With obesity becoming an epidemic in the country,

Question

With obesity becoming an epidemic in the country, it is up to our schools to inculcate healthy eating habits in the children from a very young age. A significant step in this direction will be changing the set-lunch menu available to students in schools. The lunch options should be devoid of junk food items such as burgers, French fries etc. Having healthier alternatives such as fresh fruits, salads, boiled potatoes etc. in schools will likely ensure that most of the students have healthy meals at schools.

Which of the following is required for the above argument to hold?

(A) The new, healthier eating options will be priced comparably to the items currently available for lunch in schools.

(B)The parents of the students will appreciate and support the proposed changes in the lunch menu at schools

(C)The number of people currently considered obese in the country could be negatively impacted by the proposed changes in the lunch menu at the schools.

(D)Currently, more than 50% of the students do not eat healthy meals at homes.

(E)Less than 50% of the students eat packed lunches they bring from their homes.

Huma2703 · Answer

Hey! Could anyone please explain why E is the correct ans?

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Probus · Answer

Hi  Huma2703

Well the authors conclusion is 
Having healthier alternatives such as fresh fruits, salads, boiled potatoes etc. in schools will likely ensure that most of the students have healthy meals at schools.

What if students don't rely on school provided meal for their lunch, then will the conclusion hold. No

So What Option E is saying is that not many students bring their own food for luch, and depend upon school to provide for one.

Let me know if this helps

Probus · Answer

Huma2703

Just wanted to know how did you approach this question. What answer choice did you select as a assumption for this argument

Thanks 
Probus

redskull1 · Answer

This is an assumption question so it HAS TO BE correct.D is incorrect because...

they do not eat healthy meals at home.They can very well eat healthy meals outside home.Nothing is telling us that they eat JUNK MEALS AT SCHOOL(which is precisely what E tells us).

This is a good question..

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Abhishek009 · Answer

(A) Pricing cannot be an issue, maybe it is possible that the Lunch is provided free of cost by the School / Lunch is already included in the school fees.
(B) PArents support/appreciation is irrelevant to the discussion.
(C) Irrelevant to the context of the discussion.
(D) We are talking about having healthy food at School and as such eating unhealthy food at home is out of scope of our discussion.

(E) Packed lunch may contain unhealthy food, as such attacking this may yield the desired result of haiving healthy lunch at school , Answer must be (E)

Huma2703 · Answer

thank you! your approach towards POE is so clear. Could you please guide me how did you prepare for GMAT verbal?

newyork2012 · Answer

we need to make sure that when we have the healthy diet , kids will eat the food.

(E)Less than 50% of the students eat packed lunches they bring from their homes.

this answer ensures that most kids will eat the new healthy food at school

jayantimmmm · Answer

I think the answer is B. 
B option provides that the parents of the students will appreciate and support the proposed changes in the lunch menu at schools.

The Conclusion as per me is in the first line where it is mentioned that it is upto the schools to inclucate good healthy eating habits in students from young age. I think that the later part is a premise since it provides description about how conclusion can be achieved. 
With this being the conclusion, if I follow the Negation process.....

Then option B negated is that parents won't support school's actions. So this would mean that it is not upto schools to inclucate good habits but also upon the parents and whether or not they'll support school's actions. This would directly hit the conclusion.

I think E rather weakens the conclusion as it, prima facie, mentions that school's actions will work only on half of students.

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Sidraman57 · Answer

B should be the correct answer here and not E

Sidraman57 · Answer

]With obesity becoming an epidemic in the country, it is up to our schools to inculcate healthy eating habits in the children from a very young age. A significant step in this direction will be changing the set-lunch menu available to students in schools. The lunch options should be devoid of junk food items such as burgers, French fries etc. Having healthier alternatives such as fresh fruits, salads, boiled potatoes etc. in schools will likely ensure that most of the students have healthy meals at schools.

Which of the following is required for the above argument to hold?

(A) The new, healthier eating options will be priced comparably to the items currently available for lunch in schools.

(B)The parents of the students will appreciate and support the proposed changes in the lunch menu at schools

(C)The number of people currently considered obese in the country could be negatively impacted by the proposed changes in the lunch menu at the schools.

(D)Currently, more than 50% of the students do not eat healthy meals at homes.

(E)Less than 50% of the students eat packed lunches they bring from their homes.

B seems to be a spot on answer how come its E

taniad · Answer

Scenario: Obesity is high. Schools need to start educating kids to choose healthy, 
Conclusions= starting with their lunch options ensures MOST students have healthy lunch.

Assumption based question. Answer helps the conclusion.

(A) The new, healthier eating options will be priced comparably to the items currently available for lunch in schools.
 There is nothing mentioned about price. Not applicable.

(B)The parents of the students will appreciate and support the proposed changes in the lunch menu at schools
 Parents opinion is not considered nor mentioned in the argument. Not relevant.

(C)The number of people currently considered obese in the country could be negatively impacted by the proposed changes in the lunch menu at the schools. 
 No information given on this. Not applicable. In fact, if true, this weakens the argument.

(D)Currently, more than 50% of the students do not eat healthy meals at homes. 
 Not relevant. Argument is about lunch consumed in schools, not at home.

(E)Less than 50% of the students eat packed lunches they bring from their homes.
 Correct.
A maximum of 49.9% students bring food from home (could be healthy or could be unhealthy, what they bring from home is irrelevant). Either case, with a healthy school lunch, at the least 50.1% of students will have access to healthy lunch options, and the conclusion that MOST students (in this case, majority) will eat healthy lunch food becomes true.

This was my reasoning to the answer.

VerbalBot · Answer

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With obesity becoming an epidemic in the country,

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