Gerorgia Elementary School Principal bans sugar from her school.

[TheMightyFavog]

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Living/obesity_principal_040603-1.html

She ordered sweeping changes. The first priority was to remove the soda machines — but there was a problem: the school district had a contract with Coca-Cola.

(snip)

Butler then banned fried foods, high-fat foods, and especially sugary desserts. Browns Mill was now a "sugar-free school," which left many parents angry.

(snip)

Butler organized nutrition "seminars" for parents. She even enlisted the bus drivers to ensure students did not eat sugary snacks on their way to or from school.

(snip)

Within a year though, not only had many students lost weight, but:

visits to the school nurse were down 30 percent
disciplinary problems dropped 20 percent.
And test scores improved 10 percent to 15 percent.

Wow. Impressive. That principal's got one hall of a Take charge and move out attitude. Good on her.

[physioex]

1. It is amazing to see the food that is served in the school cafeteria...

There is hardly any fruits and vegetables. Mostly it is processed high fat food items. Then we sit around wondering why there is a problem with obesity. When I was a student, the drink machines were for the staff only. Students could purchase soft drinks but only after school.

[eyesroll]

6. And one of the best parts...

I used to teach in a school where most of the kids were entitled to free or reduced lunch.

Lunch was a choice of pizza, burger, Taco Bell co-branded stuff, or the main entree (which rotated between spaghetti, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, tuna casserole, and the like); plus, a vegetable, a fruit, a dessert, milk, and, more often than not, french fries. So, a kid could conceivably get a piece of sausage pizza, french fries, iceburg lettuce with gobs of Thousand Island dressing, canned peaches in heavy syrup, pudding and whole milk at one meal.
(There was also a sandwich and salad bar line that cost the same, but who wants to eat that?.)

But that's not even all -- the school set up its accounting system so that kids receiving the free or reduced lunch didn't have to get the actual entree -- they could buy a la carte items that added up to the normal cost of the lunch (in retrospect, that's probably not legal). Three orders of French Fries paid for by the taxpayers and a coke bought from the machine (that was kept on all freaking day because of the contract).

[TheMightyFavog]

7. Don't forget...

I know of schools who are letting Pizza Hut and McDonald's into their cafetirias just so they can get some extra money.

[CO Liberal]

2. When I Was in Fourth Grade (1962-63)....

...at Collinsville Elementary School in Morris Township NJ, the principal (Mrs. Randall) decided that us kids weren't getting enough nutrition. So she mandated that all sandwiches made in th cafeteria would have one slice of white bread, and one slice of whole wheat.

Some kids complained to their parents, who complained to Mrs. Randall. But she was a tough old bird, and wouldn't budge. So every sandwich we had that year was white bread on one side, and whole wheat on the other.

[candy]

17. I love your whole wheat story--

but Mrs Randall wouldn't get away with that now.Children have "rights".you know.

My 5 kids were in elementary school in the sixties and,as a mother I would have told the kids "If Mrs Randall wants it that way,that's the way we'll do it,she's the teacher".

Remember that awful white Wonder Bread that kids loved with peanut butter and marshmallow?I made 10 of those sandwiches a day for the kids-----yuk!!!!

[WMliberal]

3. mein gott!!

education news from georgia that isn't a throwback to the middle ages.
I just saw the movie "Supersize Me," which talked about how much sugar and high fat diets are plaguing our nation's schools. I wonder if this administrator had seen it too.

[eyesroll]

4. What does this "sugar-free school" entail?

Is the principal reviewing the lunches parents pack, and banning sugar from them? That's probably overstepping. Keeping sugar out of the vending machines, school-provided lunches and off the bus (we weren't allowed to eat anything on the bus, ever) is probably a good idea.

My first-grade teacher would routinely go through everyone's lunches, and send home notes for every student who had more than one "no-no" food. Problem was, just about everything was a no-no. White bread. Jelly. Sweetened peanut butter -- so a PB&J made with Skippy would be three no-nos right there. (Natural, no-salt peanut better with 100% fruit spread or sliced bananas on whole wheat was OK.) Chips, cookies, etc. were also bad.

My lunches were usually some sort of packaged lunch meat (or occasionally PB&J) on my grandfather's bakery bread, chips, carrot sticks and a piece of fruit, with six cents in the lunch box for milk. Reasonably balanced. I still got the "no-no notes." The principal finally made my teacher cut it out after parents complained.

[tigereye]

10. my son's small private school

has a "living lunch" program based on the Alice Waters one in Berkeley. They actually had some kind of peanut butter sushi one time! Not sure you would see that at Chez Panisse. :)

It is a good thing at lunch time and I have heard the kids are calmer, although actually the sugar = hyperactivity thing is a myth. They are going to grow more foods and be more aware of what they eat. But I am not sure people should overdo it, or make it "mandatory."

[candy]

12. Peanut butter sushi wouldn't be allowed in my grandaughter's school

It is a "peanut free school"

[tigereye]

13. right, the peanut problem

I love peanuts, I would have been in trouble

[eyesroll]

15. Living Lunch programs are great

I'm not a parent, but I do go to farmers markets quite frequently, and I see little kids helping their parents pick out the vegetables. I think if kids are involved in their own food preparation, seeing where it comes from and making choices, they'll be more likely to want to eat new things. I know I was more interested in eating the weird-looking stuff my dad made if I helped peel the carrots or whatever. (My dad is a bit of an experimental cook -- most of it's pretty good; some of it's not.)

[tigereye]

16. my son is a picky eater

and the program has encouraged him to eat stuff that my husband and I couldn't, so that has been good. He goes to a progressive/"hippie" type school and the Headmaster actually went to the Berkeley school when he was on vacation to see how they did things. That was cool.

[candy]

5. Duxbury,Mass-no birthday party cupcakes anymore--

at the Chandler School.

I'm glad my kids are grown up and had a chance for some fun before the "nannies" took over.

And no,none are fat,nor are my grandchildren.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. By the way, the article doesn't say

whether the principal banned birthday parties or not.

Oh, and couldn't she allow diet sodas?

[trof]

11. Kinda feel the same way.

I admire the principal's intentions, but it sounds a bit over the top to me.

[AngryAmish]

8. Typical Education Nazi

Ever wonder why "zero tolerance" policies are so popular in schools? There seems to be a totalitarian gene that becomes expressed in graduate education schools.

Kids should be allowed to eat what their parents allow them to eat. It is none of her business. What a busy-body.

And those statistics - I can't think of a more suspect set of statistics because of the self-reporting nature of the information.

[NewHampshireDem]

19. ...

[Servo300]

14. Somebody has.....

far too much time on thier hands!!

:eyes:

[Book Lover]

18. I see both sides here

Insofar as the principal is in charge of what is sold in the school (OK, in some places she is not, but bear with me), this is just fine. In fact, I applaud it. However, the stories I am reading here of teachers poking into kids' lunchbags, and making whole schools peanut-free, to me these go too far. Yes, I of course understand that peanut allergies are life-threatening, but to say my kid can't eat PB&Js at school because of someoen else in a different grade is overreaching.

Yet one more reason I am happy with our decision to homeschool.