We spend a lot of time talking about the importance of reforming the school lunch program here on TakePart. That, combined with this piece I wrote about last week about abstinence, made an Onion article entitled “Study: Abstinence-Only Lunch Programs Ineffective At Combating Teen Obesity” seem all the more relevant (and even funnier).

The opening to the article:

“According to the findings of a recent Department of Health and Human Services study, school lunch programs that teach children to avoid all contact with food may not be an effective method of reducing teen obesity rates.

Despite the popularity of abstinence-only meal programs in schools across the country, the study found that children who were provided with no food at lunch and cautioned against eating at an early age were no less likely to become overweight than those who were provided with a well-rounded nutritional education.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the findings could adversely affect federal funding for all programs that tell kids ‘lunch is worth waiting for.”‘

I think this is funny mostly because it points out, in a kind of roundabout way that 1) Abstinence-only education doesn’t work and 2) School lunches are what are making kids obese.

Two facts we don’t hear nearly enough about.   Three cheers to The Onion for finding a hilarious way to remind us!

*photo by bankdis (CC)