What’s for lunch? Help prevent childhood obesity at Indy schools

Whether you are a parent, a student, a teacher or a school administrator, you can improve school lunches and help prevent childhood obesity for hundreds of kids living in Indianapolis.

Everyone from Top Cheffers to Jamie Oliver to Michelle Obama agrees that our nation’s school lunch program is hungry for change. Given that 1 in 3 children in the U.S.  is obese or overweight, it’s no wonder such prominent figures are ready for the next course of action.

With 32 million children now eligible for free school lunches and declining budgets, schools are under pressure to deliver nutritional food to those in need. Many children eligible for free lunches come from underrepresented communities and neighborhoods in which many families are at or below the poverty level.

School-based health centers like the ones HealthNet operates in Indianapolis public and charter schools provide community care for the very smallest and most vulnerable of our citizens and their families.  Offering health and nutrition education, they are the front line on battling childhood obesity, but how can we keep ALL of our kids fed and healthy?

The”Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act“ passed by the House Education and Labor Committee brings Indy kids one bite closer to the possibility of more nutritious meals.

The act aims to improve access to school lunch programs, help schools improve the quality of meals by adding a 6-cent-per-child increase in budget, encourage partnerships with local farms, allow unused food to be donated to food banks, increase access to healthy food outside school hours and improve food safety and integrity.

Encourage your legislators to support the bill today. Learn more about what’s happening at schools in other communities.  Take action at your school. Here are five things you can do to improve school lunches for our kids. There’s still much work to be done — from the front lines right here in Indy.