Angela Recommends

It is a well-known fact that many of the top diseases plaguing the United States are diet-related, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. The National Institutes of Health even states that four of the six leading causes of death in the U.S. are linked to unhealthy diets.

This is one of the primary reasons that has lead to the startling fact that the current generation is the first one in recorded history in which their lifespan will actually be shorter than their parents. This is primarily due to chronic degenerative diseases that result from insulin and leptin resistance.

School Lunch Programs Get a Failing Grade

Processed foods are the norm at most school cafeterias, where under $1 a day is spent to feed your children.

“Renegade lunch lady” Ann Cooper talks about the coming revolution in the way kids eat at school — local, sustainable, seasonal and even educational food.

Hopefully this revolution will also influence the number of junk food ads on TV. The association between television viewing and childhood obesity is directly related to children’s exposure to commercials that advertise unhealthy foods, according to a new study.

The study is the first to break down the types of television children watch to better determine whether different kinds of content may exert different effects on obesity.

The researchers gathered data from primary caregivers of more than 3,500 children, ranging from infants to 12-year-olds. Through time-use diaries, study respondents reported their children’s activities, including television viewing, throughout the course of an entire weekday and an entire weekend day.

Among all children, commercial viewing was significantly associated with higher BMI, although the effect was stronger for children younger than 7.

Read the rest of this important article here:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/06/why-school-lunches-are-so-important-and-what-can-be-done-to-improve-them.aspx