get rid of the chicken tenders, the corn dog and the crispy beef taco ... and the hot dog ... these are the absolute worst offenders of sabotaging good nutrition for kids.  Why would anyone allow their kids to eat this junk week after week unless they just don't care or don't know whats in this stuff that some people call food.  And do not tell me its all your kids will eat ...

speaking as a recently graduated high school student...i don't see what the huge deal about school lunches. is the food healthy, natural, nutritious, and tasty...hell no. i know at my school they attempted to devise new lunch menus that were more healthy and better for students. the only result was smaller portions, wheat bread, and more expensive charges. if everyone is so concerned about the health of this country's youth...maybe we should try getting them up of their asses and doing something in gym class or aerobics to get the blood pumping. yes food is important...but these are schools, not 5 star dining facilities. if you want your child to eat organically and only consume good foods...then pack their lunches. i had no problem with hot dogs, corn dogs, french fries, and my personal favorite...napkin pizza (pizza that had so much grease that most people used their napkin to mop it off the top before they ate it)

Raising 20 cents per meal, is covered by charging 20 cents more per meal.

In other words, right now you send your child to school, and it costs $2.00 per meal.  You pay that, as the parent.

If ten years from now you are paying $2.20, thats not unsual.

When I went to school my parents paid .75 cents for me.  Today I pay $2.00 for my daughter.

Adding the federal government to the mix, doesn't actually do anything.

What you are forgetting is money is fungible.  They can send more money to the schools, who then in turn don't have to raise the price on meals for parents - doubtful.  Or they can take the taxpayer provided contribution (send via property taxes) and spend it on other things, while taking this revenue stream from the federal government.

The money element of this, actually changes nothing.

What might change something, is simply requiring better food.

By the way, subsidizing the cost of food is always a bad idea, and - and is one reason for obsesity - upside down decisions about food.

If you are worried about the poor, they don't pay for meals already - and again has nothing to do with the obesity situation, except to note, that poor people are more likely to be obese, not less. 

I applaud Ms. Obama for bringing the spotlight on a real problem, but she gets no marks for simply exploiting a problem to pass money to her political base, which will do nothing to fix the problem.

One thing that few people are talking about, is the country doesn't actually produce enough quality food, in order that the whole country could even eat quality food - putting aside costs for now.

In other words, farm grown fish is not healthy compared to wild caught fish - but you can't actually catch any more fish in the wild.

By the same token, the beef from corn-fed cows is not actually as healthy as wild grain fed cows.  But who said we have enough granging area to produce enough wild grain cows?

If anyone would take a moment to study economics, if the supply cannot change, and you drive costs down -- all you have done is created a shortage.

We eat hormone-stuffed chickens for a reason.  And its going to be hard to change, that.   We'd have to do a massive change to our agriculture, that would massive harm its 'output'.

The problem is much more difficult than this..

Now, the exercise part of Ms. Obama's initiative, while noting its nothing new, Reagan went on a similar initiative - and it didn't work...

still exercise is something people can do - but its not lack of education.

I wish that myth were true - that people lack education, and you give them education and its solves the problem.

But as yourself this, are you absolutely certain that all obese people are uneducated?

If not, then you may have to admit, that at least for some people - education isn't the issue.  And money isn't the issue.  And government isn't the issue.

I think putnam is right on.  Most of us grew up eating starchy school lunches, but the difference was that we had PE every single day, not 4 weeks out of a school year.  PE should be a requirement for every student, every single day, if you want him or her to be healthier. In addition, we walked to school, no bus, and no parents dropping us off.  Exercise is the key here.

The lunches at my school (I'm a teacher in NE Ohio) are already $2.75 and more for the teachers, who get the same portion sizes as students. I agree with healthier meals as long as it doesn't raise prices. I think it would be healthier for parents to be packing their child's lunches during the week. You can send your child to school with money for lunch but you can't guarantee they will spend it on the hot lunch or salad bar. Most students I see are eating 3 twinkies and a slice of pizza. There needs to not be a snack line.

putman is not correct.  Studies show that today's youth is MORE active than in the past...we just feel they are not.  Eathing healthy and being active are both important.  You can't separate the two.  Run 5 miles and eat 3 hot dogs...bad.  Sit on the couch all day and eat an apple...bad.  Also, as a recent grad, I would hope putman's grammar would have been stronger.

School lunches are such a minor part of a child's diet.  Kids, and people in general, are overweight today because of the sheer availability of food.  The average house today is crammed with food items, particularly snacks.  It's not the fault of schools and it's not the fault of the fast food outlets.  When I was a kid, there were three meals a day.  That was it.  The only things in the fridge were the basics, or food items that required some degree of cooking.  You couldn't just cruise through the kitchen of an evening and grab something.  The fault to obesity lies fair and square with the parents.  Stop ordering out.  Get the family back around the table, three times a day.  Stop buy all those salty and fatty snacks.

School lunches are not the problem. The problem is parents that allow their kids to sit in front of a TV from the time they get home from school until it's time to go to bed. Next thing you know, turning off the TV is some form of child abuse.

Most of the schools today are simply babysitting services for welfare kids. There really isn't a lot of knowledge being taught or learned. This started back with Lyndon Johnson's programs of give aways. Obeseity begins at home. Hope Ms. O is able to loose some of that big butt.

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Hahaha...this lady just copied Mr. Reagan exercise same as Nobama copied a lot of ideas from Republican.  This couples are so stupid for this job.  She has nothing to do and so doom to bring this issue to our people about their family.  Who care about your family lady? 

The idea need to teach your daughters and you lovely husband.  We do not want to hear it...STOP...STOP!

While I agree the quality of school lunches can be upgraded - like absolutely no luncheon meat or any

thing that contains artificial colors, etc...

I also agree with NealR. Stop the snacking and, perhaps

most importantly, SMALLER PORTIONS.  We all eat far too

much food.

When  was in school, I LOVED "pizza day!"  This pizza consisted of a oblong square, and it was mazzerrella cheese, hamburger/sausage??, and sauce on a chewy dough.  it was VERY tasty, and I've never been able to find it in the real world.  I'd kill to taste "school lunch pizza" again.  Anyone know where to find this??

I tell you what, lets just ban fast food, greasy burgers and french fries, then dump the sodas after that. It is getting to the point that americans have no control over their lives. instead the Government is banning everything, yelling us how to live, what to eat, when we should eat it and if we don't like it o bad.

I say..Parents MONITOR your kids..but keep the hell out of my bedroom, my likes and dislikes and stop tellin  me to quit smoking!!

It is none of your business what i do in MY HOME, MY CAR or MY BACKYARD!

Keep your noses where they belong..

The REASON for child obesity is the parents not monitoring and letting them eat what they want all the time..fast food in moderation is fine...but but the governement needs o stay out of everyones personal lives!

It's so important to teach healthy eating at an early age. Connecticut has a wonderful "Farms to Schools" program that not only promotes healthy, fresh foods but it is also helping local farmers and local ecomomies. Big problem right now is Jodi Rell. She does not support healthy lunches in schools. She is un-doing all of the progress we have made in this state. How could you NOT support healthy lunches in schools? No wonder this country has obesity problems.

I agree that school lunch is not very healthy-they still serve bacon cheesburgers, beefy nachos, popcorn chicken, and deepfried tacos at my high school. The issue doesn't all lie within the lunch, but the a la carte lines as well. Many students at my school are out of shape because the are eating the 450 calorie "Big Bopper" ice cream sandwich everyday that contains half of your daily fat. Cookies and chinese food are also the culprits. On top of it all, schools are charging at least $3.50 for a small bowl of chinese food and $2 for the ice cream sandwich, so not only are much of your extra calories and fat coming from the a la carte line, but the extra money as well. I bet many parents in my school are unaware of how much money they are spending on their childrens' lunches because most kids opt out of the main meal because it is unappetizing. Yes the lunches have very poor nutrional balance, but they aren't the only problem.

I am a child nutrition director in Texas and I would say both parties are able to help combat the problem.  Obama is incorrect when she talks about a student's calories.  Do the math, 180 school days X 2 meals a day is only 33% of annual calories.  That is not the root of this epidemic.  We have made many changes that customers (parents) never see.  Our ranch dressing is made with no-fat yogurt, pizza crust is whole wheat, pepperoni is turkey, mozz. cheese is skim milk.  And there are more.  We offer chef salads and fresh veggies everyday.  Kids don't eat them, because they don't see them at home.  When I am visiting schools, I see the same parents that complain bringing Taco Bell, McDonalds and Burger King to 2nd and 3rd graders with a 32 or 44 oz soda.  I also see kids that have never seen a soccer field, baseball field, swimming pool, etc.  You can't blame me and then feed your kids drive through because "we are so busy".  Don't tell me kids are more active today then we were, I am not buying it.  PE is not required after 8th grade.  Get off the X-box or computer and get outside and play.  Make smart choices on your food choices and we will all be better off.  Let's don't forget our great government subsidizes corn and corn syrup, the #1 killer in food.

Honestly, the American life style has to change, trastically. I came here from Germany in 1991. I was very skinny then. I am not an over eater, and I do not depend on food for any other reasons. However, I have realized, that German food is so  different and much much healthier. Also , we do not have that access to fast food restaurants like here in the USA. They need to go. Families need to be in charge of healthy eating habits. We do not always know what it is that is in our food. Those company that delivering our grocery stores, need to eliminate MSG, chemicals, and other perserves, that I think cause harm to the human body. My philosophy has long been to grow my own organic veggie garden. Now, I do understand that for city dwellers that would be tough to do. We need to be more active. 24 store hours, are at fault too. Cause it's so easy to have access to food > Look at 3. world countrys. Like Africa, China , India. They do not have access to food, every corner they go. They have to work for their food. Hot dogs, I do not even eat those. I make my own meals. I do no longer go into restaurants and fasts foods. Cause, every time I go, I get violently ill. Why, I have no clue. It s the perseves that they  put in or how they cook it. Or whether or not the cook is clean. Nevertheless, we need to put food into a brighter prespective. Sorry for typos.

As long as this country still uses colonial style funding of local schools; which create rich and poor schools; the idea of healthy foods for schools is not only improbable but unrealistic to even begin talking about. I’m an educator who voted for Obama (who promised he wanted to hear from his veteran teachers); I have repeatedly tried to find out where and who at the Whitehouse who is in charge of receiving these suggestions; I have been told repeatedly there is no one at the Whitehouse who is in charge of this unfulfilled promise. It’s so sad, I had such great hope Obama would be different, but at this moment he is just acting like the same old same old. Talk is cheap, but it seems to win elections. I believe in a country as great as ours there should be no such thing as a rich or poor school. Until this problem is resolved: the other problems like the one spoken in this article is just a bunch of political cheap talking maneuvering. Every child in our country deserves an equal chance regardless of their parents economic situation.

The First Lady does a serious disservice to excellent health-concerned school systems when she makes a blanket statement that "...we also need to significantly change the quality of food that kids are getting at school."  There are school systems with full-time dietitian panels choosing the school lunches, and limiting the junk available in vending machines - which are only turned on after school, like Anne Arundel County (surrounding Annapolis) Maryland.

This is to the people who do not agree with improving the quality of the food. Please go visit your local elementary school to view these kids. In some cases you can't tell who is the children or teacher. So many of these kids are HUGE. I can rememeber when I attended school, you could count on one hand the fat kids but now they made up a quarter of the student body. And you don't think nothing need to be done. Either you are fat and disgusting yourselves or you just are cold hearted.

First Texas, then California and now Washington State have been forced to use the Read Well™ language program for kindergartners, by Cambium Learning Group dba as Voyager Expanded Learning out of Dallas,TX, which has been promoted by the Justice Department since Bush's second term, as funding for existing successful programs was cut by the Bush Whitehouse. The Read Well™ program is costing US taxpayers $2000 per student per year!

http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/literacy/texasScam.asp

Who is Voyager Expanded Learning? Reading First Program owned by President Bush's brother Neil Bush, a Fraud Scam BUSH'S FAMILY PROFITS FROM 'NO CHILD' ACT READING FIRST AND VOYAGER EXPANDED LEARNING.

Investigators say that federal officials intervened to influence state and local decisions about what programs to use, a potential violation of the law. Some of the people who were influencing those decisions had a financial interest in the programs that were being pushed, officials said.

"I think we're very close to a criminal enterprise here," House Education and Labor Committee chairman George Miller, D-Calif., said at an investigative hearing Friday.

That was 2007, and here we are in 2010, with Washington State being forced to adopt the same Bush con program!

$2000 per student per year, who cares about school lunches?! $2000 is enough for every student to bring filet mignon canapes for lunch! With Dom Perignon!