For my Interview I chose to interview the cook at the school, and also the teacher. I felt that these are two very important people when it comes to childhood obesity and nutrition. When I started my interview with both the teacher and the cook, they both said that my topic was very good and they felt like it was an important subject to discuss. For the interview with the teacher, she had suggested that I use the topics of children's eating habits, children are not active enough, and parents are not educated enough about what their children should and should not eat. She went on to say that children come in the room eating junk for breakfast like donuts, cookies, cheetos, and soda, and when she ask the children what they did after school, most of them reply "watched tv", or "played video games". The teacher stated that one day she informed a parent that it probably isn't a good idea to let her child eat a donut everyday on her way to school because then she wasn't going to eat our heatlhy nutritious breakfast, and the mom didn't understand why. Parents think that because their children are young, they can eat whatever they want (we must stop this madness). The teacher stated that she encourages the children to eat their fruits and vegetables at school, and they also discuss the benfits of the foods. She said they also do food expereinces so that the children can learn about new foods (how they grow, taste,). The teacher stated that the director offers nutrition workshops for parents and I also noticed in the front lobby that there is a board of nutriton tips and resources.
When I spoke with the cook, she stated very similar things that the teacher did. She notices that the children don't really eat vegetables, but they do like a lot of the fruits. The cook stated that she really likes the menu at the school, and that a Dietican looks over and approves the menu before the school starts using it. The cook stated that she feels that the children are not active enough with their horrible diets and that's why so many of the children are overweight or obese. She feels that the children don't want to try new foods because they are so used to the way they are eating at home, beans, rice, and tortillas, and that the families don't prepare enough healthy foods like vegetables and fruits for their children. Another issue the cook brought up was that there are way too many people going out to eat for fast food. She also feels that parents need to be educated on how to cook and prepare healthy meals for their children so they are not always going out for fast food. The cook feels that the bigger issue is that parents are not educated and aware of proper diets and nutrition for their children.
I really enjoyed interviewing both the teacher and the cook, and they have a lot of the same views that I do. I also feel much better about my topic because they brought to light more issues surrounding hte topic.
I agree with you that children are not getting the nutrition they need at home so they will not be interested in the food that is presented at school. Parents need to be more educated about how their child should be eating. Even though they are only children, they all have different metabolisms and not all children can eat the junk food without gaining unnecessary weight and developing health issues. No child should be only eating junk anyways. I hope you can do some research on what schools can do to make this better. What about that law that was going to be passed in Illinois? This is the law that parents will get fined If their child is obese and are not taking the proper precautions for prevention. I hope you can research more on if this passed or not.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like this topic is great for you. You sound very passionate about it! Good blog!!
Danielle, I know a lot of people disagreed with this law but I feel that it's a law that needs to be passed in order to keep our children healthy.
DeleteYou made good points about the need for parents to prepare more nutritional meals for their children. I think that parents need to to take a class on shopping for nutritional foods and learn to read food labels. A lot of the problems also come from the boxed foods with all the preservative in them. I feel that when a meal is prepared and cooked from fresh ingredients, then it is a healthier choice than already prepared foods in cans or foods that are frozen.
ReplyDeleteTracy
ReplyDeleteI think that interviewing the cook at your site was a great idea. I would agree with her that teachers are probably not educated regarding proper nutrition for children - maybe that is something the site director should provide professional development inservices about. We as adults don't eat nutritiously and we need to go back to snacking on vegetables etc.