Cheap now, but costs lives later

Is it any wonder there are so many fat kids today?? The stuff schools feed kids is absolutely atrocious. And why do they feed it to them??

Because carbs are cheap. Cheap food now, adds up to paying a huge price later in life with the staggering health problems brought on by obesity.

No, it's not just video games and computers that are making kids fat nowdays. The lunches at schools and daycares amount to little more than greasy starch on a plastic plate.

It's sickening.

Having just started a summer job teaching at a daycare, the lunches I've observed are enough to make dear Dr. Atkins roll over in his grave. Today, for example, the children had burritos (starch-thickened pinto bean paste with a little spice rolled in a flour tortilla), mashed potatoes, english peas and cranberry sauce. Top it off with milk, then apple juice and pudding for snack time and you've got yourself a literal butt-load of starch and sugar.

Other days have been little better with menus such as pork patties swimming in sugary barbeque sauce, white bread, macaroni and cheese, green beans and apple sauce. With no seasoning on the green vegetables served, the kids won't touch them with a 10-foot pole.

Regular school lunches are no better! Corn dogs, tater tots, and pizza are regular menu items, to say nothing of the daily servings of cookies, ice cream or cake that are readily available. Sure, there's usually salad and fruit, but the children are loading up on starch!

We're already seeing a marked increase in childhood diabetes, and I fear it will get worse before people wake up and realize we are CARBING OUR CHILDREN TO DEATH.

The lunches parents send for their children are rarely any better. Trix yogurt or Gogurt for kids which is starch-thickened and full of sugar, white bread sandwiches, chips and the most God-awful food product to come down the pike in a long time - fruit roll-ups. Plasticky, sugar-soaked, chemically preserved fruit bits on a sheet of wax paper. Yum, yum. Then, just for kicks, wash it down with a big ol' honking cup of Hawaiian punch which is actually syrupy, artificially-colored water with a splash of real fruit juice to ease your conscience.

When I was in elementary school in the '70's, there was no ADHD. I firmly believe the cause of so many problems with behavior and attention span now is due to feeding children loads and loads of sugar and starch everyday. Coupled with more sedentary lifestyles, this is a recipe for disaster.

It's time for this to end. Parents, WAKE UP. Read some lables. Educate your selves. Your children's healthy future starts NOW.