It’s about time for a school lunch makeover
When I read that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) had released new guidelines to improve the nutrition of school lunches, my first reaction was "It’s about time!" The guidelines include setting a maximum number of calories in a meal, lowering the sodium, saturated fat and starchy vegetables, and increasing the amount of fruit, vegetables and whole grains.
Having lived through school lunches of chicken fried steak with cream gravy, mashed potatoes, and a big cup of ketchup as the "vegetable" (thank you Ronald Reagan), I realize that many school cafeterias have made some strides. But placing a largely ignored bowl of apples at the end of the line does little to negate the greasy pizza, and fried chicken patties that usually precede that bowl. And my children have been known to throw at me that a meal of macaroni and cheese with French fries can’t be that bad, since it’s served at the school cafeteria.
One of my brothers tells me that I worry too much. We ate it, and it didn’t kill us. But it is killing us. And it’s setting up our children for a lifetime of poor health. A new national survey released by the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association found that most Americans don’t realize that heart disease risk doesn’t wait until adulthood. The American Heart Association even held a conference this year looking at the dangers of the growing girth of our children. And they are growing—some estimates say that 1 in 3 of our kids are overweight.
But just mention "healthier lunches" at any PTA or PTO meeting, and you’re likely to get the lethal trifecta as a response: It costs too much. We don’t have the resources. The kids won’t eat it any way.
So what’s a concerned parent to do? Barring becoming a famous chef who can muscle into your local school to make over the culinary offerings like Jamie Oliver, you may be limited to packing lunch for your kids. It will give you greater control and ensure that what is available is healthier, but it doesn’t mean they’ll eat it. As a kid, I remember many bagged lunches that, after a quick examination, immediately met the trash.
It’s hard but not impossible. Yes, schools have a lot of influence over our kids, but so do we, the parents. Preaching the gospel of good nutrition is a start, but actually presenting them with healthier options at home, and eating them yourself, is much more effective. Now that’s a way to put weight behind your words.
—Erin Gudeux, sensory senior project leader
Find out how to get your kids to adopt healthier eating habits, read about how local government can help prevent childhood obesity, and read more from Erin on how "Turning Into Your Mother Can Be Good For Your Health."
Posted by: kids Songs | Nov 19, 2009 3:40:53 AM
Thanks for sharing your Memorable moments. Even I too went into my past by visiting this blog.
Posted by: S. A. Kennedy | Nov 16, 2009 9:23:01 AM
In many cases, school meals have improved because districts hire professionals to try to make the connection between what kids like and what they'll eat when adult supervision numbers are low. Unfortunately, many kids do not have fruits and vegetable in their home diets, so when they are rushing through ever-shortening lunch periods followed by a play period, many are just not capable of making independent nutritious choices. Parents must develop those tastes and skills from the earliest years, and reinforce them during the school years.
Posted by: Dora Rivas | Nov 13, 2009 11:20:29 AM
As president of the School Nutrition Association, I have seen school nutrition programs nationwide that have show tremendous creativity in developing healthy, enticing school meals. Many schools are offering student taste tests, recipe contests, ethnic menu choices, school gardens or farm to school programs. Others are reformulating old favorites to make them more nutritious, like pizza prepared with whole grain crusts, low-sodium sauce and low-fat cheese.
As school meals programs work to further enhance the nutrition, they face enormous challenges. These programs have strict budgets, limited resources and in some cases antiquated equipment to fulfill their needs. The national average cost to prepare a school lunch is $2.92, but the federal reimbursement for each free lunch served is only $2.68. With a greater federal investment in school meals, students can enjoy an even wider variety of healthy foods.
Dora Rivas, RD, SNS – SNA President
Posted by: Amy Dawson | Nov 12, 2009 10:11:42 AM
Even with the much needed changes starting in school cafeterias, I like to have my children bring their lunches from home. They each buy once a week for the experience, and bring the other 4 days. My husband and I started a great website to give you great ideas for lunch. Each item has nutrition information and a picture. http://www.lunchtaker.com. You may add your own items to the site to share with others, and let us calculate the nutrition for you! It is fun to sit down with the kids and involve them with choosing foods to eat. The site makes it easy to do just that - and if you are undecided try the lunchfood lottery! http://www.lunchtaker.com/food_finder_surprise.php
Posted by: Gene Volz | Nov 11, 2009 3:16:21 PM
My wife ran a school cafeteria for many years. They have cut out the really bad stuff, but when you add a lot of fruits, and vegies, the garbage cans fill up sooner. They are too used to a bucket of chicken or bag of burgers at home. They survyed lunches from home, and they were nothing to brag about. If you want to have kids eat healthy it starts at home. The school is being used to fulfil the patents role too often
Posted by: Joanna | Nov 11, 2009 2:49:19 PM
When I was raised in the 50's we ate well balanced meals, the whole family ate together, and we did not eat between meals. I raised my children the same way but something happened with my grandchildren. They had the "right" to say when and what they ate. Now we are reaping the benefits of that way of thinking. No one ever said that they couldn't make their children eat what they fixed until the recent past. When you feed the kids junk food at home what can you expect at school. It doesn't matter what the cafeteria provides if there are coke and candy machines in the halls and they are allowed to take that kind of junk into class. Give me the "good ole days" when you had better not get caught with gum in you mouth.