On the front page of today’s local paper was an article entitled “Preschoolers seem to know their junk food.” It reported on a new study which “found that salt, sugar and fat are what kids most prefer.” That comes as no surprise. I read through the article while eating my morning bowl of oatmeal and found myself pausing on the following quote by the study’s co-author, T. Bettina Cornwell, a U. of O. professor: “Because kids are not feeding themselves, it falls to parents to help their children develop preferences for healthy foods.”
The quote refers to young children; the study targeted 3 – 5 year olds, but still I found myself linking the study’s findings to what I see happening in my daughter’s school cafeteria.
On Wednesdays I volunteer in the first grade classroom right before lunch period. I stay afterward to walk 12 – 15 first graders to the lunch room and stand with them while they wait in line to punch their 4 digit number into a key pad, pick out their main dish, and then add any extras they choose from the salad bar.
Wednesdays always seem to be pizza days. There are usually two or three choices for their main dish: cheese pizza, some sort of meat sandwich or burger, and then occasionally a third option which I don’t recognize and no-one ever picks. The children are left on their own (bless the kindergarten teacher who stays with her children and helps them through the whole process) to add whatever they like. Usually this is pineapple chunks. Most children grab a carton of milk. Some pick it up, then set it down to get their pineapple and forget it ever existed.
Some days the offerings at the salad bar are more extensive. Today was a good day with fresh apples (gone halfway through the first grade line), oranges and kiwi. I have never seen a child choose the raw broccoli chunks though they are there every Wednesday. For the first time this year I saw raw carrots. Chickpeas are surprisingly popular.
It is impossible as a mother and a foodie to not coax a child into adding something to their plate besides a single slice of “Big Daddy” pizza. I have found that the closer I stand to them (even if I say not a word) the more colorful their plates leave the line. Today I helped serve pineapple in hopes of deterring the shoving which occurs when a group of 4 or 5 are all spooning sweets onto paper plates. At all costs one must avoid any comingling of foods. Pineapple must not touch the pizza! I pointed out the kiwi to a group of girls who hadn’t noticed the new offering, and asked a boy to please add a vegetable to his plate. “I have vegetables already!” was his response. “Where?” I asked in all sincerity. He pointed to his apple and chickpeas before spinning ‘round to join his friends out the door.
Parent volunteers - your children need you as much in the cafeteria as they do in the classroom and on the playground. Though their options are limited by school nutrition guidelines, they may choose to eat nothing more than a slice of cheese pizza and a carton of chocolate milk for their lunch.
