Are America's children hungry or obese?

[Stitchfans]

RE: Hungry - or - Obese
I just wanted to say that being poor or needy does not mean that one is not obese....

Quite the opposite.

The poor often eat lower quality foods, a much higher percentage of carbs, etc.
High quality fresh and nutritious foods can be very expensive!

And, like everyone else...
OMG, just no-comment about the school lunch programs, etc...

Exactly. The subject of wasted food has always been a big issue with me. Instead of places being able to donate whatever they hadn't sold at the end of the day, they have to pitch it?? So wrong. So messed up.

 

[minkydog]

Our school is 100% on federally funded breakfast and lunch, due to the very low economic status of our population. Most of our kids eat only at school. This year we received a grant of fresh fruits and vegetables that the kids can have at snack every day. Not just the little kids, it's K-5th. When they come to school, the kids go straight to breakfast. They are required to take the entree, a fruit, and either juice or milk. If they dont' want to eat their fruit, they are encouraged to take it home to their younger siblings or save it for a snack later in the day; same, at lunch. Sometime during the day, each class gets a basket full of either a fruit or a vegetable for each child. Sometimes those baskets are pretty...interesting. Like the day they all received a radish for snack. Seriously? a radish?? But they've also had fresh pineapple,plums, cherry tomatoes, grapes, oranges, star fruit, and kiwi. One of our best received veggies was, surprisingly, cucumbers! Most of hte kids had never seen one and they really liked the taste.

 

[marcyinPA]

At my son's school they increased the price of lunch but reduced how much they get. He gets out at 1:30 and by 1:40 has his head in the fridge. He is 6 foot 6 inches and is a stick. It's too bad when well meaning people feel they know what is best for everyone.

Same here. My DS17 is 6' and 140 lbs. Tall and skinny. School lunch for him is a snack. He rarely buys lunch, unless we are really lacking in food at home. He packs his lunch, and eats it in all four blocks of the day- the kid is a bottomless pit with an unreal metabolism.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Our school is 100% on federally funded breakfast and lunch, due to the very low economic status of our population. Most of our kids eat only at school. This year we received a grant of fresh fruits and vegetables that the kids can have at snack every day. Not just the little kids, it's K-5th. When they come to school, the kids go straight to breakfast. They are required to take the entree, a fruit, and either juice or milk. If they dont' want to eat their fruit, they are encouraged to take it home to their younger siblings or save it for a snack later in the day; same, at lunch. Sometime during the day, each class gets a basket full of either a fruit or a vegetable for each child. Sometimes those baskets are pretty...interesting. Like the day they all received a radish for snack. Seriously? a radish?? But they've also had fresh pineapple,plums, cherry tomatoes, grapes, oranges, star fruit, and kiwi. One of our best received veggies was, surprisingly, cucumbers! Most of hte kids had never seen one and they really liked the taste.

Sounds like the school I volunteer at

 

[LisaR]

You do realize that the big, bad, scary government has "stepping in" with regard to the free school lunches since the beginning, right? But now the big meanies are requiring fruit instead of hot dogs and fries, so we are suddenly up in arms over the amount of waste, even though waste has been a major problem since the inception of school lunches.

Common sense says to keep the fruit off the trays so they can serve it again for snack. It isn't rocket science, but it doesn't make the headlines if they use common sense.

 

[marcyinPA]

You do realize that the big, bad, scary government has "stepping in" with regard to the free school lunches since the beginning, right? But now the big meanies are requiring fruit instead of hot dogs and fries, so we are suddenly up in arms over the amount of waste, even though waste has been a major problem since the inception of school lunches.

Common sense says to keep the fruit off the trays so they can serve it again for snack. It isn't rocket science, but it doesn't make the headlines if they use common sense.

I don't have a problem with fruit. I have a problem with portion size for MS and HS kids (especially boys- because I have boys) who are growing and need more than 6 chicken fries (yes, our schools still serve that crap) and a 1/2 cup of iceberg lettuce salad. Can they buy another lunch? Sure- but who in their right mind would pay $5 for 12 chicken fries and 1 cup of iceberg salad? Expensive junk!

 

[LisaR]

I don't have a problem with fruit. I have a problem with portion size for MS and HS kids (especially boys- because I have boys) who are growing and need more than 6 chicken fries (yes, our schools still serve that crap) and a 1/2 cup of iceberg lettuce salad. Can they buy another lunch? Sure- but who in their right mind would pay $5 for 12 chicken fries and 1 cup of iceberg salad? Expensive junk!

But it isn't the governments job or the schools job to feed your kid (general kid) until s/he is full. The amount of people on the Dis who have complained about school lunches is huge. It is safe to say that the Dis does not have a large population of truly disadvantaged youth. You (again, general you) are perfectly capable of making lunch for your kid that will be satisfying. If you went to a restaurant and were served a small portion for an unreasonable amount, you wouldn't keep going back, would you? The schools can't afford to feed every teenager until they are full at a reasonable price. They simply can't. My teen will tell you he is always hungry. We aren't lacking for food. It is a normal mantra for teens, especially boys.

Also, my biggest pet peeve with the school lunch discussion is the fact that the blame is misplaced. Not all schools are failing in regard to school lunches. Some have great programs in place. If your school doesn't, it is very likely the fault of your school and not the government. The requirements set by the government are the same. It isn't the fault of the government that your school chooses to serve a cup of iceberg lettuce while the other poster says she stocks a great salad bar that the kids enjoy.

 

[mickeysgal]

I don't have a problem with fruit. I have a problem with portion size for MS and HS kids (especially boys- because I have boys) who are growing and need more than 6 chicken fries (yes, our schools still serve that crap) and a 1/2 cup of iceberg lettuce salad. Can they buy another lunch? Sure- but who in their right mind would pay $5 for 12 chicken fries and 1 cup of iceberg salad? Expensive junk!

If my child was that hungry after eating, and the quality of the items was that bad, and on top of that I didn't want to pay for another, then, I'd be packing and sending a lunch.

 

[Hrhpd]

This is getting ridiculous the way the government is stepping in. School lunches now have to have smaller portions for everybody. For some kids I'm sure that is their main food for the entire day. What are they supposed to do?

The area I live in had an article in the paper that 70% of the children enrolled in the area schools qualify for a free or reduced price meal. So the head of the lunch program came up with an idea. Since all lunches must include a piece of fruit and quite a few kids were throwing it away, she started a return bin that they could put the fruit in so others could take it if they wanted. Any left over, was collected, washed and made available free for snacks in the afternoon breaks. Sounds like a win-win situation, since snacks have to be paid for as they are not substidised. Well one day after the article appeared, another edict came from the fed gov. This is not allowed as the law states that food cannot be recycled once it has gone on a tray.

So now all the fruit has to be destroyed & kids without the money to pay for a snack can go without. At least they won't become obese...

This must be local. I worked for a Title1 school last year. All our breakfasts, lunches and snacks were subsidized. The fruit that was not eaten at breakfast was put in a basket for snacks.

However, the fruit was not automatically put on the child's tray. If they wanted it, they took a piece. If they knew they were just going to throw it out, they did not take a piece. You have to offer the fruit. You don't have to force the child to take it.

The school you are referring to is not making the best of their resources if they are placing a piece of fruit on each tray only to have it thrown out. They need to just offer it. Then they would have a stash of fruit for snacks.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

At my son's school they increased the price of lunch but reduced how much they get. He gets out at 1:30 and by 1:40 has his head in the fridge. He is 6 foot 6 inches and is a stick. It's too bad when well meaning people feel they know what is best for everyone.

I could have never survived on a tray lunch when I was in H.S. Even when I was in wrestling & trying to keep thin (105lb class as a freshman & 112lbs as a sophomore), my lunch was 3 sandwiches, 2 cartons of milk, and some sort of snack.

 

[torinsmom]

Our school used to have caesar salads as an option once a week. Now they have been told they don't include enough protein, so they aren't allowed to serve them as an entree. So, instead a child can get plenty of protein in chicken nuggets or a hot dog? They also went to all skim milk. Now, instead of drinking the milk, the kids go back and forth to the water fountain. I would think 1% milk would be more healthy than none. Then we get to seasonings. Our lunch lady has told me they cannot use salt or butter AT ALL. Kids who used to eat their veggies don't eat them. Again, wouldn't eating green beans with a little salt be more healthy than not eating them at all?

I think it's strange that school lunches are blamed for obese youth. When I was in school, we had full fat milk, white bread, lots of butter and seasonings on the vegetables and cookies or cake almost every day on the lunch line. There was a lot less obesity in schools then. The difference was that most kids got a home cooked meal in the mornings and evenings, and not packaged food and fast food meals. Kids will continue getting fat no matter how low fat and "healthy" we make school lunches.

 

[mickeysgal]

I think it's strange that school lunches are blamed for obese youth. When I was in school, we had full fat milk, white bread, lots of butter and seasonings on the vegetables and cookies or cake almost every day on the lunch line. There was a lot less obesity in schools then. The difference was that most kids got a home cooked meal in the mornings and evenings, and not packaged food and fast food meals. Kids will continue getting fat no matter how low fat and "healthy" we make school lunches.

Yep. This is true.

They also got more exercise - daily gym classes and good old fashioned playing outside. Far less couch potato TV, no video games, smaller, reasonable food portions, less eating out, etc.

Example...look up at the menu at Panera one of these days - they list the calories per item. It's absolutely shocking the calories for one of their sandwiches - which are huge to begin with even at 1/2 size (you pick two) - and then we couple them with soup? We, as a nation, are out of control with our eating and what we perceive to be a normal portion.

Bottom line, we do need to go back to portion control and correct portion sizing and more healthy eating. Blaming it on school lunches just happens to be convenient. The buck begins and stops at home.

 

[SaraJayne]

Our school used to have caesar salads as an option once a week. Now they have been told they don't include enough protein, so they aren't allowed to serve them as an entree. So, instead a child can get plenty of protein in chicken nuggets or a hot dog? They also went to all skim milk. Now, instead of drinking the milk, the kids go back and forth to the water fountain. I would think 1% milk would be more healthy than none. Then we get to seasonings. Our lunch lady has told me they cannot use salt or butter AT ALL. Kids who used to eat their veggies don't eat them. Again, wouldn't eating green beans with a little salt be more healthy than not eating them at all?

I think it's strange that school lunches are blamed for obese youth. When I was in school, we had full fat milk, white bread, lots of butter and seasonings on the vegetables and cookies or cake almost every day on the lunch line. There was a lot less obesity in schools then. The difference was that most kids got a home cooked meal in the mornings and evenings, and not packaged food and fast food meals. Kids will continue getting fat no matter how low fat and "healthy" we make school lunches.

No salt or butter at all? Blech.

I wouldn't eat that food, either.

 

[LisaR]

Our school used to have caesar salads as an option once a week. Now they have been told they don't include enough protein, so they aren't allowed to serve them as an entree. So, instead a child can get plenty of protein in chicken nuggets or a hot dog? They also went to all skim milk. Now, instead of drinking the milk, the kids go back and forth to the water fountain. I would think 1% milk would be more healthy than none. Then we get to seasonings. Our lunch lady has told me they cannot use salt or butter AT ALL. Kids who used to eat their veggies don't eat them. Again, wouldn't eating green beans with a little salt be more healthy than not eating them at all?

I think it's strange that school lunches are blamed for obese youth. When I was in school, we had full fat milk, white bread, lots of butter and seasonings on the vegetables and cookies or cake almost every day on the lunch line. There was a lot less obesity in schools then. The difference was that most kids got a home cooked meal in the mornings and evenings, and not packaged food and fast food meals. Kids will continue getting fat no matter how low fat and "healthy" we make school lunches.

But again, don't you think this is the fault of your school? Other schools are able to serve salads just fine. Your school was told it didn't meet the protein requirements so why not fix it so it does? Cheese, chickpeas, chicken breast, tuna, etc would boost the protein. How are the other schools able to serve salads? There is a way to do it, but it sounds like your school isn't trying.

As for the green beans, there are a ton of other seasonings in this world besides butter and salt. It is truly sad that the lunch personal can't come up with a palatable option, or the taste buds of the children will only except veggies with butter or salt.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I have to say that most families I work with are on the food stamp program and that I believe automatically puts you on the food stamp program and that means they depend on the school to feed them and not going to Disney all the time.

 

[Planogirl]

Just FYI, no one has or really can ban donations to charities and that's not what really happened even excepting the charity part.

The City has had a rule about non-packaged food not being allowed to be accepted for donation by City-run homeless shelters, for a whole host of reasons including food safety, unknown ingredients, nutrition, etc. They do accept donation of packaged, labelled food.

Private shelters, charities, churches, etc., can accept whatever they choose.

This has been a rule for a while but it only got press during the aftermath of Sandy, when a lot of people tried to donate stuff and got turned away by the City's Department of Homeless Services, which makes and enforces these rules for City shelters.

This is the article I was particularly referring to: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/19/bloomberg-strikes-again-nyc-bans-food-donations-to-the-homeless/

It did seem a bit slanted and from what you're saying now inaccurate too. That's a relief.

As for school lunches, how does making them more healthy help anyone if the kids won't eat them?

 

[MM27]

At my kids school only the entree starts out on the tray when the child picks it up. Then there is an area with all the sides including several kinds of fruits and veggies. The kids can take whatever they want. That way kids who want several fruits can take them and kids who would just end up chucking the banana don't waste it

That's what my school does too. They keep crates of those presliced apple bags, bags of carrots, bananas, etc. and the kids can go up and get whatever they want. I have quite a few kids that take some to take home with them. It is allowed because they usually have a ton of it left after school and they keep it there for the aftercare kids as well.

 

[almburr]

At my son's school they increased the price of lunch but reduced how much they get. He gets out at 1:30 and by 1:40 has his head in the fridge. He is 6 foot 6 inches and is a stick. It's too bad when well meaning people feel they know what is best for everyone.

Totally off topic- Your son gets out of school at 1:30? what time do classes start? Our school first bell 8:15 but choir is before school at 7:30am and dismissal bell is at 4:15. I cannot imagine getting out of school at 1:30, I know my kids would like that.

 

[luvmy3]

Totally off topic- Your son gets out of school at 1:30? what time do classes start? Our school first bell 8:15 but choir is before school at 7:30am and dismissal bell is at 4:15. I cannot imagine getting out of school at 1:30, I know my kids would like that.

My dd's school dismisses at 1:40, first period is 7:15. Some of the Seniors have half day schedules and are out at 12:00.

 

[dyna]

Something that has always gotten me with the school lunches is that the K ers an 1st graders are given the same size lunch as the high school kids. Many of the little ones do not eat half of the lunch an the high schooler could eat 2 of them easy.

All my kids always came home from school starving of course most of the time I could not get them to eat breakfast an lunch was iffy esp as they got older an could go thru the choice line an get what ever junk they wanted.