JUNK FOOD: SHOULD SCHOOLS SELL IT?

Transcription

1 Join the national conversation! Focus Words capacity distribute methods abstain morality Weekly Passage Across the United States young people eat too much salt, sugar, and fat. Childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes are on the rise. Some people think schools have the capacity to make a difference. Many kids eat half of their daily calories in school. School lunches have to meet nutrition standards, but some people say these standards are too low. Plus, today s schools don t just serve lunch. They distribute food using other methods, too. Many schools have school stores, snack carts, and vending machines. These places often sell candy, chips, soda, and other junk food. Schools make money from these junk food sales. Snack food companies pay for the right to sell their snacks. School stores and snack carts raise money. Some people say this makes sense. Schools need money. If schools don t sell junk food, kids can buy it somewhere else. Other people say that if schools ban junk food, kids won t learn to make good choices. After all, kids don t need to abstain from eating these foods. They just shouldn t eat them very often. JUNK FOOD: SHOULD SCHOOLS SELL IT? Word Generation Other people question the morality of schools selling junk food. Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are big problems. Bad eating habits can be deadly. In the classroom, schools teach about good nutrition. Is it right for these same schools to sell kids dangerous food? What do you think? Do kids need choices? Do schools need the money? Or should schools fight health problems by selling only healthy food? Discussion Questions: 1. Some people think schools have the capacity to change kids eating habits. Do you agree? Why or why not? 2. What are the methods schools use to distribute food? How is food distributed in your school? 3. What are some reasons that people support the sale of junk food in schools? 4. What are some reasons that people oppose the sale of junk food in schools? 5. If schools abstain from selling junk food, will it change kids eating habits overall? Why or why not?

2 Junk food: Should schools sell it? Focus Word Chart (teacher version) Word Meaning Forms Related Words Inflectional Basic Word Classes Prefixes/ Suffixes capacity (n.) - an ability capacities incapacitate capacious distribute (v.) - to give out distributes distributing distributed distribution distributive redistribute distributable tribute tributary methods (n.) - a way of doing something methods methodical methodology methodological abstain (v.) - to choose not to do something abstains abstaining abstained abstention retain sustain morality (n.) - a sense of right and wrong; values moralities moral (adj.) moralize demoralize moral (n.) more (n.)

3 Junk food: Should schools sell it? Debating the Issue Debate Tip: When you argue your position, be sure to provide reasons and evidence to back up your opinion. Also, feel free to take your own position if you don t agree with one of these four. Schools should abstain from selling junk food in schools. It is immoral to give students food products we know to contribute to weight gain and medical conditions. Schools should not abstain from selling junk food in schools; they should be allowed to sell and distribute snacks and sodas and let students make their own decisions. Students have their own capacity to make their own decisions. 1 2 POSITIONS 3 4 Schools should abstain from selling junk food in schools; they can make money selling and distributing healthier food and contribute to children making better choices. It is within their capacity to make these decisions. Parents should teach their children to abstain from junk food but also employ certain methods to get schools to stop distributing foods they know might make their children overweight. Parents should become more involved in the decisions of the schools especially if it affects their children s health. Parents have the capacity to change school policies. TEACHER Whatever debate format you use in your class, ask students to use academically productive talk in arguing their positions. In particular, students should provide reasons and evidence to back up their assertions. It may be helpful to read these sample positions to illustrate some possibilities, but students should also be encouraged to take their own positions on the issue at hand.

4 Junk food: Should schools sell it? Problem of the Week The costs of obesity are distributed throughout our society. Obesity-related illnesses hurt productivity, or people s capacity to do work. This hurts employers. Sometimes, these people lose their jobs. This hurts their families and communities. 1. The costs of decreased productivity are hard to measure. But we can measure health care costs. In 2000, our nation spent $117 billion in obesity-related health care costs. Which of the following is equivalent to 117 billion? A) (1 x 100,000,000,000) + (1 x 10,000,000,000) + (7 x 1,000,000,000) B) (1 x 100,000,000) + (1 x 10,000,000) + (7 x 1,000,000) C) (1 x 100,000) + (1 x 10,000) + (7 x 1,000) D) (117 x 1,000,000) One method for fighting obesity is to focus on kids eating habits. If kids abstain from eating junk food, they will grow up to be healthier adults. 2. Today, 31.9% of kids in the U.S. are overweight. What is the value of the 9 in 31.9? nine tenths Discussion Question: Think about what you know about healthy eating. What are some other reasons that apples are healthier than baked chips? Can you incorporate what you know into this discussion?

5 Junk food: Should schools sell it? Science Activity Directions: Complete the sentences below using one of the weekly focus words (or a related word). Diabetes is a serious insulin disorder. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body use glucose, a sugar, as energy. method immoral abstain distributed capacity In Type 1 diabetes, a person cannot make insulin. Glucose builds up in the person s blood, and the person must inject insulin to stay alive. This can be done in different ways. One method is through shots. Another is with a pump. In both cases, the insulin enters the body through the skin and is distributed throughout the body by the bloodstream. Type 2 diabetes is different. Sometimes, the body starts out working properly. Then, as the person ages, the body loses its capacity to make insulin or to use it effectively. Not everyone with Type 2 diabetes must inject insulin. Sometimes, people can control the disorder with diet and exercise. They must abstain from eating high-fat and high-sugar foods. A healthy diet can reduce a person s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, a diet that includes too much junk food increases the risk. Given the connection between junk food and serious health problems like Type 2 diabetes, some people say it is not only unhealthy to sell junk food in school, it is also. immoral

6 Writing Prompt: Should schools sell junk food to kids? Why or why not? Support your position with clear reasons and specific examples. Try to use relevant words from the Word Generation list in your response. Focus Words acknowledge incidence incorporate initiative transport TEACHER Ask students to write a response in which they argue a position on the weekly topic. Put the writing prompt on the overhead projector (or the board) so that everyone can see it. Remind students to refer to the word lists in their Word Generation notebooks as needed.

7 Source Materials: Bittman, M. (2010, February 12). Is soda the new tobacco? The New York Times. Retrieved on February 14, 2010 from Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009, August 19). Overweight and obesity: National estimated cost of obesity. Retrieved on February 12, 2010 from Federal Trade Commission. (2008, July). Marketing food to children and adolescents: A review of industry expenditures, activities, and self-regulation. Retrieved on February 12, 2010 from /07/P064504foodmktingreport.pdf Stolberg, S.G. (2010, February 9). Childhood obesity battle is taken up by first lady. The New York Times. Retrieved on February 14, 2010 from