The mayor of a large city has a discretionary budget of $400,000 and is concerned with the childhood obesity epidemic. Two of the approaches being considered seem most promising: improved school lunches and mandatory physical education. Medical studies indicate the following results for the two alternatives. The mayor hires you to solve a dispute among members of the school board. A vocal segment of the staff argue that the entire budget be spent on mandatory physical education (saving a total of 175 lives) rather than improving school lunches (saving only 65 lives). What do you recommend? Explain.

Improved School Lunch Mandatory Physical Education School Level Cost Lives Saved Cost Lives Saved from Obesity from Obesity High School $100,000 30 $100,000 100 High School $200,000 50 $200,000 150 and Middle School High, Middle, $400,000 65 $400,000 175 and Elementary School