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July 1, 2009 I remember when I was on school lunches aside from being affordable, were also healthy. Healthier than today. I liked that you could get juice, water or milk, and when you got fish sticks and spaghetti you got a healthy five sticks. You also got vegetable and fruit. Sure when you got a hamburger you had the option of cheese, a vegetable and fruit cup. Peanut butter sandwiches came with the option of jelly, a portion of celery sticks and carrot sticks, a piece of fruit and beverage. When I got older at the high school level the breakfasts were wonderful and so were the lunches. Imagine being able to get an egg sandwich for breakfast on a hard roll, coffee and juice. Lunches offered a variety and veggies and fruits. You were not beholding to limited high carbohydrate low protein high fat menu’s that in some areas are the norm. I was looking at my local school menu. Being a Diabetes educator I often pop in on schools to see what they have to offer. I was appalled and shocked at the poor menu. Lots of breads, sugars, carbohydrates and even more carbohydrates, high fructose corn syrup products etc. NO wonder our state is one of the highest diabetic populations under the age of 21 that there is. So I asked the local school nutrition leader about the menu. Her reply was short and simple. We comply with national standards. Ok, I thought. NO you don’t. You comply with older versions. But the menus here are carbohydrate rich, protein poor and vegetable poor as well. It doe not allow a diabetic to eat the school lunch at all. It offers no variations or substitutions and what makes it worse in school systems use Macdonald’s, Dominos Pizza, Pizza Hut and other fast food to be a supplier for lunches. So what is this telling and doing to our kids. It is making them a living breathing example and creation of poor nutrition. And that in turn creates a host of nutritional deficient ailments, Most notably obesity and pre diabetes. Not all states are like this, and Kudos to those who have taken back their school lunch rooms and offerings. I have heard of schools that offer salads, lean meats, and mix and match items and offer healthy friendly menus. Some schools offer a diabetic alternative every day. Wonderful to those schools that saw a problem, and took the bull by the horns and said enough is enough! Locally that is not the reality. Now I have to admit some local schools do offer variations and options. It is a step in the right direction. Like offering yogurt and vegetables instead of potato chips as a standard fare on a lunch plate. But it is too far and few between school systems to take this on. Locally I was looking at the menu for some research I am doing. And the menu offered between 90 and 120 grams of carbohydrate and between 5 and 9 grams of protein and about 12 grams of fat per meal. This is not even in line with the USRDA guidelines. And what makes it even worse is the outsource catering. The schools are turning our kids into medical patients long before their time. We have seen in clinic MODY in such a major scale and the doctors not even sending children or parents for education on nutrition. We have seen kids so morbidly obese they can’t walk 1 miles let alone ½ mile or even quarter mile or even bend over in a chair! Now this may sound also like your school system. They have taken alternative fitness out of the school in favor of sports only classes. Not smart. I thought a school was where we learn for our later life, not locally apparently. How can we change our schools to provide better nutrition and alternative physical education for those who are too obese to participate in standard sports. Petition! Yes attend those meetings and demand better for your kids. Why can a school spend you tax dollars on junk. Demand be vociferous and be proactive. You entrust your child to a school system that is supposed to educate and encourage. And yet in many schools they avoid the nutrition and general health classes and avoid exercise> How can we engrain in our kids healthy habits f the school avoids them? We must speak out. Choose to be proactive, demand better choices of foods or at the very least have optional offerings. Remove catering from the school because it is easier and the schools don’t have to think. Demand that the school nutritionist knows their stuff and is up to date. Granted many children do need school lunches as their often one meal of the day, but that should not be the norm for everyone. If anything these kids do need more caloric intake of well-balanced proportions. In the 1930s often these children were given extra snacks during certain breaks or sent home with a meal. Your other choice is to home school. And in fact that even if you can’t do it you can hire certified or endorsed home school teacher/tutor. It has been shown that there is less incidence of pre diabetes and other school maladies when children are home schooled or small group schooled. Meals are better balanced, attitudes are better and kids get real exercise and in general the small one on one provides for more guidance and encouragement. Our schools literally are turning our kids into something that we at home often cant manage. And to boot, it has been shown that what you eat can affect mood, concentration and attitude. Could our school lunches and food offerings be turning our kids into more than couch potatoes and eventual medical patients? Here are a few things to consider when looking at your school lunch offerings. How much carbohydrate is there in the lunch itself? How much protein is there? A ratio of 5 grams of protein to 90 grams of carbohydrate there is not enough protein balance for healthy food nutrition. The food pyramid creates too much excess in carbohydrates versus other body building needs. It creates a carbohydrate overload. With no where for carbohydrate to go, sleep, excess glucose builds up and creates secondary problems, Not energy. Now if the child were a pro football player, yes it would work. But in a stasis environment, too much carbohydrate is a bad thing. How much exercise is your child doing at school? Do they offer variations or alternatives for food choices? Does your school offer Fast food options?
Our schools are creating the next generation of morbidly obese, fast food junkies, with no ability to bend over, plain and simple. Demand more for your kids. Be proactive and get them healthy when you are not there.
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