Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
Pushing Junk Food Out of Schools

The Obama administration plans a massive drive this week to change the foods that schools offer to children – banning candy and sugary beverages from school lunch rooms and vending machines, in exchange for more nutritious fare.

And while the story the Times shares of Mrs. Almond and her candy cart is touching (though I imagine she can just as easily fundraise with anything else), you truly don’t realise how awful the junk-food-in-schools situation is until you spend time in a school. To that end, don’t miss the ‘Fed Up with School Lunch’ project – one teacher’s attempt to eat (and blog) school lunch every day for an entire year.

Just a head’s up, though: It’s disturbing.

Feb 08, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #

Kid Goes Into a McDonald's and Orders... Yogurt?

The trend among America’s youth of consuming unhealthy fast food seems to be shifting slowly but dramatically, with the ship now headed toward happier (and healthier) waters.

From the New York Times:

Chicken nuggets, burgers, fries and colas remain popular with the under-13 set, of course. But new market research shows that consumption of these foods at restaurants is declining, while soup, yogurt, fruit, grilled chicken and chocolate milk are on the rise.

This follows a recent report from the American Medical Association that childhood obesity appears to “have hit a plateau, after rising for more than two decades.” The NDP Group, which conducted this latest consumer research, says this shift toward healthier eating is likely due to a few things: Economics for one, at least partially. It’s simply a lot easier on the wallet to order and eat healthier foods on the go than it once was. (The increased popularity of Value Menu items and Subway’s “Five Dollar Footlong” deal are cited as reasons.)

But there is a second, fairly big reason for the shift: and it is that, quite simply, kids’ tastes and preferences are also changing. Kids as a national group are less interested in eating bad foods today; when given the choice, they’ll typically prefer foods that are healthier. But it wasn’t until only recently that healthy options have even been on the kids’ menu at most fast food places – and let’s keep in mind, it’s not often truly the kids’ choice to stop at a fast food restaurant in the first place. (Often the only options a parent might have to feed their family while juggling busy lives, sports practices, and piano recitals are to pack lunches for everybody beforehand, or succumb to the quick-and-easy Golden Arches amid scheduled stops; so it’s the Golden Arches.)

Kids largely then haven’t even had a choice about what to eat, up until very recently. Now, because fast food restaurants like McDonald’s and Burger King are starting to offer kids options beyond burgers and fries – with items like apple slices, salads, and yogurt – we see that kids are clearly making that choice for more healthy foods.

“We don’t know how many choices kids really make,” Dr. Birch said. “But my sense is that parents are much more likely to be hands-off in a restaurant situation and allow kids the freedom to make more choices.

“You go to these places where they offer healthy options for adults. But until recently, kids haven’t had the opportunity to choose the right thing.”

Score one for kids everywhere. And a big kudos to the adults who are finally realizing that, no, kids don’t naturally demand hamburgers and fries to eat, as they roll around in their own gluttony– instead, it’s the range of what adults and restaurants typically offer kids to eat that’s always been the problem.

Jun 16, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , :: #