South Beach Diet

So I was watching the news the other morning and I saw a story that caught my attention. A school in Florida is putting their students on the South Beach Diet. Huh?

Now don't get me wrong, I think South Beach is a great diet. I lost twenty pounds on it! However, I really don't believe it is called for in this situation. The school is claiming that since their students' parents haven't done anything to help solve the child obesity problem in this country, that they will take the responsibility upon themselves and put their students on a diet.

I have a few issues with this theory.

First, while thinking of this story, keep in mind that not every student eats a school lunch. Some parents actually pack their lunches for their children. This means that the school cannot legally regulate their meals. It also means that these children can eat whatever they want (cookies, soda, chips, bananas, fruit roll up, etc.) as long as they bring it from home. What a great way to circumvent the new rule; don't like the food now offered at school, bring your junk food from home. Brilliant!

And what about those students who don't brown bag it? One could think that the school to deliberately targeting them. There are a majority of kids who eat school lunches because their parents don't have time to pack their lunches or they are on a school lunch program where they get free or discounted lunches because their parents need the assistance. Is the school saying that this specific group of parents are practicing bad parenting? I remember going to school and most days I bought my lunch, (the chaplupa was my favorite) but there were times when I hated what the school was offering so I brought my own. This meant that the night before, I would have to make my own lunch. (Shock! Horror!) It wasn't because my mother was a bad parent and she didn't care what I ate for lunch, it was because she wanted be to learn to be responsible for all my decisions. To this day I still have to make that decision. If I want to bring my lunch to work, I have to make it the night before. (This is why I eat in the cafeteria)

Second, when I was in school we did in school fundraising. We would sell candy in class to the other students and use the money to fund choir trips. (The easiest fundraiser ever) This made us tons of money. So does this now mean that this kind of fundraising is no longer permitted or are the students allowed to continue as long as they don't sell to other students? Do all future fundraisers have to be South Beach Diet approved? What about Girl Scout cookies? Those certainly aren't SB approved.

Third, when did it become the school's responsibility to put their students on a diet? Is this really a good, long term solution or are we just going for the quick fix? What happens when these students enter high school and all of a sudden no longer have to eat at school? They can simply drive over to the nearest fast food joint and scarf a cheeseburger. Have we really helped them or just prolonged the obesity? If the school was so concerned about the rate obese children in the country, why not require a class on nutrition? Make it part of physical education instead of playing dodgeball or handball for forty minutes a day and teach it every year to build a clear understanding of the basics. Besides, isn't high school the time when good nutrition is most important? In elementary school you have recess, lunch and P.E. were you get to run around and expel all the energy and burn some calories; in Jr. High you have lunch and P.E. It is in high school where P.E. can be waived and is only required for two of the four years and where students have more freedom to decide what they want for lunch. What about these kids? Will the schools have to resort to Gestapo tactics to make sure all their students are eating the right things?

I could go on and on, but I haven't the time right now. I just wanted to make you think and start a few discussions. This is just one step in a very slippery slope. My fundamental problem with this issue that one body of authority is trying to impose their view of good nutrition and proper eating habits on an entire group of people. I just have one final question that even if you don't agree with anything else I have said, you at least think about this. What happened to the freedom of choice and personal responsibility?

Just a little food for thought. :)