Makes NO sense!!!

I believe that everything should be in moderation.

My 11 year old has a 7up when we go out to dinner....the 2 times a month we go out.

Sometimes we get random sodas because it just sounds good. They aren't in the house though.

School is for an education. As a teacher, I can say that there are health classes. I teach my students about nutrition and portion size, etc. I teach my daughters as well.

Also. as a parent, I make my kids their lunches. On rare occasion she gets pizza but that is a rare case. For the most part, I send them to school with their own food. Why? Because it's better for them.

Everything in moderation. My children are healthy and in the right range for weight according to their height.

I also agree kids CAN have soda in MODERATION...My kids rarely get soda but yes they have it mostly when we eat out which is rare. I see nothing wrong with them having it occasionally. I educate my kids on healthy eating and why we can't have mcDonalds everyday and why we must eat their veggi.I agree school lunches could be more healthy which is why my kids take their lunch most days and their school does have a salad bar but in my 5 year old words "mommy their salads just aren't as good as yours!" The school lunches have improved but need to be BETTER...

#1- It's all about education and financial situations. Where I live, a 2L costs $2.00 but a gallon of milk costs $4.25 and 100% juice costs the same. Parents don't think about the effects of that much concentrated sugar on their child's teeth. Chewing gum is another thing that kills me. While doing clinicals in a doctor's office for school, a woman came in with her 3 children because of tooth aches. She said she "limits their pop intake to 3 glasses a day" and followed that sentence by asking all 3 kids if they wanted some bubble gum for 'being good'. It's something that needs to be reinforced early.
#2- The food in schools is a hot topic for many schools for a while. It's cheaper to by easy crap than to buy fresh, local, healthy foods. That topic needs to be taken to your local school board meetings and addressed.
#3- There are such stores! They are called your local farmer's market!! So many people take for granted what they have in their own community! And kids LOVE going there!

It's nice to see people without children noticing!

Hrm...my "health" class was only a ruse to promote abstinence. We learned about every STD known to humankind, saw very detailed and gross pictures of said diseases, but never learned about healthy eating. In fact, I never learned how to eat healthy in school...not once. We did cover the food pyramid one day in the 3rd grade.

Regarding topic #2

My daughter is in middle school - she has a salad bar. The school only uses wheat bread and white milk. They've switched over a lot of the canned sweetened fruit they served and now serve fresh. They've drastically changed the menu over the past few years.... she's my youngest, my other two are in their early-mid 20's now, I'm very impressed with the school lunches these days as compared to what they used to be.

(She, however - hates them)

Excuse me if I come off like a zealot, but just let me say this.... SUGAR IS THE DEVIL!!!!!

Okay, okay I've calmed down what really bothers me is the AMOUNT OF SUGARS (under so many different names) I find in "REAL FOOD" or in food that the manufactures say are "HEALTHY"

Food Manufactures dump all sorts of sugars in to food because it increases the appetite and that increases sales. It's a lovely cycle which I think this is a major contributor to our obesity problem in this country. (not to mention that the Govt. subsidize the corn crops, that create the High Fructose Corn Syrup, thus encouraging the food manufactures. So on one hand they tell us about personal responsibility and to eat healthier, but on the other hand they're not willing to change their policies)

Years ago I figured out that sugar increases my appetite from my own body's reaction. The first time I asked a scientist about this I said "Am I crazy or what...?" I'm an artist and I keep forget the actual science behind this but I've asked reputable sources... biochemists, nutritionists and diabetics. Who all came up with the same explanation about how the pancreas works.

Turns out that many things I thought of as "REAL FOODs" have a ton of sugar. I know that NutriGrain Bars have 11 different types of sugars. Out of the 37g serving size 12g of that is sugar.

I had a lean cuisine meal the other day that 18g of sugars in it. That's TWICE as much sugar as my favorite cookies (9g for 15 cookies). Sure, the lean cuisine only had 320 cal, but I was starving all evening and that leave me with 2 choices... SUFFER or EAT MORE.

Personally, I'd rather have my real food be REAL FOOD and save the sugar to enjoy a TREAT now and again. When I came up in the 60s food was real and a RING DING or a HO HO was a TREAT. Yes, it's an unhealthy gooey sugarbomb. But it was not everyday food it was a special TREAT. I think it's a crying shame that kids can't (or shouldn't) have a treat any more because there is so much crap in "REAL FOOD".

Okay, I don't have kids, but as a former nanny, a former teacher, an aunt of 12 I'm quite opinionated about kids. And as someone who has battled a weight problem her whole life I'm quite opinionated about food too.

I noticed you live in Vegas. I do too. There is a farm! Gilcrease Orchard. It is open May-December. 7800 N Tenaya Way. 702-645-1126. There are a few crops like Zucinni but tons of fruit trees and a pumpkin patch in the fall.

I have 2 kids and the only time I buy soda is for special occasions as a treat because, yes, it is evil, and yes, it is yummy. Second, you (and when I say "you" I mean "parents") can go online or sometimes kids bring home a calendar of food for the month. If it's not that horrible, they can eat it, if it is awful, I pack a lunch. Schools unfortunatly are there to educate kids basically to get them to pass standardized tests. THe better the scores, the more money they get from the gov. It is a crappy system we have but it's our current reality and we have to deal with it. So no, they are not going to teach our kids portion control, and the evils of sugar, or that processed foods will lead them to a life of obesity and disease. They teach math, science, english, history. Period. At my son's school, music is GONE! no music class. Gym is once a week for less than an hour. We as parents need to take the bull by the horns and do it ourselves. To be honest, I don't think most parents of urban public school kids even know what all their kids do at school on a daily basis. I am quite blessed in that my son is super intelligent and loves to learn about everything and he also likes to pass along that knowledge so I am always in the loop.

I guess all we can do is be the best role models we can and make sure that a: we stay informed about their education and b: we fill in the gaps on our own and teach them to be healthy adults.