Healthy Or Unhealthy Kids?

Do you think schools really should be making lunches healthier by not giving kids choices to bringing homemade lunch's? The schools seem to believe the kids with homemade lunches are eating unhealthier than those who eat at school. Do you believe that?

I remember when I was in elementary school and I got “hot lunch” I got to pick and chose which meals I wanted and which I didn't care for. The school had a choice of milks (1%, 2%, low fat chocolate milk and sometimes juice) your main food item: mac and cheese, a sandwich, a hot dog, chicken, ect. Then there was a side: broccoli, fruit, fries, a mini bag of chips, ice cream, ect. Lastly was usually a dessert: pudding, a cookie, a mini candy, ice cream, ect. Most of the time I loved them if I didn't I usually brought a lunch from home a sandwich a baggie of crackers, a juice and snack of gummies. Is that unhealthy? Are those types of lunches causing kids to be obese?

A Chicago school banned home made lunches saying they wanted to give kids a healthier lunch than most of those brought from home which they say contain soda and unhealthy food items. They say the child either eats the lunch or goes hungry. I don't believe that is fair at all. Why make a kid suffer when it's a parents choice as what they feed them? It's not the child's fault if the parent chooses to send them to school with soda everyday. I also don't believe having a cookie or a mini bag of chips is going to kill the kid I would understand if the child was bringing 6 bags of chips a package of cookies, 4 sodas, and candy each day. It should be a parent and child's right to choose if they want to eat a school made lunch (most lunches at school suck now a days anyway all frozen meals de-thawed and microwaved where's the love!?)

If a single mother working her butt off can't afford the lunches but makes too much for free or reduced lunch what is she going to do? Pay $2.25 for a lunch the child doesn't even like or allow her child to starve because they wont allow food from home like left overs. Parents choose how they raise their children not schools. I don't think a school serving a child what they consider “healthy” food is going to determine how a child grows up their parents could allow them to eat tons of junk at home sit in front of the tv or play video games 24/7. Also if they don't like the food given, don't eat it, they will go home hungrier and chow down more than they would if they got a lunch they would actually enjoy. Why make a child unhappy everyday to go to school, dread lunch time when it's supposed to be one of the best parts of their day.

Instead of taking their home lunches away why not invest in a nutrition class to go along with other classes, teach them that they don't have to be scared of green colored foods and you CAN eat things in moderation, show them portion size. Maybe even bring in veggies and fruits for them to try I am sure some won't like them and others will learn they really do like them. Offer them a taste of something new, most kids are willing to try something if others will too. Pressuring a child to eat something won't make them the least bit happy and the parents will not be pleased either. It's how a child is raised by their parents not how the meals are served in a school that determines their outcome. Try giving them more outdoor time and more gym play instead of sitting in a seat for hours on end. That's unhealthy too you know. The kids even say they don't even bring unhealthy foods for lunches. All because one principal thought bringing a soda and some chips on a field trip was unhealthy. I hope people smarten up and go against schools that choose to do this to their children because they are not in charge of you, you are in charge of them and their pay. Post your opinions on Whats-This