KATIE COURIC'S PERILS OF FOOD POLICS

Branstin

Also Branstin, I get the feeling from your way you communicate and your long term investment in your children's education that you and I are in the very fortunate position of being pretty smart cookies, pun intended!

There are a lot of parents out there working with a few pieces to their puzzle missing, a few screws loose, and a myriad of other situations (it's hard to relate too, but some parents of children in schools are actually homeless, drug addicts, working multiple jobs, illiterate, prostitutes, drug-dealers, strippers, etc...) that make their ability or desire to study nutrition and optimize that and enhance and enrich their children academic experience just not happening the way it does for us.

Thank you,

There will always be exceptions to situations. I am sure that certain situations have to be dealt with a little differently. I have seen more than I care to in dealing with children from various backgrounds when working with schools. In the general sense of obesity, the amount of food children consume in school will only contribute to them becoming overweight if they eat that along with far more outside of the school than necessary.

AsaThorsWoman

Can you consider the idea that when you raised your kids things were a lot different than they are now? I remember school lunches growing up in the 90's and they were great. Have you seen what they serve now?

How does one "make it their business"? How can I know every time my daughter grabs a soda? How can I know what she ate off of her tray and didn't? How can I know what choices she made from the options?

I get off work at 5:00pm and try to have dinner ready by 7:00pm. Even if she diligently reported an estimate of everything she consumed by approximate weight (give me a break) how can one immediately create a dinner that completely and perfectly supplements the required macro-nutrition and caloric content from the time they walk in the door from getting off work, using ingredients on hand or running to the store, and have said made-up on the spot dinner ready in short order?

Well, the answer is, they can't. Ideally, one could home school and have a tight rein on their children's diet. A lot of people, like myself, put the dinner in the Crock-Pot before they leave for work, or already have a recipe planned for dinner ready to roll when the work day ends, so dinner prep takes planning, and 9 times out of 10 in my household the dinner was planned far in advance to the day of the dinner, so it is not taken into consideration what the kids ate or didn't eat at school that day.

And that is far, far more than the norm. Most parents are far less than shy about the fact that they put little to no effort into the nutrition and health of their children.

redversustheblue

IMO - just watched the trailer and I like it.

A. its a "documentary", the only way to get a good portion of people to actualyl WATCH something is by using scare tactics (see "any news station" for an example)

B: I'll generalize here and say that a good portion of people who are obese have no idea how they got that way, and they might need to be "scared" a little to make a change... it's a learning process, change is the first step, they will learn more and more about truths as they go (just like all of us on here )

C. I, personally, think sugar is addictive, if you look up the definition of addictive - IMO

D. The trailer I watched opened to discuss that a good amount of foods have "added sugar" - I didn't feel it was attacking sugar AT ALL, but more attacking the goverment for "adding sugar' where its not necessary - I totally, 100% agree - the government does a lot of F-ed up *kitten* to get us to consume, Im not a a parent, but if I was, I think I would feel ashamed if the only way I could get my kid to drink milk was by adding nestle strawberry syrup to it.... sugar is good, sugar is great, kids can have sugar - but theres something to be said when it becomes NECESSARY to add it to foods just to get kids to eat it.... again, IMO

E. I hate, hate, hate, Monsanto and wish I knew a lot less about what's happening to our seeds than I do - these two items are unrelated, but, I like to think that this news documentary is just setting a table to get people talking about bigger issues... I mean thay have to start somewhere - why not sugar - its something everyone, regarless of "class" can relate to and everyone can afford... if that makes sence, it does in my head, not to go all conspiracy theory, but i hope Im on to something here...

er..what? Is the government forcing mothers to add Strawberry syrup to their kid's milk? If someone can't get their kid to drink milk without it, that sounds like a parenting issue.

Collier78

Can you consider the idea that when you raised your kids things were a lot different than they are now? I remember school lunches growing up in the 90's and they were great. Have you seen what they serve now?

How does one "make it their business"? How can I know every time my daughter grabs a soda? How can I know what she ate off of her tray and didn't? How can I know what choices she made from the options?

I get off work at 5:00pm and try to have dinner ready by 7:00pm. Even if she diligently reported an estimate of everything she consumed by approximate weight (give me a break) how can one immediately create a dinner that completely and perfectly supplements the required macro-nutrition and caloric content from the time they walk in the door from getting off work, using ingredients on hand or running to the store, and have said made-up on the spot dinner ready in short order?

Well, the answer is, they can't. Ideally, one could home school and have a tight rein on their children's diet. A lot of people, like myself, put the dinner in the Crock-Pot before they leave for work, or already have a recipe planned for dinner ready to roll when the work day ends, so dinner prep takes planning, and 9 times out of 10 in my household the dinner was planned far in advance to the day of the dinner, so it is not taken into consideration what the kids ate or didn't eat at school that day.

And that is far, far more than the norm. Most parents are far less than shy about the fact that they put little to no effort into the nutrition and health of their children.

I agree that it was a LOT different than it is now. My daughter is in 7th grade and has the choice to have the regular school lunch, pizza, or nachos every day. They have a nacho bar!! I mean what is up with that? I also have to agree about schools and teachers pushing certain products. When they can get money for their classrooms for parents turning in soup can labels or box tops for education of course they are going to encourage their students and the parents to purchase those items. They hav classroom competitions with prizes for the classes that bring in the most box tops or labels! That seems awful predatory to me.

Lib_B

So what CAN I eat that won't kill me? MFP seems to be full of advice on this topic. :grumble:

Branstin

So what is the alternative? Blaming the school, cereal, and soda companies because as parents we have become too busy to better watch our children calorie intake? I more than understand the struggles of raising children. However, as parents we are still ultimately responsible for our children.

Yes, things were different back then but it doesn’t change the fact that many children ate cereal, sweets, and drank soda in school. Some became overweight while others did not have a weight problem. I am not here to dictate parent relationships with their children but I will tell you this much as far as my experience with my children. My children and I always had an open relationship. If they wanted soda, sweets, pizza, cereal, etc. big deal, they got it. I just didn’t allow it to get to the point of them becoming overweight. My sons were not allowed to play video games until the weekend. The rest of the week was filled with sports. I did this while working a full time job and obtaining three college degrees. I am not here to bash any parent but no one will ever convince me it can’t be done or the answer is blaming the school or manufacturers. Who buys the children’s clothes? I always noticed when my sons’ clothes were getting a bit tight. Yes, this was a sign of them growing up but it was also a sign of them growing out. I never stated a child have to report every calorie consumed to the parent. This is very unrealistic and will never happen. However, it is also very unrealistic to blame others while not accepting some of the blame ourselves. If there isn't a medical reason for a child to be overwieght then some of the responsibility falls on the parents.

Lib_B

Can you consider the idea that when you raised your kids things were a lot different than they are now? I remember school lunches growing up in the 90's and they were great. Have you seen what they serve now?

How does one "make it their business"? How can I know every time my daughter grabs a soda? How can I know what she ate off of her tray and didn't? How can I know what choices she made from the options?

I get off work at 5:00pm and try to have dinner ready by 7:00pm. Even if she diligently reported an estimate of everything she consumed by approximate weight (give me a break) how can one immediately create a dinner that completely and perfectly supplements the required macro-nutrition and caloric content from the time they walk in the door from getting off work, using ingredients on hand or running to the store, and have said made-up on the spot dinner ready in short order?

Well, the answer is, they can't. Ideally, one could home school and have a tight rein on their children's diet. A lot of people, like myself, put the dinner in the Crock-Pot before they leave for work, or already have a recipe planned for dinner ready to roll when the work day ends, so dinner prep takes planning, and 9 times out of 10 in my household the dinner was planned far in advance to the day of the dinner, so it is not taken into consideration what the kids ate or didn't eat at school that day.

And that is far, far more than the norm. Most parents are far less than shy about the fact that they put little to no effort into the nutrition and health of their children.

I agree that it was a LOT different than it is now. My daughter is in 7th grade and has the choice to have the regular school lunch, pizza, or nachos every day. They have a nacho bar!! I mean what is up with that? I also have to agree about schools and teachers pushing certain products. When they can get money for their classrooms for parents turning in soup can labels or box tops for education of course they are going to encourage their students and the parents to purchase those items. They hav classroom competitions with prizes for the classes that bring in the most box tops or labels! That seems awful predatory to me.

We are fortunate that we can afford parochial school for our kids and their school lunches are the BOMB. Balanced, healthy and delicious. I wish they could take their program to the public schools. And what about community gardens in the schools? Using student power during the summer to tend the garden? Maybe teach middle and junior high students how to put food up in the fall so they have nutritious food all year in the schools. I would love to start a school gardening program!!!

rml_16

So what CAN I eat that won't kill me? MFP seems to be full of advice on this topic. :grumble:

AsaThorsWoman

So... when obese children are drinking canned Cokes and eating pieces of pizza and nachos (both very, very dense in calories), and the parents have no way of knowing how much they ate, but are supposed to balance an equation with too many unknown factors (such as the most important one, how much have you already eaten today?) to find the answer, how is it the parents fault?

I'm so glad my baby's a bean pole. If I was truly dealing with an obese child it would be a true nightmare to balance that equation.

TDEE calculations and staying in goal for maintenance or loss are difficult enough with solid and accurate numbers, in my opinion.

ndj1979

well I see this thread has exploded in between breakfast and lunchtime...

I love how some people say regular sugar is ok, but is "added" sugar that is bad. Please explain the difference between this two positions. I would also like to know what difference it makes if person A eats added sugar and maintains a deficit; and person B eats sugar and maintains a deficit....will person B lose more weight then Person A because Person A consumes added sugar???? Is that really what some of you are saying?

redversustheblue

Can you consider the idea that when you raised your kids things were a lot different than they are now? I remember school lunches growing up in the 90's and they were great. Have you seen what they serve now?

Lol, I was in Elementary school in the 90's and I can assure you that my school lunches weren't great. I had square pizza with plastic microwave cheese on it (and yeah, pizza day was the best). In middle school, we had a candy/drink/ice cream bar that you could buy from instead of the school lunchline. I would say there wasn't much difference from today.

I can also assure you I didn't get fat eating at school, I got fat because I came from school and continued to eat and eat until it was time to go to bed again. I got good at smuggling food in my pockets back to my room when I didn't want my parents to know how much I was still eating.

gotolam

Yea, that is pretty much awful. I hate seeing obese children. Obese adults are one thing; they are responsible for their choices. Children often times are not, and do not know any better.

What do you think happens to the young obese children when they grow up?

Branstin

How is it the fault of the schools or manufaturers when they don't know what children are eating at home? Many schools have online meal menus as well. There will be unknown factors but expanding waistlines, chubby and double chics, increase numbers on the scale and plain observation are not unknown factors. Children do not become overweight by sugar alone or overnight. Unless a parent is blind, the signs are there.

AsaThorsWoman

Yes, it's easy to see the problem. You can weigh them. You can measure them.

That I absolutely agree with, but how can they set up a plan for a gradual safe and healthy caloric intake reduction to undo the damage already caused with the unknown factors?

rml_16

Can you consider the idea that when you raised your kids things were a lot different than they are now? I remember school lunches growing up in the 90's and they were great. Have you seen what they serve now?

My first elementary school actually had tasty lunches. But they were pizza, cheeseburgers, etc.

My second elementary school, middle school and high school (different district, though same county) offered food I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. I loved on ice cream and Little Debbie snacks, then after school in high school went for fast food joints and pizza after school.

I graduated in 1995. I was a size 3 and barely weighed 110 pounds at 5'3".

And I had exactly one overweight friend.

Mr_Excitement

Judging from the trailer, it looks like they're just blaming widespread obesity on sugar, which is ridiculous.

The BBC had an interesting documentary series called 'The Men Who Made Us Fat', which was a pretty useful and critical look at the food industry, the way it markets calorie-dense foods to children, the ways that politics effects the food industry (and vice versa), etc. If Couric's series is more along those lines, that would be great.

rml_16

The men who made us fat are Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and the men (or women) responsible for video games and 24-hour cable news that has so many parents afraid to let their kids play outside anymore.

Branstin

By working with their doctors and educating them as much as possible. Easy? Nope. achievable? Absolutely! It won't happen overnight but the more children are educated about good health choices, the better they will be able to make better choices. If we can't make it work in regards to food then what the hell are we going to do when our children have to make responsible choices in regards to illegal drugs and alcohol abuse? Blame the rappers? I don’t approve of every product on the market or the unethical ways products are coming into children lives but I don’t think it will ever change, at least not in my lifetime. Therefore, we could waste energy pointing fingers at sugar, schools, and companies or use that same energy to help our children make better life choices.

Bernadette60614

If anyone gets Netflix streaming, there is a interesting documentary called "Hungry for Change", which responds to many of the issues raised in this discussion.