When should a school intervene? Never? (school lunch issue)

I have a student (2nd grader) who usually comes to school eating from a gigantic bag of Doritos and drinking a brightly colored energy drink. That's her breakfast. Sometimes she has Cheetos instead.

I don't intervene. Would you?

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unknown

skinnyinnotime wrote: »

The school should have a policy on what foods are allowed to be eaten there.

If a child isn't fed a nutrional diet it is neglect.

you can tell an entire child's diet from ONE bag of doritos and ONE can of red bull?

I'm impressed- can you tell me the lotto numbers for next week too?

PS- don't look at my weekend. It pretty much looks like I straight up had a weekend fling affair with the Debil.

You know- because Sugar = Debil.

unknown

I work in a school, and that type of food is not permitted. It's against our lunch policy. I think what NinerBuff said would be a good approach. I also know that as a mother myself I couldn't sit idly by and watch a young child consume things like energy drinks every day. While that food option for an adult is one thing, it's not appropriate for a 7 year old.

unknown

draznyth wrote: »

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Do you have any kids? If so, wouldn't you like them to be healthy? If not, wait till you do and then answer the questions.
I have four kids and try my best to teach them from a young age about healthy food and healthy lifestyle. Its never too early to start eating healthy and can prevent later health issues. I give them snacks too but in moderation.
Not having a go at you, just asking cos of what you commented.

unknown

JoRocka wrote: »

skinnyinnotime wrote: »

The school should have a policy on what foods are allowed to be eaten there.

If a child isn't fed a nutrional diet it is neglect.

OP stated that this student "usually comes to school eating from a gigantic bag of Doritos and drinking a brightly colored energy drink. That's her breakfast. Sometimes she has Cheetos instead."

Meaning that this what the student usually eats for breakfast. Sometimes its Doritos, sometimes its Cheetos. Not just one bag or one energy drink when a family emergency came up and the parent couldnt prep breakfast.

unknown

jorinya wrote: »

draznyth wrote: »

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Do you have any kids? If so, wouldn't you like them to be healthy? If not, wait till you do and then answer the questions.
I have four kids and try my best to teach them from a young age about healthy food and healthy lifestyle. Its never too early to start eating healthy and can prevent later health issues. I give them snacks too but in moderation.
Not having a go at you, just asking cos of what you commented.

Except Dorito's aren't inherently bad- context is important.

unknown

JoRocka wrote: »

[
Except Dorito's aren't inherently bad- context is important.

Ah, didn't say they were, read again please. Comment not directed to you btw. Entitled to my opinion. Thanks anyway.

unknown

jorinya wrote: »

draznyth wrote: »

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Do you have any kids? If so, wouldn't you like them to be healthy? If not, wait till you do and then answer the questions.
I have four kids and try my best to teach them from a young age about healthy food and healthy lifestyle. Its never too early to start eating healthy and can prevent later health issues. I give them snacks too but in moderation.
Not having a go at you, just asking cos of what you commented.

I have kids and I agree with @draznyth. He summed up everything wrong with this thread in one nice tidy sentence.

unknown

JoRocka wrote: »

jorinya wrote: »

draznyth wrote: »

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Do you have any kids? If so, wouldn't you like them to be healthy? If not, wait till you do and then answer the questions.
I have four kids and try my best to teach them from a young age about healthy food and healthy lifestyle. Its never too early to start eating healthy and can prevent later health issues. I give them snacks too but in moderation.
Not having a go at you, just asking cos of what you commented.

Except Dorito's aren't inherently bad- context is important.

If a kid eats breakfast like this on a daily basis it´s not far fetched that the nutrition is not much better the rest of the day. My kids aren´t allowed to eat stuff like this for breakfast ever. They can have chips, cookies and stuff, but not as a substitute for a meal. And the combination with the energy drink doesn´t make the situation better. It´s a second grader, not a highschool kid.

Calling officials is too much here, but talking to the parents/asking them if they are aware of the situation might be a good idea.

unknown

ksy1969 wrote: »

I have kids and I agree with @draznyth. He summed up everything wrong with this thread in one nice tidy sentence.

So wanting kids to be healthy is now bad!! Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, the OP is concerned about the child. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and has been linked to preformance in school. Do you give your kids doritos and an energy drink for breakfast??

unknown

staticsplit wrote: »

I personally hate people commenting on and policing my food. I had that happen all the time growing up (I was skinny and people assumed I didn't eat) and it made me really uncomfortable and eventually led to me having a messed up relationship with food (aka didn't eat enough) for awhile.

So much this.

unknown

jorinya wrote: »

draznyth wrote: »

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Do you have any kids? If so, wouldn't you like them to be healthy? If not, wait till you do and then answer the questions.
I have four kids and try my best to teach them from a young age about healthy food and healthy lifestyle. Its never too early to start eating healthy and can prevent later health issues. I give them snacks too but in moderation.
Not having a go at you, just asking cos of what you commented.

Well, I have kids, and I would like them to be healthy. I try to teach my kids about healthy food, physical activity and overall health/hygiene (wash hands before eating, use tissues, don't eat off the floor...etc...)

But my kids breakfast is highly processed and carb-rich. As I stated earlier, my daughter is going through a "Nutella toast every morning" phase right now.

unknown

jorinya wrote: »

draznyth wrote: »

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Do you have any kids? If so, wouldn't you like them to be healthy? If not, wait till you do and then answer the questions.
I have four kids and try my best to teach them from a young age about healthy food and healthy lifestyle. Its never too early to start eating healthy and can prevent later health issues. I give them snacks too but in moderation.
Not having a go at you, just asking cos of what you commented.

I don't need to have children to have an opinion on this. If and when I have children, I would want them to be healthy, and would provide for that as much as possible.

However, none of the above has anything to do with someone stepping in and parenting other people's children for them. It's nunya. Take care of your own kids.

unknown

I don´t even find the doritos the biggest problem here, the energy drink is way worse.
And the fact that nobody seems to care what the kid eats/puts any effort in preparing something (that of course we cannot know for sure, if the parents are not contacted)

I remember how I felt as a kid when I saw all the kids having "nice" breakfast. Someone at home who cares and prepares "proper" breakfast or meals in general. Someone who gets up in the morning, wakes up the kid and helps him getting done for school. (and this was just one of my smallest problems...)

It´s not only about the quality of the food, it´s also about the quality of the relationship.

unknown

JoRocka wrote: »

jorinya wrote: »

draznyth wrote: »

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Do you have any kids? If so, wouldn't you like them to be healthy? If not, wait till you do and then answer the questions.
I have four kids and try my best to teach them from a young age about healthy food and healthy lifestyle. Its never too early to start eating healthy and can prevent later health issues. I give them snacks too but in moderation.
Not having a go at you, just asking cos of what you commented.

Except Dorito's aren't inherently bad- context is important.

Context is indeed important, I agree there. However I don't think it's the teacher's responsibility to determine the context for each student in their class. Their priority is the wellbeing of their students as a body; hence rules that apply to everyone. If there are rules in place, of course.

It's interesting to see how many folks freak out about this topic. Given the rise of childhood obesity, it makes perfect sense to me that schools are trying to instill healthy habits in kids that spend a great deal of their day under the supervision of the school. Given that the definition of "healthy" differs widely, I think schools are generally doing the best they can with their resources.

If nothing else, at least there's a lot of discussion around this. Discussion is always good, even if people disagree.

unknown

jorinya wrote: »

ksy1969 wrote: »

I have kids and I agree with @draznyth. He summed up everything wrong with this thread in one nice tidy sentence.

So wanting kids to be healthy is now bad!! Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, the OP is concerned about the child. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and has been linked to preformance in school. Do you give your kids doritos and an energy drink for breakfast??

Nope, but if I did, it is none of your business.

unknown

rainbowbow wrote: »

I would probably intervene if the child were up to 7th-8th grade. At that point i would acknowledge their own choices. I would be willing to assist them with making the right food choices, but if they are fat, get diabetes, and get picked on it's their own perogative at that point.

Now if it's a child child (?) then i would absolutely intervene**. I would only do so by collective the offending item and replacing it with something else. For example, in the breakfast situation i would collect the redbull and cheetos and give them an apple and a milk. Or a banana and a yogurt. something to that effect.

I would then send them home with the offending item and a handwritten note that they had received a healthier option instead. I would probably say something along the lines of... "XChild has had low energy lately" or "XChild seems to be having problems integrating and playing with the other students" or "XChild is having problems in PE/Recess" and it "may be because they didn't have a nutritious and healthy breakfast. So i bought them something that may be more beneficial to their studies/health".

If the parents are ballsy enough to send the child to class with the items again i would write them a serious fat-hating/angry/shitlord letter.

**Note: I would only intervene if the product was genuinely terrible for their health or completely lacking in any nutritional value. It'd have to be a meal of oreos, doritos/cheetos, and packaged donuts only for me to really step in. I dont presume to know their diet outside of school and i recognize that even in my own diet these things can be eaten in moderation. I wouldn't flip about one "bad" side or one "bad" portion. I'm saying if the entire meal was devoid of nutrition.

Hhahha this is hilarious! You think you can control what a parent gives their kid!? Myob

unknown

JoRocka wrote: »

skinnyinnotime wrote: »

The school should have a policy on what foods are allowed to be eaten there.

If a child isn't fed a nutrional diet it is neglect.

you can tell an entire child's diet from ONE bag of doritos and ONE can of red bull?

I'm impressed- can you tell me the lotto numbers for next week too?

PS- don't look at my weekend. It pretty much looks like I straight up had a weekend fling affair with the Debil.

You know- because Sugar = Debil.

Man.. the number of times I gave away my 'healthy' food in order to buy ice cream sandwiches for lunch... Super glad I wasn't living now, where my parents would be hauled away for perceived neglect. ^_^ Still managed to win a lot of track & field medals, guess that 'junk food' wasn't making much of a dent in my health.

unknown

If the child is eligible for the breakfast and lunch program at your school, make sure she's signed up for it and then get her into the lunch room and a healthy breakfast. Otherwise, I don't see where there's much you can do unless she's severly obese. Unfortunately there are parents out there who think that's an appropriate breakfast, eat it themselves, and so the kid does too. There are also parents out there who let their kids do what they want because it's easier than making them do what they are supposed to. It could be either of those situations or as another poster said, the kid is getting her own food and drink because there's no one else to do it. Again, it we are talking about a severly obese child, then yes you should intervene. Otherwise, use the programs you have at your school to help her get healthy food while she's there.

unknown

My first question would be who brings the kid to school. I mean working parents sometimes have a babysitter that takes the kid to school The parents might not even know the child is eating that way.

I think you can do activities with kids about healthy eating, but what you can also do is send a note to all parents that no chips, soda or energy drinks are allowed in your class room. Point out that the caffeine is hyping up the kids in the morning.

My daughter had a second grade teacher that told them only healthy snacks allowed, I was thrilled. Till I figured out how backward she was. My daughter wouldn't drink the plain milk that I gave her for lunch. So I gave her chocolate milk which had less sugar and more protein than juice. I get told she isn't allowed to have it, a week later she tells me that another kid is allowed to have it. WHAT? the sugar was hyping my child up, but the juice had more sugar, so I sent her to show the teacher and ask the question. Teacher tells me I am undermining her. NO, you are messing with my kids health based on your ideas. She told another mom that ham wasn't healthy, but as rewards if the kids did something good she gave them Yankee Doodle cakes.

So if you do something, it must be all or nothing. And like I said if the parents work and a sibling or babysitter is taking kid to school parents might not even know that this is happening. Could be purchased on the way to school too. Sometimes parents are too strict and the kids react by going for just junk too. My friend's sister is so strict on "healthy" and "organic" her daughter lies that mom didn't pack her lunch to get chicken nuggets. It really is a very fine line.

unknown

It's not your business........I wish teachers would stop trying to be doctors, therapist and social workers.

They barely have control of their class.