Parents - your kids are bringing garbage snacks to school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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....

I don’t understand this at all. It’s like parents are using something objectively bad that the school district is doing to say, “See!! The school does it so it must be totally ok for me to do it to!” You can’t be serious. I have several low income students who qualify for free school meals and their parents would never let them eat that junk. They are some of my healthiest students.

Meanwhile Mr. I-missed-school-for-2–different-Disney-Cruises-this-year wouldn’t know a non-processed food if it hit him on the head.

I work in a high farms Title I school and the kids are bringing a lot of processed foods. A lot of takis. A lot of candy. I wish they would have healthier options— their mouths are full of cavities (and yes I know because their families can’t afford the white fillings, they have the amalgam fillings that which are obvious) and they have low focus and memory retention.

I agree the school food isn’t great either.

FARMS kids have those problems regardless of what they eat and the wealthy kids at our school who bring donuts for lunch do fine. It's not about the food.

[Anonymous]

Well if anyone needed help understanding the rising obesity epidemic they need only read some of the responses here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think the nutritional needs of a serious athlete are quite different than the nutritional needs of an elementary school child....

[Anonymous]

My kid is underweight and food avoidant. We send food we know she will eat. Whether you deem that food "healthy" or "unhealthy" from your perch over there NOT being my child's parent, I don't really care.

The pearl clutching about other people's children is quite transparently just a bunch of arrogant, judgmental jerks looking for reasons to feel superior. It if wasn't this, it would be the way my child is dressed or what activities she does or how many kids I have where we live. You just want to feel like you are better than other people. If you actually cared about the well being of children, you would be looking for ways to facilitate healthier eating in schools. You have no interest. You just want to judge and criticize because it makes you feel good about yourself.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of different rules/opinions from school, and teachers about kids snacks. DC was told packaged apple sauce’s not healthy so shouldn’t bring to school. Another teacher said fruit can’t be snack since it’s counted as part of lunch/meal. Another teacher said you can only eat fruit. I tried to pack non sweet Cheerios but read somewhere those are not healthy, due to possible weed killer round up used in grain etc. DC can eat nuts but we can’t bring it to school. Avocado/guacamole is healthy, but you can’t bring it since it has to be eating fresh/right out of fridge. Granola/oatmeal bars are too sweet. I’m really out of ideas what to pack for kids school snacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of different rules/opinions from school, and teachers about kids snacks. DC was told packaged apple sauce’s not healthy so shouldn’t bring to school. Another teacher said fruit can’t be snack since it’s counted as part of lunch/meal. Another teacher said you can only eat fruit. I tried to pack non sweet Cheerios but read somewhere those are not healthy, due to possible weed killer round up used in grain etc. DC can eat nuts but we can’t bring it to school. Avocado/guacamole is healthy, but you can’t bring it since it has to be eating fresh/right out of fridge. Granola/oatmeal bars are too sweet. I’m really out of ideas what to pack for kids school snacks.

Wow- unsweetened applesauce or too much whole fruit is certainly not the cause of any child's health or concentration issues. I think it really sends the wrong message when people go down those kinds of paths.

You can actually freeze the little packs of guac and it should thaw by snack time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. The school food is terrible. Our school gives free breakfast and lunch to all kids. Doesnt matter if you fed them something heathy at home. If they arrive any school and want the chocolate mini muffins and cinnamon roll, they take it. Parents have zero control on whether their child consumes the school junk. Teachers are always passing out cheap junk snacks and candy as well. Same for lunch. You can pack them heathy lunch, but they can decide they’d rather have them Bocsa cheese stuff breadsticks and grab those instead. Schools provide so much junk food, for free.

You may as well just give up on parenting then!

Or maybe parents should be in charge of feeding kids. If parents want to send in junk- that’s their business. But why in the world is school passing out junk EVERY DAY? Waste of tax dollars and bad for health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is school, where kids are sitting all day (with percentage of overweight kids climbing every year), not high performance sports. Zero rationale for school to pass out chocolate milk. Regular milk has 13 g of natural sugar.

If you think chocolate milk is what is causing kids to be overweight I have a bridge to sell you.

Why not just give out white milk? Why do kids need chocolate milk at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. The school food is terrible. Our school gives free breakfast and lunch to all kids. Doesnt matter if you fed them something heathy at home. If they arrive any school and want the chocolate mini muffins and cinnamon roll, they take it. Parents have zero control on whether their child consumes the school junk. Teachers are always passing out cheap junk snacks and candy as well. Same for lunch. You can pack them heathy lunch, but they can decide they’d rather have them Bocsa cheese stuff breadsticks and grab those instead. Schools provide so much junk food, for free.

You may as well just give up on parenting then!

Or maybe parents should be in charge of feeding kids. If parents want to send in junk- that’s their business. But why in the world is school passing out junk EVERY DAY? Waste of tax dollars and bad for health.

Of course it’s a waste of tax dollars and bad for health. But that doesn’t mean parents should compound the problem because the school “already feeds them junk.” The solution is not feeding them MORE junk! Some of you should be ashamed and I know that you are, which explains your bizarre “outrage” at people telling you what to do. Poison your kids all you want. We see you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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....

I don’t understand this at all. It’s like parents are using something objectively bad that the school district is doing to say, “See!! The school does it so it must be totally ok for me to do it to!” You can’t be serious. I have several low income students who qualify for free school meals and their parents would never let them eat that junk. They are some of my healthiest students.

Meanwhile Mr. I-missed-school-for-2–different-Disney-Cruises-this-year wouldn’t know a non-processed food if it hit him on the head.

I work in a high farms Title I school and the kids are bringing a lot of processed foods. A lot of takis. A lot of candy. I wish they would have healthier options— their mouths are full of cavities (and yes I know because their families can’t afford the white fillings, they have the amalgam fillings that which are obvious) and they have low focus and memory retention.

I agree the school food isn’t great either.

Teachers are regularly giving out bags of chips and king size candy bars and bags for winning or scoring high on those dumb Ed tech games they are alway playing in class. My kid gets these multiple times per week- from teachers. WHY? Do teachers have no other way to motivate students besides junk food? The free or all garbage breakfast and lunch are a separate issue- but teachers compound it by giving out even more crap. That shouldn’t be allowed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

LOL Please explain the health benefits of pretzels.

Pretzels have a lower calorie and fat content than Doritos. They have a lower fat, calorie, and sugar count than cookies. I'm not the PP, but I think pretzels were suggested as better than Doritos or potato chips for a snack. Certainly we all know they aren't as nutritious as say kale, but there's a place for carbs in a healthy diet.

[Anonymous]

I find it ironic that a teacher is complaining about what food parents send to school. I have the same complaint about the school and teachers. At least if parents do it, it’s their kid, so their choice. But teachers and schools handing out junk that is bad for kids, plus putting them on screens on day just seems like an alternate universe- but that is reality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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/

Counting calories as "bad" makes sense if you're an overweight adult, not if you're a sixty pound ten year old.

I'm not the PP, but what you feed your kids is teaching them how to eat for life, as well as setting their preferences.

This thread is so eye opening. If the relatively educated readers of DCUM don't understand basic nutrition, what chance does the average person have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

LOL Please explain the health benefits of pretzels.

Pretzels have a lower calorie and fat content than Doritos. They have a lower fat, calorie, and sugar count than cookies. I'm not the PP, but I think pretzels were suggested as better than Doritos or potato chips for a snack. Certainly we all know they aren't as nutritious as say kale, but there's a place for carbs in a healthy diet.

Fat isn't unhealthy and most the fat in Doritos isn't even saturated. Doritos are probably healthier for a lot of kids depending on the rest of their diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it ironic that a teacher is complaining about what food parents send to school. I have the same complaint about the school and teachers. At least if parents do it, it’s their kid, so their choice. But teachers and schools handing out junk that is bad for kids, plus putting them on screens on day just seems like an alternate universe- but that is reality

Schools DEFINITELY shouldn't be able to hand out the garbage people are saying is distributed on this thread. Giving out food as incentives is absolutely insane.