I'm a teacher and can tell you that despite nationwide Wellness Policies, school lunches are still full of prepackaged, chemical ladened, high sodium foods. They also are still allowed to sell things like cookies, ice cream, and chips as long as they are "low fat." Schools offer veggies and fruit and in most cases the kids are required to take them on their trays. However, after years of cafeteria duty, I can tell you that 80% of the kids never touch the veggies, milk, or the fruit. They nibble at their main course (pizza, chicken nuggets, taco, pasta, etc) and then devour their dessert, chips, etc. Low fat foods are just as bad for you as high fat ones (because they tend to contain more sugar and sodium to replace the flavor lost in reducing the fat) if you consume to many of them or don't eat a balanced diet.
My students don't have lunch until 1:30 pm, so we have a snack in the morning. I encourage them to bring healthy snacks, yet parents pack chips, pudding, high-sugar kid yogurts, candy, cookies, etc. Now it wouldn't be so bad if the kids had 1 of these items at snack, but many children have 2 -3 items like this every day. It's gotten worse over the 14 years I've been teaching. It's sad.... even from a convenience standpoint, how much harder is it to throw an apple in a lunch bag rather than a bag or chips or cookies?
