Ice-cream in middle school cafeteria

[Anonymous]

We are new to MCPS and middle school, and what is new to us is that there is ice-cream available to middle schoolers for lunch. I quickly noticed when my daughter started to eat ice-cream for lunch in the fall. We have had a discussion about it and she understands the importance of eating healthy. (We try at home). But she has since gained weight and doesn’t fit into some kind of her pants she fit just a month ago. She admitted today that her friends eat ice cream every day and share with her. Parents have no idea, most of the time.

Parents, check transaction history in your kids lunch accounts!!! Talk to them about eating healthy. Mom of her one friend found out about her eating ice cream today and was not happy. She does not know yet her daughter has been having ice cream almost daily for the past 2 months.

Has anyone tried to remove ice cream from the school cafeteria in MCPS? Why is there ice cream at schools in the wake of obesity epidemic? Kids are addicted to sugar. There is so much info on how bad it is for them. WAPO has a long one on how it damaged liver in kids.

Any ideas on how to get ice cream out of schools would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Omg who cares. They are growing. Let them eat ice cream.

[Anonymous]

If you don’t want your kid to have ice cream, pack lunch and don’t fund a school lunch account if your kid won’t follow your rules.

[Anonymous]

Middle schoolers gain weight due to puberty. Ice cream at lunch every day is not ideal but not harmful. I know lots of kids whose parents gave them lunch money that was spent on junk food daily in middle/high school, and they were not fat kids.

[Anonymous]

My 13yo has a huge bowl of ice cream nearly every night. After eating two full dinners. He grew 5 inches last year and has 8-10 hours of sports practices every week. If he outgrows his pants, it's because growing is NORMAL at this age! Ice cream at lunch won't make the difference if the child is otherwise living a healthy lifestyle.

Now, if she doesn't have a healthy lifestyle overall and really is getting to be overweight, I agree that needs attention. But in that case, ice cream at lunch is the last of the problems.

[Anonymous]

Healthy lifestyle is not the issues here. My child does sports and is active. We pack lunch most times. When you do everything you can to raise a healthy kid at home, but then loose the battle at school, it is frustrating.

I guess the attitudes here are telling why there is obesity epidemic in the first place - many just don’t care.

I will leave this here anyway: Sugar is among causes of fatty liver.

FATTY LIVER WAS A DISEASE OF THE OLD. THEN KIDS STARTED GETTING SICK.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease-kids/
A 2022 study in the journal Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology estimated the global prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease at 32 percent, with the number higher among men (40 percent) than women (26 percent). The authors warned that those numbers were “continuing to increase at an alarming rate.” In the United States, cases are forecast to increase from 83.1 million in 2015 to 100.9 million in 2030, according to a paper published last year in Translational Gastroenterology and Hepatology. It is predicted to become the leading indication for liver transplantation in adults between 2020 and 2025.

[Anonymous]

Do not try to micromanage your pre-teen's food choices. Ice cream is not poison and it's just fine as a daily snack. Heaven knows, that kid probably gets limited food choices at home if the parent is having conniptions over ice cream. Did you think your child would stay the size and weight of a 10-year-old? Kids this age grow, gain weight, and change shape. Girls this age are already having body image issues. You should ensure you are not subconsciously reinforcing disordered eating habits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not try to micromanage your pre-teen's food choices. Ice cream is not poison and it's just fine as a daily snack. Heaven knows, that kid probably gets limited food choices at home if the parent is having conniptions over ice cream. Did you think your child would stay the size and weight of a 10-year-old? Kids this age grow, gain weight, and change shape. Girls this age are already having body image issues. You should ensure you are not subconsciously reinforcing disordered eating habits.

Thanks, but not an issue here. We are not judging body sizes, and my child does not have a body image problem. I am concerned about HEALTH. It is important what you put into your body. We all should be able to have discussions on healthy diet/weight without gettIng offended.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like she is having less than 1serving since her crieiwas buying it and sharing. I doubt this is the sole cause of weight gain.

[Anonymous]

This is the beginning, mom. You are about to lose a lot more control over the food your kid eats. I also focused on healthy eating when my kids were little and now that they are teens it's so much harder.

Kids care about being social more than they care about being healthy. Keep serving healthy food at home, but don't try and shame or micromanage what they eat when out of your hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not try to micromanage your pre-teen's food choices. Ice cream is not poison and it's just fine as a daily snack. Heaven knows, that kid probably gets limited food choices at home if the parent is having conniptions over ice cream. Did you think your child would stay the size and weight of a 10-year-old? Kids this age grow, gain weight, and change shape. Girls this age are already having body image issues. You should ensure you are not subconsciously reinforcing disordered eating habits.

Thanks, but not an issue here. We are not judging body sizes, and my child does not have a body image problem. I am concerned about HEALTH. It is important what you put into your body. We all should be able to have discussions on healthy diet/weight without gettIng offended.

DP. In the context of an otherwise healthy diet, a little ice cream every day is not a big deal. As another poster implied, I think you might be more concerned with losing control than with actual health consequences. I have struggled with this myself at times (former teen with an eating disorder), so I get it. But my teens eat ice cream almost every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not try to micromanage your pre-teen's food choices. Ice cream is not poison and it's just fine as a daily snack. Heaven knows, that kid probably gets limited food choices at home if the parent is having conniptions over ice cream. Did you think your child would stay the size and weight of a 10-year-old? Kids this age grow, gain weight, and change shape. Girls this age are already having body image issues. You should ensure you are not subconsciously reinforcing disordered eating habits.

Thanks, but not an issue here. We are not judging body sizes, and my child does not have a body image problem. I am concerned about HEALTH. It is important what you put into your body. We all should be able to have discussions on healthy diet/weight without gettIng offended.

DP. In the context of an otherwise healthy diet, a little ice cream every day is not a big deal. As another poster implied, I think you might be more concerned with losing control than with actual health consequences. I have struggled with this myself at times (former teen with an eating disorder), so I get it. But my teens eat ice cream almost every day.

NP and +1 to the above.

My DD is in sixth grade this year in MCPS. What was she most excited about during the first week of school? That she could buy ice cream at lunch.

We offer varied, nutritious meals at home; that includes dessert and sweets, which DH and I emphasize to our kids are "sometimes" foods. My sister and I both developed eating disorders as teens, in no small part due to our parents' obsession with "health" and food. Being so rigid about sugar is not healthy. Moreover, as an earlier PP pointed out, micromanaging your kid's food choices isn't a great idea.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing. I understand the context of eating disorders outweighs the concern about sugar. But it doesn’t mean we should have an all or nothing approach. Nobody is suggesting that kids diet should be micromanaged: they is what they want and how much they want. I am of the opinion that ideally sweets should be reserved for special occasions, like holidays and birthdays. What PPs might be missing is that it is not just “a little ice cream” every day. Kids are bombarded with sugar everywhere. Teachers bring candies and cookies at my MCPS school almost daily, school events include sweets, kids like to go to Starbucks or get bobba after school to hang out, as PP explained, some kids eat a bowl of ice cream at home after dinner, there are birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, sleepovers with sweets… it doesn’t stop. It needs to be managed, less sugar is better than more. At least, we should be able to limit ice cream for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Oh please don’t do this. Please. If you do this it’s going to backfire when she is independent and finally can choose with her own free will. As she should right now. I will sign a pledge to KEEP it in the schools. Left you forget your DD isn’t the old kid in school. This is a YOU problem. If I was her school counselor or teacher and heard this I’d be watching your child for signs of abuse.

[Anonymous]

I moved to MD in 2012 and was shocked that MCPS didn’t have a wellness policy. There are still vending machines in schools in addition to ice cream every day. Even rural parts of VA made the fixes years ago.