Posted on 03/06/2005 7:34:18 PM PST by Jean S
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - Nine-year-old Kelly Ferrer no longer gets the waffles, pancakes and sugar cereals that she loved eating for breakfast last year in her school cafeteria.
This year, instead, she is served whole-wheat bread, lowfat cheese and fruit.
Does she like it? No.
"I want to go back to the old menu," said the fourth-grader at Mill Creek Elementary School. "We had better food last year."
Kelly's is one of six schools in this Orlando suburb taking part in a study by a research center founded by Dr. Arthur Agatston, the author of "The South Beach Diet."
The goal of the study is to figure out whether school cafeterias are capable of serving more nutritious food, whether kids will eat it and whether their health will improve.
The program underscores growing concerns across the nation about childhood obesity. Government data suggest about 15 percent of U.S. youngsters are severely overweight or obese, a problem that may lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Some state surveys indicate the obesity rate could be higher.
"We're not putting the children on the South Beach Diet," said Danielle Hollar, deputy director of research at the Agatston Research Institute. "We're trying to provide healthier options for these children, and in the long run we hope they learn to eat healthier and incorporate that into their daily living."
Although the 3,000 students in the study haven't been put on the low-carb diet per se, many of the diet's guiding principles have been incorporated into school menus.
White bread has been stricken and replaced with whole-wheat. White potatoes were subbed with sweet potatoes. French fries were abolished. Grilled chicken replaced breaded chicken. Fruits serve as dessert.
Students at the beginning of the school year were weighed, their height measured and their blood pressure and pulse recorded. Those same measurements will be taken in April. The institute has paid for the $10,000 extra cost. Hollar said the obesity rate at the school hadn't been calculated.
The new menus were "a little bit slow catching on, but now the students seem to be enjoying the meals," said Jean Palmore, food service director for the Osceola County School District. Four of the schools have changed their menus and the other two are being used as controls with unchanged menus.
It was rough going at first. As many as half of the students at the test schools didn't eat their lunches at the beginning of the year. Now just 15 percent are in that category after tweaks to the menu and weeks of exposure.
"We tried a veggie burger, but that was not a popular thing," Palmore said. "We had some problems with breakfast because traditionally we have pancakes and waffles and bagels. Those kids can't have any of those now."
On a recent day, the difference in menus between a test school and control school was apparent. While Pleasant Hill Elementary School, a control school, served onion rings as a side dish with its choice of chicken or egg salad, Mill Creek Elementary School served veggie sticks with dip.
"They're trying some other foods that they haven't tried before," said Laurel Hagood, dean of Mill Creek Elementary School, where 65 percent of the 938 students get free or reduced-price lunches.
Besides initial student finickiness, the biggest obstacle has been access to healthier ingredients. The school district is part of a buying group with other districts that have a long-term contract with a food distributor. Most schools, for example, aren't ordering whole-wheat pasta.
In addition, the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables is shorter than frozen or canned items, making it difficult sometimes to buy in bulk.
"Produce is more expensive, perishable and you don't get the yield on those items that you get from canned items," Palmore said.
Food distributors should respond to demand for fruits, vegetables and whole grains in school diets, said Lynn Parker, director of child nutrition programs at the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington-based public interest group.
Some school districts around the nation have started farm-to-school programs that rely on local growers. While many schools have been lowering the fat content and offering more fruits and vegetables, they still have a way to go, Parker said.
"There is a strong interest on the part of many schools to do better and I think that's because of pressure from parents," Parker said. "Many parents across the country are trying to make changes in their own meals at home and are concerned about childhood obesity and having well-nourished children and preventing chronic diseases later in life."
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On the Net:
Osceola County School District at http://www.osceola.k12.fl.us/
Food Research and Action Center at www.frac.org/
AP-ES-03-06-05 2146EST
I don't have a problem with it. If parents want to stuff sugar and white bread down their kids throats..they can do it on their dime and within the privacy of their homes. Let them eat a healthy diet in school and perhaps it will help in the long run.
Well, when you really think about it, everyone dies of a heart attack so to speak.
I really do love the gubbmint control on kid's diets though. Just like I love their control over what kids learn and not learn. The "condom on a banana" actually covers two arenas in the pubic skool system...hand dexterity and one of the food groups. Bravo!
FMCDH(BITS)
Wow! We have tax dollars supporting fad diets for the urchins...that's great! (sarc)
We had friends for dinner last night, one was on a no carb diet (Atkins?) and the other was on the grapefruit diet. I made beef stroganoff, the heck with it.
These kids won"t be putting runners on banana's, After a diet of this health crap they will eat it.
Will the kids lose weight? More than likely they will, If you feed kids food they dont like they dont eat much.
Yeah, you're right. As a parent of twin daughters who are now 28, I did " stuff sugar and white bread down their throats". I confess. I'm guilty. Please come and arrest me for child abuse. I deserve it. I'm waiting for the diet police to show up. Hope they don't get me for smoking in my home, while I was stuffing white bread and sugar down the throats of my daughters, for second hand poisoning of their now 28 year old lungs.
You're what I call a "twit".
FMCDH(BITS)
Only commies like healthy food. (/sarcasm)
Breakfast?????? I never got served breakfast in school nor did my kids nor have I ever heard of that before. I thought that was a parent's job. What????
Feeling a little guilty? Don't take it out on me, honey.
After foregoing highly processed foods such as high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated fats, enriched white flour, refined sugar I have lost 75 pounds since December. I am not on any particular diet other than eating real food and balanced meals using portion control. I feel great and don't have any cravings for the junk.
You can whine about the nanny state but the truth is you should be pissed off at the PTB who shoved all the fake foods down our throats. I really think the biggest culprit is the high fructose corn syrup and the trans fats. It's in almost every processed foods.
ping
Hard to argue with that. Good show.
I just wish I would have gone this route sooner. Oh well.
I have worked with kids for too many years, several in group home settings and as a case manager for those with behavior disorders/mental illness. A lot of the behavior problems were directly related to the diet of the kids. The standard typical diet for young children is nothing but highly refined, over processed "food" day in and day out.
For example last Thanksgiving I brought a vegetable and a cheese/meat tray because I was doing Atkins and wanted at least something there. Guess what the kids chose? They wiped out the veggies and loved the cheese/meat. They had a choice between very good tasting cakes/pies/stuff like that and broccoli, baby carrots, celery, cucumbers, grape tomatoes with real ranch dressing and every one of the kids chose the vegetables. Oh they didn't turn into little hyper monsters either ;)
save for later
If we have to pay for the health costs later because of government freebies...I'd rather the schools not contribute to this health cost by serving unhealthy food. Of course the schools should only serve basic food..no snacks or sugar sweetened products anyway.
I thought the South Beach Diet was Red Bull and cocaine?
That's the really worrisome aspect of this article.
65%?!? That's outrageous.
Btw, I am on the SB diet and have lost 10 lb's in the first week. I went on it because my blood chemistry is whacked: Chol. over 500, Trig's over 1000, etc.
According to the author, he wasn't really trying to create a "lose weight" diet, but one that would help the blood system. Weight loss is a side benefit.
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