Food Rewards

Earlier this week I did something that I have been thinking about for weeks. I e- mailed the principle of Emily's school. Here is what I said:

 

Ms. Evans,

I would like to open a dialogue about reducing the amount of food rewards that are offered to kids during school.  I have noticed the trend of kids being offered candy, pizza, ice cream, doughnuts, and soda as a reward for good behavior and winning contests between the other classes. I worry that children that are offered food as a reward will begin to associate unhealthy eating as something they can do if they are well behaved or do something well. I feel that food should be seen as a resource that we use to fuel our bodies and not as a reward for good behavior.

Personally, I have struggled with weight and food issues my entire adult life and have recently taken steps to adjust what types of food we eat as a family. It is difficult to send my daughter to school knowing that she will be offered all kinds of foods that would normally not be available to her. In one week she had a pizza party with soda and a party with Whitey's ice cream. As a 10 year old, I can not expect her abstain from eating this stuff and it is not fair from a social standpoint to remove her from parties. It is confusing to her in that I tell her these foods are unhealthy but they are continually offered to her by people she sees as authority figures. I would love to see a "movie party" with healthier food choices( fruit, plain popcorn, bottled water, etc..) rather than a pizza party with pop. The produce section now has a large variety of prepackaged individual sized fruits and veggies. Little trinkets or stickers could be given as rewards rather than candy. Yesterday Emily was given candy because everyone in her class brought back all of their library books. I was talking to another parent that said kindergartners are given candy when they collect 10 compliments. Why not give a sticker or a decorated pencil?

Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic levels in this country. I really feel that the school environment is perpetuating this problem. To be clear, I don't think this is done on purpose or there is any ill will involved. I think that we can offer the kids different kinds of rewards other than junk food and they will be equally as excited. When it is warmer out they could win an hour of recess or class outside for a day.

I feared saying anything because I don't want to be seen as a complainer or trying to ruin the fun. I just think this would be a fairly easy thing to adjust and the school could do their part to protect our kids from obesity and all the physical and social complications that come along with it. I think it would be great if the staff, as a whole, would agree to stop giving candy and junk food to the kids and come up with other ways to reward them.

As a parent, there is nothing more important to me than the health of my child and I would like to see the school be on the same page.

Please let me know your thoughts on this. I am willing to help out and do whatever is necessary to make some changes.

Thank you for your time,

Dawn Kruse
Emily's mom

I was really happy that the principal responded and was excited that I had brought this up. I also received an e- mail from another staff member in support of what I am trying to do.  The plan is to discuss at the next staff meeting and I really hope the teachers will agree to end the practice of food rewards.

I try so hard at home to ensure that Emily eats what she should and I do not sabotage her with unhealthy choices.  It seems at school she is offered junk food every day.  I think my letter is a good first step and I am trying really hard to not go on the war path about this. Why is it that we are giving our kids junk food as rewards? It is like we are setting them up to fail. I am 30 years old and I struggle not to reward myself with food. I do not want to see other kids struggle like I have.

For now, I have asked Emily to bring home the candy she receives and we will keep a collection going to see how much accumulates. She can trade the candy in for a non food reward. She was excited about this and wants to see how much candy we can collect. I am not sure what to do about the pizza parties, ice cream parties, doughnut parties, etc…. Hopefully my letter will make a difference.

All of this got me thinking about food gifts in general.

I am still guilty of sending unwanted food gifts to Matt's work. I am going to stop doing that. I am sabotaging everyone at his work with food that I won't eat. I am just as guilty as Emily's school. So from now on any unwanted junk food that ends up in this house goes in the trash….

I know people are thinking oh…. what is the big deal? It is just a doughnut, pizza, ice cream, candy, pop…… it won't hurt…. To that I say, I would never let my child go smoke a few cigarettes in the front yard because I know that could cause disease. So why would I let and encourage her eat disease causing foods just because it is more socially acceptable?

I know I cannot control everything that she does and eventually she will make her own decisions- but isn't that what we do with all things? Give our kids the information they need and hope like hell that they make the healthiest decision. I certainly have talked to Emily about drugs, smoking, and other lifestyle choices that could have a negative affect on her life. Why should I leave out food? Statistically, that will be the issue that would most affect her.

I have read that our generation of kids is not expected to live as long as we are. To me, that is alarming. My "mama bear" instinct is coming out and  I want to protect my child. I want her school to be a "safe place" for learning and not a place where she is encouraged to eat large amounts of food that can  harm her. I want the food gifts to stop and be replaced with a hug or time spent with her. What was that saying… Hugs not Drugs… How about we apply that to junk food. Something like Hugs not M&M's…. well, you know what I mean.

Edited to add: I saw this video a few days ago. Please take a few minutes and hear what Jamie Oliver has to say regarding the state of the nutrition in our schools.