Back to School

Times sure are changing. I recently heard on the news that there was concern that the lunches that parents packed were less nutritious than the lunches that the children receive at school. Although many school districts might work hard to provide nutrition packed meals, other districts nationwide are providing Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, or meals made with foods prepared somewhere else, like the frozen convenience foods found in the freezer of your supermarket. These foods have a tendency to be high fat, high sodium and/or high sugar.

Now we are being told that parents are packing even worse choices. From a dietitian’s point of view, this is scary. The reason that my profession usually recommends that parents pack their children’s lunch is that it should give better control over what the kids are eating. Perhaps the problem is that the same parents are trying to make lunches and get to work on time; therefore, they use the most convenient foods available, especially the prepackaged lunches which include cheese and crackers or salami and crackers. They look good, but are they good for our already overweight offspring?

High tech isn’t always high quality and new isn’t always better. There have been many studies that have shown that obesity was less common when families sat down to eat homemade dinners together. One reason given for the change in lunches is to prevent kids from trading lunches. Just think of it, though: if all the lunches were nutritious, what would it matter if Johnny traded his tuna salad sandwich for Janie’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich? An apple for an oatmeal raisin cookie? Either choice is better than packing store bought chicken nuggets or sausage with buttery crackers. Many of us grew up on leftover sandwiches. Ever have a meatloaf sandwich as a kid? How about some of the cold chicken left over from the previous night’s dinner? Yes, as kids we traded some of the sandwiches Mom gave us, but it was one homemade entree traded for another homemade entree, a kind of unofficial buffet of choices opening up our palates to the foods outside our own familiar zones and cultures.

Perhaps one difference between now and previous generations is that before we were expected to eat what we were given. Now there is emphasis on providing the foods that the children like. With 25-30 percent of the children in Kern county alone assessed as being obese, this might need to be re-thought. Humans are born with a sweet tooth, but that does not mean that sweets are necessary for life. Yes, we want the kids to like what they are being given for any meal, but part of life is learning to do those things, like eating healthy foods, which might not be our first choice.

Healthier leftovers also are potentially more cost effective (think cheaper) than the already prepared lunches. For those who do not like “leftovers,” just call them “re-purposed” food items. Now you are trendy and they are healthy.