Some don't eat at all and others, saying they are in a hurry and don't have time for anything more, purchase a soda pop and a candy bar from the vending machine and hurry down the hall. And, on the sly, a few probably manage to make it to a nearby fast-food restaurant or grocery store to buy whatever they want for lunch despite the rules of a closed campus.
An hour or so later, just up the road at Iditarod Elementary, school lunches are a little more orderly, a little more controlled. Lines of children file into the cafeteria where they choose either a hot lunch or a "peanut-butter pack" to take back to their classroom. The hot lunches come straight off the rotating menu, which on this particular Wednesday calls for a chicken-fried beef patty, mashed potatoes and gravy, orange wedges, blueberry pan bread and milk -- plain, chocolate or strawberry. The "peanut-butter pack" offers graham crackers, peanut butter and a fruit roll-up instead of the main entrŽe.
 From left, Nichole Shanigan, Teddy John, and Alex Makitrin walk through the lunch line at Iditarod Elementary School Wednesday morning. Photo by WILLIAM WOODY/ Frontiersman. |
Regardless of whether they bring or buy their meals, it is clear these children aren't necessarily eating just or all of what is in front of them. One third-grade boy says whenever he can he works a deal with a classmate to trade his apple from home for a sticky cinnamon bun the school serves. Other students admit they don't always eat their fruit and vegetables, but one little girl says her mom checks to see what she's eaten from her home-packed lunch.
Despite the obvious differences between these two lunch scenes at an elementary versus a high school, there are some striking similarities. Ask either the teens or kindergartners about healthy choices, and they'll say the same -- apples and salads are examples of the kinds of food they should be eating. Ask either group what their favorite food is, and the answer often comes back in unison ... pizza!
And so a nationwide dilemma is revealed in the Mat-Su Valley. What should our children be eating? What are they eating? And who is responsible?
An epidemic
strikes home
During the past decade, the national media has highlighted a growing problem of obesity among America's children. According to the USDA, the percentage of children who are overweight in this country has doubled since 1970. Today, 1 in 5 children is overweight or obese.
Some of the resulting problems are readily apparent -- overweight children are likely to be overweight adults, in part because eating habits established during childhood are often formed for a lifetime. Some more insidious problems are not as well known -- in addition to increasing the risk of stroke, heart attack and other chronic diseases later in life, obesity is leading to more cases of diabetes among children. In the past, Type II diabetes was often referred to as "adult-onset diabetes" because it developed later in life, often due to obesity. Today, Type II diabetes is being diagnosed in children as young as 4 years old, according to the USDA.
"It is very clear that what we have is an increase in the number of children who are obese," Surgeon General David Satcher said in a 1998 statement. "So we do have an epidemic ... We are not just talking about something that is an abstract phenomenon. We are talking about something that relates specifically to a definable public health problem."
Alaska does not appear to be an exception. While there is not much in the way of statistics, local health care officials believe the Mat-Su Valley is probably
in line with the national numbers.
"The trend is evident here as well," said local pediatrician Dr. Milton Lum. As on a national scale, Dr. Lum says he sees a growing number of cases of Type II diabetes and long-term health problems related to being overweight.
"Imagine, dying of a heart attack or stroke at 35 or 40?" Dr. Lum said. "We're going to see more and more of that."
Iditarod physical education teacher Kevin Dearborn has also observed the growing rates of obesity in the Valley.
"It's no more here than at other schools, but it is a concern," Dearborn said as he herded a group of students out of his gymnasium in time for lunch.
Dearborn sees the problem as relating to better technology that has made food cheaper and more accessible to most people and has made play more sedentary through video games and movies.
Some parents and health care officials, however, blame more than just society as a whole. Some point the finger directly at schools, saying they should be setting an example, teaching children healthy lifestyle choices and offering foods that fit into that lifestyle.
School lunch -- friend or foe
Dr. Lum pulls no punches if you ask him about what is being served in local cafeterias.
"The school lunch program across the nation is terrible," he says. Full of fats, oils and sugars and lacking in high-fiber, nutritious foods, school lunches are designed around economics instead of health, Dr. Lum claims.
The USDA and local school nutrition leaders see it differently, however. With strict federal guidelines in place, they say, school lunches provide often the most consistently healthy food in children's lives. During the course of a five-day school week, the lunches stay below the guideline of 30 percent of the calories coming from fat and 10 percent from saturated fat.
Each lunch is required to have a certain number of servings of breads, meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables, and the lunches also provide at least a third of the Recommended Daily Allowances for protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories.
At the same time, Mat-Su school district nutrition supervisor Linda Stoll said her kitchen has made extra efforts to make meals healthy. They've added a breakfast program throughout the district and on a daily basis have worked to make all meals more nutritious.
She recalled using prune puree in brownies to lower the sugar content, and says that over time the amount of sugar in all cookies and sweets has been drastically reduced. Fried foods have been eliminated, except French fries. She said she tried baking them one year, but jokes she was nearly thrown out of her office for that.
Even Taco Bell, the only vendor currently in Mat-Su schools, meets USDA requirements, according to Stoll. And she is quick to point out that the pizza so loved by the students and often derided by adults also fits into the these federal guidelines -- it uses a small amount of decreased-fat cheese and so falls beneath the 30 percent fat cap.
"And pizza isn't a bad food," Stoll said, pointing out that a slice of pizza covers the bread, dairy, vegetable and protein groups.
And while some parents complain of the serving sizes, saying that their children aren't getting enough food for lunch, Stoll points out that the concept of "super-sizing" has actually bloated people's expectations of how much they should eat. School lunches are designed around the serving sizes recommended by health officials and the federal government.
As much as her critics, Stoll says she is aware of the health concerns and says she strives to go above and beyond just the federal requirements. But as with any food proprietor, she admits there are many pressures on a school lunch program, including the tastes and preferences of the customer and the bottom line.
The school lunch program receives no funding from the Mat-Su Borough or local taxpayers, and is instead entirely dependent on the federal government and the consumers.
Here in Mat-Su an elementary student can purchase a full lunch for $2.25. Stoll said rather than raising this price 5 cents or so each year, the district has instead waited five or six years and then raised it 25 cents at a time to simplify accounting.
The federal government chips in some money, currently 32 cents for every regular-priced lunch and $3.25 for each lunch for a child who qualifies for a free meal because of low family income.
At the same time, Stoll says her kitchen receives a certain amount of "commodities," items offered for free by the USDA if the school district chooses them. This program has been criticized by some who say it is a tool to support American farms and companies rather than offering healthy foods. But Stoll says that has changed a great deal in recent years. The commodities list no longer just includes red meats, cheeses and milk -- she can now choose low-fat chicken, fresh fruits and vegetables and other healthy items offered for free by the USDA.
The bottom line, however, is that the school lunch program has to be self-sufficient within the constraints of these revenue sources. And according to critics such as Dr. Lum, the program will never improve as long as America isn't willing to shell out the funds needed for better nutrition.
A mixed food review
Healthy or not, inexpensive or not, some say school lunches just aren't appetizing. Palmer parent Nancy Deslauriers compares them to airplane food.
"They're warmed up in containers and they're soggy -- everything is soggy and runs," Deslauriers says.
She said her children long ago began avoiding the cafeteria lunches.
"They just don't like them," the mom said. She said most days her children would prefer to have a sandwich from home compared to the beef patty, mashed potatoes and peas being served up.
Like many parents and teachers, Deslauriers recalls her own cafeteria days fondly, saying that the plentiful food was made from scratch in the school kitchen.
Such an approach doesn't appear to be on the Mat-Su's horizon, however. District officials are hoping a plan to build a larger central kitchen will make it onto a special election bond ballot this spring.
Currently, school lunches are cooked in a central kitchen at Iditarod Elementary and then trucked to individual schools. In outlying areas, such as Sutton and Trapper Creek, the meals are frozen and then recooked a week later at the individual school site. Some of the items, such as the chicken nuggets, are pre-made out of state. Others, such as many of the baked goods, are made from scratch in the central kitchen. All of this is designed to increase efficiency and save money.
But even within the financial and logistical constraints, Stoll said the kitchen strives to keep their customers happy. Each year, the nutrition department reviews which items appeared to be least popular and replaces them with new items, and they keep tabs on which foods children seem to like the most.
Stoll said one dilemma is often parents like different food from their children. Spaghetti and meatloaf may be favorites among adults, but Stoll said they've found children have different preferences. Perhaps surprisingly, the favorite among Mat-Su youngsters is brunch for lunch, which includes Belgian waffles, sausage links and canned fruit. Another favorite -- Italian dunkers, breadsticks that are dipped into spaghetti sauce. And, of course, pizza also tops the list of best-loved lunches.
Stoll said they've tried other, perhaps more diverse or healthy, foods such as stir-fry, but if no one buys it, they're forced to remove it from the menu. To try to get an accurate read on what students like, Stoll said the nutrition department frequently has classes assist in planning the annual menus.
In the schools, children and adults alike give a mixed review of the meals. Some adults agree that the pre-fab aspect of the lunches are less than desirable and say they yearn for a more home-cooked experience. But many teachers and staff members say they occasionally will purchase a meal, depending on what is being served.
At the high schools, students joke about how bad the food is, but then most eagerly stand in line for a tray of nachos or a bagel and salad.
Elementary students appear to be the least finicky. In a group of third-graders, the vast majority said they liked the meals, especially the Italian dunkers and the pizza. But on days when items such as chicken-fried beef patties are being served, teachers say they watch a lot of meals go uneaten.
Dr. Lum says he has one answer.
"The best thing is to have parents pack their children's lunches," he said. "That way they know what they're eating."
At the same time, however, parents will hear an opposing message from school lunch officials who say their offerings are among the healthiest options for children.
"School meals are a critical part of the healthy school nutrition environment, because they strive to meet federal guidelines for fat and saturated fat content, as well as protein and essential vitamins and minerals," according to an article on the USDA Web site. Students who eat school lunches are receiving age-appropriate servings and consume more fruits, vegetables and essential nutrients such as calcium than those who do not, the article argues.
A community dilemma
The forces at play are diverse and many -- consumers ranging in age from 5 to 18 who would rather eat pizza than tofu, parents who fondly recall their school lunches of spaghetti and meat loaf who are today watching their family's checkbook closely, a federal government with a dual purpose of promoting U.S. agriculture and providing healthy meals to children, a marketplace that promotes fast food and soda pop, a healthcare system that continues to change its mind about what is healthy and what is not, and a society struggling with the paradoxes of inexpensive, accessible food, sedentary lifestyles and climbing levels of obesity.
The school lunch program is at the center of this confusion. And while it could be endlessly debated whether the program is doing the best that it can now, both its supporters and critics agree more can and must be done to get America's children healthy.
Stoll says she would like to see the vending machines taken out of all local schools, and a bill currently moving through the state Legislature could make that a law. But, again, there are opposing forces. Vending machines, particularly those that sell soda pop, raise thousands of dollars each year for schools, and the money is used for everything from computers to field trips.
And at the same time it is unclear if removing the machines, and the source of revenue, will make any difference in the bigger picture. Won't children just bring soda pops from home, or drink them when they get there?
"We can keep the soda out of the schools, but then they go home to Soda City," Dearborn said. "It's got to be enforced at home as well."
This appears to be the one item of consensus among parents, health officials and nutrition experts -- the battle against obesity cannot be won on just one front. The message of exercise and healthy eating has to be reiterated, and demonstrated, both at school and at home.
"I think it's coming from everywhere," Stoll said. "As adults, we're giving kids really mixed messages."
She said adults might explain the food pyramid in class, but then walk through the hallways of the schools with soda pop or bags of chips in their hands. Parents tell their children to not eat so much junk food, but then reward their successes with sugary, fatty treats.
Everyone seems to recognize it is not an easy battle. Dr. Lum said he sees parents struggling with busy lives while trying to make the best choices for their families. Dearborn agrees.
"You can't blame them for stopping off at McDonald's once in a while," he said.
But is only through a united effort, involving schools, parents and the entire community, that eating habits can be changed for the better, Dearborn and others argue.
Without changes, the epidemic of childhood obesity is on a track to only worsen.
Comments
11 comment(s)wrote on Jun 9, 2010 3:28 PM:
Rosemary wrote on Jan 14, 2009 9:58 AM:
Student Rosemary M
9th:) "
alaska wrote on Nov 25, 2008 10:10 AM:
jane wrote on Sep 11, 2008 10:18 AM:
floridian wrote on Sep 5, 2008 1:23 PM:
Please, please take the bee hived, moose queen back to Alaska, back to her husband and kids she does not care about, AND KEEP HER!!
The US DOES NOT NEED another liar in the White House, or for the matter, anywhere in the DC Area.
Keep your moose queen Alaska!! She never quite tells the whole story which is too much like the current Bush administration. Gross! Gross! Gross! Both of you. "
April Taylor family wrote on Aug 15, 2008 2:38 PM:
bob wrote on Mar 18, 2008 11:13 AM:
akfjk wrote on Feb 21, 2008 12:50 PM:
Gloria Hafemeister wrote on Feb 19, 2008 3:08 PM:
Merlyn wrote on Dec 5, 2007 1:40 PM:
Annie Frank wrote on Nov 9, 2007 8:14 AM: