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Birthday Cake Ban

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I hate being one of those crotchety old people who hears a story, shakes his head in disgust, and says, “When I was a kid…”

grumpy-old-man-with-caneYet, I find myself in that position (hopefully I am not crotchety however).

“When I was a kid…” I don’t remember parents bringing birthday cakes or cupcakes to classrooms. I just don’t think it was done way back then; maybe they melted on the stagecoach ride over. Who knows? Yet, times change and it appears to be standard operating behavior for parents to do so nowadays — that is, unless you reside in Northern Kentucky.

Burlington Elementary School in the Bluegrass State revised its wellness policy.

The end result is a ban on food for school birthday celebrations. We’re not just talking about cakes; rather — in the interest of promoting healthier food choices — ALL other snacks are now verboten. Non-food “treats” such as pencils, balloons, erasers and book-marks are suggested. (“Happy birthday Johnny, now blow out your bookmark!”)

The intention is laudable; they’re actually doing some-thing to combat the ever-burgeoning obesity crisis and attempting to shift the focus of celebrations away from food. Good on them for that. And there are indeed health concerns involving food allergies; not to mention, I imagine it’s purt’ near impossible to school a child redlining on a sugar buzz.

Yet I have concerns.

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Upset About Bake Sales

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The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act went into effect July 1, setting new, updated standards for calories, fats, sugar, and sodium for “competitive foods” sold at schools.

competitive-food

“Competitive foods” do not wear uniforms and engage in sports; rather that’s government-speak for vending machine snacks and bake-sale goodies. This regulation sets standards for calories, fats, sugar, and sodium, and is attempting to push foods with whole grains, lowfat dairy, fruits, vegetables, or protein foods as their main ingredient. It does require that food and beverage items sold during the school day achieve certain standards, but also allows for special exemptions for the purpose of conducting infrequent school-sponsored fundraisers. What the law does not do is define “infrequent,” leaving that to the states to set their own limits.

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The Healthiest Family on the Dance Floor

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As an obese child, I hated P.E.

When choosing teams, I was always picked last, each side trying to give me to their opponent. When playing baseball, I would be strategically placed in “ultra right field” (outside the foul line if possible) so as to have virtually no contact with the ball, thereby helping to ensure my team would not be humiliated by my clumsiness.

man-dancing-blurryIn the gym, I was forced to do pull-ups by a drill-sergeant phys-ed teacher. Dangling from the steel crossbar in front of a gaggle of snickering classmates, too heavy to do anything but limply hang, kicking my feet as if that would help pull me up, the coach bellowing, “Come on tubby! If you can’t do it, go on a diet.” Disgusted, he’d discharge me from my personal hanging purgatory and I’d attempt to blend into the back of the class, hoping for a distraction to come quickly and pull everyone’s red hot gazes from me.

One doesn’t “hang around” much when one goes to Zumba as 58-year-old, but one’s old memories do.

My biggest fear when I began was that I would pass out.

I was fearful that my macho competitive persona (I might be middle aged but I am still a male) would override my professorial intellectual one and I’d over-exert myself attempting to keep pace with a roomful of twenty-something exercise enthusiasts adorned in designer leotards, headbands, and leg warmers (does anyone wear leg warmers anymore?) For my efforts, I would be mortified by having a heart attack, collapsing mid beat on the polished floor. The remaining dancers would heft me to the ambulance, albeit while maintaining the rhythm of a hot salsa dance move, all the while never missing a step.

My other paranoid fantasy was that I’d be humiliated. I was concerned I’d trip over my clodhoppers or people would laugh at how I look in gym shorts (since I don’t have designer leotards).

Long story short, I have (mostly) overcome my angsts, and — as hard as it to believe — I look forward to my classes, and try to find sessions to attend, even when out of town.

Since I didn’t know anyone in this new environment, I staked out a corner and observed as other participants entered. I witnessed an obese, late-thirties mom take a spot beside me. Nearby was her adolescent daughter, apparently on her way to replicating her mom’s physique, and Dad, who — although being shorter than me — probably tipped the scales at twice my weight.

Simply stated, it was a very heavy family.

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4 Online Nutrition Education Resources for Families

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Teaching your kids healthy eating habits and preparing nutritious meals for them is one of the most important things you can do as a parent. With childhood obesity rates on the rise, making sure your children eat right should be one of your major concerns. Unfortunately, unless you majored in nutrition in college, you may only have a vague idea of how to create healthy meal plans for your family. Many parents cook the same recipes for their kids that their parents cooked for them: casseroles, pot roasts, spaghetti and meat balls, etc. While many of these traditional home cooked meals aren’t necessarily bad for kids, they aren’t always necessarily the healthiest options.

If you want your family to learn more about nutrition and eat smarter, here are some online resources that you’ll find helpful:

1. Eat Smart, Play Hard – Sponsored by the USDA, this website provides parents with important nutritional information to help their kids make smarter eating choices and healthier lifestyle choices. Additionally, Eat Smart, Play Hard offers a useful meal planning tool for families and tips on how to grocery shop and exercise as a family to promote health.

2. KidsHealth – This website offers nutrition and fitness information and tips in addition to information about the human body and health in general. There are three versions of the KidsHealth site: one for parents, one for kids, and one for teens. The content on each of the sites is geared toward the different age groups. So, your kids and teens can learn more about how to stay healthy on their own versions of the website, and then the whole family can get together and compare notes.

3. BAM! – Made by the CDC for kids, BAM! uses games and cartoons to teach kids more about nutrition, diseases, physical fitness, and safety. If you want your children to understand why it’s important for them to eat healthy and stay physically active, you’ll find this site to be incredibly beneficial. BAM! might even get your kids excited about eating their vegetables.

4. Parents.com Kids Nutrition – If you’re having trouble coming up with healthy recipes to prepare for your family, you’ll find the Kids Nutrition section of the Parents.com website to be incredibly beneficial. It’s chock full of nutritious recipes and healthy eating tips and information.

The above websites well help your family get informed about nutrition. Remember that healthy kids and parents make for a happier family!

About the Author: Nadia Jones is a freelance blogger who loves writing about education, new technology, lifestyle and health. As an education writer, she works to provide helpful information, pointers, and the most recent online college news for students looking into online degrees.

 

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