No More Cupcakes!!!!

Everyone knows that child obesity is caused by over-eating at school parties.


I was angry when some schools chose to get rid of the vending machines/sodas. School food is so disgusting that pre-packaged food (although unhealthy) was all I could eat for lunch.

True story: my school sold us chicken nuggets where the puss from dead chickens was used as binder to hold the good chicken meat together. Kids started getting sick and the state interfered to stop this process.

There are little to no quality standards implemented in American school cafeterias. I dare an adult to eat the cafeteria meals for a week.

Not that obesity is a result of what kids eat at school, but what would you expect, the public education system to act smart?

What will they replace the birthday cupcakes with... tossed salad with low fat dressing?

Part of the fun of grade school was having cupcakes and other sugary snacks on someones birthday.

Remember when the custom began of honoring the Birthday Child with frosted cupcakes, frosted cupcakes were an out-of-the-ordinary treat.

This is no longer so.

Miller - there's something wrong with a person when they don't savor the taste of a good poo ticket.

Moving on from that little digression, I think only cafeteria food should be regulated. Whatever the kids want to bring for themselves or the rest of the school is fine but that cafeteria food has got to go.

I don't know if you have been on any school campuses lately but the same ills in the cooking process are still there, mainly because the cafeteria has failed to invest in proper kitchens.

Not only that, but the food is becoming ever more saturated with fat. I went to a high school last week and happened to be there during lunch. Do you know what they were serving? Pre-cooked hamburgers (though not all the way and some had little green spots), pizza hut pizza (which had so much grease that you could see it rippling in the wind), burritos (greasy, smelly, and not all the way cooked), hot dogs, doritos, and 100 percent corn syrup snacks.

And they want children to stop bringing cupcakes to school?

Agree wholeheartedly with Individual..

Hmm, this reminds me of a link I gave here a few months ago, it was an article about Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse fame, starting vegetable gardens in the local schools near her restaurant, and getting kids interested in real food. Will give the link again if I find it.

Yes, Osso, I was just going to say something about that and then you mentioned it in the very last post (as I type...)

I get and agree with au's point about the pendulum swinging. If it's actually swinging -- if it's not just about cupcakes but about overhauling school nutrition and excercise completely -- I'm all for it.

Yeah, what's with no or limited recess? Geesh.

I was wondering recently why schools don't have gardens.

It's a great idea.

I just read about one that is a working zoo. A ZOO! How incredibly cool is that? The kids are especially successful by most objective measures and there was a line about niceness permeating the entire school...

I wonder if a garden might not be trampled on by the smaller boys. Perhaps the children get enough nature when they have dirt shoved into their mouths by other children. Oh, but I'm just being cynical.

A garden would be a great idea especially if the children who wanted to could learn how to tend to it. In fact, an elementary school near me (whose idea of nature is a steel "jungle" gym) just recently tried that, it looks like it's doing great.

And a zoo is amazing! Why didn't we have playgrounds like that as children?

That's strange, I never noticed the absence of gardens!

Of all the "real" problems in American society today, fatness is not one of them. Anyone who's been poor, grown up underprivilged, living in slums in single parent's homes knows the benefit of having a local MacDonalds supply breakfast, lunch and dinner. I know I do! It didn't hurt me to eat at MacDonalds and it surely didn't hurt me to eat cupcakes. Besides cupcakes, I also went to Dunkin DOnuts and ate dozens of donuts.


Did it hurt me?

I doubt it, 'cause I was a happy, healthy, bright little kid.

To the single, working mother with 3-5 kids to take care of, besides working an 8 hour day, the local MacDonalds,etc is indeed a blessing. Do you really think such a person, on limited money, time, and energy can run to the supermaket to fetch the lettuce, etc to make healthy salads, etc?

The parents with loads of time on their hands are the ones today, who have others walk their dog,, nannies to tend to their kids, are against spanking, are for dropping cokes from the lunchroom and for deleting the poor, lonely cupcake from the diets of kids.



Look at the football players in the NFL, today. Are the linebackers skinny? How many of these guys grew up poor and survived because of the neighborhood MAcDonalds , Dunkin donuts and cupcake bakeries?

As far as the "cupcake" policy in the school system, I think it's a ridiculous idea. If the parents and administrators want to improve the life styles of the kids, why not teach the kids something about morality and that oral sex at 7:30 am on the school bus, is not appropriate for 11 year old kids.! Instead of oral sex in the a.m., give each kid a donut or cupcake to eat, as they enter the bus. That'll keep their hands and mouths busy, during their daily trips to school.

Miller--

You are underestimating the medical dangers of childhood obesity which include diabetes, heart disease, strokes and cancer--at increasingly younger ages.

Check out: http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/WP%20Obesity%20Article.htm

Actually I did hear, Wy that one school does suggest bringing in pencils. Talk about no fun. Instead of cutting a measly cupcake wouldn't it make more sense to teach about proper nutrition? Eating a balanced diet including an occasional cupcake is best. Also, encouraging regular exercise rather than discouraging it.

I have to disagree with your first statement. While that may be a part of it, the main reasons for child obesity are too much fast food, and not enough exercise. This issue is a complex one, often involving parents lack of interest in feeding their kids properly. It seems to be a combination of low income, lack of knowledge, and the great American devil, convenience. Pigging out at school parties alone does not create an epidemic. As for cupcakes, I think it's a bit harsh. Serve healthier meals in the caf, that actually taste good (I agree with Portal on how bad cafeteria food is), and you can allow for a cupcake. I wonder what will be next....maybe only circular paper, because the corners on regular paper could harm a student, or be used as a weapon.

Did anyone ever hear of brown bagging. Close all the school cafeterias and have Mom prepare lunch. What a novel idea. These days schools are expected to perform as purveyors of knowledge, restaurants, substitute parents and care givers.

My experience is different. My son just finished fourth grade in public school here, and they had p.e. every day. The school just put in a new running track last fall, and they ran laps every day. At the honors assembly during the last week of school, handing out athletic honors took up more than half an hour. The kids are constantly bringing home flyers encouraging them to enter community races & sports programs.

They don't have vending machines in the elementary schools here, either. The cafeteria food is yukky, but at least they do have a salad bar.

interesting feature on CBC-YV recently. a retired chef in vancouver, b.c., has taken over a school-cafeteria just for the fun of it , and he is dishing up healthy and appetizing meals. THE KIDS JUST LOVE IT ! they are even enjoying the salads he is offereing ! perhaps there is hope ! hbg