A familiar sight: teens slugging through the halls, their eyes wild with sugar. Stomachs rumbling, Cheeto-covered finger tips. The culprit? Junk food. 

Many middle school students eat a lot of junk food. These foods don’t contribute to growth and are quite harmful for their bodies.

According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, “Healthy eating during adolescence is important as body changes during this time affect an individual’s nutritional and dietary needs.” Thus, middle schoolers have many good reasons to eat healthier.

Middle schoolers are in their peak stage of growth before development slows down. They require appropriate nutrients to nourish their developing brains. The majority of middle schoolers who bring lunch bring chips, soda, or a sugary snack.

These snacks contain high levels of cholesterol, sodium, trans fats, and sugar. According to HealthyChildren.org, 27% of middle schoolers skip breakfast and oftentimes, students will attempt to replace their breakfast with candy or chips.

Those who bring a healthy main course or fruit, don’t usually eat it. In fact, it is a common sight to see two or more students exchanging unhealthy snacks. Filling their bodies with junk food impairs students’ focus and leads to blood sugar crashes. 

In addition, Options for Youth, Public Charter Schools stated: “Research has shown that students are able to learn better when they’re well nourished, and eating healthy meals has been linked to higher grades, better memory and alertness, and faster information processing” 

While many people enjoy eating junk food, it contains empty calories and won’t help you grow at all. Junk food can even stunt growth. When kids fill up on unhealthy food, they won’t be hungry to eat actual food containing nutrition.

Snack lines and school lunches can be an issue to not eating healthy. Once those doors open, people run and hurry to be first in line. The snacks that Frost usually sell are chips or treats. Kids come out of line holding 2 bags of chips and a treat. The same snacks are given to kids during after school activities and clubs. Sometimes they are really unhealthy. 

Teachers have given out ice cream to students after school. The baking and cooking classes aren’t any better. Oreo cakes topped with chocolate fudge, cookies coated with mostly candy and icing, brownies made with M&Ms.

Eating healthier does wonders for a middle school student. This allows students to continue growing and provides them with nutrition. The junk food being provided is detrimental to their health. There are many ways to avoid this, and most are easy solutions! 

Convincing everyone to eat healthy is difficult, but you can always start by eating healthy yourself. Pack your own lunch in the mornings, or even the night before! Making sure to bring yourself a nutritious lunch is one way to maintain good health Another is getting into the routine of making that better lunch. School food isn’t the best for anyone, so packing your own and making sure it has the best food for you is important. 

Hopefully, middle schoolers will follow this advice and start eating healthier. Middle schoolers can be easily influenced by their peers, and if they see their friends eating healthy, they may start to follow this good habit as well.