Posted by Dr. Beth Steinhauer on June 2, 2006, at 12:16:43
In reply to Re: Well-Intentioned Food Police... NY Times artic, posted by Racer on May 31, 2006, at 23:20:47
I agree with you, and with the perspective of the essayist. Food allergies are one thing, and sometimes when kids have potentially lethal food allergies, schools must set guidelines to protect the safety of those kids. However, I share your concerns about limiting access to seconds, etc. We DO have a serious obesity problem in this country, and more and more children are affected. It makes sense to make accessible healthy, nutritious, and yummy foods for all kids, to make it less likely that they'll subsist on soda and French fries. It also makes a lot of sense to me for ALL of our kids to get more active. We know that TV and computer games have contributed to increased childhood obesity, and it's just good preventive medicine for all kids to be active and fit.
The reason I posted this link is that I share your concern (and the journalist's concern) that well-meaning school and public health authorities may inadvertently reinforce some problematic concepts, e.g. "good" and "bad" foods. I also have some concerns about handing out kids' BMIs with their report cards. ES
poster:Dr. Beth Steinhauer
thread:650968
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20051009/msgs/651929.html