Final answer:
American school-aged children's diets often lack fiber, which is important for preventing obesity and associated diseases. Nutrition education, like the SNAP program, has shown improvements in children's diets, emphasizing the need for adequate fiber intake.
Step-by-step explanation:
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that the diets of American school-aged children tend to lack fiber. Fiber is essential for proper digestive health and helps prevent obesity, which can lead to serious illnesses like type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A healthful diet requires five key factors: adequacy, balance, calorie control, moderation, and variety, ensuring sufficient intake of essential nutrients and fiber as well as adequate calories.
Improving nutrition education can significantly impact children's eating habits, as seen with programs like SNAP, which led to children eating more vegetables at home. However, there remains a disconnect between what students learn about healthful eating and the food served in many school cafeterias. Encouraging healthy eating and physical activity is fundamental to a child's education and can help bridge this gap.