Don't fight the nanny state, we know what's good for you. Even if you think you know what's good for you, we know more and we know it better. So shut up and eat your peanut butter and tofu sandwich on whole wheat bread and drink your broccoli and carrot juice
Greenwich, Conn. School Bans Desserts
Principal Tired Of Seeing Healthy Lunches Thrown Away
GREENWICH, Conn. (CBS) ― More and more children are now facing obesity and Type-2 diabetes, so how do we get our kids to eat healthy, especially when they're not at home? As CBS 2 HD recently found out, there's a school in Greenwich that's trying to change the trend by banning certain food.
When asked if his mother was to allow him to eat any foods he wanted, what he would eat, 8-year-old James Budkins didn't hesitate. "Ice cream, bacon and fries," he said. When asked what his favorite food is, 10-year-old Willie Budkins pulled no punches. "Cookies, ice cream," he said.
Not in this cafeteria. Glenville School in Greenwich is trying to turn things around, starting this year ice cream and cookies are no longer sold in the cafeteria. Instead they have fruit and yogurt as an option. Parents were doing their best, sending their kids to school with healthy lunches or hoping they'd make decent choices if they were buying lunch at school. But when cookies and ice cream were offered two days a week, things changed in a hurry. "I was seeing children racing to get in line, abandoning their lunch, to get to the cookies to get to the ice cream," PTA co-president Alicia Budkins said. "So hopefully that won't happen anymore. They'll sit down eat their good lunch, and then they'll go outside and play."
While a lot of parents love the idea, you can imagine how the kids feel. "All the kids, especially all the boys in the 5th grade were shouting, 'we want ice cream, we want ice cream,'" 10-year-old Andrew Gilbert said.
Principal Marc D'Amico said he was tired of seeing healthy lunches thrown in the garbage, so kids could get to the sweet stuff, and says his new policy is fighting more than childhood obesity.
"When children have nutritionally sound lunches and breakfasts, they're better able to focus during the school day and their concentration levels are higher," D'Amico said. While a lot of kids miss the treats, some are slowly coming around. "I sort of wish we still had it, but what I do like about is it's getting kids to eat healthier," Gilbert said.
And that's the lesson teachers are hoping will last a lifetime. Parents can pack anything they want in their kids' lunch, but they've all received the school's wellness policy that encourages them to go for healthy snacks.
