Nearly one decade ago, Texas lawmakers decided to fight childhood obesity with a ban on deep fryers and soda machines. Now, the Texas Department of Agriculture is trying to repeal this ban and increase the amount of junk food fundraiser days by six times.

With a childhood obesity rate of over 36 percent, Texas holds the title of fifth highest childhood obesity in the United States. This problem will not be solved by increasing the amount of fats added to the diets of public school children.

While Sid Miller, the Agricultural Commissioner, stated that the regulation change is not required, that does not mean schools will not change to use the deep fryers. While school administrators are focused on educating the future generation, they also have to watch their bottom line while stretching the dollars they are given. One sad truth is that unhealthy food cooked in deep fryers is cheaper to make than the healthier alternatives, making it difficult for cash strapped schools to afford a healthy lunch.

If the state repeals the ban and soda machines and deep fryers return to schools, we will see a major increase of childhood obesity. As obesity in high school has increased by two percent between 2005 and 2013 with the ban of these unhealthy alternatives, just imagine the jump that will happen when sugary and fried food is more readily available on campuses.

One high schooler who filed a complaint on the proposal, told Miller that the state should look into a more traditional way to feed the students in public schools.

While many students complain about the taste of school lunches and say that this repeal may help them taste better, many adults say how it is better to have a healthy lunch. There is a way to have a healthy, but still tasty school lunch, and repealing the ban on deep fryers and soda machines is not the way to do it.