News Taffy

Ask any parent of school aged children about the changes to the lunch program and you will probably get an ear full of complaints. My husband and I are sad that the government’s attempt to improve the health of our children isn’t being met with more support. President Truman began the school lunch program in 1946 after learning that many young men were rejected for the draft during WWII for medical conditions brought about by childhood malnutrition. He considered it a matter of national security. President Johnson further expanded the program to include breakfast because children perform better in school when they eat breakfast.

Somewhere along the way, we as a nation began to fail our children and ourselves. Read this statistic and really think about it: Children born in the year 2000 have a 1 in 3 chance of developing type II diabetes at some point in their life. In case you have forgotten, diabetes places you at high risk for dying young from heart disease or stroke, becoming blind, having a limb amputated or becoming dependent on dialysis due to kidney disease. No parent wants to see their child suffer from any kind of disease but it’s past time to get our heads out of the sand and find out what we can do to make our children healthier.

Diet is one of the easiest things we can control in our lives. Currently, only 1 to 2 percent of U.S. children meet the recommended dietary guidelines. They don’t even come close to eating enough fruits, vegetables and whole grains each day. Since schools have our children for a large portion of the day and must feed them and since the government pays for the school lunch program, it is only right that the government should try to make sure those meals are as nutritious as possible.

Some of the changes include: offering a variety of low fat vegetables and fruits each week; including a weekly offering of dark green and orange fruits and vegetables; offering nondairy calcium rich beverages for lactose intolerant children; limiting salt and trans fats; making menu changes that promote good health and help children maintain a healthy weight.

I do agree that the changes could have been implemented more slowly and more education could have been done upfront. This is an opportunity for parents to step up and educate themselves and their children about why change is necessary. I don’t understand why parents would be so resistant to efforts to help their children be healthier. Ignoring problems won’t make them go away.

This is also a teaching opportunity for schools. Children should learn about how food affects their body and how to properly take care of themselves. This is science after all. Teachers and administration should put forth a positive attitude. A friend reported to me that teachers in Mountain Home “threw a fit” when the cinnamon rolls were reduced in size at their school. First of all, I don’t even think cinnamon rolls should be part of the school lunch or breakfast menu. Breakfast and lunch at school may be the best or only meals many children get each day and if it’s full of nothing but fat and sugar, we aren’t doing our best for those kids.

Think about it. If you have comments, send them to lltedder@suddenlink.net. I’d love to hear from you.

Until next week,
Lisa