If all goes as planned, a study that began in New Hampshire will completely wipe out junk food in high schools. Public schools in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire are considering removing all junk food vending machines from high schools and replacing them with machines that offer healthier options in an effort to hinder a massive recent rise in American obesity.
It is true that obesity is a major problem in this country and that it is becoming an even bigger issue with young adults, but removing junk food vending machines from high schools is not the solution. While school systems are a great place for the government to attempt to introduce a solution and begin an effort to curb the problem before it gets worse, completely removing all junk food vending machines may do more harm than good.
The fact that junk food vending machines are in school is not the main cause of obesity. The way to fix the obesity problem – specifically in teenagers – is to teach them to make better choices when deciding what to eat. Typically when something is taken away from teenagers or they are told that they cannot do something, they rebel and want to do and have that thing even more than they did before. Should the junk food machines be completely stripped from schools, the desire for a junk food fix will only intensify.
It is an excellent idea to bring vending machines that provide healthier choices into school systems, but all other options must not be removed. Schools are an excellent place to provide students with the proper information and guidelines to improve their food choices, and offering a choice is a great first step toward implementing those guidelines. If students have the resources available to make better choices, they will be more likely to try those choices.
Schools also make large amounts of money by bringing in vending machines and signing exclusive contracts with major vending companies. School systems are already severely lacking funds and the significant amount of money the contracts and vending machines bring in could really hurt should they be completely removed from the schools.
High school is a time when teenagers are starting to learn to make decisions on their own. If an alternative is presented and that alternative is healthier, high school students may know enough to choose it. While it makes sense to remove junk food machines from elementary schools where students are too young to make informed decisions, high school students should be allowed to have a choice.
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