24 Hours of Junk Food: A Day in the Life of an Average School Kid
March 14, 2013 | Posted by Stacy under Junk food in school |
“It’s just one fill in the blank [cupcake, cookie, lollipop, M&M, etc.]!”
That’s the argument often used to justify feeding our kids junk food. But here’s the thing: It isn’t “just one.” Not. Even. Close. These days, children are being handed highly processed fatty/sugary/salty food right and left, often without their parents’ knowledge or permission. It is, quite literally, everywhere we go! I’m talking grocery stores, day cares, banks, gas stations, children’s libraries, and sports practices. Despite all the progress being made in getting healthier food into cafeterias, vending machines and a la carte lines, junk food continues to flow freely through the hallways of many schools as well. And it’s adding up to one big national health crisis. Think I’m overreacting? Consider this scenario:
24 Hours of Junk Food: A Day in the Life of an Average School Kid
6:30 a.m. Alarm goes off. Time to get up. Bus leaves in 30 minutes! Mom wants to fix me a quick bowl of cereal and strawberries. But I want to eat breakfast at school with my friends today.
7 a.m. On the bus munching the M&Ms that Mr. R gave me—my favorite bus driver by far!
7:25 a.m. Arrive at school and head into the cafeteria for school breakfast. Grab a container of Cocoa Puffs, a cheese stick, an orange and chocolate milk. Don’t touch the cheese stick or the orange (takes too long to peel and doesn’t sound very good after Cocoa Puffs).
7:55 a.m. Bell sounds, time for class.
9:45 a.m. It’s Jackson’s birthday and his mom brought cupcakes–the big ones from Albertson’s. Yay!!!!!
10:15 a.m. Math center. We do a counting exercise using Lucky Charms. It’s the best cereal I’ve ever had. I’m going to ask Mom to start buying it.
11:30 a.m. Off to lunch. Not too hungry after the cupcake and Lucky Charms. Chug some chocolate milk, eat a couple bites of pizza and hit the playground.
12:30 p.m. Back inside the classroom, Mrs. K tells me that I’ve earned enough points to pick a prize from the treasure box. I choose a lollipop.
1:30 p.m.Bake sale to benefit the 5th grade. Mom didn’t give me money but my friend Max loans me 50 cents for a Rice Krispie treat.
2:30 p.m. Bell rings, school is out for the day. One of the 5th graders is handing out leftover donuts from the bake sale. I grab one on my way out.
2:40 p.m. On the bus and heading home. Eat the donut and lollipop that I got from the prize box.
3:15 p.m. Mom reminds me that I have hockey practice and hands me a plate of apple slices. I munch a couple but they taste yucky.
5 p.m. Final hockey practice of the season just ended. Time to celebrate with pizza, cupcakes and juice. Finish my cupcake and ask if I can have another. Yesssss!
6:30 p.m. Back at home. Mom is mad because I haven’t been listening. She reminds me about my homework. I’m crying because my tummy hurts. I feel like throwing up.
The likelihood of all this happening all in one day may be slim. But it’s an accurate reflection of the insane amount of junk food that our kids are bombarded with on a weekly basis. Bottom line: Even when parents work hard to provide healthy meals and snacks for their children, there can be many other competing factors (including classroom birthday treats, ice cream and pizza parties, candy rewards, unhealthy school fundraisers, junky sports snacks, and well-meaning relatives showing their love with sugar) that get in the way.
Schools can be part of the solution by creating–and enforcing–strong wellness policies that would significantly reduce junk food in the classroom, at school fundraisers and at after-school events.
In case you’re wondering, a strong wellness policy (according to a sample created by the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity) would require that:
- school-day celebrations involving food be limited to once a month (and include mostly healthy food)
- food rewards not be used (i.e., no ice cream parties or jelly beans for good behavior!)
- only healthy snacks (emphasizing fresh fruits and veggies) and beverages (primarily water) be served in the classroom and after-school programs
- only healthy foods and drinks be offered or sold at after-hours school events
- candy and other junk not be sold at school fundraisers
If you look back at my 24 Hours of Junk Food diary, you can see how changing the school food environment could have a huge impact on our kids’ diets and their lives. Minimizing (or even eliminating) junk food at school could have a profound impact on their learning and their health. With nearly a third of our nation’s young people at risk for preventable diseases like type-2 diabetes and heart disease, it’s high time for our schools to make student wellness a top priority. And it’s time for us parents to start insisting that they do. Because with things the way they are now, some of us might as well send our kids to a carnival instead of school.
Ok, time for feedback. Do you agree that schools have a responsibility to create a healthy food environment? Or is it up to the parents to teach their kids to refuse junk? Sound off in the comments section below. Then come on over to my Facebook page for some discussion!
When a typical day looks like this, special occasions become even more over the top. Also the number of “special occasions” at school is rapidly increasing. I wrote about the cupcakes for Dr. Suess’s birthday and today is Pi day (3.14) which is now a new special occasion for eating pie.
Pi day? What will they think of next?!? I thought we were things were supposed to be getting better…?!?
Maybe the solution is to have a permission slip letter sent home at the beginning of the year. My child _____________ does ______/does not________ have permission to be fed unhealthy snacks. Signed ________________