A New Generation of Weight Gain

Written by: Madeline DeFrank

Older adults don’t realize how fortunate they were to grow up in a time without iPads,
iPhones, Snapchat or any of the other technological developments that have consumed most of
our lives.
The kids on the block used to go on adventures to the creek till the sun started to set and
competed in scooter races down the neighborhood hill. Playing outside with friends was the
single best part of the afternoon as a child. Once high school comes around, everyone slowly
starts to go inside and stay inside. People begin to block off the world with their headphones and
start communicating through filters. The importance of staying active and eating well slips away
from parents as soon as they realize the iPhone is the best babysitter of them all.
Doritos, Capri-Sun and Little Debbie’s began to fill more lunchboxes as each year
passed, and not even the school administration cared what went into the food served in the
school cafeteria. Before Michelle Obama’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Act of 2010, school systems
did not set standard health guidelines, such as a well-balanced meal or a 30-minute active period
throughout each day. Teaching children the importance of how to properly take care of
themselves, both physically and mentally, took a back seat.
The CDC released childhood obesity research in 2015 that showed that, on average, one
in every five children are considered obese. This is an incredibly scary fact because children with
obesity are at higher risk of suffering from social isolation, depression, Type 2 diabetes, and in
the long term, many types of cancer, according to the CDC 2015 research. These little ones are at
risk of so much before they even have the chance to make a majority of their decisions
independently.
After taking one step forward, the United States took five steps back. In 2018, the Trump
administration reversed all the work Michelle Obama and her team did to creating a healthier
environment at school for kids. Students are back to eating processed sausage patties and funnel
cakes with chocolate milk as a “nutritious” lunch served by the public schools across America.
When will society notice that it is time to plan for safe, healthy eating for our future
generations? It should be a societal norm to set kids up for a long and happy life, and the Trump
administration is doing close to nothing to help. It’s time to go back to the way things were.
Candidates who are allocating more funding to schools and care for the children need help in
fighting the current system, so give them a step up from the competition to make this much-
needed change.
Madeline DeFrank is an active advocate for childhood health care and cares
passionately for change.