School Lunches

kdouglas11
kdouglas11 Posts: 185 Member
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
*This is a RANT*

My daughter and I just had a talk about what she chooses to put in her body. She's 12, and a little overweight. So, we took my journal for yesterday (I wasn't well and didn't do it) and put in her lunch at school. It was OVER 900 calories!!!! WTH????


I was like, really? Now I'm like, we're SO packing your lunch, this is insane.

So this is what my kid had for lunch today
1. Bologna and Cheese Sandwich
2. Trix Yogurt
3. Sour Cream and Onion Baked Lays
4. 4 oz Juicy Juice
5. 8 oz 2% Chocolate Milk

This worries me... a lot.

Actually it disgusts me. I try to feed her healthy while we are at home, but seriously, that's almost ALL of my calories I eat in a day.

*sigh*

Replies

  • JackieJ13
    JackieJ13 Posts: 93
    That's actually scary....exactly why I pack my daughters lunch, that and she's quite picky.
  • melzteach
    melzteach Posts: 550 Member
    I have always taken issue with the quality of food served in our public school cafeterias. As a teacher I see what the students in my district are served and...seriously?! With very little effort a few changes could be made but "it's too expensive". How hard is it to cook REAL chicken instead of heating up precooked-breaded-chicken parts-patties?!
  • tobitude
    tobitude Posts: 89 Member
    We luck out because the district requires all main dishes here to be around 200 cal, yea it adds up to about 600 but i guess it is better than 900. My 12 yr old daughter is overweight and I blame myself so she has recently started counting calories also and the school choices are hard for her at times but I must admit she does do her best to make better choices than she would have a month ago. It is sad the things they say are healthy for our kids.
  • strapple
    strapple Posts: 353 Member
    there are plenty of ways to pack healthy lunches for preteens especially picky ones. making them feel like theyre eating at a fancy bistro inside of their box will make them feel good and probably not even notice the healthy alternatives

    http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/School-Lunches/Detail.aspx

    http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Sandwich-Wraps/Detail.aspx

    http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Holidays-and-Events/Events-and-Gatherings/Back-to-School/Lunch-Box/Top.aspx

    or just http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Holidays-and-Events/Events-and-Gatherings/Back-to-School/Lunch-Box/Main.aspx in general


    i had to make healthy lunches for my preteen brother when he was starting to get overweight and after a week of wraps and healthy snacks he was asking me to pack extra for his new girlfriend who liked his style ;}
  • Losingitin2011
    Losingitin2011 Posts: 572 Member
    From what I can tell, school districts try to cram as many calories into kid's lunches because that may very well be the only meal they eat that day. I don't agree with it, and I think it's contributing to the obesity epidemic in children. Why not just have her pack and take her own lunch, that way she is learning what it means to have a balanced healthy meal before she is an adult and struggles to learn it (like a lot of us on here)?
  • StrawberryDrip
    StrawberryDrip Posts: 31
    My parents use to let me eat whatever I wanted and I honestly wish they hadn't or I might not be here right now. Just remember if she complains that she'll thank you one day. And watch out for food sneaking, I had a friend who use to do that and she ended up bigger than me.
  • Losingitin2011
    Losingitin2011 Posts: 572 Member
    My parents use to let me eat whatever I wanted and I honestly wish they hadn't or I might not be here right now. Just remember if she complains that she'll thank you one day. And watch out for food sneaking, I had a friend who use to do that and she ended up bigger than me.

    I wonder if a lot of our food issues are society issues anymore. My niece and nephews are allowed to eat when they're hungry, but my sister only buys healthy snacks. When I was a kid, my mother bought crap food because it was cheaper, but I was more or less left to my own devices, so I ate what I wanted when I wanted. My sister's kids are all slender and active, and I used to be, before all the medications made me swell up like a balloon.

    It really makes me think about how we think about food as a society. It really seems like we are so caught up in the quick and easy that we forget to enjoy food, and enjoy preparing food. I wonder if we were to get back to that if some of the obesity problems would go away?
  • casey12105
    casey12105 Posts: 293
    We're lucky here, the school lunches are all about nutrition and looking at the menu I wonder if my son is even eating because I know I could never get him to eat that stuff at home lol. They don't even allow you to pack lunches.
  • Losingitin2011
    Losingitin2011 Posts: 572 Member
    We're lucky here, the school lunches are all about nutrition and looking at the menu I wonder if my son is even eating because I know I could never get him to eat that stuff at home lol. They don't even allow you to pack lunches.

    Personally I don't agree with the whole banning brown bag lunches. It is your right as a parent to have a say in what your kid is or isn't eating. It isn't the school's place to make that decision for you.
  • cupfanncbms
    cupfanncbms Posts: 101
    Florida took initiative to have healthier meals, so they have their pizza, but they do whole grain crust (still pizza, but it's better). They do PBJ, but it's the uncrustables on wheat bread. They've stopped serving pork sausage for breakfast and gone to all turkey. I also have it noted in their school computer lunch files that there are NO a la cart items allowed (no chips, cookies, brownies, ice creams, extra milks, etc). Just the straight lunch: choice of entree, choice of fruit, and milk.


    I also got my 13 year old a membership at the gym with me. She loves it! I'll get one for my next oldest daughter when she turns 12. :)

    *they also have a thing at my kids' school called "mylunchmoney.com" where I can see on a daily basis what they're eating.
  • Losingitin2011
    Losingitin2011 Posts: 572 Member
    Florida took initiative to have healthier meals, so they have their pizza, but they do whole grain crust (still pizza, but it's better). They do PBJ, but it's the uncrustables on wheat bread. They've stopped serving pork sausage for breakfast and gone to all turkey. I also have it noted in their school computer lunch files that there are NO a la cart items allowed (no chips, cookies, brownies, ice creams, extra milks, etc). Just the straight lunch: choice of entree, choice of fruit, and milk.


    I also got my 13 year old a membership at the gym with me. She loves it! I'll get one for my next oldest daughter when she turns 12. :)

    *they also have a thing at my kids' school called "mylunchmoney.com" where I can see on a daily basis what they're eating.

    That is pretty awesome that you can see what they're eating.
  • tobitude
    tobitude Posts: 89 Member
    Florida took initiative to have healthier meals, so they have their pizza, but they do whole grain crust (still pizza, but it's better). They do PBJ, but it's the uncrustables on wheat bread. They've stopped serving pork sausage for breakfast and gone to all turkey. I also have it noted in their school computer lunch files that there are NO a la cart items allowed (no chips, cookies, brownies, ice creams, extra milks, etc). Just the straight lunch: choice of entree, choice of fruit, and milk.


    I also got my 13 year old a membership at the gym with me. She loves it! I'll get one for my next oldest daughter when she turns 12. :)

    *they also have a thing at my kids' school called "mylunchmoney.com" where I can see on a daily basis what they're eating.

    Yep we are in Florida too, thats why my daughters choices are better than some other schools might be.
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