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I think people should start using English properly.

That is, 'banning' means telling other people to stop doing something. So 'banning chocolate milk' would involve government actually going around and telling private companies they were no longer allowed to sell chocolate milk to private consumers. In this case the government isn't banning anything, it's just looking at no longer providing chocolate milk in its schools. Which is nowhere near as exciting, but the truth rarely is.

biccat wrote:Meh, Fox is a much more trustworthy source than ABC.

That statement is, of course, absurd.

Anyway, isn't this the type of nanny-state protectionism that lots of people are in favor of? If the government doesn't take care of the kids, who will?

Umm, it's the government taking care of kids in government run schools. Oh no!

ShumaGorath wrote:
It's a bandaid on a gunshot wound. Most school lunch programs are atrociously unhealthy and the derth of available privatized foods through vending machines makes such a move utterly ineffectual.

Gotta say I think you just nailed it Shuma, I remember watching a documentary on an obese american schoolkid, the school she attended offered a breakfast menu that included pizzas and cheesecake. If this is typical of American school catering then you can ban whatever milk with whatever flavour you like from schools, the kids are still gonna be fat because they are shovelling cake and pizza into thier face-holes at 9am or whatever time school starts.

And that's not to say Americans are the only ones to blame, I remember my school dinners here in the land of daffodils and nervous sheep, Healthiest (edible) thing on our menu was pasta, and even that seemed to be swimming in grease. Heck we had fruit available, but it was always of a pretty rubbish quality (you know, the bananas are more or less completely brown and the apples have those wierd bruises all over them). Most of the stuff they served had that high a grease content it would turn the plates it was on transparent!

But I suppose also the culture is to blame, I mean we had a vending machine that sold chocolate bars etc, but the only thing that never sold out was the healthy options like tracker bars and nutri-grain.

LordofHats wrote:I was thinking less that the schools should have healthy food, and more that they actually don't have healthy food. I'm almost certain all my school lunches were made of card board and some kind of mystery powder.

And surplus government cheese. Kids are getting fat because their asses sit in front of video games all day. They don't actually do anything.

Im most curious to what they are replacing choco milk with

LunaHound wrote:Im most curious to what they are replacing choco milk with

Margaritas.

yes banning chocolate milk truly is the cure to obesity, if only we knew this sooner we could of stopped it, at least now no person will ever be obese again, you can eat those greasy burgers and those buckets of KFC, feel free to add extra bacon to your bacon, egg, sausage and ketchup sandwich, because now chcolate milk is being banned.

hell in south america dads already murder there trailer daughters for drinking chocolate milk......or am I thinking of something else

Even if chocolate is fattening , it might be the only little what nutrient they are taking daily ... while god knows what worse drinks they have at home....

MILK , DOES THE BODY GOOD!

I work at a High School and the quality of the food has dropped dramatically. The food could be healthier but I do not think it is the main problem. Perhaps this is the only thing the state has control of, so they are making a point to make a difference.

The problem though isn't school food. It is all that crap they eat after school and the lack of doing anything other than playing video games and chatting on Facebook. I can't remember the last time I saw a kid riding a bike, climbing a tree, or running around with a plastic toy gun make pew pew noises at a friend.

I gained all my weight once I stopped exercising and getting out of the house to do things. Sitting behind a desk or working with students on a smartboard is no replacement for working in Produce or lifting weights like I used too.

I agree with what a few posters before have already said; the food isn't the problem. It's lack of excercise. At our school, rather than doing the mile run, our students have an option of a mile walk, because many students aren't phsyically capable of running a mile. It would be comical if it wasn't so sad. Look at them after walking the mile and you'd think they just went for 10 mile sprint through a mine-littered warzone.


And then of course they go home and plug into their xboxes for the rest of the day.

Oh, the food is the problem.

Or more appropriately, the portions of the food are.

Compare American portions to European portions or Japanese portions.

Melissia wrote:Oh, the food is the problem.

Or more appropriately, the portions of the food are.

Compare American portions to European portions or Japanese portions.

Ehh, I'd have to disagree. As long as you excercise enough to compensate for how much you eat, portion size doesn't matter as much. If all you do is sit on the couch playing xbox, eating 7000 calories a day is probably not a great idea. However, if you run an ultra every weekend, then you can probably afford to eat much more than xbox boy.

I mean, there's also food quality to take into account. Johnny and Bobby can both bike 30 miles a day, but if Johnny eats nothing but big macs and fried chicken, and Bobby eats nothing but raw foods and whole grains, Bobby will most likely be more healthy.

But as long as your excercise level lines up with your calorie intake, then portion size generally doesn't matter too much.

I agree. Back in my days of weightlifting I had to eat a lot more calories than normal, just to maintain the mass. Heck the strongest guy in the world, eats a few large pizzas and some hardees thickburgers everyday.

The chocolate milk situation isn't nearly as bad as this one.

Refusing to allow kids to bring their lunches? A little absurd imo.

biccat wrote:The chocolate milk situation isn't nearly as bad as this one.

Refusing to allow kids to bring their lunches? A little absurd imo.

Is is absurd, but I bet the reason for it is to stop food from being brought in that is inappropriate. They should be able to pack their lunch, but a constantly updated list of prohibited foods should be made. It would be a lot of work though.

I see kids everyday bringing in large pizzas, fast food, etc. If you are banning stuff like Pepsi, then a student packing their lunch would cause problems, if they included it as part of their meal.


I liked the third comment regarding the banning of packed lunches though:

I recommend a student bring a healthy lunch which meets their individual needs packed by their parent. If a school official demands they relinquish possession of the food, the student should state, "This is my property. It is my food. I am hungry. I have no money to buy the lunch product you are selling. I do not give you permission to take my lunch and steal food from a hungry child. I will call the police if this theft occurs. I will prosecute to the furthest extent of the law." When/if the school official physically removes these nutrients (as provided by the parents) from the possession of this child, the authorities should be called and a police report detailing the stolen property should be immediately filed. It may not be a bad idea for the child to physically defend themselves and their property during the robbery, so assault and battery charges can be filed as well. We'll see how committed the principal is to her philosophy of violating civil liberties, mandating individual food choices without personal dietary assessments, and forcing citizens attending tax payer funded schools to buy products from this government entity or their surrogate chosen vendor. School principals do not have the legal authority to determine that children must starve or eat what the government dictates. That would be the most ridiculous message ever taught in American public schools.

Excellent. More for me!!!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Lord Scythican wrote:

biccat wrote:The chocolate milk situation isn't nearly as bad as this one.

Refusing to allow kids to bring their lunches? A little absurd imo.

Is is absurd, but I bet the reason for it is to stop food from being brought in that is inappropriate. They should be able to pack their lunch, but a constantly updated list of prohibited foods should be made. It would be a lot of work though.

Who the feth put them in charge? Its their parents making the lunches. They have ultimate authority, not some nattering nabob with an undergrad in Education sucking off the government dole because they can't get a real job.

This is why so many public schools suck. Instead of spending that money on qualified teachers, they spend it on support losers who are a waste of skin. Death to the Bureacracy! Vive le Operations!

KingCracker wrote:I brown bagged it from then on

Is it wrong that I can picture a young, bearded you sitting in the canteen getting hammered from the booze hidden in your brown paper bag?

And I would imagine some kind of healthy eating laws would be appropriate in regards to school dinners.

What the hell is a sloppy joe...

SilverMK2 wrote:

KingCracker wrote:I brown bagged it from then on

Is it wrong that I can picture a young, bearded you sitting in the canteen getting hammered from the booze hidden in your brown bag?

Wait, you say it like its a bad thing.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Soladrin wrote:What the hell is a sloppy joe...

Its the crappier, Loser version of a barbeque sandwich. Basically ground mystery meat with some sort of tomato based sauce. It can be decent when its beef or pork and not school lunch mystery meat (now with more cat!).

Soladrin wrote:What the hell is a sloppy joe...

It's ground beef in sauce served on a hamburger bun. Damn good, but damn unhealthy.

On a side note, god am I glad I went to a private school. Sometimes I swear our $30k a year tuition was worth it just for the food, mind you the students STILL complained, but our complaint were more along the lines that our roast beef was served too dry, and that the chefs couldn't make a proper cordon bleu to save their life. Holy were we spoiled.....

And as an American studying in the UK, I can vouch for smaller portions. I definitely feel like I'm eating smaller meals here, and I kinda like it. Makes it easier to keep an eye on my weight.

As for the banning of chocolate milk, just one more example of how our government usually acts, unfortunately doing things that sound good to the public ear instead of doing things that don't sound as catchy but do more work is a side product of democracy. Politicians want to get reelected, and they'll do things that get them cheers from their constituents instead of things that might actually solve the problems.

rubiksnoob wrote:

Melissia wrote:Oh, the food is the problem.

Or more appropriately, the portions of the food are.

Compare American portions to European portions or Japanese portions.

Ehh, I'd have to disagree. As long as you excercise enough to compensate for how much you eat, portion size doesn't matter as much. If all you do is sit on the couch playing xbox, eating 7000 calories a day is probably not a great idea. However, if you run an ultra every weekend, then you can probably afford to eat much more than xbox boy.

I mean, there's also food quality to take into account. Johnny and Bobby can both bike 30 miles a day, but if Johnny eats nothing but big macs and fried chicken, and Bobby eats nothing but raw foods and whole grains, Bobby will most likely be more healthy.

But as long as your excercise level lines up with your calorie intake, then portion size generally doesn't matter too much.

This is all true, but eating habits, like all habits, take work to change. People who are on a routine of heavy exercise, with accompanying high caloric intake, who then scale back the exercise (whether due to injury or other lifestyle change) have to be especially careful and work hard to cut down on the calories too, or all of a sudden all those calories start adding weight, since they're no longer being burned at such a rate.

Of course however much you want to eat is cool. You're just going to be healthier if you're smart about it, eat good foods, and exercise to match.

It's probably (overall) healthiest to maintain a relatively low level of caloric intake, as well as moderate exercise. IIRC low calorie lifestyles also put less stress on the body and contribute to greater longevity, too, no? If we're instilling good habits in kids while they're young and ignorant, moderate exercise and moderate food intake are probably the best ones. Highly athletic kids should get extra nutritional ed/training so they can modify appropriately when they eventually stop exercising so much.

Whenever I visit Europe I take note of the smaller portion sizes, and remind myself that I'm not getting ripped off; it's healthier this way.

LOL.... Check your local School Lunch Program. French Fries are not being "banned" because they are cheap and "Count as a vegetable".

When my son was in 2nd grade he could not eat anything deemed “unhealthy”. My son is a very active kid so throwing a bag of Doritos into his lunch once in awhile was no big deal, but he was told he could not eat them and would get detention if he brought them again. Then to add insult to injury, if a child received an award for anything the prize would be that the principle of the school would take them out to lunch… to Burger King! WTF?! Oh and as for their concern with our kids health, at recess and lunch, the kids are NOT allowed to run on the playground because someone might fall and get hurt.

Perhaps just cut the lunch program from American school's all together? Let the parents pack their kids lunches. Thats what we do here in Canada, elementary school's don't have cafeteria's, we would just set up tables in the gym, and eat whatever our parents packed for us. And that seems to be working, yes many Canadians are overweight, as Canadian and American culture(and eating habits) are very similer, yet the obesity rate here is still lower.

Also as a side note, are the school lunches provided by the school? Or do the kids have to pay for them?

This is the day's menu for the staff canteen in the office where I work.

Thursday 14th April

Soups of the Day
Prawn & Noodle Miso
or
Sweetcorn Chowder (v)
Soup only £0.95
Soup with Homemade Bread & Butter £1.35

Main Courses
Jamaican Goat Curry
with Rice & Peas (contains Bone)
£3.70

Leek & Cheddar Pithivier
with French Beans & Balsamic Roasted New Potatoes
£3.25

Potted Crab & Shrimp
with Pickled Cucumber Salad & Brown Bread
£3.70


Jacket Potatoes
Baked Beans
Cheddar Cheese
Tuna Mayo
Coleslaw
Two Fillings £2.20
Extra Filling £0.50


Salad Bar
Chicken Pakora
£2.80

Potato & Roast Pepper Fritatta
£2.50

Salmon Caesar
Roasted Cauliflower, Fennel Seeds,
Baby Spinach & Yoghurt Dressing (v)
Stir-Fried Greens, Chili & Soya Sauce (v)
Leaf Salad, Tomato & Cucumber (v)


Sandwiches of the Day
Chicken, Bacon, Tomato & Mustard mayo
Ciabatta, Baguette & Sliced Bread
£2.30 / £2.10

Roast Beef, Watercress & Horseradish
Ciabatta, Baguette & Sliced Bread
£2.30 / £2.10

Crab, Chili, Lime Crème Fraiche
Ciabatta, Baguette & Sliced Bread
£2.30 / £2.10

Home Cooked Ham, Dill Pickle & Cheddar
Ciabatta, Baguette & Sliced Bread
£2.30 / £2.10

Mozzarella, Roast Pepper Pesto & Rocket (n)
Ciabatta, Baguette & Sliced Bread
£2.30 / £2.10

Pastry Dave’s Emporium
Maple & Pecan Swirl (n)
£1.30

Millionaire Shortbread
£1.20

Chocolate & Beetroot Muffin
£1.20

Peanut Butter Cookie
£0.90

Battenburg Cake
£0.90

Amazing the sandwiches are almost as much as a proper meal

Then sandwiches are expensive wherever you go for some reason...

Kil.... Damn... you got Chefs working the cafateria?

School lunch for local schools for today......

Chef Salad w/ Crackers
Nachos
*Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Chilled Peaches
Mexicali Corn
*Leafy Green Salad
*Fresh Oranges Smiles
*= meals that meet strict nutrient parameters for calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, fiber,
sodium, and other key nutrients.

Soladrin wrote:What the hell is a sloppy joe...

IT.IS.HEAVEN!

I miss sloppy joes. I could go for one right now with some cornchips and a Mountain Dew.

Thaanos wrote:Perhaps just cut the lunch program from American school's all together? Let the parents pack their kids lunches. Thats what we do here in Canada, elementary school's don't have cafeteria's, we would just set up tables in the gym, and eat whatever our parents packed for us. And that seems to be working, yes many Canadians are overweight, as Canadian and American culture(and eating habits) are very similer, yet the obesity rate here is still lower.

Also as a side note, are the school lunches provided by the school? Or do the kids have to pay for them?

Kids have to pay, unless their family qualifies for the "free or reduced lunch program", which is fairly self-explanatory. That was part of the initial push for school lunches over here, for lower-income kids who couldn't bring in lunches, or whose parents were too busy to make their lunches. The schools around me have an electronic system where each kid has a number (usually 4 digits) that's linked to an account parents can put money into and track.

However, most school lunches are very cheap (around $2.50 w/ milk), so it's attractive to parents.

So,after talking to my kids and looking over their school lunch menu,I've come to the conclusion that for the most part not much has changed in school lunches in the past 30+ years.
Same sort of pizza/burgers/sloppy joe/chocolate milk fair that existed when I was in grade and high school,in fact...it appeared to me that there are even more "healthy" options on the current menus than existed when I was in school.
We didn't have a salad bar (at least not until my last few years of high school),fruit and vegetables seem to be about equaly represented (then to now) and we also had access to vending machines for chips/cookies/pastries..etc.
So...once again I am forced to assume that the priblem of childhood obesity is not so much the food our kids are eating at school...as it is a problem of a more inactive (butts parked in front of video games) lifestyle.

I always laugh when those ads come on TV targeting fatsos telling them that they can lose weight by eating pizza and eating chocolate cake. I've gone from suburban nintendo champion doughboy to Iron Hippy losing over 35kg by exercise and changing what I eat and when. I still eat gak once and a while and I drink a case of beer a week. There is no quick solution. You have to commit to yourself....and pound the brews.


As for kids, I figure it's inactivity. The school lunches here are around 800Kcal a day without any kind of "junk food". They make the kids run around the track 3 times a week for 20 mins at recess time. There are roughly 1 or 2 fat kids per school, so about 1% of the school population. Kids have to walk everywhere as there is no school bus generally, unless they live on the other side of Monkey Mountain. The last time I was in Canuckistan, I vividly remember the parade of cars in front of the local schools around 3 pm, parents buying their kids Timbits and that Cappuchino whipped cream melted milkshake from Horny Tim's. So, in both cases the kids are getting about 1000Kcal, but in one case they're active.