ASSIGNMENT: For this essay, you will select one of the articles provided below and engage in a 2-3 page summary and response dialogue with the source. This will involve providing a detailed summary of the source’s argument and responding to that argument with your position based on the information provided in the source. In order to foster learning and growth, all essays you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any recycled work will be sent back with a 0, and you will be given one attempt to redo the Touchstone.

DIRECTIONS: Refer to the list below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines.
1. Article Summary
❒ Have you communicated the source’s purpose?
❒ Have you included all of the source’s main points?
❒ Have you restated the source’s argument in your own words?
2. Article Response
❒ Have you provided your perspective on the source’s argument?
❒ Have you used specific examples from the source to illustrate why you either agree or disagree with the argument?
3. Reflection
❒ Have you answered all reflection questions thoughtfully and included insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses?
❒ Are your answers included on a separate page below the main assignment?
B. Reflection Questions
DIRECTIONS: Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions. What ideas originally came to mind when you first read through the article? Did your initial response to the article change after reading it for a second time? (3-4 sentences)How does paying attention to the way you respond to a source help you formulate your stance on a topic? (2-3 sentences)

The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:

Composition must be 2-3 pages (approximately 500-750 words).
Double-space the composition and use one-inch margins.
Use a readable 12-point font.
All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
Composition must be original and written for this assignment.
Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition.
Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx.

Additional Resources
The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment:
Purdue Online Writing Lab’s APA Formatting and Style Guide
This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types.
Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style
This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The “References,” “Punctuation,” and “Grammar and Writing Style” sections will be the most useful to your work in this course.
APA Style: Quick Answers—References
This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types.

ANSWER

Proper Nutrition in School: A Student’s Reflection

Proper Nutrition in School

 Article Summary 

Nutrition for children and young people is very important and a huge concern for parents and the public. This is why the parents at Houston were concerned about the amount of added sugars that students are having for their breakfast and called for its reduction. Despite budgetary constraints, underprivileged students in Houston are provided with meals, which have to be nutritious for the wellbeing of the children’s bodies (Lengyel, Jennifer, Cramer, Oceguera, & Pigao MA, 2015). The public and parents’ outcry on the sugar levels for more reduction in the added sugar content for breakfast has been listened to.

The Houston Independent School District (ISD) Nutrition will seek to have policy changes at the federal levels to implement such changes. Implementing such a policy will require more funding, which will ensure the inclusion of more protein items and more quality products. Parents can impact the nutritional standards by providing feedback during the USDA public comment periods and voice their opinions to local, state, and federal policymakers who can enact more policies to change the type of diet students are having.

It is, however, manifest that ISD has tried its best to minimize the added sugars given to the children. Currently, Children are not served Chocolate milk or pastries with icing or excessive added sugar to reduce the amount of added sugars in the foods. Instead, they are fed with natural fruits, mostly on the breakfast menus (Lengyel, Jennifer, Cramer, Oceguera, & Pigao MA, 2015). Houston ISD Nutrition has been at the forefront to ensure that there is better and healthy nutrition with the product vendors to provide quality and balanced diets to the children. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to ensure that there is a reduction of added sugars to the meals offered to the children, which will ensure that they only have nutritious diets which will help in the quality growth of their bodies.

Article Response      

From the article, it is manifest that young child need to have a proper diet as they grow up. I agree that reducing added sugars in the body is one of the important ways of ensuring that the diet they undertake helps in the proper growth of their bodies.  An example of the need to reduce added sugar intake is that it helps to limit the likelihood of health-related risks such as getting Diabetes or Obesity, which is common among many young people in the current times. There is indeed a need for policy changes by the relevant authorities in the state, which will ensure that policies that support a better healthy diet are in place. Through policy enactment, the bodies will also get to allocate more funding, which will help schools acquire better and more nutritious diets for all school-going children.

Reflection

After reading the article, the first thing that comes to my mind is the challenge faced by most young people: ill health and a high number of young people suffer from obesity due to a high intake of sugary foods. I hence agree with the complaints both from the public and parents on the need to reduce the amount of added sugars to the food offered to the students in the state. After reading the article for the second time, my initial response remains. This is since the message is highlighted, where it seeks to have a sustainable solution to the challenge of poor dieting among young people, which can lead to diseases such as obesity. Paying attention to the way one responds to a source is vital in that it helps one understand all the details and information before giving a response. I, therefore, have ensured to thoroughly read word by word and make sure I understand the content of the details before making a response.

References

Lengyel, M. S., Jennifer, G., Cramer, R. D., Oceguera, M. S., & Pigao MA, L. (2015). Sugar In School Breakfasts: A School District’s Perspective. . Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk, 6(2), 7.