Is it the schools responsibility?

[Hannah_1972]

I'm a deputy head teacher and to be honest I'm sick to the back teeth of teachers and schools getting it in the neck from the press, Jamie Oliver and everyone else regarding the growing problem of child obesity.

Schools, in my experience, provide a balanced and varied menu for children throughout the week. But to be honest even if they didn't the problem wouldn't be with the school. Sounds like madness? Not so.

School children should eat 3 square meals a day, 365 days a year. The school meal is one of these meals 5 days a week, for only 37 weeks a year.

So, from a total of 1095 meals of the average children within a given year schools provide only 185 meals of this total.

So with that fact children *could* eat chips and pizza in every school meal and still manage their weight.

Once again, I feel, a problem which lies fundementally with the parents and society as a whole is laid at the feet of the nations schools.

Yours,

An angry teacher

[Tom@foresight]

Very good point Hannah,

I fully agree, I was very surprised when I was recently in a school and saw how well rounded the school dinners actually were. I think the family needs to take the majority of the responsability for how thier children turn out in life.

Parents need to encorage healthy eating, exercise and good lifestyle factors from an early age.

TOM

[Nathan Moore]

I agree with you guys.

The issue is though unfortunately many parents are terrible role models for children. For example how can parents stop their kids smoking and binge drinking if they do it themselves?

As far as healthy eating and exercise is concerned ... science suggest that fat children are that way because have inherited genes from their fat parents that make them that way. Ok, genes are inherited - no one is disputing that. However, maybe fat kids are fat because their parents eat and feed them the wrong foods. A predisposition to be fat doesn't make you fat. Eat right and exercise and the weight will stay off.

But can you say that? Is this attitute fatist?

[Tom@foresight]

I think that one of the biggest challenges to hit our generation will be to improve on our levels of personal health. Kids like all the bad foods and stay away from all the good ones (in general), parents are reciving conflicting advice about what to feed thier children.

There needs to be some strong leadership on this issue and we need to put into place strong role models that will help kids want to be fit, healthy and eat the right things!

TOM