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Difficulty:
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Question Stats:
35% (01:45) correct
65%
(01:39)
wrong
based on 411
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12 Days of Christmas 2024 - 2025 Competition with $40,000 of Prizes
Public Health Official: New regulations mandating higher nutrition standards for school meals were introduced with the dual goals of improving children's overall health and reducing obesity rates. These regulations required that the meals offer a greater variety of foods, including options with lower calorie content, with the ultimate aim of reducing childhood obesity. However, despite implementing these changes, and robust demand for school meals, there has not been a noticeable decrease in obesity rates among school-aged children.
Which of the following would, if true, best explain the discrepancy outlined above?
(A) Before the new regulations were implemented, most school meals met the nutritional guidelines that were in place at that time.
(B) Parents and guardians often provide children with additional snacks and meals that are not regulated by the school nutrition standards.
(C) The new regulations mandate that all school cafeterias implement menus in multiple languages.
(D) Many schools have expressed concerns with the introduction of new regulations.
(E) The increase in food variety makes it harder for students to consistently choose healthier options.
Public Health Official: New regulations mandating higher nutrition standards for school meals were introduced with the dual goals of improving children's overall health and reducing obesity rates. These regulations required that the meals offer a greater variety of foods, including options with lower calorie content, with the ultimate aim of reducing childhood obesity. However, despite implementing these changes, and robust demand for school meals, there has not been a noticeable decrease in obesity rates among school-aged children.
Which of the following would, if true, best explain the discrepancy outlined above?
(A) Before the new regulations were implemented, most school meals met the nutritional guidelines that were in place at that time.
(B) Parents and guardians often provide children with additional snacks and meals that are not regulated by the school nutrition standards.
(C) The new regulations mandate that all school cafeterias implement menus in multiple languages.
(D) Many schools have expressed concerns with the introduction of new regulations.
(E) The increase in food variety makes it harder for students to consistently choose healthier options.
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20 Dec 2024, 10:00
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GMAT Club's Official Explanation:
A) Incorrect: this answer choice does not explain why there was no decrease in obesity rates following the regulations, since the regulations improved nutritional standards.
B) Incorrect: Yes, parents may sabotage their own children by providing them with unhealthy snacks or bad food choices, and that can explain why kids may not be as healthy as they should. However, this does not explain why there has been no change in kids obesity rates. We know that there is a robust demand for meals so kids are eating them and since this behavior by parents would have been occurring both before and after the introduction of the new standards, this option does not explain why there was no change after the standards were introduced. This option is enough to explain the discrepancy.
(C) Incorrect: Irrelevant - the language of the menus would not help explain the discrepancy. If anything, this should have made the menus more relevant to some of the bilingual students.
(D) Incorrect: Schools expressing concerns about the new regulations is not relevant to our augment. As long as the schools are following the regulations, it does not matter if they are concerned or not concerned. Perhaps concerns were about nutrition or perhaps change or perhaps financial concerns - we are not given the context and can't really evaluate this statement properly in its current vague form so it is safe to eliminate it.
(E) Correct: This choice demonstrates a potentially unintended consequence of the new standards, which would undermine their effectiveness looking to reduce obesity. Menu complexity could prevent students from eating healthy and thus would not reduce obesity rates, as students choose higher-calorie options.
General Discussion
20 Dec 2024, 09:20
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The discrepancy in the argument is that despite the introduction of new school meal regulations designed to improve nutrition and reduce obesity, there has been no observable decrease in childhood obesity rates. To resolve this, we need an explanation that highlights why the expected outcome (reduction in obesity rates) has not occurred despite the changes.
Let’s evaluate the options:
(A) Before the new regulations were implemented, most school meals met the nutritional guidelines that were in place at that time.
This suggests that the regulations did not lead to significant changes, but it does not directly explain why obesity rates did not decline. Not the best explanation.
(B) Parents and guardians often provide children with additional snacks and meals that are not regulated by the school nutrition standards.
This provides a clear explanation: even if school meals are healthier, children may still consume unhealthy foods outside of school, offsetting the intended benefits of the regulations. This effectively explains the discrepancy.
(C) The new regulations mandate that all school cafeterias implement menus in multiple languages.
This is unrelated to the nutritional content or its impact on obesity rates. Irrelevant.
(D) Many schools have objected to the introduction of new regulations.
This does not explain the discrepancy. The objection might be relevant to compliance or feasibility, but the argument assumes the regulations were implemented as intended. Not explanatory.
(E) The increase in food variety makes it harder for students to consistently choose healthier options.
While this could theoretically affect the nutritional impact of the meals, the argument already states that robust demand for school meals exists. This explanation does not directly address the lack of a decrease in obesity rates. Weaker than (B).
Correct Answer: (B)
Let’s evaluate the options:
(A) Before the new regulations were implemented, most school meals met the nutritional guidelines that were in place at that time.
This suggests that the regulations did not lead to significant changes, but it does not directly explain why obesity rates did not decline. Not the best explanation.
(B) Parents and guardians often provide children with additional snacks and meals that are not regulated by the school nutrition standards.
This provides a clear explanation: even if school meals are healthier, children may still consume unhealthy foods outside of school, offsetting the intended benefits of the regulations. This effectively explains the discrepancy.
(C) The new regulations mandate that all school cafeterias implement menus in multiple languages.
This is unrelated to the nutritional content or its impact on obesity rates. Irrelevant.
(D) Many schools have objected to the introduction of new regulations.
This does not explain the discrepancy. The objection might be relevant to compliance or feasibility, but the argument assumes the regulations were implemented as intended. Not explanatory.
(E) The increase in food variety makes it harder for students to consistently choose healthier options.
While this could theoretically affect the nutritional impact of the meals, the argument already states that robust demand for school meals exists. This explanation does not directly address the lack of a decrease in obesity rates. Weaker than (B).
Correct Answer: (B)
