Child Advocacy Group Children\'s Defense

¶ … Child Advocacy Group

Children's Defense Fund

Fictional children's advocacy group

Fictional children's advocacy group

Organizations such as the Children's Defense Fund have acted as advocates to expand children's access to high-quality education and healthcare. However, no broad-based advocacy organization exists on a national level to focus on a specific, critical aspect of childhood development: childhood nutrition and obesity reduction. Obesity in children has tripled in the past thirty years (Childhood obesity, 2010, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion). Improving the nutritional quality of school lunches; banning fast food establishments within walking distance of schools; increasing access to safe places to exercise; expanding nutritional education and physical education in schools are all goals of our organization.

According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, children who are overweight or obese are more likely to be at risk for cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and even cancer; to suffer from bone and joint problems that could lead to osteoarthritis; and also to suffer from low self-esteem. It is projected that, due to the spread of obesity, this generation of children may be the first not to live longer than the previous generation. Today, the face of poverty is no longer the face of calorie deprivation. Poorer children have less access to fresh, healthy vegetables and are more dependent upon public assistance programs like the school lunch program to meet their nutritional needs. School lunches, regardless of the income level of students, are problematic because they are often composed of highly processed foods, overly sweetened fruit drinks and milks, and a lack of whole grains (Brownstein 2009).

Without healthy foods, students cannot learn and develop properly. Our fund strives to support initiatives like Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard, which raises vegetables in schoolhouse gardens and uses the produce to feed the student body. Our fund also seeks to raise awareness of the degree to which corporate food culture has infiltrated the school system, and strives to ban vending machines dispensing unhealthy foods, as well as prohibit promotional agreements between schools and companies that sell sugary beverages and snacks. Given the evidence that proximity to fast food restaurants and schools can increase students' body mass index (BMI) our fund also supports zoning legislation to alter the environments near schools to create a healthier attitude towards consumption. Exercise is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle, just as much as any food group. Expanding student physical activity by enabling students to walk to school, maintaining required physical education classes, and supporting afterschool physical education programs (particularly in areas where it is not safe to play outside) is essential.