OT Vent: Really? That's a "snack" plate?!

I've been a mom for 27 years - my youngest just graduated high school - and I'm also a teacher.    I've noticed a progressively disturbing trend over the goodly amount of years I've been "in the field."    Parents now feel compelled to feed their kids CONSTANTLY.   I see moms pushing toddlers in strollers at the mall, and the kids practically have feed bags of cheerios and snack mix attached to them.  My gosh - strollers even come with cup holders.   When I taught piano in my home, parents would send their kids into my home, to sit at my grand piano, with little "snack bags."   Like they couldn't even sit through a 30 minute lesson without food!   They'd send them in with open juice boxes to trail across my off white carpeting, LOL......just don't even get me started on the proliferation of juice drinks and sports drinks.   When I was going to school, we'd have breakfast, lunch, and a snack when we got home.    Now granted, my district's kids get on the bus really early, but because we are 100% free lunch, our kids get free breakfast, free lunch, and if they are enrolled in our after school program, another free lunch after school.  Oh, and a mid-morning snack of fruit or veggies.    For a lot of these kids, those are probably their only nutritious meals of the day.  But for many, they ALSO eat breakfast at home, and dinner.   Their homes also have many low-cost, very high carb foods.    So basically, our kids are eating constantly.   Even though we are the poorest school district in the state, the incidence of obesity in my district is ASTOUNDING.   I have kindergartners that are so oveweight that they cannot sit on the floor "criss cross" style.   Some of my fifth graders are so big, that they cannot sit in a regular student-sized chair.   This issue of not being to let a kid go more than an hour without feeding themsems to  transcend socioeconomic lines, however, because most of my piano students were from affluent homes.   I'm sure this desire to feed our children constantly, and increasingly large portions, has definitely contributed to the staggering obesity rate amongst our young people.  

I appreciate that our school district has a healthy policy regarding snacks and party foods at school. Most of the holiday parties I have attended offer 1 sweet choice and lots of healthy choices. We are discouraged from bringing sweets for birthdays also. My kids are allowed to take a snack to eat during recess but the school said no chips, candy, or cookies, etc. It's very helpful.

Re: the Mother in law...that is a child protection issue and she should be dragged through court and allowed only supervised visits from now on.  I would eat the ***** alive and do it ******g slowly!  I am seriously furious at that ****MY GOD!!!

As for your kids snack plate....sounds like total **** Some junk is fine but an entire plate of processed carbs and fat is hideous for any child.  Were they all hyperactive and needing scrapped off the ceiling afterwards?

I know! Her MIL - OMG it's insane. *AND* her MIL is a diabetic (type 2), so you'd think she'd know not to do idiotic thins. This is the same woman who thought it was funny to let the 6-year-old eat ALL he could at a seafood buffet until he puked.

Good lord thats just way to much to feed any child. And for most of it to be crap food is just crazy. I feel sorry for your friends son, having my daughter have Type 1 diabetes I know full well how it goes and there is no way in hell I would just give her 20 units so she could pig out on what ever she wanted. We count every carb that goes into her mouth so we can match it with insulin. Being so lackadaisy with his insulin is going to leave him a whole host of issues down the road. I honestly wonder what some parents of kids with Type1 are thinking. Now dont get me wrong I let my kid eat like all her friends and have candy with halloween and cake at parties and all the normal kid crap other kids do but we watch how much of it has like any good parent would do. I know that for a kid with Type 1 its soo important for them to be a kid first and foremost then a kid with diabetes second for their mental well being. But if the poor kid has a weight issues already and they are doing the lazy attitude with his insulin I can only see a world of hurt for that poor child and the docs need to slap some reality into the family's life.

IMHO, a lot of parents feed their kids to shut them up and keep them from bugging them.  I am the mother of a 7 year old.  Thank God so far she is her fathers daughter,  thin, thin, thin.  Our school makes an effort to remind parents to bring in healthy food, but the majority bring in sweets.  Crazy. 

Some really valid points.
I don't mind Lili eating junk now and then, but some of the parents at dance were getting on their kids about eating. Really?! You want to get after them to eat this crap?

Julie - before I got pregnant I spent a LOT of time skip-hopping school districts and subbing. There are some very interesting conclusions I drew out of my time. Not sure if this is the place to go into them, but I'm sure you have lots of thoughts on the matter, too!

Don't even get me started on the PE once a week thing, either.

Also - I don't mind if kids eat *frequently* as long as it's an appropriate amount, KWIM? My daughter is a grazer. She never eats more than a handful at any given time, really. So I've adapted, I don't do the, "if you don't eat your dinner, tough" deal. Because I want her to stop when she's full.