Do you pack unhealthy snack for your kids school everyday?

amother

NeonGreen

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 11:49 am

keym wrote:

I can stick an apple or 2 tangerines into the bag. Sure. For it to come back and forth, or squished into the looseleaf, or tossed in the trash.
You see, my kids don't like whole apples, don't like brown apples, and don't want to spend 5 minutes of their precious 12 minutes of recess peeling or cutting apples and oranges
And they're not eating snack at their desk. Eating cubed melon while running around during tag is not practical.
So yeah, they'll take dipsy doodles or whatever to school. And then eat apples and grapes and melon and peaches at home where it's easier.

But feel free to volunteer to bring cut mango for your daughters whole class for snack. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

There are a whole lot of options in between whole apples and dipsy doodles.
I’m really not interested in peeling mango for the whole class, but I am frustrated that not a single other parent cares enough to make some sort of effort.
Also, cut dipsy doodles et al out of existence and watch your kids naturally love whole apples.

amother

NeonGreen

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 11:52 am

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

It's also a lot cheaper to send a snack bag of chips or popcorn than "exciting" fruit like mangoes, strawberries or blueberries. Those can be expensive.

Ye, health is too expensive. Sigh. It’s obviously also just not a priority.

keym

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 11:56 am

amother [ NeonGreen ] wrote:

1) so it's not good enough for me to toss an apple into the bag like you said earlier.
Now, I need to prepare mango or check blueberries to be "making some sort of effort".
2) I was the child with no dipsy doodles and just whole apples and oranges.
Guess what? I stayed hungry.
My kids are the same
Give them a whole apple, they'll starve. Give them a freshly cut up apple, they'll demolish the plate.
So in school they get dipsy doodles (or the like) and at home: apples, grapes, cut up peppers, etc.
I'm sorry for making your life harder by not parenting my kids conveniently for you.

avrahamama

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 11:56 am

The way I send apples.

1. Use an apple cutter to push through almost to the bottom of the apple but not all the way
2. Pull the cutter back up careful not to pull apart any pieces
3. Use a rubber band to keep the apple together while.
4. When it's time to eat the apple is still white! And they pull the "petals" off their apple flower

My kids actually love this. And it works with pears too.

amother

Honey

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 11:58 am

jj1236 wrote:

People don't need to get defensive. I guess my husband and I are health focused so it's so out of our mindset to send in chips and cookies. Our kids gets plenty of junk don't worry. Between Shabbos, birthday parties, random ice cream from the ice cream truck at the playground, my parents, and various other times, they get cupcakes, cookies... we do take out once a week where they get chicken tenders and french fries... and all that, but in our house, sugary things are considered special treats. Meanwhile whenver I cut up a big salad, now my daughter always "steals" the vegetables from the bowl while I'm cutting it because she loves veggies. She gets excited when I make a big bowl of fruit and thinks smoothies have to have kale in them lol. She loves her fruits an vegetables. I understand balance and I think I'm doing a good job of it. There is no reason to start them off in life thinking cookies and chips everyday is a normal thing to eat.

I feel the same.

amother

Honey

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:07 pm

watergirl wrote:

I truly do not believe my kids are losing out in the long or short term because they get chips and/or a cookie every day. I feed my children a diet their pediatrician supports. I care. Just not about this concern in the way you care about it.

They are learning terrible eating habits. At what point will they switch from eating yummy addictive treats all day to eating healthfully? Treats are meant to be occasional, not never and not on a daily basis.

Besides, my pediatrician is horrified by kids eating chips and cookies every day. He even told me that veggie straws are basically the same as potato chips, not to be fooled.

nchr

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:07 pm

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

It's also a lot cheaper to send a snack bag of chips or popcorn than "exciting" fruit like mangoes, strawberries or blueberries. Those can be expensive.

I cut up fruits and vegetables every day for my children when they come home from cheder and school. I do agree that fruits and vegetables are more expensive then popcorn, so I don't buy the most expensive ones. But it is still important to me that they eat this when they come home. I still am sending them with popcorn as a snack. Also why is it wrong to send popcorn? Children don't need to eat only fruit and vegetables all day. They need carbs and protein too.

watergirl

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:16 pm

amother [ Honey ] wrote:

Really? My kids have great eating habits thank you. They are not so young anymore. And you made a massive jump from "a cookie and bag of chips" to "eating yummy addictive treats all day". Hyperbole wont help make your point. I do not consider a bag of chips and a cookie to be a treat. My kids have a balanced diet of healthy and less so.

amother

Honey

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:17 pm

amother [ NeonGreen ] wrote:

I wish more people would realize that the only reason kids feel deprived is because everybody else has it, and if we would all make a communal effort to limit it, kids wouldn’t feel deprived. It’s not like kids have an instinctive need for processed food. Kids eat Whole Foods very happily when there aren’t other options around.

This!!!!!!!

And if they get plenty of treats for special occasions- birthday, grandparents, siyums, shabbos party, rosh chodesh, camp trips, etc., they won't feel deprived and they will understand the concept of eating healthfully and having treats occasionally, as opposed to on a daily basis.

amother

NeonGreen

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:31 pm

keym wrote:

Sorry if I’m bitter, and I don’t mean you specifically, but I just don’t buy it. Where I live, kids come home and have more of the same. Snack bags, freeze pops, cookies. My neighbor regularly hands out candy to the kids on the block. For no special reason. Before supper. These people are not cash strapped, nor pressed for resources. They simply don’t care. And I don’t mean not care as in they are uncaring, I mean that health and nutrition is just not a priority. I chalk a lot of that up to ignorance, but not all. So guess what. I’m sending processed junk to school and camp so my kids won’t feel deprived, and if I try to tell them fruits and veggies only after school they *still* feel deprived, because everyone on the block is walking around with more snacks. I can’t remember my kids ever coming home from a friend and saying I had some yummy watermelon. It’s always, I had super snacks. I had twizzlers. I had Italian ices.

watergirl

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:37 pm

keym wrote:

Excellent post.

ora_43

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:38 pm

amother [ NeonGreen ] wrote:

Yes. Reading this thread and very glad my younger kids' schools insist on a sandwich (or similar) and fruit or vegetable for lunch. When junk food isn't right in front of their face, they don't beg for it.

In general I don't get this mentality of 'if you don't let them have it, they'll just try to be sneaky about it.' Like, yes, that's true, but it's also true of pretty much anything that other kids are doing right in front of them. If the school allowed the kids to sit around watching cartoons instead of learning history, I'm sure my kids would be begging to do that, too. And... ?

watergirl

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:38 pm

amother [ NeonGreen ] wrote:

Maybe you should consider finding a neighborhood with more like-minded people.

flowerpower

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:40 pm

nchr wrote:

Yups! I agree. I buy around 30 apples, 20 peaches, 40 clementines, bananas, and different vegetables every week. I’m very fine if they eat 7 pieces of chips and 5 pieces of flutes( the little amount that comes in snack bags) every day. Kids need carbs to grow anyways. They burn a lot of energy.

amother

NeonGreen

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:40 pm

amother [ Honey ] wrote:

Its not only bad habits for the future. These foods are harmful. Full stop. I’m sure nobody read the link I posted on page 1, but the aap put out a statement in 2018 about food additives and endocrine disruption, among other concerns. This is the AAP, not the association for ancestral diets.

Zehava

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:46 pm

amother [ NeonGreen ] wrote:

And my kids devour their fruits and veggies after school regardless of what their friends get

amother

NeonGreen

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:46 pm

ora_43 wrote:

Agree. There are so many things we put our foot down about when it comes to physical or developmental health. Why doesn’t this matter??

amother

Wheat

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:48 pm

watergirl wrote:

Maybe you should consider finding a neighborhood with more like-minded people.

.
I agree. Neoongreen, you aren't changing those on your block or your kids schools. Either you can convince your children to follow your healthy ideals or maybe find a like minded community of friends and neighbors?

amother

NeonGreen

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:49 pm

amother [ Wheat ] wrote:

So helpful. Thank you.

small bean

Wed, Jul 07 2021, 12:52 pm

I think it's naive to think if we gave healthy options all kids would just eat it. Some kids will still starve because they don't like it.

I have 8 kids, all growing up with the same exposure to food. None of them eat the same things. Some of them are very hungry and won't eat anything if there's nothing around that they like. Some people don't eat whatever they are given.