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  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    MargaretYakoda wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    MargaretYakoda wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    MargaretYakoda wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    PAPYRUS3 wrote: »
    g1m0y4pzo8ha.jpg0katyxh4uwsr.jpg

    These are typical lunches I see on my students consume everyday.

    Curious if you are concerned or not at all?

    Close to child abuse if the same kids are eating like that every day.

    I have done years of child care. And gone through actual child abuse cases. Involving the stuff of nightmares.

    Yes. This diet, if it is daily fare, is sub-optimal.
    No. It is not even close to abusive.

    My wife has a long career in education so I am familiar with the "official" definition of child abuse.

    Of course there isn't immediate physical/psychological damage from eating this stuff occasionally.

    If a habit, this will most likely lead to a lifetime of obesity and poor health, i.e., long term impact.

    If one doesn't like the term child abuse for this substitute child neglect.

    If leaving your infant in their car seat all weekend and not changing their diaper - resulting in a combination diaper rash and bedsore - (from one of the actual cases I testified in) doesn’t constitute neglect, then feeding your child a hot dog and some sugary yoghurt definitely doesn’t.

    (the parents did lose custody a year later, after even worse…)

    Don't really give a *kitten* what the court calls neglect. Feeding a child that crap on a regular basis is neglect in my book and the book of anyone that has any common sense.

    ::shrug::

    Personal opinion that this food is unhealthy doesn’t make it neglect.

    As has been pointed out here already:
    1) We don’t know what these children eat at home.
    2) Posting this picture without parental permission is a big problem.
    3) It’s food. And enough of it.
    4) Shaming parents who are very likely doing their best under very difficult circumstances is really not OK.

    Check what the CDC and USDA has to say about this type of food on a regular basis.

    The scientists working for those organizations are smarter than anyone posting on here about nutrition. No knock to anyone on here, just fact.

    I'd be very interested in a CDC or USDA cite that calls it child abuse or child neglect.

    I would also. Please use your reading comprehension. I said the CDC and USDA are not fans of this type of food on a regular basis.

    Never said they called it child abuse/neglect.

    Sample guidance from CDC. All the foods shown in the picture from the school are in the red category:

    ovq9w2ghm4w8.png

    https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/ndep/pdfs/7-road-to-health-toolkit-flipchart.pdf

    No, but YOU said it was abuse/neglect and cited them as support for your position.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    MargaretYakoda wrote: »
    Curious. Who here would consider themselves a perfect parent?

    I will freely admit I wasn’t perfect.

    Good Lord, no... not me. I'm the example they use for what NOT to do..
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    I have no objection to a conversation about what children eat at school - but we all understand words, not sure why a photo was needed at all.
    The photo didnt help the discussion.

    I also think you are way underestimating MFP if you think only 30 people read the thread.

    You're probably right about me underestimating the reach of this forum. There are only two other forums I participate in, they're both pretty small, one gets a handful of posts a day. This place is really fast by comparison.

    I wouldn't have recognized all of the foods by name, I can see what they are from the packaging. That crazy font!! 😳

    We mostly brought bag lunches to school. My family didn't have enough money to buy packaged food like that for 5 meals a week, for 2 kids. Cooking was just a normal thing, it's how food usually became edible. Now, as an adult having to make all of my own food decisions, I wind up cooking a lot, even though I don't enjoy it at all, I do it because that's what I learned. I mean I eat convenience food too, and have some restaurants I love, but I can control the flavor, the calories, and the macros when I cook, and it's a lot cheaper. But also because during my formative years when I was learning the most about how the world works, that's one of the things I picked up.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Jruzer wrote: »
    You know, I'm a very easygoing guy, even to a fault.

    But if I found out that a school staff member had done the following:
    - Posted a photo of one of my children on an internet discussion forum
    - Without my permission
    - Even with said child's face excluded
    - With the express purpose of shaming me for how I feed my child

    I would be livid, and would be demanding to meet with the principal and potentially the school board.

    That's a hypothetical thing that could potentially happen to you, but seemingly didn't since you're speaking in terms of "if." Meanwhile, unless you think the OP is lying to us about this, these kids are eating like this every day; that's not imaginary it's real. The child can't be recognized from the photo. The OP is making a good faith attempt to start a conversation about health, specifically about weight which is where we know most people in the developed world are struggling. 74% of American adults are overweight or obese per CDC, and life expectancy has been in decline because of it. Guesses about how people we'll never meet might react to a thread 30 people will ever see aren't a good reason not to have this conversation.

    It probably doesn't take a psychic to realize my opinion. I don't think it's creating a healthy expectation about food for children to eat like this one (or more) meal every day.

    I don't think it's even the point whether or not the parents may actually be on this thread and could identify the child (which I argue they could), or if 30 people read it vs. thousands. I hope adults don't base most of their "iffy" decisions on whether or not they'll get caught. The OP has already stated that these aren't her actual students, so even she knew it wouldn't be a good idea to take pictures of her actual students. However, they are someone's students. Would it have been better if someone took a random stranger's pictures of a kid's meal without their knowledge even with his or her face blocked out, just to post it to "start a conversation" about children's eating habits? I think (hope) most can agree that would be at the very least strange, if not unethical. A teacher is held to an even higher standard when dealing with his or her own students. I agree with someone else who said that there was no reason at all to have images of actual kids' lunches, other than to just make it easier to do than having to write out all the words.

    I have no problem at all having a conversation about kids' eating habits, as it's actually something I'm pretty passionate about. I know that if kids eat like this most of the time, not only will it increase their chances of having weight/health problems in the future (if not already), it can impact learning, mood, and behavior. It does concern me, even as a parent, to see kids eating this way, but not in a parent-shaming way (which posts like this often lead some to do) . I think many of us, being on a weight loss/health website/app, don't realize how many parents are just not all that educated about nutrition, nor have the knowledge of the resources available to learn about it. A lot of pediatricians just want to make sure the kids are growing ok and not so concerned with how they're getting there. Not only may parents not know what constitutes a nutritious meal, but what the impacts of a kid eating like this all the time might do. Some families may live in a food desert, where convenience packaged foods are what is most readily available. We also don't know these kids' situations. They may be very picky and/or have a hard time eating in a noisy cafeteria, so the parents just want to make sure they eat while at school.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    Stop to consider that a lot (if not most) kids are naturally somewhat averse to low calorie, nutrient dense foods which appeal more readily to adults. They prefer higher calorie, more palatable foods as seen in this post (by design, due to their growth patterns and activity levels).
    For this reason, it can often be a struggle for many parents to get their children to eat nutritious foods. Feeding a hot dog may be a breeze while getting their kid to eat green beans can be like pulling teeth.

    That being known, let's not assume that just because the parents pack a lunch that they know their kid will actually eat means that they feed them the same way at home. What the child will eat under parental supervision and what they will eat at school when no one is forcing them to eat their peas are two completely different things.

    So, speaking as a parent, if my options are to 1) pack a less nutritious lunch that my kid will at least eat or 2) pack a "healthy" lunch that they will throw away or bring back home, I'm going with option 1 so that she at least gets some carbs and fats while she's at school. I can make sure she gets her vegetables while she's with her mom and I.

    My nephew who just started kindergarten is quite happy to eat vegetables and try new foods when he is with his mom or dad, but he's much pickier when he isn't with them. My sister just packs him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some Goldfish crackers every day because she knows he'll eat at least half of his lunch that way. But at family dinners, I've seen him eat all kinds of vegetables and foods that people would think a kindergartener wouldn't want.

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