Yay!

[PPmama]

Not only are the boards back and better than ever, but here is the section I have always dreamed of because juggling everyone's dietary needs in a family can be a nightmare! :D

Current struggle: I have had tons of copies of the New & More Insipid Food Pyramid sent home with my kid this year--all the while I have been fighting uphill for full disclosure from the food service company regarding the ingredients in the food they want to serve him. (We qualify for "free" lunch on the federal program and the school receives money from the government on that basis even though I refuse to allow my son, as yet, to eat their garbage.) According to the latest and supposedly final word, I have to have a note from my son's doctor in order for him to be served healthful food at school. (I could not make this up if I tried.)

[Billie]

Well you know PPmama I am delighted that this is working for you! Thanks for dropping by! I hope that this forum is a great resource for parents dealing with children, pooling our knowledge and resources.

I am from the great and not so great state of Illinois where the school lunch program is horrid. In fact one of the big things on the docket of the election is school lunches, that's how bad it is.

All I can say is we all need to keep fighting the fight. Regretably the obesity problem is high and going high, maybe the good part of it some recognition will be given to the kind of food we are putting in the mouth of our kids.

[gator8me]

Well ladies I'm sorry to say that the great and wonderful state of Louisiana isn't any better when it comes to the school lunch plans. I totally understand your frustration PPmama with the "new & improved" food pyramid stuff. My 10 year old was schooled with that stuff as well and I had to tell her... give them what they want to hear if you have discussions but here is the REAL scoop! lol Amazing how we are "bad" parents if we give them pizza and hamburgers at home but its ok to serve that stuff in the school cafeteria! lol

Sorry I don't have any answers but so totally understand where you are coming from!
Ally

[PPmama]

Thanks for the support, ladies!

It complicates things a bit that my son is in kindergarten this year and all of this is new to me. I knew it would be bad--I just thought bad like it was when I was in school, not this bad. (...and I didn't think I would have to fight for full disclosure. Call me naive!) THEY have no trouble with the serving of trans fat in the cafeteria, but the same food service company will send tons of lit home about how it is bad to eat fat in general. Nevermind the criticism of the food pyramid itself (and what the heck is an "ounce equivalent" anyway? In my day, ounces were ounces and we didn't even have to learn Pyramidese to understand that), I just don't want them to feed my kid crap that will have a direct and immediate impact on his ability to learn and pay attention in school.

So, for me now, even though I can't afford it, life is full of packing string cheese, yogurt, almonds, bananas, baby carrots and the odd PBJ... I could use some ideas for a picky eater.

[gator8me]

Probably no way of keeping his lunch cold either huh?

[Karen J]

Yes! Keeping the lunch cold is always a big thing here. I'm also in Illinois, and the school lunches are absolutely horrible.
But what do I do? My daughter is not eating the pre-made lunches that I make for her. She prefers the garbage that they serve at school. Todays menu:
Cheese Pizza Boat (???) What the heck is in that?
or Hot Dog on a bun (nitrite filled processed meat product on a white bun)
Baby carrots with dip (and the dip is....?)
chilled Applesauce (sugar)

My worst nightmare menu for school lunch is:
Corn Dogs (sugar and nitrites)
Roll with Honey (sugar and sugar)
Chilled pineapple (sugar)
Chocolate chip cookie (sugar)

:confused::confused::confused:

And this is school- where they are supposed to be learning. :rolleyes: I am sooo dissappointed.
My daughter has learned that what I make is heretic- and what the school makes is healthy.

[PPmama]

Actually, one of the first investments I made in the fall (when I saw this coming) was an insulated lunch box and a bunch of those mini reusable ice things. His yogurt is kept nicely cold. The thing I can't do is give in and bring him warm food and/or allow him to warm food up in the microwave in school. It would not be good to set this precedent because while he is a student in a tiny school now, where things like this are possible, we are moving to Philadelphia within the year...probably within the next few months if all goes well.

Karenj: that is one of the worst I have ever read...sheesh! And I bet the same town posts article after article about how test scores are in decline, right? :rolleyes:

[SherryJ]

Actually, one of the first investments I made in the fall (when I saw this coming) was an insulated lunch box and a bunch of those mini reusable ice things.

Teacher, PPMama stole my answer! :p

I, too, have gotten the insulated lunch box (soft-sided), and put a reusable ice thing in... a very cool baseball keeps his whole lunch nice!

Sherry

[Billie]

A couple things, one a funny story just to make you smile and know that this problem has lots of legs. My children are adults now, but I was fortunate to be a mom ot two great boys. I will never forget the day the youngest got off the school bus, first day of first grade. You know the feeling that you have kind of all day thinking about them and wondering. Well I met the bus, he looked me straight in the eye without flinching and said, "I can't go back to school tomorrow". My heart kind of sank and I said well why Casey and he said, "They only fed us once the whole day"!

But going beyond the smile, I really think this problem is going to have to be solved on a school to school basis or a community to community. Some kids won't take lunch, not cool, so adding the pressure of a lunch bag just makes it worse. It is kind of like a prevention program that we are bringing to our community schools this year. (I am a director of a child sexual abuse center). For many years we have put the burden on our kids to make sure they were safe. And when you think about that how ridiculous is that? We make sure they wear seat belts, and walk them across streets and keep toxic chemicals out of their reach, why would we have for so many years thought we should burden our kids with keeping themselves safe.

Now you might ask what in the heck has this got to do with school lunches? Well a couple things. The schools are some of the hardest community resources to crack into. They really are afraid of liability and angry parents. So in presenting our program we have had to do it slowly and with much political backing so to speak.

I think the school lunches is somewhat the same. Can you find groups of parents, or one other parent and get together and say this isn't working for our kids. We need them to have some options. Of course they will come back and do the government dance about what they get for funding allocation which is very true. But we know that they have some alternatives.

I think getting very invested in the school, getting parents with similar ideas invested, researching what the gov gives the school for money, what a child HAS to have to get gov funding and arm yourselves with facts and then go to them armed with your knowledge and your suggestion.

One other thing...hats off to ya ladies! You know our kids are in school a long day, a hard day, they need all the help they can get. And they are in school many years so it is definitely hard but it is definitely worth the fight!

[gator8me]

Very good ideas and suggestions Billie!

Wow Karen, I can't believe that menu! And they wonder why the kids are A)bouncing off the walls and hard to handle or B)brain fogged and can't concentrate/sleepy in the afternoon!
*sigh*
Ally

[Gaelen]

So, for me now, even though I can't afford it, life is full of packing string cheese, yogurt, almonds, bananas, baby carrots and the odd PBJ... I could use some ideas for a picky eater.

PPMama, you may have already tried all of these ideas, but I was surprised today on the FoodTV site to read these tips for picky eaters that don't involve pushing inappropriate foods on kids to get them to eat.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/lf_kids/article/0,,FOOD_16382_3075893,00.html

A couple things that might be able to help, too...Dr. Kracker's Cheese and Pumpkin seed crackers are relatively low carb, high protein, and make a nice substantial crunchy snack to include with your kids. But if buying them is out of budget, maybe making the cheese-sesame crackers in Dana Carpenders 500 Low Carb recipes, or cheese fricos (from Fran McCullough's cookbook The Low Carbohydrate Cookbook) can help.

Also, things like teaching kids how to make salsa, or pimento cheese dip, or other simple things can help them decide that they like preparing food, and they like eating the food they prepare.

As for the 'hot foods' part...I used to have a little Campbell's soup insulated thermos that I took to work. It was all plastic, so it didn't keep food hot forever, but it did keep soups and stews hot from early a.m. to around noon, and since it was all plastic, there's no danger of breaking glass. It might not be an every day food item, but if your kids like soup and crackers (and lots of kids do), sending them to school with some homemade soup and some hard-cooked eggs and raw veggies might be a nice change now and then.

[SherryJ]

Billie, as far as "not being cool" when taking a lunch? I teach my boys that they ARE cool for taking a lunch because they know what they need, and they are giving it to their bodies. THEY are in control of what goes into their bodies... And, they WANT the "lean, mean machine" look, LOL!

EVERY ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE, I'll let Mr. Biggest buy his lunch on pizza day... but, that's it! AND, he has to have the SALAD that comes with it... no salad, no pizza!

They have seen me STRUGGLE with my weight, and I tell them (often!) that they do NOT want to fight this battle...

Sherry

[Billie]

Sherry I imagine your two are some of the "coolest kids" in school, without doubt! :D What I meant by that comment is that for some kids who are suffering with obsesity issues, going outside the norm is just one more straw for them to tolerate. That's kind of why I think change needs to happen in schools on an administrative level so that all kids can be comfortable whatever "skin" they are in.

My kids were always fine with bringing their own lunch--but you know the terrible tragic thing about that, is I was also feeding them lots of sugar. Homemade cookies, or cakes or fancy things, I can't remember putting too many carrot sticks in there let alone cheese or great choices moms have today.

Good on all of you who are aware of what to put in the lunches or what the kids should be eating, lets say 10% maybe? We just need to do more as a society to mobilize change for the kids, I have no doubt about a group of parents going into the schools etc, couldn't make a large difference in what kids are served. But again it comes down to needing the facts presented to them correctly. The government subsidies are pretty paultry and poor but that is how the school can afford half the programming.

I am glad I do have the challenges of young children today, I regret not knowing what I do now and being able to do some differences for my children's dietary habits.

[SherryJ]

Oh, HA, Billie... I'll tell 'em "Miss Billie" said so... :D

I guess the GOOD thing that's come out of my weight stuff is this: My boys know each kid has "issues"... and they are NOT allowed to call names, for sure! I've told them, "every fat girl (Mama!) knows she's fat" and certainly does NOT need another kid telling them that! They are ONLY to encourage... and, if they can't, they are to hush... Now, do they do that perfectly?!?!!? Ha... no(!), but at least they think about it, most of the time... :D

They are to look for outsiders, (whether fat, shy, "bad" or what!) and try to include them... and, they KNOW regardless of money, clothing styles, etc, THEY are no better than anyone else...

Sherry

[Gaelen]

y'know, I was just reading through these, at the same time that I saw the Walmart commercial for March's Fight Hunger campaign. It's six kids, all at a lunch table...five with insulated lunch boxes from home and one with nothing. The kids are all, as kids will, busily trading stuff out of their lunch boxes. And one kid slips the kid without a lunch box an orange, and some milk...and then he starts into the trading process, too. Don't know why reading your post made me think of that commercial, Sherry, but it did. ;) Yeah, he trades the milk for a pudding cup, but it's not a perfect world, after all. ;)

One thing to remember--although as overweight adults, we may want to limit our intake of some higher carb items, there's nothing wrong with sending whole fruits to school with kids. The culprits in giving them too much sugar too fast are sugar sweetened fruit juices and sodas and fruit gelatins or fruit cups in sweetened juice. But a whole banana, orange, apple, pear, etc. is just fine for growing kids, and teaches them what sweet should truly taste like without added sweeteners. At this time of year, it can be a cost-effective addition to a lunch box.

If they like slaws, some shredded cabbage mix livened up with some raisins, dried cranberries or shredded apple or pear can also work to sneak in some veggies. Plus, sliced pears or apples dipped in natural nut butter, or dried fruits like raisins and cranberries mixed with raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds can be a way to sneak in some protein with the snack. I do often bring homemade 'trail mix' that is mostly seeds and raw nuts with a bare scattering of unsweetened dried cranberries for my own snacking at work...and lots of kids like trail mixes with things like cut up dried apricots and coconut flakes in it.

[SherryJ]

Gaelen, I love that commercial... not for the food, but for the treatment of the one kid to the other! THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! :)

My boys usually go to school with some sliced turkey, some cheese sticks and a piece of fruit... every once in a great while, I'll make CC cookies, but that's rare. What I have to remember is THEY don't have a weight challenge, nor does their Daddy, so he's fine with them having carbs and SOME sugar... although I think I may have convinced him on the sugar thing, for the most part, LOL!

Sherry

[hawk]

What a good mother you are Sherry. Your young men are a treasure and will be treasured by their wives as much as you treasure your husband.
I love to read your posts.

[SherryJ]

I hope that's true about my boys, Hawk...

Thank you...

Sherry

[Karen J]

Thanks, all, for the great ideas.


Recently I've had my daughter help make dinner, and I already think she is becoming less picky. Last night she ate guacamole and loved it, after hating it for several years. Baby steps.
I know she will always want school lunch when it's "roll & honey" day, but I'm hoping that if she continues to help me cook dinner and try new things, that will begin to change what she wants for lunch.

[Billie]

Karen J you know that is probably the biggest help of all, really teaching our kids to eat responsibily and well. Good for you, taking a little extra time now in the kitchen with her will pay off big down the road I think. Good for you!

[Karen J]

Thank you, Billie.

I was chatting at the bus stop with other parents, and they are convinced that it is necessary to provide lots of sugar and snacks for their kids. If you don't provide that, they say your child will go nuts and eat all the junk in sight when they go to other places, like friend's homes and at school. Eventually, they will rebel against you, and when they get to college they will eat complete garbage. Essentially, feeding them garbage now will somehow desensitize them.

THEN, these very same parents complain that no one eats the delicious salmon and broccoli that they made for dinner. Well? If you were their kids, and have been eating fruit snacks, cheesy crackers, and potato chips for the past 2 hours, are you going to eat salmon and broccoli? Hummm.

Now, I do agree that children will rebel, but that kind of thing happens because they are trying to establish their own identity. If I am feeding garbage to desensitize them, what does that say about me? I am the one who is supposed to know better. I am the one who is supposed to be teaching my kids how to take care of themselves. If and when they rebel, they can at least be secure in the knowledge that I stuck to my own guns and did what I thought was right. I, at least, stuck to my own identity.

However, I've been known to hand out the cheesy crackers, and then say "don't eat too many, they aren't good for you!". Then I kick myself. It's like saying, "here, have a cigarette, but they aren't good for you".


Arrgh. :) It's a high, high, high, carb world.

Edited for spelling.

[LMN]

Wow! this has been fascinating reading. Here in New Zealand it is the norm for children to take a packed lunch to school (although there is huge amounts of rubbish in many kids lunchboxes).
I am a teacher and have taught all year levels from 5 year olds to 10 year olds - here are some things I've seen that might help.
Yes - the insulated lunchbox is a great idea. Try letting your child decorate it with markers/stickers etc.
Try putting in a drink bottle filled with water that has been froxen overnight. The children can drink the water has it melts.
For the younger ones you could put little notes in their lunchbox that say things like "Mummy loves you" or "Have a great day"
Remember if you include packaged food like salami sticks, younger children may have trouble opening them. Snip the top of the packet in advance.
Also ask the teacher to ensure that your child has adequate time to eat. I would always send my "slow eaters" to start their lunch 5 or 10 minutes before the rest.
If your child has not eaten much at school - offer them their luchbox again for afternoon tea. You may be surprised how much they eat away from the excitement of the classroom.
Visit the teacher and ask them not to use candy/food as rewards. Think about what you want to happen if another child brings in a treat to share on their birthday or special occasion. A parent whose child had allergies once gave me a small supply of "cool" stickers/balloons/small toys like little bouncy balls to give one to her son whenever he missed out on a treat.
I hope these ideas help. If I recall anymore I'll post them.

[LisaS]

I think it depends on where you live in the US and the age of the kids. around here, it seems that most kids take lunches until they are pre-teens - I know my nephews did through high school (most days) - there just was no "cafeteria culture" around - and no snacks or special treats in school classrooms. no treats shared on birthdays. just not part of the school culture around here = but apparently prevalent elsewhere.

[Inez]

It also, of course depends on the teacher. Last year for my younger daughter candy was consistently used as a reward for good behavior. She would get so upset when she didn't get a lollipop -- of course, the misbehavior was the issue, but not getting the candy became the issue, which is what really irritated me. Also, you would not believe the number of parties they had and the bagloads of sweet stuff that would come home from those parties. The teachers were quite overweight, too. This year sweet stuff is not central to classroom activities, thank goodness!
As for lunchboxes, both of my kids have always asked me to pack their lunch for them, not because they care one way or another about the food, but because the "lunchboxes" get to go first in line and have more time for eating and socializing!

[Omlette]

My son is in daycare, but what gets me is that mac and cheese is
considered a protein by the state health dept. Even though, apple sauce is approved, they don't like for the centers to serve it because of the sugar. My son will not eat apples, but he loves apple sauce. I buy the no sugar added kind. I suggested that the center do the same.

On top of that, the state allows for syrup to be fed with french toast sticks or pancakes, but they still don't like apple sauce. I don't understand it.

I don't allow him to have syrup at home. Why does a 2 or 3 year old need syrup on "breakfast" foods? It is wayyyy too messy, and definitely not nutritionally sound.

Oh, and parents are not allowed to send lunches to daycare. It's against regulation. The daycare can ask parents to send lunch one day per month, then if all nutritional groups are not met, the dc must provide the missing groups.

I really hate to think about when he goes to "big" school.