4 ms·

When I went to school in the 80s and 90s (I live in Australia), our parents had to send us to school with our own lunch. We had cafeterias but they were by and

When I went to school in the 80s and 90s (I live in Australia), our parents had to send us to school with our own lunch. We had cafeterias but they were by and large for treats not for day to day lunch. I don't understand why taking their own lunch is not an option if the food served is so abysmal?

Renaud 11y ago
The issue with kids having lunch boxes prepared by their parents is that the kids are completely dependent on their parent's abilities to serve them a balance diet. They don't get a chance to try and discover anything else.
- reddytowns 11y ago
  A bigger issue with trying to force meal choices is that you are then attempting to raise the kid instead of allowing the parents to do so. Just because you don't agree with how a parent decides to feed their child, doesn't give you the right to arbitrarily take away their choice.
  - pbhjpbhj 11y ago
    >Just because you don't agree with how a parent decides to feed their child // It's not a simple decision - here in the UK I would have my kids eat school meals most days (perhaps miss the meal they anticipate to be least appetising and instead make their own). Instead they have packed lunch [aka bagged lunch] nearly every day because we can't afford the school dinner. I'm afraid it is really necessary to provide a decent school meal for many children in order to ensure they have some chance at a moderately healthy meal once a day.
  - Renaud 11y ago
    You always have the option of preparing food to your kids. If you feel what you give them is better than what they get at school then of course, it's a no brainer. On the other hand, if it's chore to take the time to prepare and cook their meals, and if school was presenting an affordable alternative, why wouldn't use it? No-one is forcing the kids to eat at school, no-one is taking away the parent's choice.
- ryan-allen 11y ago
  Call me daft but feeding their child is the kind of thing that parents typically do school or no.
analog31 11y ago
From the article: The top four sources of calories in the average American child’s diet are grain-based desserts, pizza, soda and sports drinks, and bread. One-third eat fast food every single day. More than 90 percent don’t eat enough vegetables. And each year, our children are bombarded by around $2 billion in child-directed food and beverage advertising, much of which promotes the least healthy products. If the kids bring their own lunches, those lunches will be crap. I can supply some anecdata on this. My mom taught high school and observed what the kids brought to lunch. I saw it when I did things like chaperone for field trips when my kids were in grade school. One kid's lunch was a sack of cookies. And if you want to be a snob for a while (disclaimer: I'm a bit of a snob), look at what people put in their shopping carts at the supermarket. And it's quite noticeable that affluent people buy seemingly healthier food, and are much less obese, likewise for the lunches that their kids bring to school and the physical condition of those kids. And it carries over into adulthood: A large fraction of my colleagues eat restaurant food for lunch, at least a couple times a week. The vast bulk of restaurant food is a pile of sugar, fat, and salt. In my view, the US is not a fancy food country, and what works for us might not be fancy food, but teaching people how to prepare healthy food with modest ingredients. For instance I suspect that a sandwich and an apple would be a vast improvement over what most kids eat for lunch. That's all I ever got in the lunch that I brought from home as a kid. When I got old enough, it was my job to make my own sandwich.
- rezistik 11y ago
  Healthy food is more expensive both in time required for prep and materials. That is why affluent people seemingly buy healthier food. When you grow up poor, or live poor you don't have as much time or mental energy to properly diet.
  - analog31 11y ago
    Indeed. Despite my snobbery, I appreciate that it's not a purely moral issue. And I suspect that an effect of mental energy is being able to withstand marketing and cultural forces, peer pressure, etc.
  - knughit 11y ago

Renaud 11y ago

The issue with kids having lunch boxes prepared by their parents is that the kids are completely dependent on their parent's abilities to serve them a balance diet. They don't get a chance to try and discover anything else.

reddytowns 11y ago
A bigger issue with trying to force meal choices is that you are then attempting to raise the kid instead of allowing the parents to do so. Just because you don't agree with how a parent decides to feed their child, doesn't give you the right to arbitrarily take away their choice.
- pbhjpbhj 11y ago
  >Just because you don't agree with how a parent decides to feed their child // It's not a simple decision - here in the UK I would have my kids eat school meals most days (perhaps miss the meal they anticipate to be least appetising and instead make their own). Instead they have packed lunch [aka bagged lunch] nearly every day because we can't afford the school dinner. I'm afraid it is really necessary to provide a decent school meal for many children in order to ensure they have some chance at a moderately healthy meal once a day.
- Renaud 11y ago
  You always have the option of preparing food to your kids. If you feel what you give them is better than what they get at school then of course, it's a no brainer. On the other hand, if it's chore to take the time to prepare and cook their meals, and if school was presenting an affordable alternative, why wouldn't use it? No-one is forcing the kids to eat at school, no-one is taking away the parent's choice.
ryan-allen 11y ago
Call me daft but feeding their child is the kind of thing that parents typically do school or no.

analog31 11y ago

From the article: The top four sources of calories in the average American child’s diet are grain-based desserts, pizza, soda and sports drinks, and bread. One-third eat fast food every single day. More than 90 percent don’t eat enough vegetables. And each year, our children are bombarded by around $2 billion in child-directed food and beverage advertising, much of which promotes the least healthy products. If the kids bring their own lunches, those lunches will be crap. I can supply some anecdata on this. My mom taught high school and observed what the kids brought to lunch. I saw it when I did things like chaperone for field trips when my kids were in grade school. One kid's lunch was a sack of cookies. And if you want to be a snob for a while (disclaimer: I'm a bit of a snob), look at what people put in their shopping carts at the supermarket. And it's quite noticeable that affluent people buy seemingly healthier food, and are much less obese, likewise for the lunches that their kids bring to school and the physical condition of those kids. And it carries over into adulthood: A large fraction of my colleagues eat restaurant food for lunch, at least a couple times a week. The vast bulk of restaurant food is a pile of sugar, fat, and salt. In my view, the US is not a fancy food country, and what works for us might not be fancy food, but teaching people how to prepare healthy food with modest ingredients. For instance I suspect that a sandwich and an apple would be a vast improvement over what most kids eat for lunch. That's all I ever got in the lunch that I brought from home as a kid. When I got old enough, it was my job to make my own sandwich.

rezistik 11y ago
Healthy food is more expensive both in time required for prep and materials. That is why affluent people seemingly buy healthier food. When you grow up poor, or live poor you don't have as much time or mental energy to properly diet.
- analog31 11y ago
  Indeed. Despite my snobbery, I appreciate that it's not a purely moral issue. And I suspect that an effect of mental energy is being able to withstand marketing and cultural forces, peer pressure, etc.
- knughit 11y ago