A Teacher's Observations (2)

I can't believe the food some parents give their children to bring for snack/lunch. While I munch away on my apple, I feel horrified to watch little hands dipping into frosting and to see chocolate covered mouths - at 10:00 a.m. in the morning. At lunch, most kids throw away their sandwiches (which by the way are always made with white bread). Then they end up eating candy. During our afternoon snacktime, they all finish off their remaining sugary treats/drinks with sticky fingers and huge grins.

I don't think I ever threw away my lunch when I was a kid. I knew enough about starving children in Africa to know that I better clean my plate, lest I become one. I knew that I better eat my bread crusts if I ever wanted curly hair. I knew that if I didn't drink enough water, I might dry up. Or so, my mom told me. Even though I pretty much ate the same thing day after day after day in elementary school, I was always happy with what I had. True, I sometimes looked at friends lunches and wished I could enjoy the same happiness they were enjoying... but, wasn't mine better because my mom actually cared about what would be going into my body? Having a super health conscious mom helped instill a lot of good healthy eating habits in me, and for that, I feel quite grateful.

I wonder what goes through most mothers' heads when they pack their son or daughter's snack/lunch. Do they ever think that 5 chocolate chip cookies a day is too much? That coke will rot their teeth? That a bag of chips does not equal a proper balanced meal? And to think that when I was that age, I maybe ate a cookie like once a month. That coke was reserved for birthday parties and special occasions, and that chips were only for school trips.

I feel as though I'm witnessing the beginning steps towards diabetes and childhood obesity.

Meanwhile, my apple is looking quite boring.