School junk food -- chicagotribune.com:
"I am a pediatrician on Chicago's North Side and have two children who attend a Chicago Public Schools school, Inter-American Magnet. I became the chair of our school's fledgling parent nutrition committee this year.
Our committee hasn't even met once this year yet, but in trying to recruit members, I have been asked several questions by parents regarding the quality and selection of food offered at our school's breakfast and lunch."
One mom of a kindergartener told me that her child comes home with her home-packed lunch uneaten because she is bused to school and then eats Froot Loops and a doughnut for breakfast. As a parent, I rarely let my kids buy school lunch until another parent applied for and won a grant for our school that started a lunchtime salad bar.
Now my kids get salad bar twice a week and love it. (Mind you, they will not eat vegetables I pack from home.) I still do not let them eat the school lunch on other days as it is filled with what I call "carnival food": nachos, pizza, corn dogs. I have had discussions about the food selection and the point has been made that the intersection between healthy school food and food that kids will eat is very narrow.
"I am a pediatrician on Chicago's North Side and have two children who attend a Chicago Public Schools school, Inter-American Magnet. I became the chair of our school's fledgling parent nutrition committee this year.
Our committee hasn't even met once this year yet, but in trying to recruit members, I have been asked several questions by parents regarding the quality and selection of food offered at our school's breakfast and lunch."
One mom of a kindergartener told me that her child comes home with her home-packed lunch uneaten because she is bused to school and then eats Froot Loops and a doughnut for breakfast. As a parent, I rarely let my kids buy school lunch until another parent applied for and won a grant for our school that started a lunchtime salad bar.
Now my kids get salad bar twice a week and love it. (Mind you, they will not eat vegetables I pack from home.) I still do not let them eat the school lunch on other days as it is filled with what I call "carnival food": nachos, pizza, corn dogs. I have had discussions about the food selection and the point has been made that the intersection between healthy school food and food that kids will eat is very narrow.
