The biggest problem in America today is...

[Cecilie1200]

Oh goody just waht the world needs - another health Nazi.

Actually, he's got a point.. The shit they're serving in schools now, compared to when I went is just that. Shit.

When I went, Friday's menu was whole milk, pizza (4"x4" slice), salad, some vegetable, a piece of garlic bread (maybe 2"x3"), and something like jello for dessert. That was your meal - there were no options, no substitutions, and certainly no junk food machines tucked into the corner.

Just as an example.

Now, from what I hear, you can practically get a big mac in school for lunch.

You know, as a parent, I have asked the school district about their food choices...their answer? They don't make money if they sell nutritious foods. I know the teachers at my daughter's middle school complained about the district selling Hot Cheetoes during "Nutrition Break"...they'd stuff a bag full in their mouths in 10 minutes, get that red powder all over the doorknobs and textbooks and sometimes even barf. The district said they sell it because they have to keep their food program in the black...

Then I suggest the solution to YOUR problem is to throw all the members of your school board out of office and replace them with people who don't think "making profits" is the priority in that regard. The solution is NOT to butt into how the rest of us are taking care of OUR children.

FYI, my local school district (which my own children don't actually attend, but I am still quite familiar with how it is run) employs nutritionists to make sure that school lunches are reasonably healthy and well-balanced. They're still not exactly TASTY, nothing you're going to find people clamoring for in restaurants, but they're decently edible. Many of the schools, particularly the middle and high schools, offer salad bars in addition to the regular school lunch.

It's amazing what you can bully your public officials into if enough of you bother to get involved.

 

[bodecea]

Actually, he's got a point.. The shit they're serving in schools now, compared to when I went is just that. Shit.

When I went, Friday's menu was whole milk, pizza (4"x4" slice), salad, some vegetable, a piece of garlic bread (maybe 2"x3"), and something like jello for dessert. That was your meal - there were no options, no substitutions, and certainly no junk food machines tucked into the corner.

Just as an example.

Now, from what I hear, you can practically get a big mac in school for lunch.

You know, as a parent, I have asked the school district about their food choices...their answer? They don't make money if they sell nutritious foods. I know the teachers at my daughter's middle school complained about the district selling Hot Cheetoes during "Nutrition Break"...they'd stuff a bag full in their mouths in 10 minutes, get that red powder all over the doorknobs and textbooks and sometimes even barf. The district said they sell it because they have to keep their food program in the black...

Then I suggest the solution to YOUR problem is to throw all the members of your school board out of office and replace them with people who don't think "making profits" is the priority in that regard. The solution is NOT to butt into how the rest of us are taking care of OUR children.

FYI, my local school district (which my own children don't actually attend, but I am still quite familiar with how it is run) employs nutritionists to make sure that school lunches are reasonably healthy and well-balanced. They're still not exactly TASTY, nothing you're going to find people clamoring for in restaurants, but they're decently edible. Many of the schools, particularly the middle and high schools, offer salad bars in addition to the regular school lunch.

It's amazing what you can bully your public officials into if enough of you bother to get involved.

You have to understand that over 60% of the kids in that district (and may be even higher in some of the schools) are on free or reduced lunch. They get nothing from home. I know the parents should fight for what's right but they feed them crap at home too. This is normal for them. And the kids turn out as waddlers....the parents are waddlers too.

 

[Cecilie1200]

You know, as a parent, I have asked the school district about their food choices...their answer? They don't make money if they sell nutritious foods. I know the teachers at my daughter's middle school complained about the district selling Hot Cheetoes during "Nutrition Break"...they'd stuff a bag full in their mouths in 10 minutes, get that red powder all over the doorknobs and textbooks and sometimes even barf. The district said they sell it because they have to keep their food program in the black...

Then I suggest the solution to YOUR problem is to throw all the members of your school board out of office and replace them with people who don't think "making profits" is the priority in that regard. The solution is NOT to butt into how the rest of us are taking care of OUR children.

FYI, my local school district (which my own children don't actually attend, but I am still quite familiar with how it is run) employs nutritionists to make sure that school lunches are reasonably healthy and well-balanced. They're still not exactly TASTY, nothing you're going to find people clamoring for in restaurants, but they're decently edible. Many of the schools, particularly the middle and high schools, offer salad bars in addition to the regular school lunch.

It's amazing what you can bully your public officials into if enough of you bother to get involved.

You have to understand that over 60% of the kids in that district (and may be even higher in some of the schools) are on free or reduced lunch. They get nothing from home. I know the parents should fight for what's right but they feed them crap at home too. This is normal for them. And the kids turn out as waddlers....the parents are waddlers too.

And you're thinking that all the kids in my district are rich? Hardly. Tucson Unified School District is the largest school district in the state of Arizona, encompassing most of the metropolitan Tucson area, from the ritzy foothills area where all the doctors and lawyers live, to the southwest side where all the recent Mexican immigrants live. I couldn't tell you the percentage of kids on free and reduced lunch, but I'd venture to guess it's a majority. When I worked for the school district, I encountered way too many parents who didn't care where their kids had been for the last three days, let alone what they ate. It was largely the middle class and wealthy parents who pressured the district to offer better choices.

 

[Emma]

It's a problem.

And it's not a "victimless crime."

We all end up paying the health care costs of the obese.

The obese mar the landscape with their manatee selves.

We even pay more for jet fuel because it takes so much more of the stuff to pull the fatties!

It really pisses me off, personally.

When I go to the airport and see all these people riding around on scooters BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO FAT TO WALK, I want to scream.

I think before we start talking about socialized medicine, the government ought to check into forcible slimming by the government.

I'm serious.

The "healthcare problem" in America might even disappear!

Give people a year to get down to a normal weight. Or even 10-20 pounds overweight. Hell, I'll give people 30 pounds overweight. But these people who are 50 to 100 pounds overweight need to be pulled off the streets and put into fat camps. Deny them more than a normal calorie intake. Make them pick up the litter on the highways. Then let them go. If they blimp up again, take harsher measures.

Ancient Germanics apparently really fucked hard with fat men, because they were essentially letting down the whole tribe by gobbling up food and rendering themselves incapable of fighting enemies. I kind of feel the same way. Besideswhich, it's just fucking GROSS.

Forum for Health Economics & Policy

Approximately 100 million elderly will enter Medicare over the next 25 years. We consider the potential benefits of interventions that would reduce or eliminate the most important risk factors for disease and spending. Effective control of hypertension could reduce health care spending $890 billion for these cohorts while adding 75 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Eliminating diabetes would add 90 million life-year equivalents at a cost of $2,761 per DALY. Reducing obesity back to levels seen in the 1980’s would have little effect on mortality, but yields great improvements in morbidity (especially heart disease and diabetes) with a cost savings of over $1 trillion.

They're not saying if we get rid of obesity, they're saying if we were only as fat as we were 20 years ago (and we were fat then too).

How freakin' sad is that????

 

[editec]

Fat people should be forced to smoke cigarettes for breakfast and lunch.

Don't think of tobacco as a health scourge that kills 400,000 people a year, think of it like the appetite depressent tht will save the 1.200,000 who die from overeating every year.

And on the economic front, if we got these piggies to stop eating so much, we're all enjoy a benefit as the price of twinkies responded to the sudden decrease in demand, too.

Smoke 'em if ya' got em, folks.

 

[Emma]

Fat people should be forced to smoke cigarettes for breakfast and lunch.

Don't think of tobacco as a health scourge that kills 400,000 people a year, think of it like the appetite depressent tht will save the 1.200,000 who die from overeating every year.

And on the economic front, if we got these piggies to stop eating so much, we're all enjoy a benefit as the price of twinkies responded to the sudden decrease in demand, too.

Smoke 'em if ya' got em, folks.

Never been to WVA, eh?

 

[EMGhb]

Shouldn't it be up to the parents to decide what their children eat? They're the custodians after all. Maybe parents should vote on the cafeteria selection. I don't think anyone else should have a say in the matter. If you aren't a minor, then the health content of your meals is your responsibility.

I don't want to have to pay for the food choices other people make. I sure as hell don't think you should empty your pocketbooks to pay for poor eating decisions I've made. That's my fault.

 

[MaggieMae]

I can't believe no one is reacting to the insane notion that the reason there are no laws being proposed to let the government control what parents feed their children is because of expensive lobbying on the part of McDonald's and other fast food restaurants. Yeah, that's it! It has to be sneaky, underhanded corporations with deep pockets! It can't POSSIBLY be because IT'S NONE OF YOUR FRIGGING BUSINESS HOW I RAISE MY KIDS! Did you know-it-all, do-gooding busybody libs give birth to those crumb crunchers? Because I don't recall seeing any of YOU in those delivery rooms during the eleven or so hours I spent in labor with each of them. I don't remember any of YOU at the prenatal appointments with your feet up in the stirrups. And I sure as hell don't remember any of your asses in the nursery at 2:30 am to change their dirty diapers and feed them. I am fed up to my eyeballs with you pompous Johnny-Come-Latelies waltzing in and presuming to "care" about "our" children at this late date.

I don't think this is a lib/con or a male/female politically correct/incorrect situation, so I think you need to calm down before I introduce a bill calling for the arrest of all hysterical people who to off on tangents making mountains out of molehills, causing their blood pressure to rise and have heart attacks, which add to the skyrocketing health care costs.

 

[MaggieMae]

I'll admit I'm carrying a few extra pounds - about 20 lbs overweight, give or take 2-3. It used to be more after having the kids, but I've been really watching what the kids (and by extension myself) eat and basically banning junk food in the house. To this point they've been in daycare with cheap, salty fried food every single day (or else balogna sandwiches - is that stuff really food?). They start KG tomorrow and the school lunch menu actually looks much healthier than the junk they've been having, with the daily option of a chef salad (which my kids will actually eat) instead of the regular offering. I for one am pleased about the improvements with them entering school compared to what they've had.

There's no doubt that the addiction to fast food starts in early childhood and is compounded by parents who don't want to give it up either. I sure didn't, and it took a LOT of retraining of my taste buds to get away from it.

I have three nieces who all exhibited signs of genetic weight problems anyway, their parents continued to allow them to eat anything they wanted, whenever they wanted, and now they are adolescents and as you can imagine are already being either shunned or picked on in school. They try to wear the stuff the more svelte teen girls are wearing, but just look like sausages. So what happens? They are frustrated and depressed, and so they eat MORE. It's a vicious cycle.

Actually, I was never overweight B.C. (Before Children). But like too many of us, I gained way too much weight while I was carrying them and had a hard time taking it off. Just no time or energy at first with two newborns, but then convenience food became a habit as they got older and the schedule hectic in different ways. The kids have never been overweight, but they need to learn better habits so I started watching and reaped some rewards myself.
It's incredibly easy to see how a lot of people are sucked in by fast food and convenience food, but it's still nobody's responsiblity to keep people from the drive thru except them. Perhaps if we started subsidizing produce and healthy foods instead of corn for syrup it would make a difference in prices, but education is the key. I'd go along with labeling as part of that effort, but trying to be the food police is ridiculous.

Does anyone really know what "the government" has in mind other than better labeling? If a state wants to ban fatty foods from restaurants, however, don't they have a Constitutional right to do so? Do insurance companies require physicals for certain age groups, etc.? What do you think they are using for guidelines of what they will cover? If a person wants a $100,000 health insurance policy with a low deductible and premiums, but is obese, I don't think a private insurer would consider him/her a good risk.

 

[MaggieMae]

Not being a 'health nazi', but recognizing keeping the weight down is good for you I'll chime in.

None of my 3 children have ever been 'overweight', 2 are still 'underweight.' The youngest is 23 now. I was always a 'home cook', even when starting to work full time, utilized the crock pot. Most meals were heavy on vegs, included meat, often a sauce, and nearly always a dessert.

I always sent the kids to school with their lunches, unless they begged for a 'special day' bought at school lunch, which really was rare, as my lunches were better. Lunch might be a sandwich-ingredients separated: bread, toppings-including lettuce/tomatoes/onions where appropriate, mayo, mustard, catsup. PBJ could be made ahead of time. They built their sandwich at school-no 'odors' or mushiness.

They each had a thermos for soup/stews/skinny hot chocolate.

Sometimes I copied a heartier and healthier version of 'lunchables' letting them pick crackers/bread/spreadibles.

Saved a ton of money and they ate better than their friends. I always included some fruit and veggies. Also a cookie or sweet of some type. I've never been into deprivation I don't think it is the way too go. If they wanted chips of some sort, we got the mini-paks. All of them grew out of that, but when you are bringing your lunch when most buy, makes sense they want to even it up. (Their schools would not sell chips).

Which brings me to my to the point question: Perhaps my school districts were odd, but I'm 53 years old and in my last two years of high school a salad bar was a daily option. What the hell is going on with all of your schools? One of my kids went through public schools from gr 3-12; the other two from middle school or high school. Never did they not have an offering of 'healthy alternatives.' Mine were just tastier and fresher, maybe they just figured I knew to wash my hands and wouldn't contaminate their food?

I don't think there's anything wrong with a chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookies now and again. Dessert can easily be fruit with yogurt over it. Sure a cheesecake slice now and again won't kill you either. It's how often and how much.

Did you work? We always had home-prepared sandwiches for lunch too, but it was time consuming for my working mom. She was often up at 4AM to make our lunches and do all her other morning ablutions before leaving for work at 6AM. We only had school lunch on Fridays, which was the "hot dog day." Back then, school lunches weren't free. They cost $.25 each, which was $1.00 a day for four of us, $25 a month, so for a middle class family, that would have been a lot to shell out.

 

[MaggieMae]

Is there some law saying these kids have to buy lunch at school? Don't like what's being offered? Pack your kid's lunch. You control what goes in it. My kids never buy their lunch at school. They've all tried it once or twice and found the food gross so they don't buy. Even if they found the food good enough they still wouldn't buy because why would I spend more money on school food vs. what I can make for them? And who says you just have to have pb&j or bologna? blech. Roast beef, turkey, ham and cheese, chicken, egg, and tuna salad . . . The government needs to butt the hell out. What, are they one day going to be telling me I can't have whole milk because it's full fat and because they think I shouldn't have it? Give me a break. People aren't fat because someone is holding a gun to their heads forcing them to eat crap; people are fat because they choose to eat crap.

But that's the whole point. Potato chips are yummy; carrot sticks are boring. It's a normal brain function (that pesky dopamine kicks in), and food manufacturers have figured out how to exploit it, big time.

 

[MaggieMae]

The thing is though fast food isn't bad if you eat it every now in then. the problem arises is when people eat that stuff on a regular basis.

you can't really compare cigarettes because it doesn't matter how little often you have one it's still bad for you. even people who don't smoke are at risk for second hand smoke. there is not a such thing as second hand fast food eating.

i liked to have mcdonals every now and then. I might have it once or twice a month at the most. and im still able to maintain my weight. but if i ate it everyday i would be overweight and unhealthy.

and as for kid's lunches i agree that something needs to be done. but the probably is schools cannot afford healthier lunches. so they rely on the junk food. i say if you can pack your kids lunch then do it. but unfortunately some people simply don't have the time to pack their kids food. someone people have jobs where they leave before the kids.

Just the opposite. Schools can't afford the healthy food, which is always more expensive, either wholesale or retail. Just try to supplement your diet with either fresh or packaged fruit and vegetables over hamburger and spaghetti and you'll be shocked.

 

[MaggieMae]

No, the biggest problem in America is this obsessive idea that government should micromanage our daily lives. Leave us the heck alone.

Then don't come crying to the gubmit when a private health insurer will no longer cover you because you're too fat. Many people who are morbidly obese can't even get life insurance.

I wouldnt do that to begin with you freaking nazi.

If im overweight. Im going to lose the weight. Its not freaking rocket science.

Jeezus, you idiots substitute "NAZI" for just about anything you disagree with. Grow the fuck up.

 

[MaggieMae]

Actually, he's got a point.. The shit they're serving in schools now, compared to when I went is just that. Shit.

When I went, Friday's menu was whole milk, pizza (4"x4" slice), salad, some vegetable, a piece of garlic bread (maybe 2"x3"), and something like jello for dessert. That was your meal - there were no options, no substitutions, and certainly no junk food machines tucked into the corner.

Just as an example.

Now, from what I hear, you can practically get a big mac in school for lunch.

You know, as a parent, I have asked the school district about their food choices...their answer? They don't make money if they sell nutritious foods. I know the teachers at my daughter's middle school complained about the district selling Hot Cheetoes during "Nutrition Break"...they'd stuff a bag full in their mouths in 10 minutes, get that red powder all over the doorknobs and textbooks and sometimes even barf. The district said they sell it because they have to keep their food program in the black...

Then I suggest the solution to YOUR problem is to throw all the members of your school board out of office and replace them with people who don't think "making profits" is the priority in that regard. The solution is NOT to butt into how the rest of us are taking care of OUR children.

FYI, my local school district (which my own children don't actually attend, but I am still quite familiar with how it is run) employs nutritionists to make sure that school lunches are reasonably healthy and well-balanced. They're still not exactly TASTY, nothing you're going to find people clamoring for in restaurants, but they're decently edible. Many of the schools, particularly the middle and high schools, offer salad bars in addition to the regular school lunch.

It's amazing what you can bully your public officials into if enough of you bother to get involved.

Just throw out the school board, eh. If only it were that easy...

 

[del]

The thing is though fast food isn't bad if you eat it every now in then. the problem arises is when people eat that stuff on a regular basis.

you can't really compare cigarettes because it doesn't matter how little often you have one it's still bad for you. even people who don't smoke are at risk for second hand smoke. there is not a such thing as second hand fast food eating.

i liked to have mcdonals every now and then. I might have it once or twice a month at the most. and im still able to maintain my weight. but if i ate it everyday i would be overweight and unhealthy.

and as for kid's lunches i agree that something needs to be done. but the probably is schools cannot afford healthier lunches. so they rely on the junk food. i say if you can pack your kids lunch then do it. but unfortunately some people simply don't have the time to pack their kids food. someone people have jobs where they leave before the kids.

Just the opposite. Schools can't afford the healthy food, which is always more expensive, either wholesale or retail. Just try to supplement your diet with either fresh or packaged fruit and vegetables over hamburger and spaghetti and you'll be shocked.

that's what nia said.
RIF

 

[Lonestar_logic]

The thing is though fast food isn't bad if you eat it every now in then. the problem arises is when people eat that stuff on a regular basis.

you can't really compare cigarettes because it doesn't matter how little often you have one it's still bad for you. even people who don't smoke are at risk for second hand smoke. there is not a such thing as second hand fast food eating.

i liked to have mcdonals every now and then. I might have it once or twice a month at the most. and im still able to maintain my weight. but if i ate it everyday i would be overweight and unhealthy.

and as for kid's lunches i agree that something needs to be done. but the probably is schools cannot afford healthier lunches. so they rely on the junk food. i say if you can pack your kids lunch then do it. but unfortunately some people simply don't have the time to pack their kids food. someone people have jobs where they leave before the kids.

Just the opposite. Schools can't afford the healthy food, which is always more expensive, either wholesale or retail. Just try to supplement your diet with either fresh or packaged fruit and vegetables over hamburger and spaghetti and you'll be shocked.

Schools can't afford healthy food? Myths and stereotypes abound, but the facts are clear when it comes to meals served through the National School Lunch Program: school meals are nutritious and an important part of addressing the childhood obesity epidemic.

Myth #3: Schools don’t serve enough fruits or vegetables for lunch.
Fact: According to the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment III, roughly two-thirds of all school lunch menus offer more than the required two fruit and vegetable choices set by United States Department of Agriculture regulations.[iii] The 2007 School Nutrition Operations Report conducted by SNA found that fresh fruits and vegetables are offered in 95.7% of schools.[iv] Furthermore, salad bars are offered on a daily basis in over half of districts (at least one school per district) in the country[1]. Vegetarian options are served in over 51.5% of middle schools and high schools around the country, according to the 2007 SNA Operations Survey Report.

School Meals Proven a Healthy Choice

 

[logical4u]

Why don't we do away with school lunches? Why is the school serving food?
Many decades ago, everyone carried a bag lunch. It was up to the parents to feed their young. Fruit or vegtables, sandwich and snack were the usual fare.

If you don't like what the school is serving, there is an option. I know students that would make their own lunches over eating what the school offered.

Quit blaming your problems on everybody else. Gov is not the answer to your every problem (they will not come and tie your shoe when it comes undone), take responsibility for your own life and for your own family. That is what mature adults do.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

Why don't we do away with school lunches? Why is the school serving food?
Many decades ago, everyone carried a bag lunch. It was up to the parents to feed their young. Fruit or vegtables, sandwich and snack were the usual fare.

If you don't like what the school is serving, there is an option. I know students that would make their own lunches over eating what the school offered.

Quit blaming your problems on everybody else. Gov is not the answer to your every problem (they will not come and tie your shoe when it comes undone), take responsibility for your own life and for your own family. That is what mature adults do.

How dare you talk about personal responsibility!!

You're going to piss off a lot of liberals with talk like that!!

 

[Ringel05]

The biggest problem in America today is...
Americans.... Just peruse any political forum.... Need I say more?

 

[MaggieMae]

The thing is though fast food isn't bad if you eat it every now in then. the problem arises is when people eat that stuff on a regular basis.

you can't really compare cigarettes because it doesn't matter how little often you have one it's still bad for you. even people who don't smoke are at risk for second hand smoke. there is not a such thing as second hand fast food eating.

i liked to have mcdonals every now and then. I might have it once or twice a month at the most. and im still able to maintain my weight. but if i ate it everyday i would be overweight and unhealthy.

and as for kid's lunches i agree that something needs to be done. but the probably is schools cannot afford healthier lunches. so they rely on the junk food. i say if you can pack your kids lunch then do it. but unfortunately some people simply don't have the time to pack their kids food. someone people have jobs where they leave before the kids.

Just the opposite. Schools can't afford the healthy food, which is always more expensive, either wholesale or retail. Just try to supplement your diet with either fresh or packaged fruit and vegetables over hamburger and spaghetti and you'll be shocked.

that's what nia said.
RIF

Senior moment...