Middleboro super size
With our middling school ranking and below average MCAS scores, Middleboro can now add another thing to the list of things that need improvement. Middleboro came in fourth in a new study of obesity in school children. Uhh.. BTW – that’s fourth worst not fourth best:
Personally I don’t mind being fat, dumb, and happy myself but it might not be the best formula for our kid’s future success.
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At our house we’ve worked really hard to get the kids to eat right and teach them the importance of proper nutrition and certainly that’s where the bulk of a child’s weight issues, or lack of, come from. That said, I’ve always been unhappy with the school lunch menu. I’m sure it meets state and/or federal guidelines but the majority of the meals are not something I would feed my kids regularly. Sure we patronize Burger King and Papa Gino’s occasionally but the majority of the meals at home consist of lean meats and vegetables. Some of the school lunches are quite good but there are way too many “treat” lunches such as chicken nuggets, hotdogs, nachos, french toast sticks, pizza, and so on. It brings back memories of the Reagan Administrations’s attempt to classify ketchup as a vegetable to save money and feed kids food they would actually eat. Isn’t that a bit like letting the inmates run the asylum?
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The day before school started, we took the kids out to lunch at Red Robins. Zach got a hamburger and chose a side salad instead of french fries. Jake had a pizza and fries and both had milk shakes. This was a “treat” lunch for back-to-school. During it, I asked the kids: “If a child was a stool, what would the four legs of the stool be?”. They suggested things like wisdom, courage, and stuff like that. My wife gave her suggestions and I gave mine: Nutrition, exercise, sleep, and hygiene. IMO those things will give a child the best chance of being healthy, happy, socially well-adjusted and successful in school. Personally I think that school lunch offerings have a lot of room for improvement both in Middleboro and nationally.
Did you watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution special that was on back in April? I am sure is online. You should check it out. If you think the school lunch offerings have a lot of room for improvement now, wait until you watch this. Literally, it made me sick to my stomach.
@Sharon
I didn’t.
Many years ago I saw a documentary about a school that was really struggling academically. They brought in a nutritionist, good rid of all the cokes, snacks, junk, and fed the kids freshly prepared food – really good wholesome stuff. The student’s performance skyrocketed.
I’m not sure why Bridgewater-Raynham scored so well – the lunches at my kid’s school don’t sound much different than Middleboro’s. My kids think they’re gross and bring lunch from home. I remember the schools took the soda machines out years ago, and now the kids can get bottled water and vitamin water. I do know there is a big focus in our schools on Physical Fitness, including a LOT of walking, so even the non-sporty kids participate, but I think that’s probably true of most area schools. Maybe it’s the local restaurants. Most restaurants in the region serve the same old fried foods, greasy subs, sticky Chinese take-out, doughy pizza, meat-heavy menu. But Bridgewater boasts not one but TWO really good Thai/Asia food restaurants, big on flavor, low on fat. Both can be found, right over the Tauton river, off of RTE 18. Chatta Box, at Winter Place, and my personal fave, Sugar Cane, right across the street. My kids choose chicken satay and sticky rice instead of chicken nuggets and fries.
It would be interesting to see a comparison of demographics: Parents education level, income, MCAS scores, obesity rankings, and so on. I’d expect that Bridgewater just ranks better in many of those things.
What irritates me are the nasty grams from the school nurse about ‘healthy’ snacks while the schools are serving things like cereal for lunch. What is the difference between fruit loops and a chocolate chip cookie?!? The school cafeteria should be setting a much better example. They are spending far too much energy trying to make the food fun and interesting.
@Bea Potter
I would agree.
To play devil’s advocate a bit, the schools have a tough job because so many parents allow their kids to eat nothing but chicken nuggets and fruit loops. Those kids would have a tough time with a healthy menu that included green vegetables.
To that I say “touch ****”. If kids won’t eat the healthy meals provided at school, they are free to bring in their own lunches.
You might be interested in this: Mass. Senate Passes School Nutrition Bill. Legislation such as this was passed over the protests of the Republican minority about the “Nanny State.”
The issue seems greater than simply the school lunch programs. One might blame our willingness to accept ‘corporatism’ in everything, from large factory farms that over use antibiotics because of unhealthy animals maintained in unhealthy conditions, to an agricultural subsidy mindset that makes wheat, corn and carbs artificially cheap, all grown in monoculture requiring massive chemical input to maintain.
Where is there an organic vegetable subsidy?
Recently, there have been several great books about the sick food suply and the impacts of poor diet that are worth considering. One was written by a former FDA Administrator (I can’t easily find the info at this time) whose weight yo-yo’d. He did a great deal of research and one of his findings was that food served in restaurants that we all love is high in fat, sugar and salt. He also pointed out that high fructose corn syrup stimulates you to continue to eat beyond satiation. If you check the labels, it’s surprising where you can find it. Most recently, I found it in a jar of pickles.
As you know, we don’t watch much television, but when we do, I’m always shocked by the commercials targeting young people to patronize the ‘junk food’ restaurants. Much like casinos, they work hard to market and develop customer loyalty.
Jill Stein recently spoke in Fall River and included this in the larger issue of us allowing Big Corporations to control everything that causes increased illnesses, that causes increased “illness” care costs and so on.
While not all of us can produce what we can consume, we can certainly patronize local farmers’ markets and raise our consciousness with kids. Unfortunately, when ‘junk food’ is cheap because of subsidies, many simply cannot afford a better diet.
I’ll be in Texas next month and Middleboro’s fat is skinny in Texas. You go to the major cities down there and it is a fast food nirvana. You can drive right into Bill Miller’s Bar-B-Que and into Taco Cabana for Mex when you exit. Texas is right up there with Alabama and Mississippi for the heavy weight title. Bumpkin – you would be buff and svelte in Houston. Amazing how some cities and states stress a healthy lifestyle and others just do not. I do believe Massachusetts is one of the more healthy states.
Food corporations and restaurants have certainly adjusted their menus and product lines to promote alternatives to the 3,000 calorie taco salad since there is a demand from more health conscious consumers. Unfortunately adjustments to life styles take a long time since habits are ingrained.
School lunches have changed dramatically over the years in a positive manner and nutrition courses are part of the curriculum from early grades on but still kids love that junk food and with DD on every corner they constantly see adults stuffing donuts or pastries in their face which is exactly what I do about five times a week – that #4 on the HD menu is a coffee roll and medium black coffee – Sweet & Low and no sugar.
Our town is fortunate enough to own at least three farms. Why not start incorporating those farms to do a school lunch program through raising the fruits and vegetables?
Check out this site to realize that it is being done.http://www.farmtoschool.org/MA/media.htm
Just a thought, that could be worthwhile for the future. Non violent prisoners could be brought in from Dartmouth, Plymouth and Bridgewater to do the farming in spring and summer.