some observations on childhood obesity from a teacher.
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
some observations on childhood obesity from a teacher.
I work in a low socioeconomic area. I am a fourth grade teacher. When I was growing up I never had a weight problem. But I did not eat what these children eat. I would say out of the 650 students at this public school, 50% are overweight or obese. Almost 100% of my students eat breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria. Breakfast today was: sausage dipped in corn dog batter and fried, fake syrup, sugar-bomb cereal and of course skim milk. There was fruit, but it was gross. Lunch: chicken nuggets or burrito (both with trans fat and high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient). Of course we have the salad bar: iceberg lettuce, raw vegetables, croutons, ranch dressing, fruit cups. Most kids get a pile of croutons and drown them in ranch dressing. Dinner is usually fast food, KFC, pizza, Denny's. My students don't know what a beet is. I discovered that during a homophone lesson beat/beet. They don't know the names of most vegetables. But they know fast food. I wonder why this is the first generation that will not outlive their parents.
The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they feed themselves. Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
I've seen what the parents eat. I've seen the parents in the dialysis clinic I worked at.
If you're in a low socioeconomic area, you may also realize that many of their parents have hypertension, diabetes and many other chronic illnesses at rather early ages. Due to complications from these and noncompliance with treatment regimens, many of those parents will lose their kidney function and end up on dialysis. Their life expectancy will be shortened as well. So to say that their children will have a shorter life expectancy is really very scary.
With many children being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes very early in their lives (younger than 10) there's an excellent chance that they will begin to suffer the complications of diabetes (heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, etc.) before they're old enough to vote.
If you're in a low socioeconomic area, you may also realize that many of their parents have hypertension, diabetes and many other chronic illnesses at rather early ages. Due to complications from these and noncompliance with treatment regimens, many of those parents will lose their kidney function and end up on dialysis. Their life expectancy will be shortened as well. So to say that their children will have a shorter life expectancy is really very scary.
With many children being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes very early in their lives (younger than 10) there's an excellent chance that they will begin to suffer the complications of diabetes (heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, etc.) before they're old enough to vote.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
My wife is an "inner city" public school teacher and I'm familiar with the phenomenon you're describing.
I think the biggest issue is lack of discreet, regular meals at home and the permasnacking that has replaced it. Poor kids tend to have less intact families and less intact families "meal" less. My wife tells me about kids who eat bags of doritos instead of breakfast. Junky cafeteria food doesn't help, but pre-1980 cafeteria food wasn't exactly perfect in the health department and most kids still somehow managed to stay thin.
Reinhard
I think the biggest issue is lack of discreet, regular meals at home and the permasnacking that has replaced it. Poor kids tend to have less intact families and less intact families "meal" less. My wife tells me about kids who eat bags of doritos instead of breakfast. Junky cafeteria food doesn't help, but pre-1980 cafeteria food wasn't exactly perfect in the health department and most kids still somehow managed to stay thin.
Reinhard
I live in CA and while it is not the "healthiest" state statistically, there are many people in my area who are health conscious.
Recently our school district (the best in the county) passed a motion, law, whatever they pass at a school board meeting, to ban junk food from the schools.
The kids cannot sell See's candy, which was a fundraiser for the PTA. They get no more cookies at hoiday parties. There are no more vending machines that contain soda at the high school. And there is no more candy sold at the student store. And yet, the lunches they serve in the cafeteria are still laden with trans fats! My 7th grade son told me that a kid made huge amount of money last year selling candy bars on the "black market" in the quad!. (My son, an enterprising young capitalist wants to do the same with Honey Sticks.)
So, is this a good thing? It depends. I tend to be of a conservative persuation and believe that it's a person' choice what they eat. (What is next? Will they be going through the kid's lunch boxes??? Sending home pink slips if they have a bag of chips in there!!!) But, when I'm out and about in town and see what parents feed their kids it is really upsetting. I have been lucky with my boys because they always have refused to eat hot lunch at school. (That is an upside to having picky eaters, I guess.) My older son won't touch fast food and I indulge my 9 year old with a Burger King fix about every two or three weeks.
Yes there are lots of heavy children around. But, I have a few friends who I would call "borderline anorexic and/or food obsessed" who restrict their kids so much that I think they are going to make their kids too neurotic about food. I was at a party one time and told the kids to come upstairs because the cake was ready. One eight year old boy said "I don't eat cake, I'm a gymnast". Ok. Whatever...
So, while I don't pretend to have any answers I will say that after being on No S for these past 18 months or so, that the mentailty of No S has kind of prevailed in our house. While my kids don't do No S they are certainly aware of what day it is. We usually have ice cream on Sunday evenings and it has become a family thing. There are times when they are complaining that there's "Nothing sweet in the house" and I tell them to have a yogurt or eat a piece of fruit.
The other issue with today's youth is that they don't get as much physical activity because of all the computer, gaming, tv, etc. that is available these days. I guess technology can be a curse and a blessing.
Well, enough ramblings for the morning. Hope everyone here has a nice holiday season.
D.
Recently our school district (the best in the county) passed a motion, law, whatever they pass at a school board meeting, to ban junk food from the schools.
The kids cannot sell See's candy, which was a fundraiser for the PTA. They get no more cookies at hoiday parties. There are no more vending machines that contain soda at the high school. And there is no more candy sold at the student store. And yet, the lunches they serve in the cafeteria are still laden with trans fats! My 7th grade son told me that a kid made huge amount of money last year selling candy bars on the "black market" in the quad!. (My son, an enterprising young capitalist wants to do the same with Honey Sticks.)
So, is this a good thing? It depends. I tend to be of a conservative persuation and believe that it's a person' choice what they eat. (What is next? Will they be going through the kid's lunch boxes??? Sending home pink slips if they have a bag of chips in there!!!) But, when I'm out and about in town and see what parents feed their kids it is really upsetting. I have been lucky with my boys because they always have refused to eat hot lunch at school. (That is an upside to having picky eaters, I guess.) My older son won't touch fast food and I indulge my 9 year old with a Burger King fix about every two or three weeks.
Yes there are lots of heavy children around. But, I have a few friends who I would call "borderline anorexic and/or food obsessed" who restrict their kids so much that I think they are going to make their kids too neurotic about food. I was at a party one time and told the kids to come upstairs because the cake was ready. One eight year old boy said "I don't eat cake, I'm a gymnast". Ok. Whatever...
So, while I don't pretend to have any answers I will say that after being on No S for these past 18 months or so, that the mentailty of No S has kind of prevailed in our house. While my kids don't do No S they are certainly aware of what day it is. We usually have ice cream on Sunday evenings and it has become a family thing. There are times when they are complaining that there's "Nothing sweet in the house" and I tell them to have a yogurt or eat a piece of fruit.
The other issue with today's youth is that they don't get as much physical activity because of all the computer, gaming, tv, etc. that is available these days. I guess technology can be a curse and a blessing.
Well, enough ramblings for the morning. Hope everyone here has a nice holiday season.
D.
When my son went from daycare to public school, I was horrified at how pervasive junk food is. (And yes, I signed up for the committee for a Wellness Policy in our schools. It passed in a weakened form, and isn't always observed. Sigh.)
Typical day (pre-policy, in fairness) - Walk son into class. Two fundraiser announcements on the wall, one a bake sale and one ice cream at recess. The school serves breakfast, which I NEVER allow him to eat (we eat breakfast at home). On Fridays, it's a "fortified donut." May have vitamins in it, but looks like a donut.
Snacks are brought by parents by the week, and are generally the cheap cookies loaded with preservatives and transfat. Lunchroom food is fast-food look-alike because "they won't eat it otherwise." (My son would have... this stuff was teaching him to eat badly. We pack a lunch 4 days a week, and he can pick one lunch per week to eat at school.)
Worst of all, candy rewards and activities are pervasive. "Science" generally involves sugar, it seems. (Explaining rock formation with candy that can be squished in a plastic bag... then eaten.)
I don't mind occasional treats, but the CUMULATION of junk/sweets on a daily basis is just overwhelming. As an adult, I'd have trouble making good choices. How can I expect my six year old (five when he started public school) to do better? It's not fair to him to barrage him with this kind of garbage.
And of course, it's not just the schools. At times it seems my lone voice is expected to counteract millions of dollars of advertising and the combined efforts of thousands of marketers, all with the goal of getting my child to eat junk. And then you hear people say "but it's the parents' responsibility..." It is, certainly, but as a responsible parent doing my very best to teach healthy habits to my child. I'd appreciate a little support from society in general.
/vent
Typical day (pre-policy, in fairness) - Walk son into class. Two fundraiser announcements on the wall, one a bake sale and one ice cream at recess. The school serves breakfast, which I NEVER allow him to eat (we eat breakfast at home). On Fridays, it's a "fortified donut." May have vitamins in it, but looks like a donut.
Snacks are brought by parents by the week, and are generally the cheap cookies loaded with preservatives and transfat. Lunchroom food is fast-food look-alike because "they won't eat it otherwise." (My son would have... this stuff was teaching him to eat badly. We pack a lunch 4 days a week, and he can pick one lunch per week to eat at school.)
Worst of all, candy rewards and activities are pervasive. "Science" generally involves sugar, it seems. (Explaining rock formation with candy that can be squished in a plastic bag... then eaten.)
I don't mind occasional treats, but the CUMULATION of junk/sweets on a daily basis is just overwhelming. As an adult, I'd have trouble making good choices. How can I expect my six year old (five when he started public school) to do better? It's not fair to him to barrage him with this kind of garbage.
And of course, it's not just the schools. At times it seems my lone voice is expected to counteract millions of dollars of advertising and the combined efforts of thousands of marketers, all with the goal of getting my child to eat junk. And then you hear people say "but it's the parents' responsibility..." It is, certainly, but as a responsible parent doing my very best to teach healthy habits to my child. I'd appreciate a little support from society in general.
/vent