As an exercise science major, I am concerned with the health care of young individuals. Students today are becoming more and more unfit and unhealthy due to a lack of exercise and food choices. Yes, it is up to the child to choose better food options and stay healthy. But the federal government and local organizations need to provide sufficient funds to ensure each child has the necessary resources to make better decisions. I was once a student part of a K-12 school district system. As a student, I witnessed the lack of funding districts were provided to buy ovens and steamers to make nutritious food. Most students tended not to eat all day, only consuming fatty foods until they went home and ate a meal. This decreased their metabolism and made them gain weight. This in return aided in the recurring cycle of childhood and teenage obesity. The federal government and local organizations need to ensure school districts are given enough money to improve cafeteria technology and make healthier food choices for everyone, reducing the likelihood of young adult obesity. 

Sources of Funding for Schools by Penny L. Howell and Barbara B. Miller discuss different ways money is given to schools from different organizations. They state that local, state, and federal resources contribute to the money given to schools for enrichment. A school's surroundings and property taxes play a huge role in how much funding a school is provided to obtain extra resources. Because this article is objective in its discussion of sources used to fund schools, it is unbiased. The only possible interest Howell and Miller could be interested in is how to equally distribute money, from all the resources and organizations to each school. They are interested in equal distribution so each child is afforded a quality education. Both Howell and Miller work for a nonprofit organization called EdSource, making them credible sources. 

In School Nutrition Programs and the Incident of Childhood Obesity by Millimet, Tchernis, and Husain, researchers discuss the correlation between the School Breakfast Program (SBP), the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and childhood obesity. They analyzed participation statistics of the students to show bias present in the data. Results showed that there is a correlation between the SBP, NSLP, and childhood obesity. The SBP had a slight effect on the weight gain of children from first to third grade, but not significantly enough to label it as one of the primary reasons for this change. Instead, it was the NSLP that greatly impacted this problem. It is primarily the lunch food being served to students that cause weight gain and lead to rising levels of childhood obesity. Authors Millimet, Tchernis, and Husain are all economic professors at universities expressing their concern for the rising generation of students. They want change for healthier students.   

Chang, Carithers, Leeke, and Chin talk about the impact of school funding disparities on childhood obesity in the Geographic Disparity in Funding for School Nutrition Environment: Evidence from Mississippi Schools. From the data they collected, they found that a little over half of the 811 schools observed had enough money to buy ovens and or steamers to make healthier meals. Schools in low-income areas typically did not have enough money to purchase the oven or steamer, and schools with a low population were disadvantaged as well when it came to receiving money. The researchers of the study were concerned with decreasing childhood obesity by making them eat healthy meals instead of junk food.  But because these schools are located in Mississippi, we are unsure how the results relate to the rest of the country. In regards to this study, change has to be made in order to effectively change the increasing rate of childhood obesity. 

This research question is controversial because it deals with ethical values concerning children. People may argue that the federal government needs to ensure each school is compensated equally so every child has an equal opportunity to live a healthy life. They can make the counter argument that it is not up to the federal government. The community is responsible for giving districts money to ensure cafeterias have the technology needed to produce healthier foods. Each source agrees that schools are taking a serious decline in money, giving us common ground for a debatable argument. I can find sources that support and refute the claim that the federal government and local organizations need to play a greater role in preventing childhood obesity. 

