Federal Legislation Does its Part to Fight Child Obesity

As we prepare our children for another year of school, Congress recently passed critical legislation that will expand the availability of nutritious meals and snacks in school cafeterias. And, as part of this bill, the federal government will be improving the quality of food in all schools.

(PRWEB) August 29, 2004 -- As the mother of two, and the owner of a business that teaches kids how to cook healthy meals, I applaud our elected leaders support of the recent child nutrition reauthorization bill.

As Congress faces many critical issues, such as the war in Iraq, the health care crisis and the upcoming Presidential election, I am pleased that lawmakers paused to unite in support of child nutrition programs, which are fundamentally important, effective and popular in schools across the country.

This legislation provides greater access to and improve nutritional quality of the lunches and other meals served during school hours for low-income children, who, in many cases, rely on these school meals as a leading source of nutrition. Collectively, the legislation includes the funding to help all of our kids eat more nutritional, fortified foods, which I am convinced will make them perform better in their classes.

At my business, Viva the Chef, we are teaching families the value of preparing foods that are low in fat, but are fun for kids to eat. The timing could not be better:

The numbers of overweight children in America is reaching staggering proportions, requiring immediate attention. Federal statistics show that the percentage of young people who are overweight has more than doubled in the last 20 years for children ages 6-11 and almost tripled for adolescents ages 12-19.

Obesity is a chronic health issue that affects all of us -- through our families, our friends, our communities, our workplaces, and even our taxes. It causes more health problems than smoking, heavy drinking, or even poverty.

As a mother, I see absolutely no mystery as to why children are overweight: many of them eat too much, regularly indulge in fatty foods, and do little or no exercise. But these seemingly simple factors are influenced by many forces -- including the gross availability of cholesterol-clogged fast food and the lack of programs that teach kids how to eat right.

At Viva the Chef, one of our most popular classes is called Mind, Body and Belly." This class teaches children the enormous satisfaction of preparing nutritious foods that arguably taste better than anything they can get at the drive-thru.

I believe we are doing our part at Viva the Chef, in Morristown, N.J., to fight child obesity. And I am glad to see the federal government, through this reauthorization bill, is doing what it can to promote life-long eating habits and good health for the next generation of Americans.

But we need the full and ongoing commitment of school, families, faith-based groups, business and the community at-large to ensure that our children are learning how to eat the right foods. Together, we need to guarantee the next generation has equal opportunity to enjoy a nutritious lunch with spring water as they do to order a Super Size" meal with a 64-ounce soda.

By Gina Martinez
President & CEO
Viva the Chef