Hidden Health Risks in School Lunches

Hidden Health Risks in School Lunches Travis Storks: So it’s not just Huntington, it’s not just schools. That’s the kind of stuff that’s everywhere. Jim Sears: It’s everywhere and you know, I’ve got right here pretty typical school lunch. It’s got all the food groups, the hotdog food group, the macro and cheese food group, beans that been canned forever and salty, fruit crop and chocolate milk. Now, this is a pretty typical lunch. But this meal, right here, has over a thousand calories and 2200 grams sodium. That’s enough sodium for an adult for an entire day but first graders are eating this today and adult can have about 2200 to 2400 grams of salt and then the kid should have had a half teaspoon. So, you know, first graders are having tons of extra sodium in just one meal and that just really throws a belly out of that. Travis Storks: And I love that fruit cap which is loaded with added sugar. Unbelievable! Jim Sears: Yes, it’s sitting in a sugary syrup there. Lisa Masterson: And probably have really adding to the calories. Jim Sears: Oh! Big time and I'm just talking about the sugar, you know, this lunch has 58 grams almost 60 grams of sugar. Now, how much sugar, remove this salt over here. Drew Ordon: Thank you. [Laughter] Jim Sears: How much sugar – most kids should have about three to four teaspoons of sugar per day but this meal has 14 teaspoons of sugar so this is what they should get all day. This is what they’re getting in one meal, you know, and the thing that killed Jamie eluded this earlier the kids they just don’t – they don’t really don’t know any better. They don’t know that what they’re eating, what the adults are giving them is killing them. Lisa Masterson: I don’t think a lot of parents would actually because they would think fruit, meat, cheese, vegetable but you have to look at how it’s prepared and that makes – Drew Ordon: No wonder there’s such a big problem. Travis Storks: Yeah. Jim Sears: Terrible. Travis Storks: I though eighty-six percent of us are going to be overweight. Lisa Masterson: That’s right because you don’t need to know. Jim Sears: I got my kids to stop wanting hotdogs but just by telling them how they’re made. Lisa Masterson: How they’re made. Drew Ordon: You know were talking about what the kids are getting, how about the adults? Have you decided to have this for lunch, a slice of stuffed pepperoni pizza, salad which is great but it’s the kicker is the ranch dressing that you’re putting on it. Again, over a thousand calories, 57 grams of fat but again, the kicker is the amount of salt, 3200 milligrams of salt. That’s a thousand milligrams more that you should have in one day. Jim Sears: You know what you feel after you eat something like that, just all bloated and yucky. Drew Ordon: Well, it is not just the feeling that you get. If we decrease our sodium intake by about 10%, there’s an estimate that a half a million fewer people would die of heart attacks, a half a million fewer people will die of strokes. So these are steps that if we to take them it will lead us to a healthier path so two traps, sugar and salt.