|  | Diet Nutrition | Weight Control

Banning Vending Machines in Schools

The banning of vending machines in schools is a means of promoting better health for students and an attempt to lower the rising obesity numbers amongst children. The percentage of obese children is increasing, which will lead to tremendous health ramifications, both while they are young and years down the road. Objections to these bans point to the weaknesses in the plan and the need for an alternate solution.

  1. Eliminating Choices

    • The banning of vending machines in schools is a method of blacklisting specific foods, removing them from students' available options. However, using this method, students do not learn how to select nutritious food. Taboo foods become more appealing, and when faced with unhealthy options outside school, they have no preparation or training in how to make healthy selections.

    Lack of Education

    • The unhealthy choices available in vending machines are less responsible for childhood obesity than the lack of proper education in schools. Classic education in nutrition and fitness have been removed from some school curriculums, says Lisa Mosing, a writer for SFGate.com. This curriculum change contributes to students making unhealthy nutrition choices outside of the school. Regular fitness education and nutrition training can affect student behavior, making healthy choices a part of their daily life and regular decision making.

    School Income

    • Vending machines are a regular source of income for schools. Banning vending machines removes them as a source of income and forces schools to miss out on as much as $300,000 per year, says the Organic Consumers Association. While schools lose this potential form of income, students are free to bring the same soda and candy from home or purchase it elsewhere, usually from convenience stores or supermarkets located near the school.

    Parents' Rights

    • Eliminating vending machines in schools removes parental rights to dictate their child's food consumption. This opens the argument that schools, school districts and the individual states that are trying to ban vending machines are doing so as a form of paternalism and an attempt to insert themselves into the parental responsibilities of other people's children.

    Education in Manipulation

    • Students are willful and often unwilling to accept bans of items they enjoy. For these students, the banning of vending machines encourages them to locate other options as a means of breaking the rules. They feel encouraged to sneak these products into their school or purchase them elsewhere. These habits teach students to manipulate the school system, instead of educating them in how to make healthy nutrition choices on their own.

Weight Control - Related Articles