Parents - your kids are bringing garbage snacks to school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you propose that parents force their kids to eat healthier food while at school?

Parents can pack healthy snacks (I did for years) but if the kids don't eat them (which also happened for years), you are left with hungry kids. So parents pack food that they know their kids will eat, so the kids eat.

+1 million

I have packed all kinds of nice food for my kid. Including non-raw sushi rolls, which he requested. If he’s not feeling it, he just won’t eat.

I always pack a mix of healthy items and a few snacky things I know he'll eat no matter what. This is why my child, like many children, is at least 20% goldfish at all times. So sue me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you propose that parents force their kids to eat healthier food while at school?

Parents can pack healthy snacks (I did for years) but if the kids don't eat them (which also happened for years), you are left with hungry kids. So parents pack food that they know their kids will eat, so the kids eat.

Don’t buy garbage and they can’t eat garbage. This is not rocket science.

There is a direct correlation between the students that are focused and engaged and the students bringing healthy snacks. Yes I am a teacher (OP.)

I found out one kid trades her fruit for Doritos.

After that I relaxed a bit about what we send for lunch and snack (still not Doritos) and are serving extra fruit and veggies at home.

The other kid - in lower elementary - will not eat at school if it isn’t appealing to him in that moment. We had a 7 year old not eating from 7:30am breakfast until getting home at 5:15. Disaster! You know what’s better than that? Something in a package that he will eat, and extra fruits and veggies at home.

If you keep sending fruits, your kids will eventually eat fruits. Even if they exchange it for Doritos, they are not always going to get Doritos. Besides, at least some kid is eating healthy, no?
It is better to be hungry then to eat junk. If they are hungry, the hunger will guide them towards eating healthier options.

I mean that just isn’t true. My sixth grader doesn’t eat his fruit 90% of the time and never has. I still send it. But he doesn’t eat it. The waste drives me crazy but not crazy enough to give in and not send it. There’s always hope!

By contrast my third grader eats fruit and veg for lunch. Adores radish and cucumbers in her lunchbox. Eats raw kale with gusto. Different kids.

And yeah, it drives me nuts that the school gives out candy constantly. The camp we signed older kid up for emailed to say they have a program for kids to get takeout for lunch 3x a week. Unbelievable. We won’t be doing that and I can already anticipate the arguments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school cafeteria sells Doritos and cookies for a dollar and there's no way to prevent my kid from buying them. It's a lot cheaper for me to send it from home instead

Did you not think of NOT giving money to your kids?

Do you think of your kid's health or that it is cheaper for you to give your kids junk food yourself?

What kind of parent are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please have patience and tolerance. Most people are doing the best they can. Show some empathy.

No. A sleeve of cookies is not the “best you can.” Even if you can’t manage to prepare anything, at least buy skinny pop and gogo squeeze.

LOL at gogo squeeze being a decent choice by any metric. You’re adorable.

I wouldn’t send it either. But it’s better than Oreos or Doritos for parents who are “doing the best they can” whatever that means. I mean, why even have kids if you can’t bother to feed them nutritiously? After “keep them alive” it’s probably your most important parenting task.

[Anonymous]

Have some Takis and calm down OP

[Anonymous]

Some of you are being weirdly defensive about crackers when we are talking about Doritos and cookies. Not everything is about you.

Also, just spitballing here but fruits/veggies that could easily make it 3-4 hours without an ice pack:

Apples
Bananas
Clementines
Grapes
Pears
Carrots
Peppers
Cucumbers
Grape tomatoes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are being weirdly defensive about crackers when we are talking about Doritos and cookies. Not everything is about you.

Also, just spitballing here but fruits/veggies that could easily make it 3-4 hours without an ice pack:

Apples
Bananas
Clementines
Grapes
Pears
Carrots
Peppers
Cucumbers
Grape tomatoes

Exactly. My kids don’t eat the healthiest by any means. Our “snack cabinet” (food that they can choose occasionally (not daily) for an after school treat right now contains: pop tarts, trail mix packs w m&ms, plain ruffles potato chips, little fruit squeeze pouches that I know have tons of sugar, etc. So I’m not exactly super strict on providing only healthy snacks.

But, no, parents sending this junk for snack every single day all school year are not “doing the best they can.” You can buy a bunch of bananas or a bag of apples cheaper than that costco size pack of Doritos or Oreos. They don’t need to be refrigerated. If your kid won’t eat an apple or a banana and you can’t use ice packs, plain popcorn or pretzels are also very cheap and easy things to send still healthier than Cheetos or chips ahoy. I volunteer at my kids’ school lunch often and it’s honestly really sad and appalling what most kids are eating on a regular basis—both those who bring home lunch and those who get school lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are being weirdly defensive about crackers when we are talking about Doritos and cookies. Not everything is about you.

Also, just spitballing here but fruits/veggies that could easily make it 3-4 hours without an ice pack:

Apples
Bananas
Clementines
Grapes
Pears
Carrots
Peppers
Cucumbers
Grape tomatoes

Exactly. My kids don’t eat the healthiest by any means. Our “snack cabinet” (food that they can choose occasionally (not daily) for an after school treat right now contains: pop tarts, trail mix packs w m&ms, plain ruffles potato chips, little fruit squeeze pouches that I know have tons of sugar, etc. So I’m not exactly super strict on providing only healthy snacks.

But, no, parents sending this junk for snack every single day all school year are not “doing the best they can.” You can buy a bunch of bananas or a bag of apples cheaper than that costco size pack of Doritos or Oreos. They don’t need to be refrigerated. If your kid won’t eat an apple or a banana and you can’t use ice packs, plain popcorn or pretzels are also very cheap and easy things to send still healthier than Cheetos or chips ahoy. I volunteer at my kids’ school lunch often and it’s honestly really sad and appalling what most kids are eating on a regular basis—both those who bring home lunch and those who get school lunch.

+1 on both prior posts. Nobody is appalled about a few crackers. Big bags of chips and sleeves if crackers are the issue. I've seen canisters of Pringles for crying out loud.

I don't think applesauces or anything that is just a fruit sauce is really an issue. It's fruit sugar. Maybe 10 would be a problem, but my elementary school kid eats one (and sometimes 2) pouches on weekdays. I think the problem for teeth (cavities) and health are sticky/chewy snacks like fruit gummies, rollups, and too much dried fruit. Our dentist said any sticky fruit snacks like those should be very occasional foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are not watching out for this you should be.

On a daily basis I have kids bringing for snack (not dessert):

Packaged muffins, cookies, brownies, Doritos, cheetos. And the quantities they are bringing are astounding too.

This is terrible brain food. It makes them sleepy, unfocused and it’s terrible for their health too!

At our school they hand these out for breakfast- well not "cookies" but sweet muffins and pastries. Plus juice or chocolate milk. I agree it's terrible for the reasons you state but this is far from just a problem of poor parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please have patience and tolerance. Most people are doing the best they can. Show some empathy.

No. A sleeve of cookies is not the “best you can.” Even if you can’t manage to prepare anything, at least buy skinny pop and gogo squeeze.

LOL at gogo squeeze being a decent choice by any metric. You’re adorable.

I wouldn’t send it either. But it’s better than Oreos or Doritos for parents who are “doing the best they can” whatever that means. I mean, why even have kids if you can’t bother to feed them nutritiously? After “keep them alive” it’s probably your most important parenting task.

Show your work. You sound like a sucker, to be honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are not watching out for this you should be.

On a daily basis I have kids bringing for snack (not dessert):

Packaged muffins, cookies, brownies, Doritos, cheetos. And the quantities they are bringing are astounding too.

This is terrible brain food. It makes them sleepy, unfocused and it’s terrible for their health too!

At our school they hand these out for breakfast- well not "cookies" but sweet muffins and pastries. Plus juice or chocolate milk. I agree it's terrible for the reasons you state but this is far from just a problem of poor parenting.

Chocolate milk is one of the top nutritious recommendations for pretty much every serious athlete in the world. But some influencer or random journalist told you it’s uNhEaLtHy so you get your panties in a twist at the thought of a kid drinking it once or twice a day.

It’s very obvious that most of you do not have older kids (or kids you’ve actually managed to raise to adulthood). The sanctimommy is strong in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Our daughter has special needs that come with strong food aversions to most of what's been recommended by OP. If a teacher decided to talk to us about what she eats, I'd be down at the principal's office using the word "ableist" quite a bit. You might think that's bullshit (and it might even be), but that word has a lot of power to punish teachers who don't stay in their lane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are not watching out for this you should be.

On a daily basis I have kids bringing for snack (not dessert):

Packaged muffins, cookies, brownies, Doritos, cheetos. And the quantities they are bringing are astounding too.

This is terrible brain food. It makes them sleepy, unfocused and it’s terrible for their health too!

At our school they hand these out for breakfast- well not "cookies" but sweet muffins and pastries. Plus juice or chocolate milk. I agree it's terrible for the reasons you state but this is far from just a problem of poor parenting.

Agreed, I'm FAR from a strict healthy eating parent - my kids eat stuff like cereal, zucchini bread, etc for breakfast - but the school menu is completely ridiculous. Stuff like a sleeve of 6 mini chocolate donuts for breakfast, the "packaged muffins" OP hates so much, cinnamon rolls....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are being weirdly defensive about crackers when we are talking about Doritos and cookies. Not everything is about you.

Also, just spitballing here but fruits/veggies that could easily make it 3-4 hours without an ice pack:

Apples
Bananas
Clementines
Grapes
Pears
Carrots
Peppers
Cucumbers
Grape tomatoes

My kids don't actually get "snack time" at school but just remarking...I'm a perimenopausal woman who has to be much more concerned about managing weight than a kid, and if I am actually legit hungry and eat an apple or cucumbers for a snack, I'm...still hungry. I don't think that's enough for kids who are really hungry (although it's fine if they just want something to munch on). Sure, the ideal might be fruit or veg + protein, but it is so hard to get my kindergartener to eat ANY protein at all that I don't insist on it for after school snack. He will typically have a little fruit and some cheez its or even a small bowl of cereal if dinner will be late due to evening activities.

Anyway, my point is that it is also OK for kids to eat grains when they are hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please have patience and tolerance. Most people are doing the best they can. Show some empathy.

No. A sleeve of cookies is not the “best you can.” Even if you can’t manage to prepare anything, at least buy skinny pop and gogo squeeze.

LOL at gogo squeeze being a decent choice by any metric. You’re adorable.

I wouldn’t send it either. But it’s better than Oreos or Doritos for parents who are “doing the best they can” whatever that means. I mean, why even have kids if you can’t bother to feed them nutritiously? After “keep them alive” it’s probably your most important parenting task.

Show your work. You sound like a sucker, to be honest.

Here ya go! It wasn’t exactly hard to determine that applesauce beats mini muffins.

Gogo Squeez
No added sugar or artificial ingredients and only 60 calories and 14g of carbs. The 10g of naturally occurring sugar isn’t ideal but at least it’s not artificial.

https://lowfodmapeating.com/are-gogo-squeez-healthy/

One pack of Little Bites muffins is 200 calories (more than 3x), 9g of fat, 14g of (not naturally occurring) sugar and 30g of carbs (2x). They also include preservatives and artificial flavors.

https://lowfodmapeating.com/are-little-bites-healthy/