No more junk food in schools

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  • Sarabelle43
    Sarabelle43 Posts: 40
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    Hope it sticks. I'm a teacher and two years ago, we started a big healthy living campaign at my elementary school. One of the things that went out the door at the beginning of last year was chocolate milk - it has more sugar than a can of regular soda! Gross. That was at the beginning of the school year... 5 months in, the kids (or rather, the parents) had complained so much that the district told us we had to give them back the choice. We also tried to get rid of extra butter of doom popcorn... but that failed, too. :/
  • sunshinestater
    sunshinestater Posts: 596 Member
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    In high school, I ate Little Debbie snacks and ice cream for munch, then fast food or pizza after school. I was 110 pounds and size 3.

    You know what was different then? Gym class and not spending all day in front of video games and computers.

    Get rid of all the junk, but as long as they keep getting rid of recess and PE, kids will be overweight. They aren't addressing the real issue.
    ^^^^^
    This
  • louloulou
    louloulou Posts: 64 Member
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    I don't live in america. Here, there is no school lunches, kids bring their own lunch box from home, there are no vending machines in schools. In high schools, most have a school shop where kids can buy their lunches, these shops sell for the most part, healthy to average food- like homemade pizza, filled sandwiches etc. in terms of lunchbox food, you can send what you want however there is a strong push from schools to send healthy food options.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    There shouldn't be vending machines in schools at all. There also shouldn't be school lunches but that's another thread, I guess.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    I took a lunch most of the time, which was a sandwich, thermos of Nestle Quik, and something like a Little Debbie, Tastykake or Drake's pie. And I was a beanpole.

    We didn't have vending machines in any of our schools, at least not as of 1990.

    In college, I'd drive to the nearest 7-11 for lunch and get a hot dog, a pack of Tastykakes and a 32 oz Big Gulp of regular Mountain Dew. And I was still a beanpole.




    And Snickers Bars keep me from turning into Betty White, Joe Pesci and Robin Williams. 'Struth. I've never been any of those people.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    LMAO!

    Seriously though, I'm all for it. I grew up in France and it was 'healthy' food in school, and I'm sure otherwise I would have been even more chubbier (it's at home that I ate the junk). And don't get me started on vending machines and the like... I totally agree that it's a bit pointless to do that while cutting recess and PE though.
  • fluffykitsune
    fluffykitsune Posts: 236 Member
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    Don't like it. Kids won't eat it and will go home starving and will eat all of the junk food there.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    Let us not hold parents accountable for food choices of their children. That would make too much sense.
  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
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    Schools didn't cause this problem, but maybe they can help solve it.

    Very, very well said! I agree it's not the schools fault and that the parents need to be held accountable as well. But we're not going to change every parent's mind or eating/grocery shopping habits overnight so this could be a great first step in exposing children to healthy alternatives.

    Absolutely agree with both of you... it is the parents, children learn by what they see and if its mcdonalds and poptarts every night they are more apt to follow those same eating habits when they leave the home...
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I have zero problem with this.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
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    Considering what school lunches currently are like, this is priceless.
  • hammbone55
    hammbone55 Posts: 73
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    The school I work at has removed all sugary cereals at breakfast. We also don't allow chocolate milk to be served for breakfast, snack or lunch. Veggies served are low sodium. We also have a fruits and veggies program where a couple times a week the classrooms get to try new fruits or veggies for the kids' snack. Some things the kids really like and some not so much but at least they are exposing the children to a variety of different foods. I had never had jicama until they had it for the snack one day and my daughter told me I should try it. I now buy it all the time and my kids love it.
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
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    Let us not hold parents accountable for food choices of their children. That would make too much sense.

    Right?

    :noway:
  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 941 Member
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    Eliminating junk food from schools, in the form of sugary drinks and vending maching snacks, has not been shown to have any effect on obesity rates, where it was tried in the US. As is usually the case, you can't solve problems by merely making them illegal.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
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    I love it!
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
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    People are making stupid food choices and making their kids fat and potentially sick. Good nutritional behavior is learned in the childhood. Kids copy their parents. At least, they would get some nutrients at school.
  • RobynLB83
    RobynLB83 Posts: 626 Member
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    People are making stupid food choices and making their kids fat and potentially sick. Good nutritional behavior is learned in the childhood. Kids copy their parents. At least, they would get some nutrients at school.

    I don't know how accurate the assumption that kids copy their parents is. I went vegan at 12, and my parents were like WTF? Kids eat what their parents feed them, but as soon as they can feed themselves, they start making pretty individualistic choices.

    Also, not all fat kids are eating junk food. and not all junk food eating kids are fat I was a fat kid, and I was forbidden junk food. Conversely, my nephew grew up on pizza and McDonalds, and was always trim and super healthy, and at 10, I just saw him order a salad at a restaurant. Weird kid.

    Still, better nutrition education through the schools can only be a good thing.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Eliminating junk food from schools, in the form of sugary drinks and vending maching snacks, has not been shown to have any effect on obesity rates, where it was tried in the US. As is usually the case, you can't solve problems by merely making them illegal.
    Exactly.

    I remember being in line in the grocery store one day behind a set of parents and their two children and for some reason I was thinking about how people keep blaming fast food restaurants for obesity. The entire family was overweight and I just took a glance at their cart.

    It was full of fattening junk food. Not a fruit or veggie to be seen. Lots of snack cakes and soda and you-name-it, but not one healthy item. It is not what they're eating at school that is making them fat.

    Also, healthy foods have always been available at schools and many actually require the kids to take a certain amount of fruit or whatever. Most of it ends up in the trash.
  • hdlb
    hdlb Posts: 333 Member
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    Another reason I'm glad I moved to Canada. I'm also glad my daughter isn't in high school anymore.

    Not sure what you mean - but I'm in BC and the stuff in the vending maschines had been changed to healthier choices, and the food sold in the cafeterias in BC schools have been changed as well - and that happened a few years ago here......

    I was wondering the same thing, but maybe its just BC with the changes? I live in BC too, and I like the rules. No pop/chips/candy/chocoate sold in schools, everything has to be under a certain sugar/fat/sodium level. The school my kids go to doesn't have a cafeteria, but they do have a canteen. Most kids bring their lunches from home, but they do have the option to buy lunch. The food is made fresh each day (nothing comes in pre-made or frozen) by one lunch lady and kids from grade 5 and 6. They all have to help through the year. I imagine its much easier for our school do it that way though because there is only 300 kids in the school. Instead of "Pizza day" they have "smoothie day". They make all the smoothies and kids have the choice of having it made with dairy or soy milk. The kids love it.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    I think it's asinine.

    What is the point of regulating drinks and snacks when the only lunch you can get in the cafeteria (at least around here) is a choice between pizza (w/ fries), hamburger/cheeseburger (w/ fries), or something like frito pie (w/ fries, wth?), chicken fried steak fingers (w/ mashed potatoes and cream gravy), etc. Oh wait, they do serve a salad - about 1/4 c. of iceberg lettuce with an anemic tomato slice. Yeah, that's a healthy and satisfying option. Can't imagine why the kids aren't falling all over themselves to eat that.

    I won't even get into the schools refusing to allow parents to send lunch for fear of a drop of peanut or tree nut oil to get into the school as though there is no other solution to keep allergic kids safe. Sad when the high school kids here tend to lose weight their senior year. Why? Because they're allowed to eat off campus (i.e. at the McDonalds across the street).

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