IT appears the newest trend in parental competition is who can produce the most elaborate or expensive lunch for their school going kids.
For some, this means two deep fried chicken legs and an adult sized portion of french fries from a fast food outlet coupled with 500 mls of a fizzy drink of
choice. Other parents go further by packing half a chicken – yes half a chicken- and a big bowl rice for their children to take to school. Not that
the child will consume all this food, but it is part of the intricate mummy wars that play out everyday in some schools to show the disapairity between
‘feast or famine’ households. I’ll be quick to say that such scenarios usually occur at schools (mainly private and expensive) frequented by kids from medium to high income homes.
While this rising trend can start to feel a little bit like a new round of the mummy wars, I also have to chuckle because of how drastically different this all is from how I grew up.
I went to a Government school (Kansesnshi Primary School) from garde one to seven in the mid 80s before moving to another public school in the early 90s for my secondary school education.
While in primary school, it was common for school mates to produce sweet potatoes, boiled maize or even a piece of boiled pumpkin to munch on during ‘breaktime’. The rare and should I mention occasional pie or susage and chips would make one the hero of day on the play ground.
Most kids today would refuse to show their faces at school with a cob of maize or a sweet potatoe for a snack. They want chips. They want hungraian susages, pizza and boxes of hungry lion for lunch at school. But are the new trends healthy for kids? What options do parents have to ensure the kids eat healthy not only at home but school as well? An iniative by to encourage a healthier lifestyle for children called Lets Move was launched by US first lady Michelle Obama. (I recommend a visit to the website www. Letsmove.gov)
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report, if American children don’t get their weight in check, their anticipated health problems will significantly shorten their lives, and make them the first generation in the nation’s history to die at younger ages than their parents.
This is also true of how our society in Zambia is now evovlving. We have malls popping up everywhere. Fast food joints are a dime a dozen.
Why should healthy school food matter to every one of us? The amount of money you make has nothing to do with it. My parents were never rich but my mother never skimped on giving us good, healthy food. Its a culture, a lifestyle choice not if you are rich or poor. The Lets Move website puts things in perspective.
Thirty years ago, most people led lives that kept them at a healthy weight.
Kids walked to and from school every day, ran around at recess, participated in gym class, and played for hours after school before dinner.
Meals were home-cooked with reasonable portion sizes and there was always a vegetable on the plate. Eating fast food was rare and snacking between meals was an occasional treat. Today, children experience a very different lifestyle. Walks to and from school have been replaced by car and bus rides. Gym class and after-school sports have been cut; afternoons are now spent with TV, video games, and the internet. Parents are busier than ever
and families eat fewer home-cooked meals. Snacking between meals is now commonplace.
Thirty years ago, kids ate just one snack a day, whereas now they are trending toward three snacks, resulting in an additional 200 calories a day. And one in five school-age children has up to six snacks a day.
So what can be done? Instead of packing a packet of munchos worth 50 ngwee why not a banana? They cost about the same amount of money. Instead of fizzy drinks buy more milk. It is worth the time for parents to research or talk to a qualified nutritionist on what is the best and healthiest food kids can eat at school. Don’t get me wrong, th occasional fast food treat is welcome and enjoyable. Don’t just make it the lifeblood that fuels your kids. For comments and contributions email: norma.siame@gmail.com