So irritated by health nut who does PTA fundraising that is taking over food in our school

[Anonymous]

Westbrook?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look around. The kids in this area simply are not obese or even fat.

I respectfully disagree. At my kids' ES, there are definitely overweight kids. Not 50%, but far from 0. It's sad... families just allow a lot of bad food to enter their homes... and still say it's "baby fat" at age 7.

[Anonymous]

Yep, those moms succeeded in banning birthday treats and created propaganda for the room parents under the auspices of guidance for the Halloween and Valentines parties (ie: "kids love carrots and water!"). One even made the Halloween party vegan and non-sugar. I think these women have real issues. I've heard them say things to their daughters (and friends) like "a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." Unreal.

[Anonymous]

Does your data comes from this document?
http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/agenda/cm/2013/130424/20130424_HHSED1.pdf

Ever FARMs data is difficult to find, and is less accurate at the secondary level b/c the stigma kicks in.

I'm impressed you found this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but are the kids in Gaithersburg and Silver Springs all fat? Are 50% of them obese?

And you do know that those areas are not poor? They are well into middle class by anyone's standards.

Gaithersburg ES has an ever-FARMS rate of 84%. Brown Station ES, 69%. Flower Hill ES, 71%. Judith A. Resnik ES, 60%. Rosemont ES, 63%. South Lake ES, 85%. Stedwick ES, 64%. Strawberry Knoll ES, 57%. Summit Hall ES, 84%. Washington Grove ES, 76%. Whetstone ES, 67%.

(Ever-FARMS means that the student is now receiving FARMS or has received FARMS in the past.)

That's just Gaithersburg. You can look Silver Spring up yourself.

The ever-FARMS rate for MCPS as a whole is 42%. Do you think that those poor children are evenly distributed among the county schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but are the kids in Gaithersburg and Silver Springs all fat? Are 50% of them obese?

And you do know that those areas are not poor? They are well into middle class by anyone's standards.

I live in Silver Spring in a middle class+ area. Three miles down the road is an extremely poor area, lots of apartments, recent immigrant, etc. Look at the FARMS rate of some Silver Spring schools -- well over 50%.

No, 50% of kids may not be overweight but you are living in a dream world if you think there isn't poverty and food insecurity in Silver Spring and Gaithersburg.

Also, and probably more importantly, kids don't need to be overweight to benefit from fresh healthy food that teaches good eating habits for a lifetime. MoCo is very clearly giving the message that pizza, hamburgers, french fries etc. are ok for standard daily fare.

[Anonymous]

I am the Children's Program Director at a Fitness Center and have spent a lot of time working to fight Childhood Obesity, at least in my community. In my opinion (and just my opinion), the obesity epidemic has less to do with what we are eating and more to do with the sedentary lifestyle so common in this country. Kids have always eaten junk food. Not too many years ago kids ate bologna and cheese on white bread and Twinkies for lunch. Maybe even a Coke to drink. After lunch, they went outside and ran off all of those calories. We don't do that anymore. Recess is limited to less than an hour in almost all schools. PE isn't even required in many middle and high schools across the country. Kids are on the computer or in front of the television for hours a day and you don't even have to get your fat ass off the sofa to change the channel.

The same applies to adults. My grandparents ate bacon and eggs and biscuits with gravy almost every morning. Everything was fried. And they a lot of dessert. But they lived on a farm and worked hard all day. They were slim and healthy right up until they died, well into their 90s. They could eat whatever they wanted to because they were active.

I think the focus should be more on getting people active and keeping them active. Active kids do not become overweight.

This, right here is the reasonable answer. Instead of advocating to remove foods.. start advocating for more activity! Make games that involve moving part of the parties. Part of the kids' day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your data comes from this document?
http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/agenda/cm/2013/130424/20130424_HHSED1.pdf

Ever FARMs data is difficult to find, and is less accurate at the secondary level b/c the stigma kicks in.

I'm impressed you found this.

No, actually, each school's at-a-glance report reports the ever-FARMS data.

See here for Westbrook ES, for example:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02408.pdf

First page, in the box titled "Other Participation", first line. (The ever-FARMS rate for Westbrook ES is <5.0%.)

And the ever-FARMS rate for MCPS as a whole is here:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/about/statistics.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the day she is not hurting anyone - if she's got the energy for it then good. Personally, I'd rather all that crap out of schools during the day so that I can give all that crap to them at home. I'm not a health nut, but it is really necessary for kids to get candy at a halloween party THEN go trick or treating??

I agree with this. Although I too would not want to befriend her and would steer clear socially, she is not hurting anyone at all. In fact she is trying to make the school a more healthful environment. If she wants to put so much time and energy into this movement so be it. YOu can feed your kid whatever you want at home. She can have candy, pita chips, and straight old sugar water if you want her to...

[Anonymous]

There is one at our school in VA. Same deal. Her kids are so embarrassed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the day she is not hurting anyone - if she's got the energy for it then good. Personally, I'd rather all that crap out of schools during the day so that I can give all that crap to them at home. I'm not a health nut, but it is really necessary for kids to get candy at a halloween party THEN go trick or treating??

I agree with this. Although I too would not want to befriend her and would steer clear socially, she is not hurting anyone at all. In fact she is trying to make the school a more healthful environment. If she wants to put so much time and energy into this movement so be it. YOu can feed your kid whatever you want at home. She can have candy, pita chips, and straight old sugar water if you want her to...

I agree with both of the PPs.

OP, you can feed your kid whatever you want at home. This mom is trying to make things better at the school. I see nothing wrong with it.
(and, I'm not an anti-sugar nazi at all.... my kids and I eat plenty of crap)

But, why not make the schools a 'better' food environment? Just like sodas in the vending machines at school. Why is that necessary? Why was strawberry milk a necessity at the school lunches? They took it away, and the kids lived. You're welcome to give your kid all the strawberry milk you want at home, but I don't think MCPS needs to support it.

[Anonymous]

Too bad the PTA food bully doesn't take on school lunches. If they were healthier then the treats wouldn't be so bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the day she is not hurting anyone - if she's got the energy for it then good. Personally, I'd rather all that crap out of schools during the day so that I can give all that crap to them at home. I'm not a health nut, but it is really necessary for kids to get candy at a halloween party THEN go trick or treating??

I agree with this. Although I too would not want to befriend her and would steer clear socially, she is not hurting anyone at all. In fact she is trying to make the school a more healthful environment. If she wants to put so much time and energy into this movement so be it. YOu can feed your kid whatever you want at home. She can have candy, pita chips, and straight old sugar water if you want her to...

I agree with both of the PPs.

OP, you can feed your kid whatever you want at home. This mom is trying to make things better at the school. I see nothing wrong with it.
(and, I'm not an anti-sugar nazi at all.... my kids and I eat plenty of crap)

But, why not make the schools a 'better' food environment? Just like sodas in the vending machines at school. Why is that necessary? Why was strawberry milk a necessity at the school lunches? They took it away, and the kids lived. You're welcome to give your kid all the strawberry milk you want at home, but I don't think MCPS needs to support it.

This is about juice at parties, not food that MCPS serves at lunch.

[Anonymous]

Agree w/19:38. These moms with their eating disorders and their body image issues can keep sending their pre-anorexic daughters to ballet class and feeding them veggies all day long, leave my child out of it. Call us in 10 years, when these poor girls rebel! Neurotic moms make it tough for everyone!!

[Anonymous]

I wish all public schools offered organic and whole foods like lunches. Sounds terrific. In fact I would be happy to pay extra for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish all public schools offered organic and whole foods like lunches. Sounds terrific. In fact I would be happy to pay extra for that.

Me too. But this is about not letting kids have juice or anything sweet [i]at a party.[/i