First Day of School.. no wonder kids are getting obese

jrich1
jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
edited September 21 in Food and Nutrition
Wife and I dropped our daughter off at school, she are before thankfully, they school breakfast being served was 1 big glazed donut and chocolate Milk. Cereal I think was an option but of course kids are going to get the donut.
No wonder childhood obesity is on the rise!

Replies

  • cediyam
    cediyam Posts: 181 Member
    Oh no. That's just horrible.
  • baldric1331
    baldric1331 Posts: 30 Member
    at my daughters school i droped her off each morning and it was 1 slice of toast and ceral and a glass of juice or milk nothing bad for them at all so i guess im lucky here
  • MDVOID
    MDVOID Posts: 45 Member
    This makes me remember the tv program Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, I watched a few episodes, recomended:


    http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

    http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution
  • jlizgar
    jlizgar Posts: 104
    Thats horrible! sugar the kids up and then expect the teachers to be able to handle them, geez! Its bad enough the food is just crap and bad for them, the sugar content really messes with kids ability to behave and focus....and then you get all these teachers saying your kid is ADHD and needs meds....maybe what they need are less glazed donuts provided by the school!
  • Families_R_Forever
    Families_R_Forever Posts: 630
    Our school only does the "FUN" bkfst once a week on thursday. They probably did it as a fun thing for the first day on school...
  • jlizgar
    jlizgar Posts: 104
    at my daughters school i droped her off each morning and it was 1 slice of toast and ceral and a glass of juice or milk nothing bad for them at all so i guess im lucky here

    Well, unless the cerial was extreemly low or no sugar....something like an organic raisin bran, or plain cheerios, it probaby wasnt too entirly good for the kids....school systems are cheap and get what they can afford which isnt always the best option. But maybe you are right and you are lucky to be in a school system that forks out the money for healthy cerial options for the kids!
  • raymj61
    raymj61 Posts: 142
    Perhaps this was just a first-day welcome back thing.
  • sjcply
    sjcply Posts: 817 Member
    That is why my kids eat breakfast at home, and take their lunch to school everyday! And our schools have "healthy options" if you call healthy options pizza, turkey corn dogs, steak fingers tater tots, hamburgers on a wheat bun, brownie, Fruit cup in high fructose syrup...etc, etc!

    Although I am pleased that my 4th grader has an option to get a salad for lunch now, but what kids will pick salads over pizza??
  • ladyofivy
    ladyofivy Posts: 648
    Although I am pleased that my 4th grader has an option to get a salad for lunch now, but what kids will pick salads over pizza??

    :::beams:::

    Mine would. :smile: When we go to pizza hut, my kids both want the salad bar, usually before they have any pizza. And they eat far more salad bar than pizza.
  • stringcheeze
    stringcheeze Posts: 286
    Wife and I dropped our daughter off at school, she are before thankfully, they school breakfast being served was 1 big glazed donut and chocolate Milk. Cereal I think was an option but of course kids are going to get the donut.
    No wonder childhood obesity is on the rise!

    As others have said, I hope its only a special welcome back thing and not the status quo. If so, maybe you could think of healthy, quick, non-messy things the kids could eat for breakfast on the drive to school (like make your own breakfast bars or something).
  • SuzanneRogers
    SuzanneRogers Posts: 250 Member
    Although I am pleased that my 4th grader has an option to get a salad for lunch now, but what kids will pick salads over pizza??

    :::beams:::

    Mine would. :smile: When we go to pizza hut, my kids both want the salad bar, usually before they have any pizza. And they eat far more salad bar than pizza.

    My 6 yr will eat fruit and veggies first.
  • TheMaidOfAstolat
    TheMaidOfAstolat Posts: 3,222 Member
    I'm thinking that this is probably a welcome back to school thing and it won't be a regular occurance (I hope). I know that the schools in my county offer pretty decent breakfasts and lunches. During my stint in high school I rallied to have more vegetarian and vegan options and by senior year everything was in place for future classes.
    My daughter attends a private school and brings her lunch most days....they do not have a true lunch room...all their food is ordered in (Moes, Chick -fil-a, Subway, Papa Johns, and Arbys). She has the choice of one meal a week that is offered by the school, she usually chooses the chick-fil-a or papa johns). These are also her only non-vegetarian meals that she has during the week. I'm greatful that she is always willing to try new things and loves to eat her veggies and would rather have healthy foods over junk (most of the time).
  • Alysgrma
    Alysgrma Posts: 365 Member
    Most schools have a website where you can log on and look at the menu for the month both for breakfast and lunch. That way you
    can see what days your child will eat what the school provides. When your child takes his/her lunch how do you know they actually eat their own lunch and not trade it for something different less healthy? We aren't there so we really don't know what they eat.
  • jlizgar
    jlizgar Posts: 104
    Maybe this WAS a special "treat" for the 1st day of school...but what is this teaching our kids? That they are allowed to eat unhealthy crappy foods as long as its a special day or special occasion? Isnt that what most Americans think already? Thats why any time there are family get togethers, BBQs, birthdays etc. most of the time all the food is unhealthy....its something that is engrained into us from the time we are toddlers, and I think its a shame and one of the many reasons so many of us have weight issues and are in less than stellar health.

    They could have had a more healthy option yet something that was still good to the taste and appleaing to the kids...but then we have to go back to the school systems being cheap and getting what they can for the least amount of money, I bet those glazed donuts were much cheaper than making a yummy and healthy fruit salad.
  • absofsteel
    absofsteel Posts: 48
    That is unreal !!!!! In Ireland the school day is from about 9am-3pm.
    Schools here do not serve breakfast or lunch....It's expected that children are well fed before school begins and all children bring a packed lunch. The school my boys go to has a healthy eating policy which means they can not bring any junk food that includes cereal bars and drinks marketed as healthy but full of sugar. Friday is treat day and they the can bring a small choc bar or some popcorn.........and yet at the end of the day there will always be some parents (the ones with obese kids!) standing waiting with cans of coke,chocolate or crisps !!!!
    A school serving food must be a nightmare if your child has food allergies !!!!

    That series Jamie Oliver did was a real eyeopener ....especially after all his hard work getting schools to serve healthy food and then some parents were there at lunchtime handing junk food through the school gates to the kids :(
  • tfagler
    tfagler Posts: 30
    MY daughter's school district does not allow zero value food to be served or even brought in for parties. But they also did cut serving breakfast district wide though. In the past it was ceral, (milk or juice) and toast. But they could do cinamon sugar on the toast of their own dosing.

    Tony
  • LongMom
    LongMom Posts: 408 Member
    I think it *IS* important to teach them about "special occasion snacks!" And yes, I believe they CAN be unhealthy!

    Could you imagine if we had learned this lesson when we were very young? I think celebrating with "bad foods" is going to come up in EVERYONE's life, so lets prepare them for it!
  • jlizgar
    jlizgar Posts: 104
    I think it *IS* important to teach them about "special occasion snacks!" And yes, I believe they CAN be unhealthy!

    Could you imagine if we had learned this lesson when we were very young? I think celebrating with "bad foods" is going to come up in EVERYONE's life, so lets prepare them for it!

    Seriously, I think our kids are bombarded with television and print ads of junk food and are even served junk foods by the schools and their own parents plenty enough, I dont think they need any special preperation to deal with it...other than learning to eat only ONE donut, or only ONE piece of cake...to learn to control themselves.
    and I still stand strong in my opinion that kids can have treats, foods that contain sugar, that are sweet and taste good...but that are also healthy or at least better for then than donuts and candy.
    It kills me when teachers use candy as rewards and treats in the classroom....teachers that do this, I hope they never complain about the kids being hyper or wild.
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
    That makes me so angry. Do they expect kids to learn when hyped on sugar & caffeine. What nutrient is there in that? Sooooo Stupid. They teach nutrition in school still don't they?
  • imagymrat
    imagymrat Posts: 862 Member
    That makes me so angry. Do they expect kids to learn when hyped on sugar & caffeine. What nutrient is there in that? Sooooo Stupid. They teach nutrition in school still don't they?

    The problem is they don't practice what they preach.
  • Sparksfly
    Sparksfly Posts: 470 Member
    Children under the age of 14-15 should not have that option at all! Cereal and milk is cheap enough! Scrambled eggs? Toast? Fruit? All of these things could be easily made and distributed. I say distributed because they should not even have the option for something so unhealthy. They are too young to make that decision on their own! SOOO SAD!
  • nopeekiepeekie
    nopeekiepeekie Posts: 338 Member
    My daughter was pretty upset last year (5th grade). She was told by her oncologist that she needs to keep herself in a healthy weight range (which she is). She prefers salad, fruits & veggies over anything. So she picked up one of the menus at the beginning of the year and out of the 20 days they went to school, they served pizza or some type of pizza related item almost half of the time, and yet, the district will not let you bring cupcakes or cookies for your child's birthday. Seems like a double standard if you ask me.

    She's happy she's going to the middle school this year where they have a salad bar available every day.
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    that's too bad. our school breakfast this morning was:
    strawberry pancakes
    soy sausage patty
    chocolate milk

    or

    cereal with milk
    half a banana
    orange juice

    i was disappointed with the lack of protein options, but i think our district does a fairly good job of providing nutritious food for our kids.
  • Corrie62
    Corrie62 Posts: 191
    As of this Thursday my children will be in Grades 4 and 5. Our elementary school does not have a meal program or cafeteria. They eat breakfast at home, and bring bagged lunch. So the health of their food options depends on what they ask for (provided I don't veto it) or what my husband or I choose for them.
  • disneybuff323
    disneybuff323 Posts: 21
    Our school only does the "FUN" bkfst once a week on thursday. They probably did it as a fun thing for the first day on school...

    I agree. My volunteer group has handed out cookies in the morning before school for the elementary schoolers. It's unlikely that is everyday. A first day treat is understandable
  • disneybuff323
    disneybuff323 Posts: 21
    plus, isn't it kind of a double standard for US to get upset? Most buy cake for their child's birthday, or take them out for an occasional ice cream cone. C'mon ppl
  • tracyts
    tracyts Posts: 113
    Thats horrible! sugar the kids up and then expect the teachers to be able to handle them, geez! Its bad enough the food is just crap and bad for them, the sugar content really messes with kids ability to behave and focus....and then you get all these teachers saying your kid is ADHD and needs meds....maybe what they need are less glazed donuts provided by the school!
    ^^^so agree with this!!!
  • nopeekiepeekie
    nopeekiepeekie Posts: 338 Member
    plus, isn't it kind of a double standard for US to get upset? Most buy cake for their child's birthday, or take them out for an occasional ice cream cone. C'mon ppl

    It's different when the school is supplying the unhealthy meal and then in return tells you what you can or cannot send to school with your child for snacks.
  • leasah
    leasah Posts: 107 Member
    How sad, but really school food is just a very small part of childhood obesity. Little to no pe or recess, foods that lacks little to any nutritional value at school, tons of sugary snacks at home, too much fast food as a dinner options and then sitting in front of a tv or handheld game are all contributing factors. It all begins at home!
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