Healthier school lunches are a bad thing?

neverstray

Fortunately, my kids are smart. They pointed out two facts to me:

1. The food they serve at school makes them feel tired and lethargic, rather than energized. So, they prefer we pack a healthy lunch for them.

2. By the time they stand in line, get served, sit down and eat, it's time to go back to class. When they have their lunch with them, they can sit down and eat in 5 or 10 minutes, then enjoy the rest of their lunch period playing.

I love my kids. They are smart, healthy, and happy.

It starts at home.

jenilla1

I don't think schools should be providing lunches. Period.

Or breakfast.

Or dinner.

Totally don't agree. For some children school lunches are the best meals they get for the day.

And for some kids it may be the ONLY meal they get in a day.

We're all entitled to our opinions, and I respect yours. But, based on my 10 years of experience teaching at a school where 98.7% of the children lived at or below the poverty level, this notion of the "only" meal proved incorrect. Not only did these children show up to school in high fashion gear, they also had cash on-hand for luxury items, i.e. chicken wings, ice cream, candy bars. So, again, I respectfully disagree with this notion that kids will starve if they aren't fed at school.

I taught in Oakland. My kids all (yes, 100% of them) qualified for FRL.

If we didn't feed them, yes, they WERE going to be hungry. Actually hungry. And my kids didn't have cell phones or fashion gear. They didn't have decent shoes, most of them. None of them were obese, and very few were even overweight.

So I respectfully disagree with your anecdote, by providing one of my own.

I agree. I taught low income students for several years and most of those kids didn't walk in with the bling and "cash in hand." I personally knew of many students who would take their friends' lunch leftovers home for dinner. I guess experiences vary by region.

GeekyGoddess

To the OP, I don't think your a snob for thinking the way you do, I think a lot of people just don't think twice about the stuff they put in their kids bodies, or worry about the habits they are teaching them.

stephaniec78

I think healthier lunches at school are a great idea, and I don't think you are a snob for thinking so. I mean you are not telling her to never let him have those foods, just that they shouldn't be served in a school.

I was a very picky eater as a kid and my parents didn't force me to eat something I didn't like. However, they always made sure that I would at least try a bite of something new before I said I didn't like it.

med2017

jamie oliver!!!

GaidenJade

Bringing a bag lunch isn't always an option either. Some schools have food nazis that inspect every bag lunch. They confiscate lunches that do not comply with the governments shameful one-size-fits-all mandate.
Starving all kids because some are obese is absolutely insane. The government is too damn lazy to bother dealing with the broad spectrum of metabolic needs. It is easier to just treat every as potential fatties and starve them all. If a few die along the way, so what.

The Gubmint thinks what I do is unhealthy. And it won't matter how many blood tests prove them wrong.
Forcing out food that kids will eat in favor of foods they won't eat doesn't help them.
In every school that has forced kids to take vegetables, the amount of waste has gone up. The contractors love it because they make more money.
My kids only get to buy a school lunch on Friday. The rest of the week we send lunch with them. What we send them is actually better for them than the school lunch. And they don't lose half their lunch time waiting in a long line.

If anyone thinks that the one meal they eat at school is going to impact obesity among kids, they must think the kids don't eat anything outside of school.

My son hasn't weighed 90 pounds since he was 7. But then at age 7 he was as a tall as the average 12 year old. At 17 he is 6'4" and 210. Still thin. But those who obsess with weight would try to starve him because his weight is >98 percentile. But so is his height. He takes a pretty good sized lunch to school. One that would surely get confiscated if they had food nazis at his high school.

This^^ I am all for healthy school lunches, but as with everything, moderation. Especially young kids going through that, I won't eat anything but this, faze. My youngest is going through that faze now. I make a deal with her, if she eats this ex...carrots.. she can have chicken nuggets for lunch. So we compromise. But if I cut it out there would be a fight for every meal.

I am the parent, but as parents we pick and choose our battles for our children's health and happiness. I think school lunches need to reflect the very lessons of moderation and health that we want them to learn. Portions and variety. Not solely health food and not solely junk.

katsmit2

I pack my children's lunches, and my husband's for that matter. The school lunches have gotten healthier and a bit more expensive, but they have also gotten much SMALLER. It just isn't enough food for my school age kids, especially my ten year old, and neither one of them are overweight (my youngest either). I send them healthy options for lunch, trying to hit most of the food groups, and something with protein for snack to keep them going for the rest of the day.

The free/reduced program is abused in my state as well, with only a form being filled out to qualify, no verifying the information on the form, no interview, nothing.

lyttlewon

My cousin’s son’s school changed their lunch menu to eliminate fried and fattening foods like French fries, cheese nacho’s and chicken nuggets and replace them with hummus, grilled chicken, steamed veggies and yogurt to name a few. My cousin is PO’d stating her son will not eat these foods because his diet is ONLY pork roll, bacon, pizza, chicken nuggets, French fries and occasionally spaghetti with butter on it. Her son is 12, approximately 4’10” and about 85-90 pounds. He’s so undernourished that his back and chest have a skeletal appearance.

I got into a heated debate with her stating things like the obesity epidemic among children is so bad in this country that parents should welcome the change to a healthier lunch program. And scolded her for giving into his poor diet choices by not insisting he try something new a few times a week. He can’t eat what she doesn’t buy right?.

So… I was wondering – have I been on MFP so long that I’ve become a snob to the unhealthy eating habits of people. Or, am I on the money here and have a right to get my GRRR on.

I don't understand why you were arguing with someone who has an underweight child about obesity in schools. Obesity is not a problem her child suffers from. If he is underweight why would she consider removing high calorie foods from his diet to be a good thing?

StinkyWinkies

Totally don't agree. For some children school lunches are the best meals they get for the day.

This^^ I was a "free lunch" kid, the meals I got at school were the healthiest of my day. They even fussed at me for eating PB&J with milk and "frozen" yogurt (real yogurt frozen in the freezer) for lunch on those days that that was all I wanted to eat. If not for school lunches, I wouldn't know a healthy meal if it smacked me in the face.

sewedo1

A friend of mine works in the local high school cafeteria and there have been some mixed responses. She said many kids are excited to be able to get 2 veggies and 2 fruits plus milk and one main dish as this is more food, although healthier. Some do complain that there are fewer selections of meats/main dishes (no longer an option of fried chicken sandwich or pizza as a daily choice). They always offer a sandwich (turkey/ham) as a main selection option to the hot main dish. Not being allowed to have as much ketchup and ranch dressing as they want as well as not being allowed to have the condiments with whatever they choose (ie only allowed ranch with a salad not as a dip for their sandwich). Many children eat free or reduced breakfasts and lunches and these meals are obviously their main sources of nutrition due ot poverty at home.

martintanz

Waiting for my kid's public school to start feeding him meals like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovO18E-hgew

Freidon

My cousin’s son’s school changed their lunch menu to eliminate fried and fattening foods like French fries, cheese nacho’s and chicken nuggets and replace them with hummus, grilled chicken, steamed veggies and yogurt to name a few. My cousin is PO’d stating her son will not eat these foods because his diet is ONLY pork roll, bacon, pizza, chicken nuggets, French fries and occasionally spaghetti with butter on it. Her son is 12, approximately 4’10” and about 85-90 pounds. He’s so undernourished that his back and chest have a skeletal appearance.

I got into a heated debate with her stating things like the obesity epidemic among children is so bad in this country that parents should welcome the change to a healthier lunch program. And scolded her for giving into his poor diet choices by not insisting he try something new a few times a week. He can’t eat what she doesn’t buy right?.

So… I was wondering – have I been on MFP so long that I’ve become a snob to the unhealthy eating habits of people. Or, am I on the money here and have a right to get my GRRR on.

Eh. As long as parents aren't spoiling the child, (he has a tantrum if the family doesn't get pizza for dinner) I try not to judge. Some people can eat insane stuff when they're younger and turn out ok. Some of us can't. Cultural differences and food cost play a role, too.

I graduated a year or two ago. The switch to "healthier" school lunches WAS a bad thing. I'm all for promoting a healthy meal, but it backfired. The school still had to stay on a budget and sell the food for dirt cheap, so we had small, bland meals that no one liked. Instead, people went to the snack line and ate cookies, chips, and gatorade for lunch. The ones who did eat the meals were hungry by the time school let out, and grabbed McDonald's and binged after school. People ate LESS healthy food and resented nutritious meals because they were improperly forced on them. Even now that I'm eating better, I wouldn't eat the stuff they tried to give us. There was a black market for salt and ketchup, to boot. People would sneak in condiments and share with friends, since we weren't supposed to be allowed any.