Teacher says Pop Tarts are not a healthy snack

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  • ChelzFit
    ChelzFit Posts: 292 Member
    I have taught elementary school for several years and always encouraged my students to bring a snack to have early morning. Instead of focusing on the word healthy, I told the students they are allowed to bring whatever they like as long as it is "small." The kids had a snack at 11 and then they ate lunch at noon, so I figured they didn't need to be bringing in large bags of chips or an entire meal. Leaving the choice up to them I found that most of them had a wide variety of snacks, sometimes an apple and the next day they might have a small piece of leftover Halloween candy. I am there teacher I have no right to say what they should or should not be eating. Although I still remember I had one student who was overweight and her mom packed her lunch daily with literally three little Debbie snacks and chocolate milk. She constantly complained of stomach aches, still not my place to tell them how to run there home.
    Before becoming a parent I always thought I would be the mom to never allow candy or junk food to them. Over the years my attitude has changed as well as my eating. I find it more important to teach them moderation rather then labeling a food a good food or bad food. Having restricted foods for a long time I tended to binge more often. Now that I allow them into my diet in moderation I am much happier.
  • sm27357
    sm27357 Posts: 5 Member
    It is not appropriate for the teacher to make you child feel bad about his food. She should not have said this to as it affects your child's self-esteem and does not create a positive environment. It creates one in which people (kids) will feel justified in judging others.

    As a pediatric dietitian, I do not recommend granola bars or pop tarts on a regular basis for school-aged children. However, unless you have signed some consent to having your child's nutritional habits be "evaluated" and discussed with your child this behavior by the teacher is not appropriate. It is not as if type of "intervention" is useful. Your child is not the one shopping for food or packing his food. All it has achieved is make your son feel bad and you upset.

    "Are pop-tarts the devil"-No, of course not. Some good snacks (better than just fruit and better than granola or regular yogurt would be) hard-boiled eggs, plain cheerios, Greek yogurt with fresh fruit or fat-free milk. It is a good balance of complex carbs, fat and protein.

    Can you eat pop-tarts once in a while? Sure. However, I personally do not recommend giving them to children early on. When kids eat sugary foods (like granola bars and pastries) at a young age-I have no idea what your son's age is- they do tend to develop a preference for them. And it's hard to undo later on. It's best to get them to prefer healthier high-protein, complex carb-type foods so there's nothing to undo. I also do not recommend non-nutrition professionals, such as teachers to "evaluate" or provide "nutrition intervention" without parental consent. That is best left to a nutrition professional at the request of the parent. Good luck. I suggest going to your program's director.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Cylphin60 wrote: »
    fbmandy55 wrote: »
    I get where both sides are coming from, I really do. The teacher is relying on guidance published by scientists/nutritionists through FNIC (USDA) and Nutrition.gov which are both federal agencies who serve to educate the public on such matters.

    So what I take from this is: Thanks Michelle Obama. :D
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    Looking good!
  • Treece68
    Treece68 Posts: 780 Member
    I would think they would have to give a guideline of what kids can and can not bring as a snack if they are going to police like that. My friends daughter has a nut allergy and 2nd day of school they would not let her go play until she ate all of her banana nut muffin even though she told them she could not eat it because of her allergy she is 7. Poor girl stuffed it in her pocket then flushed it down the toilet.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,570 Member
    Nope. Not okay. That teacher with one day has just undone your years of hard work in trying to teach your kid that there are no good or bad foods. Kids are like sponges and they take everything personally, he's not going to see that the teacher was being a not-nice person, he's going to see that he has bad food. And it's going to take a lot of consistent effort on your part and on his (when he figures it out for himself) that foods don't get labels like that unless - you're right - they're medically or ethically unsound FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL. (I'm all het up over this. Sorry.) If I were you I would have gone immediately to the principal because shenanigans.

    Also, did they send you out a guideline at the beginning of the school year as to what constitutes a healthy or unhealthy snack? Is it in writing that the kids can only have fruit/yogurt/granola?

    Sounds to me like teacher just didn't want to deal with your child on a sugar high, which if I were the parent would be unacceptable. You don't tell my kid what's good or bad when it comes to food, I do.

    They need to provide that guideline for all parents in writing or they need to stfu.

    (not that I'm mad about this at all... :# )

    Do you need a pop tart? :)
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    brower47 wrote: »
    I think I'm more disturbed by the fact that he's been sitting there hungry and afraid to be judged for not eating healthy food.

    Who wants their child to be afraid to eat and go hungry? This is how food disorders begin.

    But if he took something within the rules he wouldn't be afraid or hungry, correct? It seems like you are perpetuating the problem rather than solving it.

    Whenever I encounter something I believe is an injustice, I like to stick my head in the sand in order to prevent creating any waves too.

    Injustice? ::laugh::
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,452 Member
    I went to my kids school this morning, to speak with his first grade teacher.
    He came home yesterday saying he couldn"t bring his Pop tart for their morning snack, because they can only have "healthy snacks".

    I was upset. I still am even after speaking with the teacher this morning.
    I teach my child that there are no good or bad foods, unless you have a allergy or ethically cant eat it.

    He has been sitting there afraid to pull out his "unhealthy snack" because its not "fruit, or granola bar, or yogurt"(healthy snacks").
    I often send those as well.

    I told her not to teach my child about foods being good or bad, because I dont subscribe to that.

    Teacher: "So you're ok with him having a sugary Pop Tart in the morning"?
    Me: Yes, I if send it its good enough for him to have. Just so you know there are granola bars with just as much or more sugar in them as Pop Tarts.
    Teacher: blank stare.

    Do teachers have the right to teach children sugary snacks are unhealthy?

    Are Pop tarts the devil?
    Teachers are like most of the general public. They have no idea of how nutrition actually works. The deeming of "unhealthy" only seems to relate to food or smoking cigarettes, etc. "Unhealthy" could be having too much stress, lack of sleep, being unhappy with themselves, being overweight, etc.
    If your kid is eating a decent meal in the morning (yes kids should have something in the morning for brain focus), then I say the Pop tart is fine.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • Treece68
    Treece68 Posts: 780 Member
    edited January 2017
    All the pop tart talk I am now going to eat my last Glutino GF Strawberry Toaster Pastry as I love pop tarts can no longer eat them and only buy these once in a while because it is $3 something a box for 4. YUM! And I will log it.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    They are sugar covered frosting. I'm sorry, but are we really asking if Pop Tarts are healthy??

    It seems there are only 2 things it could be - healthy or the devil. They don't look like the devil now do they?
  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
    Ever since the time I nearly burned down the office toasting my breakfast PopTarts, I've been less than enthralled by them. Seriously, all I did was put it in the toaster.

    I have made them from scratch, though, and those are to die for.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    edited January 2017
    brower47 wrote: »
    I think I'm more disturbed by the fact that he's been sitting there hungry and afraid to be judged for not eating healthy food.

    Who wants their child to be afraid to eat and go hungry? This is how food disorders begin.

    But if he took something within the rules he wouldn't be afraid or hungry, correct? It seems like you are perpetuating the problem rather than solving it.

    Whenever I encounter something I believe is an injustice, I like to stick my head in the sand in order to prevent creating any waves too.

    Injustice? ::laugh::

    What was your question? Are you unsure of the definition of the word?

    Here you go:

    An unjust or unfair act; wrong.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    I'll make 1 more point to add to previous points I've made.

    When I was 9 years old, I got type 1 diabetes. At that time, and for the next several months, I was given very thorough education about how to manage my disease. By the time I was 10, I actually knew more about type 1 diabetes than most physicians. Yes, that much education.

    And I knew at that time that, as far as insulin and BG is concerned, carbs are carbs. It doesn't matter whether those carbs come from an orange (most deem this "healthy") or from a donut (most deem this "unhealthy") - or even a Pop Tart. Insulin doses worked the same way regardless.

    Now, as a 10 year old (and subsequently), adults assume that there is no topic you could possibly understand better than them. So I had adults such as school nurses, school cooks, and just people I knew in general telling me that I could not eat "sweets." They were wrong, of course... I could eat "sweets" just as easily as I could eat a sandwich made of whole wheat bread. So even though I knew better, I kept being told regularly for several years that there are certain foods I can't eat.

    I have been restricting calories for 3 years now and have eaten low carb for almost a year. However, when I have a cheat day, guess what I go for. I start it out with "sweets" such as donuts, cookies, brownies, cake, etc.; add in pizzas and pasta, and end it with more cookies, brownies, cake, and ice cream.

    My point: Telling a kid they can't have something enough times might actually have consequences later in life.
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