Arkansas Blog

As the parent of an 10 year old girl, who happens to be tall and thin, I worry about any program that talks about kids being too heavy at school. I know this is real problem, but this weighing and recording of data stresses out my child. So what does it do to the kid who is heavy? As for school lunches being the culprit, what does anyone think these kids eat outside of school? Or what they bring in their lunch? Everyone would like to see more fruits and vegetables in school menus, but if the cost of produce in the grocery is any indication, this won't be in the budget for most schools.

School lunches are a small part of the problem as mapg pointed out. It's going to take parental decisions to avoid such things as Lunchables and Capri Sun and other quickie snacks/meals at school and home. Add to that severe limitations in the amount of factory prepared foods, hurried meals from McDonald's, Rally's, KFC, etc,. etc., etc. that most of us eat daily.
Is it going to happen? I doubt it. We're all hooked.
I wonder if this will ever be the next smoking ban. My guess is that the first politician to make such a suggestion will be lynched by mothers who would have to learn to cook.
(Glad my family doesn't know I'm writing these diatribes. I might be lynched.)

Sorry, I'm the diatriber. Is that a word, like the "decider"?

Sorry, I think this is all bull shit. When you can take a new hatched chicken and in 38 days have an 8 pound chicken ready to go to market --- there other things going on.

I strongly believe that the growth homones that permiate our food supply has a huge impact. Seem nobody want's to talk about that. I certianly haven't seen any research on it.

But I do know, 45 years ago, puberty hit about 13 or 14. Now, try 10 or 11. It's in the food chain and until we really do the research and discover what it's doing to our bodies, the rest of this stuff is just an hysterical diversion.

It's called "growth homones", of course this stuff would have an affect on our children.

I'm concerned with the students who come in Monday morning starving to death, eat everything on the lunch plate--even the vegetables--at every meal, and still are obviously malnourished. The new rules give detailed amounts of food that can be put on each plate--down to the count of fish sticks or the correct 1/4 cup of corn depending on the grade level. This may be some help for the overweight child (who will, of course, make up for the calorie shortfall just as soon as they get out of school) but it limits the nutrituion that a needy child might get. CHILDREN ARE NOT ALL THE SAME!!!!

Just a note--most of the weight challenged students bring their lunches, which generally contain a high sugar soda or sports drink, and 4 or 5 "single serving" prepackaged chips, cookies, etc. And the rules about how much and what go into the lunch do not apply to lunches brought from home.

I always packed lunches for my kids. they got one of those single-serving chip thingies most days, which I liked becasue you get about 5 chips in there, and if I ran out of those or if I was too cheap they got five chips in a baggie.

Isn't it true that salads are just as high in fat as fast food if you drench every leaf of lettuce in ranch dressing or what have you? I know I've read that somewhere.

inthetrenches -- are there no provisions under thsi plan for kids who are obviously still hungry after the prescribed lunch portions? surely everyone can agree that for many kids, food served at school is the only food they get, right?

The article says "there was no change" in BMI's over 3 years.

THAT IS SUCCESS!

First stop the bleeding and stabilize the patient, after that, make the patient better.

My SPIN on the article was that it was highly successful in stopping the obesity growth with this one initiative and now we need to figure out our next plan of action to address IMPROVING student health.

The earlier posts correctly stated that the non-school hours were where the biggest problem yet just changing the in-school portion STOPPED THE PROGRESSION OF BMI GROWTH.

You people must not be swayed by the spin of the mouthpiece and look at data being presented.

My take on the above article was that someone was belittling the effort to improve student health. Sure this action alone wasn't going to make these kids ready for the Tour de France by itself but it might keep them alive long enough to watch the next 50 tours if they so desired.

This is a natioinal security issue. With how long the IRAQ war has taken and only gotten worse, we will need these 8 year olds in 10 years to take over their spot on the front lines as we fight this war on terror.

I think today's school lunches are great. Baking, whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes etc. But the article and posts above are right on - without parents changing their own habits to support the schools' efforts to provide nutritious foods - there will be little difference in the long term. Schools are helping to solve childhood obesity but won't be able to do it alone as long as parents keep allowing fast food/junk food at home/after school/ on weekends. In five years when there still is no reduction in overweight kids' BMIs - school lunch will no doubt be blamed again for not having done enough. Perhaps school cooks should be offering evening classes to teach parents how to cook a nutritious meal.

School doesn't make you fat or thin. What you eat doesn't necessarily make you fat or thin either when you have a child's metabolism. Schools are, however, a convenient slop pail into which politicians can dump frustrations and other irritants they want to feed to the rabble. I think this is another example of the gotta-shoot-at-something-and-hit-anything mentality that our so-called leaders have used to get us in the deep pile of crap we are in now. If we keep gobbling this slop we'll all likely become fat enough to sink to the bottom. Maybe not soon enough.

I read the entire article in the Times and weight is only one consideration in the programs detailed. Much of the emphasis was put on increasing the nutrient value of the food available and not just on decreasing fat and calories. Although a sweet potato has a considerable number of calories, it is rich in vitamins and minerals. Tator tots are calorie dense without providing much in the way of vitamins, minerals or fiber. This is very important for children receiving free or reduced lunches that may not be well fed outside of school. Empty calories will keep them alive, but a young, growing body needs more than just calories.

I am wondering whether there is a cut-off point where children that are below it will get extra calories to make up for their thinness.

When I was in school, the meal I got there was often the only one for the day, with a little snack later on. It made all the difference for me. I am concerned that in the zeal for lowering the weight for the ones that may need to, the ones that need the opposite will be penalized.

There is also the issue of eating disorders. Since the "praise" is for those that have lower BMIs, it's possible that there will be some that will take it to heart and become competitive about it.

I am in favor of the nutrient rich foods, if it is kept in mind that there are some that will have trouble with things like whole-wheat physically because of allergies or other problems.

Tina

No, to the best of my knowledge there are no provisions for additional food for the obviously needy. There is a backpack program in my area that goes home--discreetly--with a needy child on the weekend. Inside are easy to eat foods--applesauce in cups, pop tarts--for the child over the weekend. But at school, no, we're not allowed to give extra food.

In the old days--and I'm OLD--a cafeteria worker could ask a child to do a special extra job (making sure the chairs were under the tables after lunch, etc.) and then slip them an extra roll for "payment." No more. At one school I taught at, the principal would be in the cafeteria at lunch time and would allow those students who weren't going to eat something--say the green beans--to give that to another child that wanted it. You wouldn't believe how little food was wasted, and some of those students were finally full. The health department heard about it and pitched a fit. It had to stop.

You can't believe the ticky-tacky rules that exist to take care of a perceived problem that end up hurting lots of unintended children.

yep, ive been a room mother for approximately 100 years and i loved it, and i've seen those work-study programs too. how ironic that a program meant to improve our kids' health will end up hurting the ones who can afford it least.

your backpack program sounds like a great idea. Our schools also offer breakfast, which im sure is a blessing for so many children. we had lots and lots of pizza parties when my kids were in elementary school, and it never failed that when I'd ask the kids what else they wanted, it was always carrots, cauliflower as a very popular request, and broccoli with dip. you bet they got it too.

when they were really little, several of my sons' classmates would just tell us flat-out that there was nothign to eat at home and ask if they could take one slice, never more, home to their little brother or sister since they didnt get pizza that day in school. yeah, that makes for a feel-good day. but what can you do?
thats awful that this new program will hurt hungry kids and even worse that nobody realizes it. thanks, inthetrenches, for splaining that to me. And I think any program that reports a child's BMI where the other kids can find out what it is and tease that child, and you know they will, ought to be straight-out illegal.

When the BMI started up, there was a form that you could sign to opt out of having your child's BMI measured. I was so disgusted with the idea of the state spending this time and money that I opted out for my own children. I'm sure that if a parent wanted to opt out, they could.

Just so you know--I have seen the BMI measurements done in my district, and they're done so that even the students don't know any of the measurements. They face away from the scale when they're weighed. All the other students are away from the area, and all information is sent to the state to be sent in a letter to the parents outside of school. From the experience at my school, the only way other students could find out someone's BMI is if a child decided to broadcast it.