffin and coffee. Not knowing that the muffin alone contains 9 tablespoons of sugar, it becomes an every day habit to stop for one every morning. The mornings in which there is no time for that stop we simply get granola or yogurt Contreras 2 which is healthier either way, right? Yogurt in fact is a fermented dairy product that contains protein and beneficial bacteria, but companies like Yoplait have drenched their product with sugar removing all the good it had. Even thought Yoplait has lowered their sugar to only 4.5 teaspoons, it still hold more sugar than a standard brownie. Granola isn’t much better, it contains much more calories and sugar that it may appear. Despite the fact that about 70% of Americans called granola healthy, less than 30% of nutritionists did. Companies pack approximately 200 calories in each serving. People tend to consume more than one sitting which mean they can be getting up to 600 calories or more from one bowl. All these food facts can be found in the internet but some how many Americans still don’t know what goes into their body and what really is healthy. It could be that the internet doesn’t always give out the correct information but with further investigation the facts from the lies should be clear. The health department needs to find an easy and assessable way to transmit information to Americans so obesidy rates start going down. For instance since I was young my mom always encouraged my sibling and I to eat a donut or cereal for breakfast thinking that it will help us out further down. Not only was she misinformed but she got my siblings and I on the habit that that’s how breakfast should look like. While some cereal is healthy, the most popular ones and the ones kids want just because of the colors and cartoons, are noting but cookies crushed up in a bowl. Something needs to be done to stop these bad habits that keep going from generation to generation. Everyone needs to know what will actually keep them away from obesity. With parents being unadvised on how to properly feed their children, school has been there only way out of unhealthy food. Children consume 50% of their daily calories at school which sounds great since they know what all the kids need to consume. The reality is that Contreras 3 schools are slowly becoming unhealthy as well. In 2017 Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, signed a proclamation that relaxes nutritional standards for whole grains, salt, and milk. That proclamation was a disadvantage to the fight against child obesity, 17% of children and adolescents are already obese in the U.S. With the change school put the responsibility back on the parents to make sure their child doesn’t become obese. But what can the parents they are the same people who don’t know the difference on what food to consume. School districts need to step up, not only give out healthier food but also food kids will enjoy and will actually eat. A good way to make sure kids will eat the food and letting them decide on it. A Pennsylvania district held a taste testing with families to try new offering and then got their feedback on it. Food isn’t the only change needed, time also plays a big factor. Students need to get more time to actually finish all their food. Kids being kids will always consume the food they like more (unhealthy) and by the time they’re actually considering eating the healthy part the time is over, this was actually a proven study made by Harvard University. The last worry on children is what they eat, which is why they rely on parents and school to feed them correctly. With no help at home nor school the hope of the nations future is at risk. Americans need to make the change to the proper eating habits before obesity rates sky rocket. Contreras 4 Works Cited Belluz, Julia. “We Need to Call American Breakfast What It often Is: Dessert”. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with readings, edited by John D. Ramage et al., 11th ed., Pearson 2019, pp. 468-70 Editorial Board, Democrat. “Keep Up Fight against Childhood Obesity”. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with readings, edited by John D. Ramage et al., 11th ed., Pearson 2019, pp. 46263
