On
the news tonight I heard yet another story that blames the school
lunches for overweight kids. This time it is brought up because recruits
for the Military are overweight. School lunches are healthier now than I
have ever seen them before so why is everyone blaming the lunches and
food offered at school as the problem. K&K will eat healthy but
Donald is borderline, Donald is more of a junk food junky and as long as
he is thin and eats some fruits and veggies, he can eat all the junk he
wants.
I
am sure you are wondering why I allow this, it is because he is active
as are all my boys so I don’t worry. I ate all the junk food in the
world and was underweight most of my life, partially because of my
thyroid but mostly because I was active. I ran around at recess, loved
gym & played sports. I feel the overweight problems in America has
more to do with people, not just kids being in-active. Computer, videos
games & 2000 channels on TV have more to do with people being
overweight than what the school serves for lunch. Budgets cuts cutting down on sports and phys ed classes cause kids to be overweight.
One
school year we get told kids can no longer bring in cupcakes to
celebrate their birthday, they are to bring healthy foods such as
carrots or fruit. Seriously who the hell wants to celebrate their
birthday with a carrot? Oh wait they said we could send in pencils too,
thats really how kids celebrate. The next year we get told nothing can
be brought in. I really don't think 20 cupcakes a year cause overweight
kids. I am waiting for the day a school administrator tries to tell me
what I can send to school for MY child to eat. My boys have sensory
issues with food so I decide what they eat not a school. My kids take
cookies to school and they will continue to take cookies to school as
long as they want to eat the. They also have a banana with their lunch
so it is balanced. Schools also don't celebrate holidays anymore, I
think sweets are part of the reason and this is unfair to children. So
we have a Halloween Party & Christmas Party every year & I make
all kinds of treats for the kids to enjoy. At the Christmas parties kids
are to bring their favorite Christmas treat & the kids talk about
their traditions. this works great as some kids may not celebrate Christmas so the kids can learn about other religions.
Recess
is now controlled as kids can not play chase, dodge ball or others
recess sports that school administrators find dangerous. OK so maybe
they can be a little dangerous but with the right teaching and
supervision they should be allowed. Oh that’s right most of society
doesn’t tell kids what is right and wrong anymore. Some idiot told
parents “don’t say no to your child” and “only use positive
reinforcement” so now kids and teens have no idea what a consequence is
& things are out of control.
Don’t
get me wrong I do believe in positive reinforcement but as with
everything in life it needs balance. Almost everything can be good for
you in moderation. Kids need positive reinforcement but they also need
to be told NO and told when they are wrong. The same goes with food, let
them have junk food but in moderation. For example I know children who
have BK or Mc D’s three times a week, we used fast food as a treat and
have it have or twice a month. I firmly believe in home cook meals, I
know it is time consuming but it is worth it in the long run. I try to
take one or two days a month to pre-cook and freeze meals for
the days I don’t have time to cook. Today for example Donald has
practice so I pulled American Chop Suey out of the freezer and it took
ten minutes to heat up.
We
only own one gaming unit, it is a gameboy that Donald's cousin gave him
and he only has one game for it. The only reason I allowed it was for
appointments. When Donald gets nervous or stressed the GB helps him
relax. We have no intention on buying a play station, heck other than PS
or Wii I have no idea what other games are on the market. We might get a
Wii fitness if at some point the price comes down on the unit and
games. I don't believe in spending thousands on videos games, i would
rather get memberships to zoos, museums or get the kids swim lessons or
karate lessons.
I
wish the government would put millions into sports and phys ed instead
of the foods at schools. Let the parents decide what their kids can eat,
if the parent doesn't like what is served for lunch their child can
brown bag lunch. What children eat is a parents responsibility not the
governments responsibility. Taking this away from parents is just one
more way to show that is no consquence to someones actions. Parents have
to parent for themselves, teach their children what is right and wrong,
teach their child balance in life and this includes teaching them how
to eat a balanced diet & getting exercise.
One last thing on this topic "Kids need to be Kids", they need to eat, play & learn.
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