School Cafeteria Food and Obesity

School cafeteria food seen as possibly contributing to increasing rate of childhood obesity.
The New York Times (1/24, A27, Weintraub) reported, "Federal nutrition guidelines require subsidized school lunches to meet benchmarks on calories and fat, but they do not require that foods be whole, local, truly nutritious or good to eat. As a result, the standard cafeteria fare is doing little to curb the nation's rising rate of childhood obesity and might even be contributing to it." The Times profiles Kristin Richmond and Kirsten Tobey, the founders of Revolution Foods Inc., which "adopted higher standards than the government requires for school meal programs" and now "serves more than 30,000 lunches a day, mostly in low-income communities, and [is] still growing."
Psychologist argues obesity "epidemic" may be linked to increased use of psychiatric medicines. In an op-ed in the Boston Globe (1/24) Paula J. Caplan, a clinical and research psychologist at Harvard University, wrote that an "overlooked" primary cause of "America's obesity epidemic" is the increased use of psychiatric medicines, as many of them "cause weight gain -- often of the rapid and massive sort." Caplan suggests that this link is not well known possibly due to the power of the pharmaceutical industry or clinicians not knowing other treatments. Caplan argues against listing obesity as a mental illness, as it can be caused by "physical problems that are often undiagnosed." Caplan also says that doctors should "explore other non-drug ways to treat emotional problems."