BlogHer - New Study Links Childhood Obesity To School Lunches - Comments

School Lunch Losing Battle

PrincessP — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:08:27 -0500

It seems like a losing battle. Our school had a number of moms take up the cause a few years back. Our lunches were processed and nasty. No one liked them, and they were unhealthy. Big surprise, right?

So, the moms went to other area Catholic schools to see what they were doing, what it cost, what seemed to be working, what wasn't and came back to our school with their findings. They helped design a new program, based on healthier offerings and more appealing choices. At first, there was fresh fruit and fresher food choices, in general.

Then, somehow, we got on the federal school lunch program, and our cafeteria manager started pinching pennies like nobody's business. Now, the kids are lucky if they ever see a "real" piece of fruit, and they're back to processed foods. It's terrible. I admit to having done nothing because it's my last child's last year there, but now she'll move on to a high school where the program is also awful. Her older sister brings her lunch every single day. While I know this is her healthiest option, it would sure be nice if there were another way.

Teaching them to choose healthy at home

missbritt — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:54:46 -0500

You noted that if children are given a choice, they choose healthy options. I think part of that has to start long before they ever go to school. Kids need to be exposed to a wide range of tastes and become comfortable with healthy eating choices.

A small child is less likely to eat salad because "it's the right choice" than because "I like salads".

Miss Britt

http://www.miss-britt.com

"Dignity is Overrated"

As a School Counselor...

weareneverfull — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:08:11 -0500

I can tell you first hand that there is a definite problem still with the inner city lunches. I actually wrote a post on my blog about the free school lunch that was given to the kids the day I took some on a school trip. I was appaled by what was given.

They have gotten better by not allowing the kids to buy soda, but often there is unhealthy choices like fries, burgers, pizza and jamaican beef patties for lunch. 90% of my school is loow income and on free lunch. There is NO excuse for this in my mind, I don't care how little money is coming in from the students. It makes me very, very angry.

here's my post if you are interested

of course, this is just my opinion based on observations at the school I work for. Great post and I like all the back-up information you gave.

Amy @ http://www.weareneverfull.com

It is too bad that more

calya — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:15:40 -0500

It is too bad that more children are not bringing their lunches to school. It was the opposite when I was a young child. I know a lot of parents who do not eat well themselves so perhaps if more schools start to offer healthy choices, the children will benefit from it greatly.

Calya

www.cookiediaries.blogspot.com

My school has bad and good choices

Kalyn Denny — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 08:20:46 -0500

Our school does have a daily salad bar where kids can choose a variety of fresh greens, cut fruit, and raw veggies. But the cooked foods are really horrible, with things like "fish shapes" and "pork ribbies." Wth the poor quality of the food, I'm shocked at the teachers at my school who eat it every day, and in my class of 28, there is only one student who brings his lunch regularly.

When I first started teaching the food was better and I used to eat school lunch some of the time. Now I haven't eaten it for years.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

New Study Links Childhood Obesity To School Lunches

Catherine Morgan — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:03:26 -0500

What do you think of when someone mentions school lunches? The first word that comes to my mind is...Yuck.

But the truth is, school lunches have been linked to childhood obesity, and childhood obesity is the reason we are seeing an increase in children developing Type 2 Diabetes. It seems obvious that we need to start serving healthy lunches in our schools, and a new study shows that making these nutritional changes does have a positive affect.

Among the 1,349 students Foster's team followed from fourth to sixth grade. As mentioned, there was about a 50 percent reduction in the incidence (new cases) of overweight at the end of 2 years among the children attending the program schools, while no changes were seen among the children attending the schools without a program.

From Fat Fighter TV

This is just the kind of story I like to hear - some Philadelphia elementary schools made changes to fight fat… and they won big! It was all part of a government-funded study to if a few healthy tweaks could reduce the number of overweight kids.

Ten Philadelphia schools were in this study. Half of them made healthy changes to their vending machines, cafeterias, and classrooms. The report focused on 4th, 5th, and 6th graders - about 40 percent of them were overweight or obese when the study started in 2002. Here are some of the changes the five elementary schools made:

Replaced sodas with fruit juice, water, and low-fat milk

Snacks had to be low in salt, fat, and sugar

Got rid of candy

During recess, students were urged to exercise at activity stations

From Big Tea Party...

“We found when you give children healthy choices, they pick them,” said Grace McGinley, school nurse at Francis Hopkinson School, one of the test schools.

Staff and students had lessons on good nutrition. The message was reinforced in other subjects: Food labels were used to help teach fractions. And parents were also enlisted: A fundraiser successfully substituted fruit salad for baked goods, said another of the researchers, Sandy Sherman, the Food Trust’s director of nutrition education.

She said the children were also urged to exercise at activity stations during recess. They were measured and weighed periodically and surveyed about food and exercise.

From Strollerderby...

A recent study conducted in Philadelphia schools found that eliminating soda, rethinking snacks and educating kids almost halves the number of kids who are obese by the sixth grade.

Color me stunned. Turns out that when you give kids information and stop easy access to corn syrup and salt, you can actually make a difference. Butter my butt and call me a biscuit. It's a miracle.

I hope this study will be an incentive for schools to begin to make nutritional changes in their lunch programs. Because when children learn how to make healthy food choices early on in their life, they are more likely to develop healthy eating habits as adults.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog