Parents - your kids are bringing garbage snacks to school

[Anonymous]

^ I'm not the most involved parent AT SCHOOL. I volunteer elsewhere for the most part. The first way I wrote it was horrible haha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Because a food your child doesn't consume or only has a little of has no health value at all, even if it is "healthier" than an alternative they will finish.

Chocolate milk and white milk have the same amount of calories, fat, vitamin D that a kid needs. But if I give my kid white milk, she might skip it altogether or just have a sip or two and decide she's done. So she misses out on most of the nutrients. If I give her chocolate milk, she will almost always drink the entire thing. Thus the chocolate milk is actually healthier, because it results in my kid getting all the underlying ingredients, than the option with no added sugar, which might be preferable in a vacuum but in reality will simply get thrown away.

No they don’t.
Chocolate milk contains high fructose corn syrup as second ingredient. It has 140 calories and 18g sugar for a carton. White milk has 110 calories, 12 g sugar, no added sugar or corn syrup. That’s a significant sugar difference and totally unnecessary to be giving out at school. If your kid won’t drink milk without high fructose sugar loaded into it- they must not be hungry. Why are we giving junk as an alternative to actually nutritious food?

Yes, they do. You are over focused on added sugars and are simply wrong on caloric intake.

An 8oz serving of both regular milk and chocolate milk contain the following: 8g protein, 2.5-5g fat (depends on whether whole or skim), and 25% DRV of calcium. Those are the primary reasons milk is recommended for children, those are the core nutritional components of milk, and they are identical in white milk and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has more calories because of the added sugars. That could be a negative thing for a child trying to lose weight or curb excess sugar (or a woman in her 40s trying to do the same, which I suspect describes many of the posters on this thread). For a child who is underweight or has other high caloric needs (for instance due to athletic activity or being in the midst of a growth spurt), the added calories are either neutral or even beneficial. The added sugar is a downside, but for a child who needs the underlying nutrition and may be reluctant to consume as much white milk as chocolate milk, it's a compromise worth making.

Your belief that a child will only decline to finish their milk because they have already met their nutritional needs for the day is simply incorrect for some kids. My kid regularly declines to finish her milk and then announces she is hungry immediately afterwards.

Are you seriously advocating for giving kids extra sugars and high fructose corn syrup? Zero kids need this.

But they need protein, fat, and calcium. Do you not think kids need protein, fat, and calcium? What do you think is worse:

(1) a child who runs gets insufficient protein, fat, and calcium but never consumes extra sugar or high fructose corn syrup; OR

(2) a child who gets the recommended daily values of protein, fat, and calcium but also consumes some extra sugar and high fructose corn syrup in the process.

When you respond, please describe the health impacts of each option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Because a food your child doesn't consume or only has a little of has no health value at all, even if it is "healthier" than an alternative they will finish.

Chocolate milk and white milk have the same amount of calories, fat, vitamin D that a kid needs. But if I give my kid white milk, she might skip it altogether or just have a sip or two and decide she's done. So she misses out on most of the nutrients. If I give her chocolate milk, she will almost always drink the entire thing. Thus the chocolate milk is actually healthier, because it results in my kid getting all the underlying ingredients, than the option with no added sugar, which might be preferable in a vacuum but in reality will simply get thrown away.

No they don’t.
Chocolate milk contains high fructose corn syrup as second ingredient. It has 140 calories and 18g sugar for a carton. White milk has 110 calories, 12 g sugar, no added sugar or corn syrup. That’s a significant sugar difference and totally unnecessary to be giving out at school. If your kid won’t drink milk without high fructose sugar loaded into it- they must not be hungry. Why are we giving junk as an alternative to actually nutritious food?

Yes, they do. You are over focused on added sugars and are simply wrong on caloric intake.

An 8oz serving of both regular milk and chocolate milk contain the following: 8g protein, 2.5-5g fat (depends on whether whole or skim), and 25% DRV of calcium. Those are the primary reasons milk is recommended for children, those are the core nutritional components of milk, and they are identical in white milk and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has more calories because of the added sugars. That could be a negative thing for a child trying to lose weight or curb excess sugar (or a woman in her 40s trying to do the same, which I suspect describes many of the posters on this thread). For a child who is underweight or has other high caloric needs (for instance due to athletic activity or being in the midst of a growth spurt), the added calories are either neutral or even beneficial. The added sugar is a downside, but for a child who needs the underlying nutrition and may be reluctant to consume as much white milk as chocolate milk, it's a compromise worth making.

Your belief that a child will only decline to finish their milk because they have already met their nutritional needs for the day is simply incorrect for some kids. My kid regularly declines to finish her milk and then announces she is hungry immediately afterwards.

Are you seriously advocating for giving kids extra sugars and high fructose corn syrup? Zero kids need this.

But they need protein, fat, and calcium. Do you not think kids need protein, fat, and calcium? What do you think is worse:

(1) a child who runs gets insufficient protein, fat, and calcium but never consumes extra sugar or high fructose corn syrup; OR

(2) a child who gets the recommended daily values of protein, fat, and calcium but also consumes some extra sugar and high fructose corn syrup in the process.

When you respond, please describe the health impacts of each option.

They can all drink plain milk. If they don’t want it, oh well. School should not be handing out extra sugar, period.

[Anonymous]

As a teacher I would never waste personal funds on junk food. I get cranky if I have to buy additional expo markers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 didn't say it was "ok for me to do it too." I said I'm not super strict and I'm still horrified by school breakfast as often as not. I just think teachers should maybe calm down with the parent-blaming when foods just as bad are literally being served in their classrooms as actual meals.

Teachers have no say over the food served at school, and thankfully at my school food is not served in the classroom. We have very few low income too. But we do have lots of overweight kids (it really picks up by third grad which is my grade) and tons of processed food. I was under the impression that kids were packing the junk and parents were just not paying attention. Imagine my shock that parents think the cookies and chips are just fine and not hurting anyone. This thread has been so enlightening!

Maybe not you- but at my children’s schools, the teachers are passing out lots of junk as rewards and incentives all the time. This is entirely separate and in addition to the garbage breakfast and lunch thrown at them

This time of year in particular. My kid comes home with a bag of Doritos or some kind of candy probably 2-3 days a week. We are somewhat fortunate at the moment because she currently has braces and that is making it easier to have a total ban on chips and any hard or gummy candy (we let her have chocolate candy if it's given to her, whatever).

My spouse and I sometimes joke that they should just reach to to Doritos and ask for a formal sponsorship for the school. If the kids are going to be eating Doritos at school as often as they are, surely they can get a brand new playground or sports field in the deal. "Dorito Field at XYZ Elementary". Then at least they could play soccer on a state of the art field before refueling with Doritos and ring pops.

By middle school, you'll miss the dorito days.
Blue Takis middle school could have Red Takis MS as rivals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher I would never waste personal funds on junk food. I get cranky if I have to buy additional expo markers.

Well somehow my kid gets junk food snacks every day of testing. Someone at the school is buying them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher I would never waste personal funds on junk food. I get cranky if I have to buy additional expo markers.

Well somehow my kid gets junk food snacks every day of testing. Someone at the school is buying them.

It’s probably the PTO. Not kidding. All the moms who think it’s NBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Because a food your child doesn't consume or only has a little of has no health value at all, even if it is "healthier" than an alternative they will finish.

Chocolate milk and white milk have the same amount of calories, fat, vitamin D that a kid needs. But if I give my kid white milk, she might skip it altogether or just have a sip or two and decide she's done. So she misses out on most of the nutrients. If I give her chocolate milk, she will almost always drink the entire thing. Thus the chocolate milk is actually healthier, because it results in my kid getting all the underlying ingredients, than the option with no added sugar, which might be preferable in a vacuum but in reality will simply get thrown away.

No they don’t.
Chocolate milk contains high fructose corn syrup as second ingredient. It has 140 calories and 18g sugar for a carton. White milk has 110 calories, 12 g sugar, no added sugar or corn syrup. That’s a significant sugar difference and totally unnecessary to be giving out at school. If your kid won’t drink milk without high fructose sugar loaded into it- they must not be hungry. Why are we giving junk as an alternative to actually nutritious food?

Yes, they do. You are over focused on added sugars and are simply wrong on caloric intake.

An 8oz serving of both regular milk and chocolate milk contain the following: 8g protein, 2.5-5g fat (depends on whether whole or skim), and 25% DRV of calcium. Those are the primary reasons milk is recommended for children, those are the core nutritional components of milk, and they are identical in white milk and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has more calories because of the added sugars. That could be a negative thing for a child trying to lose weight or curb excess sugar (or a woman in her 40s trying to do the same, which I suspect describes many of the posters on this thread). For a child who is underweight or has other high caloric needs (for instance due to athletic activity or being in the midst of a growth spurt), the added calories are either neutral or even beneficial. The added sugar is a downside, but for a child who needs the underlying nutrition and may be reluctant to consume as much white milk as chocolate milk, it's a compromise worth making.

Your belief that a child will only decline to finish their milk because they have already met their nutritional needs for the day is simply incorrect for some kids. My kid regularly declines to finish her milk and then announces she is hungry immediately afterwards.

Are you seriously advocating for giving kids extra sugars and high fructose corn syrup? Zero kids need this.

But they need protein, fat, and calcium. Do you not think kids need protein, fat, and calcium? What do you think is worse:

(1) a child who runs gets insufficient protein, fat, and calcium but never consumes extra sugar or high fructose corn syrup; OR

(2) a child who gets the recommended daily values of protein, fat, and calcium but also consumes some extra sugar and high fructose corn syrup in the process.

When you respond, please describe the health impacts of each option.

They can all drink plain milk. If they don’t want it, oh well. School should not be handing out extra sugar, period.

DP. My solution to this problem is telling my kid they can have chocolate milk with lunch on Friday if they drink their plain milk M-Th. Since they get a second cup of plain milk at dinner every night and they drink it without complaint, I choose to believe they also finish their plain milk with lunch 4 days a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Because a food your child doesn't consume or only has a little of has no health value at all, even if it is "healthier" than an alternative they will finish.

Chocolate milk and white milk have the same amount of calories, fat, vitamin D that a kid needs. But if I give my kid white milk, she might skip it altogether or just have a sip or two and decide she's done. So she misses out on most of the nutrients. If I give her chocolate milk, she will almost always drink the entire thing. Thus the chocolate milk is actually healthier, because it results in my kid getting all the underlying ingredients, than the option with no added sugar, which might be preferable in a vacuum but in reality will simply get thrown away.

No they don’t.
Chocolate milk contains high fructose corn syrup as second ingredient. It has 140 calories and 18g sugar for a carton. White milk has 110 calories, 12 g sugar, no added sugar or corn syrup. That’s a significant sugar difference and totally unnecessary to be giving out at school. If your kid won’t drink milk without high fructose sugar loaded into it- they must not be hungry. Why are we giving junk as an alternative to actually nutritious food?

Yes, they do. You are over focused on added sugars and are simply wrong on caloric intake.

An 8oz serving of both regular milk and chocolate milk contain the following: 8g protein, 2.5-5g fat (depends on whether whole or skim), and 25% DRV of calcium. Those are the primary reasons milk is recommended for children, those are the core nutritional components of milk, and they are identical in white milk and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has more calories because of the added sugars. That could be a negative thing for a child trying to lose weight or curb excess sugar (or a woman in her 40s trying to do the same, which I suspect describes many of the posters on this thread). For a child who is underweight or has other high caloric needs (for instance due to athletic activity or being in the midst of a growth spurt), the added calories are either neutral or even beneficial. The added sugar is a downside, but for a child who needs the underlying nutrition and may be reluctant to consume as much white milk as chocolate milk, it's a compromise worth making.

Your belief that a child will only decline to finish their milk because they have already met their nutritional needs for the day is simply incorrect for some kids. My kid regularly declines to finish her milk and then announces she is hungry immediately afterwards.

Are you seriously advocating for giving kids extra sugars and high fructose corn syrup? Zero kids need this.

But they need protein, fat, and calcium. Do you not think kids need protein, fat, and calcium? What do you think is worse:

(1) a child who runs gets insufficient protein, fat, and calcium but never consumes extra sugar or high fructose corn syrup; OR

(2) a child who gets the recommended daily values of protein, fat, and calcium but also consumes some extra sugar and high fructose corn syrup in the process.

When you respond, please describe the health impacts of each option.

They can all drink plain milk. If they don’t want it, oh well. School should not be handing out extra sugar, period.

DP. My solution to this problem is telling my kid they can have chocolate milk with lunch on Friday if they drink their plain milk M-Th. Since they get a second cup of plain milk at dinner every night and they drink it without complaint, I choose to believe they also finish their plain milk with lunch 4 days a week.

It’s shocking the low expectations some of these kids are given. Like the parents think they will starve if their food demands are not met by parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Because a food your child doesn't consume or only has a little of has no health value at all, even if it is "healthier" than an alternative they will finish.

Chocolate milk and white milk have the same amount of calories, fat, vitamin D that a kid needs. But if I give my kid white milk, she might skip it altogether or just have a sip or two and decide she's done. So she misses out on most of the nutrients. If I give her chocolate milk, she will almost always drink the entire thing. Thus the chocolate milk is actually healthier, because it results in my kid getting all the underlying ingredients, than the option with no added sugar, which might be preferable in a vacuum but in reality will simply get thrown away.

No they don’t.
Chocolate milk contains high fructose corn syrup as second ingredient. It has 140 calories and 18g sugar for a carton. White milk has 110 calories, 12 g sugar, no added sugar or corn syrup. That’s a significant sugar difference and totally unnecessary to be giving out at school. If your kid won’t drink milk without high fructose sugar loaded into it- they must not be hungry. Why are we giving junk as an alternative to actually nutritious food?

Yes, they do. You are over focused on added sugars and are simply wrong on caloric intake.

An 8oz serving of both regular milk and chocolate milk contain the following: 8g protein, 2.5-5g fat (depends on whether whole or skim), and 25% DRV of calcium. Those are the primary reasons milk is recommended for children, those are the core nutritional components of milk, and they are identical in white milk and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has more calories because of the added sugars. That could be a negative thing for a child trying to lose weight or curb excess sugar (or a woman in her 40s trying to do the same, which I suspect describes many of the posters on this thread). For a child who is underweight or has other high caloric needs (for instance due to athletic activity or being in the midst of a growth spurt), the added calories are either neutral or even beneficial. The added sugar is a downside, but for a child who needs the underlying nutrition and may be reluctant to consume as much white milk as chocolate milk, it's a compromise worth making.

Your belief that a child will only decline to finish their milk because they have already met their nutritional needs for the day is simply incorrect for some kids. My kid regularly declines to finish her milk and then announces she is hungry immediately afterwards.

Are you seriously advocating for giving kids extra sugars and high fructose corn syrup? Zero kids need this.

But they need protein, fat, and calcium. Do you not think kids need protein, fat, and calcium? What do you think is worse:

(1) a child who runs gets insufficient protein, fat, and calcium but never consumes extra sugar or high fructose corn syrup; OR

(2) a child who gets the recommended daily values of protein, fat, and calcium but also consumes some extra sugar and high fructose corn syrup in the process.

When you respond, please describe the health impacts of each option.

They can all drink plain milk. If they don’t want it, oh well. School should not be handing out extra sugar, period.

DP. My solution to this problem is telling my kid they can have chocolate milk with lunch on Friday if they drink their plain milk M-Th. Since they get a second cup of plain milk at dinner every night and they drink it without complaint, I choose to believe they also finish their plain milk with lunch 4 days a week.

It’s shocking the low expectations some of these kids are given. Like the parents think they will starve if their food demands are not met by parents.

There are kids who will, like kids with ARFID. The kids on ADHD medication also may not be eating enough. The meds can suppress appetite and cause growth issues if a parent isn't careful about calories and intake.

Clearly, this is not most kids, though...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Because a food your child doesn't consume or only has a little of has no health value at all, even if it is "healthier" than an alternative they will finish.

Chocolate milk and white milk have the same amount of calories, fat, vitamin D that a kid needs. But if I give my kid white milk, she might skip it altogether or just have a sip or two and decide she's done. So she misses out on most of the nutrients. If I give her chocolate milk, she will almost always drink the entire thing. Thus the chocolate milk is actually healthier, because it results in my kid getting all the underlying ingredients, than the option with no added sugar, which might be preferable in a vacuum but in reality will simply get thrown away.

No they don’t.
Chocolate milk contains high fructose corn syrup as second ingredient. It has 140 calories and 18g sugar for a carton. White milk has 110 calories, 12 g sugar, no added sugar or corn syrup. That’s a significant sugar difference and totally unnecessary to be giving out at school. If your kid won’t drink milk without high fructose sugar loaded into it- they must not be hungry. Why are we giving junk as an alternative to actually nutritious food?

Yes, they do. You are over focused on added sugars and are simply wrong on caloric intake.

An 8oz serving of both regular milk and chocolate milk contain the following: 8g protein, 2.5-5g fat (depends on whether whole or skim), and 25% DRV of calcium. Those are the primary reasons milk is recommended for children, those are the core nutritional components of milk, and they are identical in white milk and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has more calories because of the added sugars. That could be a negative thing for a child trying to lose weight or curb excess sugar (or a woman in her 40s trying to do the same, which I suspect describes many of the posters on this thread). For a child who is underweight or has other high caloric needs (for instance due to athletic activity or being in the midst of a growth spurt), the added calories are either neutral or even beneficial. The added sugar is a downside, but for a child who needs the underlying nutrition and may be reluctant to consume as much white milk as chocolate milk, it's a compromise worth making.

Your belief that a child will only decline to finish their milk because they have already met their nutritional needs for the day is simply incorrect for some kids. My kid regularly declines to finish her milk and then announces she is hungry immediately afterwards.

Are you seriously advocating for giving kids extra sugars and high fructose corn syrup? Zero kids need this.

But they need protein, fat, and calcium. Do you not think kids need protein, fat, and calcium? What do you think is worse:

(1) a child who runs gets insufficient protein, fat, and calcium but never consumes extra sugar or high fructose corn syrup; OR

(2) a child who gets the recommended daily values of protein, fat, and calcium but also consumes some extra sugar and high fructose corn syrup in the process.

When you respond, please describe the health impacts of each option.

They can all drink plain milk. If they don’t want it, oh well. School should not be handing out extra sugar, period.

DP. My solution to this problem is telling my kid they can have chocolate milk with lunch on Friday if they drink their plain milk M-Th. Since they get a second cup of plain milk at dinner every night and they drink it without complaint, I choose to believe they also finish their plain milk with lunch 4 days a week.

It’s shocking the low expectations some of these kids are given. Like the parents think they will starve if their food demands are not met by parents.

There are kids who will, like kids with ARFID. The kids on ADHD medication also may not be eating enough. The meds can suppress appetite and cause growth issues if a parent isn't careful about calories and intake.

Clearly, this is not most kids, though...

We aren’t talking about those kids.

[Anonymous]

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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?

Because a food your child doesn't consume or only has a little of has no health value at all, even if it is "healthier" than an alternative they will finish.

Chocolate milk and white milk have the same amount of calories, fat, vitamin D that a kid needs. But if I give my kid white milk, she might skip it altogether or just have a sip or two and decide she's done. So she misses out on most of the nutrients. If I give her chocolate milk, she will almost always drink the entire thing. Thus the chocolate milk is actually healthier, because it results in my kid getting all the underlying ingredients, than the option with no added sugar, which might be preferable in a vacuum but in reality will simply get thrown away.

No they don’t.
Chocolate milk contains high fructose corn syrup as second ingredient. It has 140 calories and 18g sugar for a carton. White milk has 110 calories, 12 g sugar, no added sugar or corn syrup. That’s a significant sugar difference and totally unnecessary to be giving out at school. If your kid won’t drink milk without high fructose sugar loaded into it- they must not be hungry. Why are we giving junk as an alternative to actually nutritious food?

Yes, they do. You are over focused on added sugars and are simply wrong on caloric intake.

An 8oz serving of both regular milk and chocolate milk contain the following: 8g protein, 2.5-5g fat (depends on whether whole or skim), and 25% DRV of calcium. Those are the primary reasons milk is recommended for children, those are the core nutritional components of milk, and they are identical in white milk and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has more calories because of the added sugars. That could be a negative thing for a child trying to lose weight or curb excess sugar (or a woman in her 40s trying to do the same, which I suspect describes many of the posters on this thread). For a child who is underweight or has other high caloric needs (for instance due to athletic activity or being in the midst of a growth spurt), the added calories are either neutral or even beneficial. The added sugar is a downside, but for a child who needs the underlying nutrition and may be reluctant to consume as much white milk as chocolate milk, it's a compromise worth making.

Your belief that a child will only decline to finish their milk because they have already met their nutritional needs for the day is simply incorrect for some kids. My kid regularly declines to finish her milk and then announces she is hungry immediately afterwards.

Are you seriously advocating for giving kids extra sugars and high fructose corn syrup? Zero kids need this.

But they need protein, fat, and calcium. Do you not think kids need protein, fat, and calcium? What do you think is worse:

(1) a child who runs gets insufficient protein, fat, and calcium but never consumes extra sugar or high fructose corn syrup; OR

(2) a child who gets the recommended daily values of protein, fat, and calcium but also consumes some extra sugar and high fructose corn syrup in the process.

When you respond, please describe the health impacts of each option.

They can all drink plain milk. If they don’t want it, oh well. School should not be handing out extra sugar, period.

DP. My solution to this problem is telling my kid they can have chocolate milk with lunch on Friday if they drink their plain milk M-Th. Since they get a second cup of plain milk at dinner every night and they drink it without complaint, I choose to believe they also finish their plain milk with lunch 4 days a week.

It’s shocking the low expectations some of these kids are given. Like the parents think they will starve if their food demands are not met by parents.

There are kids who will, like kids with ARFID. The kids on ADHD medication also may not be eating enough. The meds can suppress appetite and cause growth issues if a parent isn't careful about calories and intake.

Clearly, this is not most kids, though...

We aren’t talking about those kids.

I think sometimes parents of kids with actual issues are responding to these threads.

Chocolate milk mom is not one of these, but the poster who said they'd rather have their kid get more calories from mini-muffins than an applesauce pouch—they may be.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am with you on your concerns.

Many busy parents just don't have time for much else do not think much of it.

Interesting, I grew up in a time where we did not have snacks in school past kindergarten. And the school provided both hot lunch and hot breakfast, that was made in the cafeteria. Between the lunch and breakfast, kids were full enough to not need a snacks.

-I also think the school lunch that is provided in FCPS is terrible. Everything is in packages and there is a lot of heat and serve foods. They had a salad bar, but took it away citing sanitation issues.

-It would be amazing if the school lunches were better than what is offered and snacks in the classrooms were reduced. Also, the staff incentives children quite often with -packaged snacks and candy.

[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.

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....

The point, dummy, was that chocolate milk isn’t inherently unhealthy.

And I actually think growing, active kids DO have nutritional needs more in line with serious athletes than with their middle-aged, ano/orthorexic mommies.

[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.

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

The point, dummy, was that chocolate milk isn’t inherently unhealthy.

And I actually think growing, active kids DO have nutritional needs more in line with serious athletes than with their middle-aged, ano/orthorexic mommies.

The fact that you think parents who choose regular rather than chocolate milk is a sign of an eating disorder makes you the dummy.