Parents Need to Closely Watch Kids’ Table Matters
Mom and Dad may be watching their cholesterol, laying off the salt and eating plenty of fiber, but they aren’t paying such close attention to what their children eat, says Victoria Leonard.
“Adults have no idea how badly kids are eating,” says Leonard, who directs the Childrens Nutrition Project for the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.
Parents may assume that their children are too young to worry about such diet-influenced health problems as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease.
Not so.
A recent study by the Irvine Health Foundation and UC Irvine found that one-third of fourth-graders tested had cholesterol levels above 176--so high that dietary changes were recommended--and one in 10 had levels above 200. The national average for 10-year-olds is 160, according to Ed Kacic, executive director of the foundation.
Other studies have found heart and kidney damage resulting from high blood pressure in children as young as 10, Leonard says.
Children raised on fast food at home are making it tougher for school lunch program administrators to “sell” nutritional lunches.
“Kids’ expectations are part of the problem,” Leonard says. “They’re demanding French fries and burgers and pizzas.”
That’s because most of them get their nutrition education primarily from Ronald McDonald, she says. “McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast-food chains are the primary food educators in this country.”
McDonald’s spent $40 million in 1988 solely for children’s television ads, according to the school nutrition report. A decade ago, the federal government spent half that amount for its Nutrition Education and Training program, but now that program’s budget has been slashed to $7.5 million.
“Children reared from the age of 2 on cheeseburgers and French fries expect ‘fast food’ from their schools,” the report states.
At too many schools, the children have alternatives. “Most of them have access to vending machines with pizza, soft drinks and other unhealthy foods,” Leonard says. “So even if the school lunch program is serving chicken breasts and sauteed vegetables, the kids can skip that and fill up on junk food.”
Parents can help not only by setting a good example, but by exposing their children to healthy foods long before they start school.
“Kids are generally very responsive to any encouragement to eat better,” Leonard says. “When you’re a parent, you feel like you’re just talking into outer space, but if you expose them to it enough, it does make a difference.”
The CSPI also offers a handbook for parents on how to work with schools to improve their children’s lunches. For a copy of the handbook or more information on the report, contact the Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1875 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20009-5728, or phone (202) 332-9110.
