Posted on 03/17/2006 10:28:06 PM PST by nickcarraway
There was a big "Coca-Cola" sign on the refrigerator, but all it held was bottled water and juice. The menu offered sandwiches on eight-grain bread. The lunch ladies were pushing salad.
The cafeteria at the William E. Cottle Elementary School has undergone a nutritious change this year, and Congresswoman Nita Lowey chose it as the setting Friday for an announcement of legislation aimed at battling obesity in children.
"The exploding rate of obesity is one of the most serious health issues our nation faces," said Lowey, a Democrat who represents parts of Westchester and Rockland counties. She said the health problems caused by obesity, such as heart attacks, diabetes and asthma, cost the nation $117 billion a year.
Her Stop Obesity in Schools Act would provide federal funding to local school districts to develop nutrition policies, as the Cottle school has done. It would also increase funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so the CDC could give technical assistance and measure the policies' effectiveness.
Lowey said she did not yet know what the bill would cost taxpayers, but added, "What's more fiscally conservative than attacking these health care costs?"
She said that during a recent trip the Walt Disney World with some of her grandchildren, she noticed that "dozens of people" were being pushed through the parks in wheelchairs _ "not because they were injured or sick but they just couldn't walk because they were obese."
Mary Ann McCann, one of the school's food workers, said soda and doughnuts had been ousted from the cafeteria, which serves kindergartners through fifth-graders in the Tuckahoe school district, "and we try to get the kids to take the fruit, the vegetables, the salad. "
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
I won't be convinced that she is serious until she introduces legislation that will make it a criminal act for parents of children in her district to feed the little rugrats Twinkees and such. Otherwise, there is no point.
She can make it illegal along with smoking in the home to win the elitist parent vote.
yep! we didn't call it "Presidential Physical Fitness" our was called "hotdog day" LOL it was a whole day around physical fitness and a cookout for lunch. yep we played dodgeball too an king of of the mountain and stuff like that. :)
No soda is permitted in the elementary schools around here (k-5).
Thy don't have PE everyday, but they do have recess twice every day - and yes they are allowed to run around the school yard. In fact they are encouraged to do so.
My 7 year old knows how to play dodge ball and is pretty good at it..........and she learned how to play in kindergarten during recess.
Unless they remove high carbs and sugar products from schools, it will only get worse. Carbohydrates turns to sugar and that's the main problem. You're right about PE. There must be at least an hour a day for children to sweat it off. It's a combination of both. And, you're also right about computers and Nintendo toys. Kids don't play out as much as they used to.
LOL!! I had forgotten that one.
I actually don't remember having outside recess when I was in grammar school........and our school yard was concrete.
oh we had both concrete and grass stuff, pretty big area
We had no grass at all, even though the schoolyard was very large.
My daughter's school on the other hand actually has 4 seperate areas for recess and outside activities - and except in extreme weather (cold/heat/snow/rain) the kids are outside at least once every day.
Hotdog day!!! LOL, that sounds like what we called "Playday" the last week of school. We had ballgames, the kids against the teachers, and other kinds of competitions!
The Presidential Physical Fitness took at least a week to go through, pushups, pullups, standing broad jump, 50 yd dash, etc.
I think they've taken the soda out everywhere. Glad to hear about the 2 recesses and being allowed to run and play!
Bizzaro world hasn't taken over there yet!
I think schools everywhere are getting pretty strict about what they serve the kids now.
I also don't think they have PE everyday at any of the schools anymore. After all, they need that time to teach the kids for the 'tests' that the kids would have done well in if they had been taught right all year long!!
I think soda is allowed in the High Schools - but I'm not 100% sure - I haven't gotten that far yet, my daughter is only in 2nd grade.
And I'm pretty happy with the menu plans for breakfast and lunch. She usually has breakfast at home, but some days she prefers to have it when she gets to school. And I've had lunch at the school on more than a few occassions and I've actually been impressed. They bake the bread right on the premises and not pre-packaged heat and eat, they actually make it. And there are always fruits and veggies.
So all things considere - it's pretty good regarding nutrition and exercize.
I just wish busybodies like this Congresswoman would mind their own business. Unfortunately far too many people appear to be happier with the government making decisions for them, and so the rest of us wind up suffering.
Kids can eat breakfast lunch and afternoon snacks in some school districts. Our schools have fallen off in every state. If it's not bad curriculum, it's been teachers chasing and sleeping with students. Talk about bad news. Without doubt, we can improve, but it appears like educators are discouraging parent participation?
Thankfully, not in the school my duaghter attends. The teachers and the principal encouraged me to go to the school board over an arbitrary decision made by the district administrative staff that adversely impacted my daughter.
I haven't solved the problem, yet........but I am still slugging it out, with the full support of the teachers and principal.
I know that...............but at least in this case it is not the teachers or even the administration in the school - but rather the administration at the district level. I can practically hear the "Oh no, not HER again" in the tone of voice I get after identifying myself on the phone when calling the district office.
They have me pegged as a trouble maker - and guess what? I couldn't care less.
If you're trying to keep abreast of, or get into your children's education, your not a trouble maker. Left unquestioned, your kids could fall through the cracks and have problems later on when it counts to make a living. Schools and higher education serve no other purpose, but to prepare a person for life...a long and maybe tedious one at that. Stay on top of them. If you don't, who will!
The bad teachers are really making it hard for the good ones. The OLD highschool education was probably equal to a college education nowdays.
Kids can get FREE breakfast and lunch in our schools and we still have people whining about the malnourished kids.
Have you thought of writing a 'letter to the editor' in your newspaper? Sometimes exposing things helps.
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