Last updated on 2013.11.27
You know Kristi Noem and the conservative movement are losing when they argue that government should hand out more food to kids.
Our Congresswoman's favorite mouthpiece blog tries to manufacture an argument against the nanny state from comments the Congresswoman heard hanging around with middle-schoolers in Pierre. Kristi and Pat miss a lot of points here. The biggest point they miss (aside from the fact that the meals we serve at school are hotter and healthier than what many kids get at home) is that one of the main complaints kids and administrators are making is that the new caloric intake guidelines are leaving some kids hungry.
I agree with that complaint. I want students to get all the food they need. Setting a single calorie standard for all students doesn't work. Some kids don't want or need to eat much. But some kids run cross-country, have high metabolism, and will burn all the calories they can get in a rushed 25-minute sitting. The solution is simple: give hungry kids more food.
But isn't that a liberal, pro-government solution? Shouldn't conservatives be arguing that kids ought to learn self-reliance and pack their own big lunches instead of depending on government to meet their needs? Doesn't school lunch just turn all these kids into Mitt Romney's loathed 47%?
Kristi and Pat's argument also shows why we don't let middle-schoolers run the government: they are illogical!
Some of the students, after talking to Noem, said they told the Congresswoman they didn't like the lunches. One said the food was "too healthy" and others said they never got enough to eat and threw away most of their food [Tony Mangan, KCCR News, quoted by Pat Powers, "Kids to Noem: New School Lunches Stink," Dakota War College, September 18, 2012].
We never get enough to eat, and we throw most of our food away... kids, do you see the problem here?
Let's do a little parenting reality check. If you set a decent meal on your child's plate, and the child declares it "too healthy" and throws it in the garbage, do you smile and hand your child a sack of chips and a triple-dip ice cream cone? I hope not. I hope you turn instead to those eternal words of parental and political wisdom: Eat your peas.
Schools should provide kids with all the peas and peaches and peanut butter and pulled pork sandwiches they can eat. And Kristi Noem really shouldn't try politicizing those peas... because she'll make herself sound like a bad mom and a bad conservative.
We never get enough to eat AND we throw most of our food away.
You can't make this up.
Next thing you know we will have Swiftboater Joel Arends coming out with Daugaard against unethical campaigning.
It's unclear if they think we are all idiots, or if they really ARE this dumb. Call it the Gant Quandary.
I've heard many of complaints, and maybe a few changes should be made. But at the same time I don't really remember any specific school whose students said they like their food. Looking back though, when I could eat 2 greasy slices of pizza, and cheeseballs as a 7th grader, maybe that wasn't the healthiest choice.
I like the general move for the K-8 group, but would like to see some changes made to the high school kids. By then I feel they are more knowledgeable to make their own lunch choices.
Two greasy slices of pizza is two servings of vegetables according to Kristi and her fellow legislators.
Let's see where they tell us pink slime fits into the food pyramid.
This whole thing is really funny. My oldest daughter told me she does not like the "new" pizza. Whole grain crust, more sauce, less fatty meat. She is a very picky eater and we send sack lunches most days with a sandwich, apples or raisins, some form of dairy, and sometimes chips or pretzels. She would eat this everyday if she could. But, we try to push her to eat her peas everyday. There are days she would rather protest than try new foods.
With that said, Kristi Noem should have said, "I am proud that our government is promoting healthier choices for our children. As a mother, I understand that not all kids like everything that will be served. But exposing our children to healthy foods is better than serving pizza and corn dogs everyday. I tell my children to eat their fruits and vegetables if they are still hungry and these kids need to be open to trying new foods. This program is a step in the right direction."
Instead, she is the mouthpiece of the party of NO. Since Michelle Obama is the one promoting this, she will say NO every time. Not because she doesn't believe in making meals at school healthier, but because it was Michelle Obama's idea.
School Lunch should NOT BE POLITICAL! Eat your fruits and veggies kids!
USDA has been subsidizing pink slime for school lunch for decades: Kristi and PP need to pick a lane.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/03/09/148298678/is-it-safe-to-eat-pink-slime
Interesting to me that this was a topic of discussion both here and in my local(ish) newspaper this morning:
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/new-akron-school-lunches-win-praise-from-usda-1.335522
Has the USDA decided it's time to tout the new nutritional standards as their "message of the week"?
Sounds like Undersecretary Concannon has heard fewer complaints at the table when he's sat down for breakfasts and lunches with students in other parts of the U.S. Given these anecdotal reports, do we have a case (or two) of selective hearing from government agents, each with her/his own agenda, or do we just have evidence that schoolkids in Akron, New Orleans, and Maine are just more adventurous eaters than those in South Dakota?
I've been thinking about the "politics of peanut butter" a lot lately since my fourth grader came home from school the first week and said "everyone's saying Michelle Obama took away their peanut butter." From what I've researched, the new menu is part of a partnership with DOD Fresh allowing schools to use local or regional DOD fresh food sources in public school lunches. I think it has to do with the obesity rate among young people wanting to join the military.
I've been making my kids' lunches ever since the day I was horrified by the package of chemicals called a "grilled cheese sandwich" they were serving. I couldn't bring myself to eat it and watched my child who loves red pepper strips, carrot sticks and frozen peas eat his. As a parent who often tells my kids "if you're hungry enough you will eat it" I'm confused and a little amused by the students' arguments as well as the idea of boycotting lunch because you're hungry.
Don't people want their tax dollars going toward good food? It's like the food stamp issue. Look at who really benefits, who lobbies the hardest against any changes to what one can purchase, and who is lobbying to get a piece of the food stamp pie. It isn't companies who make healthy food - it's the corn syrup-based processed food producers and fast food restaurants.
At my kids' school they used to offer white bread and peanut butter every day, which most kids would eat instead of the lunch being served. Now they don't have that option. I've also seen kids making soup out of ranch dressing and croutons; I'm not sure if that is still available. Maybe they should give kids more to choose from, but continue to make sure the choices are healthy, and maybe we need a national discussion about what real food is. I won't hold my breath.
Maybe there is some convergence of stories here? Chick-Fil-A to cater school lunches in exchange for a large contribution to the GOP to put down the insurgency? Ok, I'm kidding. I hope that doesn't give them any ideas, but if it works at the college level I'm sure the thought has crossed somebody's mind.
These school lunch changes shouldn't be a partisan issue. They are not producing the desired results and are leaving kids hungry. Under these new caloric standards, hungry kids can't grab that extra peanut butter sandwich from the lunch line they need to get them through the day. Far too much micromanagement from the feds. Not so different in nature from the micromanagement coming from the state with HB 1234. One-size policy doesn't fit all school districts or all hungry kids. There's only so much lettuce I can eat before I draw the line, and kids feel the same way. So maybe this is one opportunity for Kristi to join a bi-partisan group to undo this misguided big-government mandate (using Kristi spin) or to better feed hungry kids (using Democratic spin). "Eat your peas" is a line for the home dinner table.
I wouldn't call it micromanagement from the Feds when what we get at the state level is one of only three states to approve pink slime for school lunches in exchange for campaign dollars.
The ALEC/GOP model is that every government spent dollar should come with a campaign finance kick-back. That's the new definition of "free market".
Also, R, if you think fortified white bread and peanut butter is good for anybody you are sorely mistaken.
Why not give them Coke and Snickers instead? I'm sure they would like that better and it's just as healthy.
Schools buy the food, Justin. Not the state of South Dakota. And if you can't see the difference between peanut butter sandwiches and Coke/Snickers, I trust that your school board members and can. Ask them what they think of these new federal standards. Regardless of political party they are against them. You don't have kids, do you?
Oh please!
Is Kristi an operative for The Onion? Or has PP gotten that job to save his blog?
You can't make this stuff up!
Sadly, she is probably working a deal with the Governor's little ideologues to give the contract for all school lunches to Chick-Fil-A. Double win...'pleasingly plump' kids that can now make fun of the gay kids...you know, just to improve self esteem.
Did the reporters that covered this ask her if she had a better idea for the health of our children? Did they ask any of the dieticians in our health care systems what they thought?
If these kids were at home in any 'good' Republican household and said "these vegetables suck...give me a cookie"...well, I know what would have happened with my parents.
Thank God those kids can now call on Kristi to get cookies back into the 4 basic food groups...proving that the Dems are wrong in saying she hasn't accomplished anything!
Read Kristi's letter to the USDA...can't you just feel her concern for the children? She sounds like one of the "Housewives of Codington County."
http://www.ksfy.com/story/19538590/noem-questions-new-school-lunch-standards
For all those "reporters" that were transcriptionists for Kristi, I would challenge you to call on any healthcare professional and ask them what is best for our children. Deal - KSFY? Argus? Cap Journal? KELO? Mangan? Mercer?
If you talk to her again, tell her that there are 540 calories in that Big Mac you ate for lunch? Hell, you had room for an order of fries! Just think...a cookie and a Coke and they might not be hungry anymore.
PP and Kristi...congrats on the new positions with The Onion!
Yes, clearly the other parents here agree with your assessment. That's why you are the only one saying what you are saying.
And denying the political bribery that was involved in Congress deciding that a serving of tomato sauce is a serving of vegetables and why pink slime is only approved for students in 3 states where BPI does business is as ignorant as it gets. The schools buy the cheapest crap they can and are subject to a whole new level of kickbacks.
If you have kids, I bet they will be diabetic by 30 and I bet you are morbidly obese.
We should maybe give the kids a BK bacon sundae, which has the same amount of fat as 2 T of peanut butter instead.
I cannot believe that every health care organization in the state has not 'weighed in' on the crisis that is childhood obesity and the current and future cost to South Dakota.
Their silence tells me they either really don't give a crap or that politics is more important than kids.
Hello RC Regional...Avera...Sanford...St. Mary's...Huron Regional...Madison Community...Spearfish Regional et. al. What do you have to say about healthy kid lunches?
Wait...I might have been too quick on that one...I'm sure all the reporters have called them and they are waiting to break the story.
Better yet...Kristi is a "Major Prize Winner" (not sure if it came with a leg lamp or not) for being a great working mom.
Maybe she can tell us, based on her years of experience, what a good school lunch looks like.
Be a leader Kristi and jump in with your mom expertise!
Justin. You're looking for a bet, huh? You don't have kids. You don't know how the school lunch program works or how schools actually run their food programs. Kickbacks to schools huh. Prove your wild claim. You haven't bothered to check with anyone actually affected by this policy. You're attacking the messenger rather than dealing with the message. Me obese? Ya, right! No diabetes anywhere in my family either by the way.
None of your theses fit the facts on the ground, which you haven't bothered to research, or maybe don't even care about. Reminds me a bit of Dick Cheney starting wars based on contrived bull@#$%. Go talk to your school board members and report back to me. They are on the front line dealing with real parents and real kids on this issue. This means you'll have to figure out who they are.
Regardless of what some ignoramus says in comments here, this issue plays with South Dakota voters, and Kristi Noem is on the right side of it. Varilek better talk to parents and school boards and get on the right side of it too. The federal government limiting kids' calories to less than they need and forcing lettuce on them doesn't play in SD, and shouldn't.
Rorschach, to your point that this is an opportunity for Kristi to lead...well...enough said.
She is a good Republican and they don't lead. They sit in the balcony like the old curmudgeons on the Muppet Show and criticize and obstruct.
Want leadership out of Kristi? Good luck.
Of course, we could just make kids lose their appetite by reading this:
"Rep. Noem to Receive "Friend of Farm Bureau" Award"
http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=2206c46a-7745-4a73-bf6a-06609f026999
With friends like that...who needs enemies.
I can hear the announcement now.
"Attention Wal*Mart shoppers...if there is a South Dakota Farm Bureau in the store...we have found your credibility. You can pick it up in either of conveniently located restrooms."
Where did I make the point that this is an opportunity for Kristi to lead? I don't expect Kristi to lead anything, except the way to the Fox News camera. But Varilek better do his research on this issue rather than reflectively taking the opposite position of Noem, or he will end up shooting his campaign in the face like our own Dick Cheney here wants him to do.
I meant reflexively, not reflectively.
Ummm....Rorschach...ixnay on the kickbacksay...
"Sodexo to pay New York $20 million for school-meal rebate fraud"
http://grist.org/article/food-sodexo-to-pay-new-york-20-million-for-fraud/
Oh yeah...and that analogy about Varilek shooting his campaign in the face like Cheney. I'm thinking that there might be a more recent example that would be better...let me think about it a little more.
PS...Rorshach...here's what you said:
"So maybe this is one opportunity for Kristi to join a bi-partisan group to undo this misguided big-government mandate (using Kristi spin) or to better feed hungry kids (using Democratic spin)."
I erroneously made the jump to this as an opportunity for Kristi to lead.
Sorry.
Testimonial:
I'm on a diet right now.
Have lost 40 lbs in the last 4 months and have 30 - 40 more to go.
Got up to 265.
Not good. (Hey, I'm a big guy, but that was getting ridiculous.)
SD has a BIG problem with obesity. *raises hand*
And it's just as big of a killer as starving.
I'm all for kids getting enough to eat.
But we should be teaching them to eat the right stuff.
No sense waiting until you get old like me.
http://www.healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2011/release.php?stateid=SD
That's the opposite of kickbacks to schools, Jana. Up until now I thought it was Republicans living in an alternate universe. Jetson here was makign the point that schools are getting kickbacks. You attached an article saying schools in NY are being denied legitimate rebates. Apple, meet snickers. Orange, meet Coke.
I'll write really slowly just for you Jana. Noem needs to burnish her bipartisanship credentials because they are sorely l a c k i n g. This may be her chance.
Rorschach. Just checking, but am I the ignoramus you are referring to with this comment?
"Regardless of what some ignoramus says in comments here, this issue plays with South Dakota voters, and Kristi Noem is on the right side of it."
To answer your questions. Parent of 3. Have friends who are on school boards, in charge of school nutrition programs, registered dieticians and school lunch vendors. And yes, my kids have had fast food at the Golden Arches. Oh yeah...I've also done my homework on how the "system" works.
It is a real pleasure making you look like a fool, Rorschach.
First, provide a plausible answer to either of these questions:
Why is pink slime approved for school lunches in only three states, including SD?
Why did Congress vote that a serving of tomato sauce is a "serving of vegetables?
As far as kickbacks not occurring in schools, you are just plain wrong:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/6509199-418/former-suburban-schools-official-board-member-indicted-in-800000-kickback-scheme.html
http://www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2011/former-north-chicago-school-board-member-and-transportation-director-among-five-defendants-indicted-for-alleged-roles-in-800-000-kickback-scheme-involving-student-busing-contracts
http://www.joannejacobs.com/2012/06/the-dangers-of-education-technology/
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2012/09/17/263246.htm
http://sanclemente.patch.com/articles/no-charges-planned-in-alleged-coach-kickbacks
I guess you don't have google. If you did, you would probably also know that all of these states have far more transparency than we do here as well. And you probably would know about Pearson Publishing.
Can you breathe with your head down there in the sand?
Congratulations on your diet progress. I'm with the point you're making Bill. Take the candy machines and pop machines out of the school. But putting a cap on calories for kids that may be practicing football or running 3 miles with the track team before they get supper isn't the answer. At least not the right answer.
Sorry for the confusion Jana. You're not the ignoramus. I'm respectfully disagreeing with you. The ignoramus is the one making the wild claims and asserting that I'm a fat arse, which is clearly something an ignoramus would do.
When my multiple links of school kickbacks make it through moderation, I think we will see an ignoramus indeed.
Fair enough Rorschach. You are talking about her burnishing her bipartisan credentials and I'm talking about leading. (You don't have to go slow for my sake...I'll do my best to keep up.)
But since you brought up burnishing Kristi's bipartisan credentials...you do know that in order for her to burnish them...she would actually have to have bipartisan credentials...right?
So how exactly has Kristi been bipartisan? I'll wait...but go slow.
I agree that calorie caps aren't the "right answer". I don't think your solution of giving kids fortified white bread and peanut butter to stuff themselves to their own particular level of gluttony is healthy or responsible.
Thanks R. Looks like I'm not the only one (see link). I hear ya about athletes, etc. It's a balancing act for sure. No such thing as One Size Fits All. And yes, there some kids who get the only meal they'll eat in a day at school.
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/south-dakotans-losing-battle-of-the-bulge-report-says/article_e50d37de-a97c-55c4-a628-f223e9e22c69.html
p.s. How come Justin gets so cranky sometimes? Maybe a dietary problem?
Let's send him a pork chop. LOL.
I hope your links are to South Dakota examples, because Tea, SD isn't Chicago, and Lemmon isn't Orlando. There's just not enough volume or profit in school lunch programs here to fund kickbacks. If it helps you out and saves you some time I will concede that kickbacks are something that criminals do though, and there exist criminals everywhere.
No, our state doesn't have nearly the level of transparency as those states.
Next you will tell me Jason Gant has done nothing wrong because Marty Jackley says he investigated it.
You can also just look at Pearson and BPI and understand that there are kickbacks in our school system at the state level.
Let Kristi improve a little even if it makes her look a little liberal.
We all want Kristi to improve.
Aligning with Pat Powers to rail against school nutrition in a completely inept fashion because Michelle Obama is involved is hardly evidence of either improvement OR bipartisan credentials.
Thanks Rorschach,
The hard part for school systems is that their budgets are stretched way too thin and I think we are all in agreement that it's cheaper in the short run to put bad food on the lunch table than it is to put healthy food in its place.
My point is that for Kristi to ask middle school students what they think of their healthy lunch is the epitome of asking a question that you already know the answer to. Kind of like asking Joan Rivers if plastic surgery is OK.
Why don't we ask them if 9:00 pm is too early for curfew, or if there should be no TV or video games until homework is done, or maybe even if 7:45 is too early to start school. Won't even get into whether homework is fair or not.
This is our children's health we are talking about and it irritates me greatly that anyone would try and cut corners and focus on filling kids up as opposed to fueling kids up with the right fuel.
I really don't care much what the kids or administrators think as much as I care about what nutritional experts and pediatricians think.
If I knew my kids were dumping their veggies and then complaining about being hungry...let's just say my sympathy wouldn't go so far.
Nice job Bill!
So are you going to publish your diet plan and make the morning talk show circuit? You'd be great on The View! Any sneak peaks at the title?
Black Hills Belly Busters? Winnowing the Waist with a Wordsmith? Subtracting Pounds and Inches the Add-man Way? PX45? The Creative Guy Cleanse? or maybe This Sucks, but Trust Me You Will Feel Better Diet?
I'll buy the book, but I'm drawing the line if you come out with a Jane Fonda type workout tape with you in spandex...just saying.
Jana, maybe "The Lazy Man's Guide to Weight Loss?" Don't worry, exercise is not part of the formula, unless you want to count typing. LOL. I'm doing 1400 calories a day and cut carbs to around 100 grams. Got this little app on my iPhone so I can keep track. It's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.... thank goodness, or I wouldn't have done it. ;^)
The problem they are trying to fix is more of a result of a sedentary lifestyle than it is calorie intake. Kids have video games, computers, and every other thing under the sun so they don't have to be active. I just had this thing called outside. Growing kids need their calories, and if your kid is fat, don't blame the school. Once again, this is another task we set upon teachers and administrators to take over when parents should be doing it themselves.
DB, I think that's right. If you're not going to do much of anything, make sure one of the things you're not doing very much of is eating.
Like my good friend Bill, I too am on a diet. But I often go hungry and would gladly eat much of the middle school food that is going to waste. Why can't they package that up and give it out?
PS: Bill, I found a delicious low-carb gravy recipe you're going to love!
Amen, DB! I think other factors of kids being overweight are not walking to neighborhood schools, cutbacks in the number of physical education classes, and not allowing enough time to chew and eat properly at lunchtime. Some schools get less than 15 minutes by the time they sit down and eat, and that doesn't leave much time to go back for seconds at the fruit and vegetable bar.
Thank you, DB, for pointing out the extra tasks that teachers have had to take on over the last few decades. (Please remind Gov. Daugaard of that by voting no on Referred Law 14.) That said, I will be happy to continue encouraging kids to eat a good breakfast, bike to school, get some exercise, and put down their phones while driving.
Paula, I totally agree that schools should not rush lunch. I think Montrose gave kids 25 minutes when I was there -- that's not enough. Spearfish has 40, which is pretty good. I do what I can to get kids up and moving around during French class... though you might be surprised to hear how much they grumble when I shout, "Levez-vous!" and how hard it seems to be for them to simply stand and speak to each other for five minutes without leaning on a desk.
Bill, "The Lazy Man's Guide to Weight Loss" might sell...there's still those that are looking for the easy way.
But we're in a digital world so maybe we goose the sales with a downloadable new Droid/iPhone application called:
"Apps of Steel...the Fleming Way"
We're still not doing the Jane Fonda tights thing though.
How about a kicker that says "Confessions of a Lard Ad Guy." :-)
It would be nice if schools could go back to the type of lunches we had when I was in school. They were the good old fashioned home style meals. The cooks went in early enough that they peeled the potatos, cooked, and mashed them. We never had pizza, burritos, or anything like that. The meals were also served on heavy glass plates, and we had real forks, spoons, etc. If a kid wanted seconds they could go back and get them. I heard on the news today that some schools are charging an extra $3.00 for seconds. High school girls got free lunches for helping serve the meals, and middle school girls got free lunches for washing the dishes.
I like it. Hey you can even advertise with Cory...bet he gives you a deal.
When I was in high school, I trained on the swim team, and we got pretty serious with two-a-day workouts (6:30 to 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.).
Our coach served us milk and toast for breakfast at 8:00. Then we had a fairly decent lunch in school (not too much junk), and I suppose that I must have had seconds and maybe even thirds, which were free.
Then our family sat around the supper table and we had stuff like pot roast and potatoes and carrots, or pork chops and peas, or various casseroles, while my dad told stories about some of the weird patients he saw at work (Mayo Clinic) ... almost a "Leave it to Beaver" life.
My mother announced, when I was about 10 years old, that we would no longer have desserts after supper. I didn't mind. I just ate more good food.
But when you're swimming five to eight miles a day, you're going to need a whole lot of calories. By 7:00 p.m. I had accumulated a sizable deficit and I made up for it by eating a 12-ounce bag of jelly beans or "sour cherries" (but not chocolate; that made me nauseous if I ate more than a half pound at a time).
Stayed thin as a stick. But I'll bet I'd have been a better swimmer if they'd served us prime rib (by the pound) and broccoli (by the mixing bowl full) at lunch, and raisin bran and bacon and eggs at breakfast, along with milk by the gallon and oranges and apples and bananas and blueberries by the bucketful.
My parents just celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary, by the way. Perpetual monogamy. Dysfunctional family? Not ours.
And no one ever dreamed about restricting anybody's calories! (They did talk about laying down carbon on the polar ice caps to warm the earth, however, so that we could have longer growing seasons to feed the world's population. We've come a long way since then, eh!)
Just too much candy.
Oh well, it ain't a perfect world, innit? Guess the taxpayers in Minnesota just couldn't afford to feed all of us calorie-conversion machines enough fuel.
Bill, keep at that diet! It must feel great to be lugging around 40 fewer pounds all day. Is more exercise part of the regimen?
Actually, R, given the info in the RCJ article Bill submitted, which mentions that SD has the nation's lowest veggie consumption, "Eat your peas" evidently is being said enough at the dinner table. Once again, the public schools have to pick up the slack. "Eat your peas" is necessary public policy in South Dakota.
TWU, that same stat on our low veggie consumption may support the thesis that kids in SD are rebelling more against the new guidelines than kids in Ohio, whose parents perhaps encourage eating peas with a bit more regularity.
Every school district, every school board, every set of parents has the option of forgoing USDA school lunch program by establishing their own program without federal subsidies. In the meantime for older students and those with more need for calorie intake, the option of paying more for seconds should be a standing option. No different than if you pay more for an extra entree at a restaurant.
Well said, Charlie.
Elect this man!
If schools must choose between healthy food for the 99% or too much food for the jocks, they better pick the healthy food for the 99%. Having kids starving or gaining weight to fit wrestling categories should be a crime.
Schools need exercise programs for all students and much reduction in interschool athletics. Tremendous waste of money producing bad knees, concussions, and beer bellies as they age. Kids who think they are starving after eating healthy food probably already have a stomach too large. Their guts aren't going to shrink if they keep filling up and expanding their stomachs.
I only remember about two kids in our school with around 300 kids. Farm work then involved physical labor. Today, the slim kid is the exception rather than the rule. Some of the kids and their mama's are so fat they waddle instead of walk.
Actually, I was snarking off a bit.
I wanted to make a plug for more physical activity among school kids, not just fewer calories. Get more of them into sports, and keep up those "phys-ed" classes. Feed them healthier food too. Of course this will all cost money, but Charlie's idea is a good one: People who need more food can pay for it themselves.
Unfortunately, they may have to pay for their extracurricular sports, too ... but they should be encouraged to try out for something! (I don't think the South Dakota school system even has a swimming program. Pity.)
Unfortunately, I see our whole society evolving into a more and more unhealthy condition, both in terms of diet (too much junk) and physical activity (not enough). I keep having to go on "quests" for low-salt foods, low-sugar cereals, etc. ... thank God at least that Deadwood has a fine rec center.
They're pretty good about physical activity for the kids here in Lead-Deadwood. We have some great teachers and "phys-ed" instructors and coaches for them. I don't know about the food though. Never tried it.
Of course we could regulate everything ... you know, just mandate that people act responsibly and not poison or calorie-choke themselves ... force them ... coerce them! That's it! We need more laws! Achtung! Jail them if they do not obey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq3MSMaasV8&feature=plcp
Sorry. I get carried away sometimes. We do need to figure out how to deal with the obesity problem among our kids, no doubt about it.
Charlie: or mom and dad could just pack a couple extra granola bars for their big-eating kids. Good parenting isn't that complicated.
Another option for parents would be to not let the kids sit in front of the TV playing video games or at the computer doing anything but school work. Way back when I was a kid, even the kids that lived in town had chores to do when they got home from school.