Joey is getting a little round. There is no getting around it: I suck as a nutritionist. Trying to take control of what Joey eats has been elusive. His love of mac and cheese does not help.
Joey normally eats both breakfast and lunch at school. The teachers use these meals to help Joey with important skills. He must ask for a tray. He must stand in line. He must communicate with the lunch ladies. He must offer his card to pay for his lunch. He must learn to eat different foods. I could go on.
So I looked up the rules about food programs in Virginia, and what is supposed to be served, because to be honest, it all looks like junk food to me: poptarts, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, potatoes, muffins. How many carbs are they supposed to be pushing on my kid?
The
school lunch program is required to provide 1/3 of my child’s daily recommended intake of protein, certain vitamins and minerals, and calories. No more of 30% of the calories can be from fat, and no more that 10% of saturated fat.
The s
chool breakfast program is to provide ¼ of these things (INCLUDING PROTEIN… how do muffins provide protein, exactly?), including calories.
All of this is based on the
federal dietary guidelines. According to those
guidelines (2005), Joey should be eating 1400 calories if sedentary, 1400-1600 calories is “moderately active” and as much as 2000 calories if “active.” So my first question is: how are they defining school children? Are they feeding them as “sedentary” or “active”? Because folks, it only takes 100 extra calories each day to gain 10 pounds in a year. A 600-calorie difference is huge. It is the difference between him being able to eat dinner and not.
To complicate matters, it isn't calculated daily; it is calculated as an average over the course of a week. One day that lunch could be 1000 calories, as long as over the course of the week there is a lunch with, say, 300 calories.
Let's look at a week of food from my child's school. Finding specific nutritional information about these meals has been elusive, so the calorie and carb count you see is my best guess based on nutrition information I found about similar foods available to the general public. The only information I have about the food being served is all it is listed here, so I cannot assume any of the foods are "diet" (ie, sugar-free, fat-free, etc.) unless it specifically lists the food as such on the menu. Also, I noticed they allow Joey to have chocolate milk, and he usually chooses that, so the "milk" is for chocolate milk.
The Menu: (Calories) [Carbs]
Monday:
BREAKFAST
Breakfast Pizza (420) [41.5] {** “School” pizza can be as high as 530 calories!}
Chilled Juice (90) [23]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (670) [89.5]
LUNCH
Chicken Patty on Bun (380) [44]
Lettuce & Tomato Cup (4) [1]
Steamed Broccoli (30) [6]
Vanilla Cream Cookie (250) [37]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (824) [113]
Daily Total: (1494) [202.5]
Tuesday:
BREAKFAST
Blueberry Pancake (240) [46]
w/Sausage (85) [0] {**Some sausages can be 270 calories per serving!}
Orange Wedges (62) [15] {**Assuming this means fresh oranges}
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (547) [86]
LUNCH
Hot Turkey/Bacon Sub (400) [47] {**This could be as low as 300 calories, as high as 600 calories!}
Seasoned Corn (67) [16]
Fresh Fruit (65) [20] {Bananas are much higher}
Apple Turnover (260) [34]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (952) [142]
Daily Total: (1499) [228]
Wednesday:
BREAKFAST
Ham & Cheese Croissant (280) [29]
Fresh Fruit Cup (65) [16]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (505) [70]
LUNCH
Hot Dog (240) [18] {**many brands are higher, depending on the filler used}
on Bun (110) [20]
Potato Wedges (147) [31]
Chilled Peaches (80) [10]
Sherbet (120) [28]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (857) [132]
Daily Total: (1362) [192]
Thursday:
BREAKFAST
Bacon & Egg (184) [0]
on English Muffin (189) [30]
Chilled Juice (90) [23]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (623) [78]
LUNCH
Deep Dish Pizza (478) [57] {**Assuming it is cheese only.}
Tossed Salad (15) [2]
Green Beans (7) [1]
Choice of Pudding (130) [21]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (790) [106]
Daily Total: (1413) [184]
Friday:
BREAKFAST
Chicken Biscuit (170) [18]
Apple Juice (90) [23]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (420) [66]
LUNCH
Grilled Cheese (200) [40]
Smiley Fries (160) [24]
Fruit Jell-O (70) [17]
Choice of Muffin (180) [22]
Milk (160) [25]
Total: (770) [128]
Daily Total: (1190) [194]
*********************
As you can see, my guesstimates seem to be OK, as we are consistently getting around 1400 calories per day, and about 170-200 carbs per day. Friday was the only exception; perhaps they are using a more caloric brand of chicken biscuit or cheese sandwich than I used.
Therefore, the school is assuming ALL of their children are 1. male (girls need about 200-400 fewer calories per day) and 2. active, otherwise I would have no room to feed Joey snack or dinner. We are supposed to send in a snack of a juice-box and food item every day. Normal choices would put this snack at about 100-200 calories; I have chosen more in the 30-calorie range, due to the joys of diet drinks and diet jell-o.
But wait. Is my child really active? He gets PE three days per week, and recess every day. So about an hour of his school day, maybe an hour and a half, is active, assuming he is actively participating- which, I noted in my visits, he spend a good deal of his recess time rambling about the perimeters, not running, climbing, swings, or other "active" activities. Many afternoons are taken up with therapies, not running. Let's say Joey is "moderate." He is allowed 1400-1600 calories per day.
So on many days, he may have consumed all the calories he needs before he ever reaches my door; at best, he needs no more than 200 calories at dinner. Yikes.
If I feed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner- and nothing else- that is 300-350 calories. I could skimp it to about 250 calories. Double yikes. Skinless chicken breast with broccoli? There's 200 calories. If there is no butter on the broccoli. And he gets only one serving. And nothing else.
No wonder we're having a problem.
Hint to folks screaming about obese kids: try feeding them less at school! Just because there are kids who don't get food at home doesn't give you the right to stuff my kid full of sugar and calories. Have a kid on the free lunch program? Then provide their snack, too. And give them the extra calories there. Not at breakfast and lunch. For breakfast and lunch, assume "sedentary." Its also a good idea to assume there will be food awaiting those sedentary kids at home. Assume mom would like to make cookies once in a while. Or serve mashed potatoes with dinner. Or even peas.
So I think we're going to talk to the teachers about packed lunches, where I can control the calorie count. PB&J with carrot sticks and a sugar-free dessert, eaten with his beloved chocolate milk, is only 500 calories. A hard-boiled egg, piece of fruit, and his beloved chocolate milk is only 300 calories. Plus his 30 calorie snack- that's 850 calories. Even at "sedentary" I can feed him a nice 550-calorie dinner (still light!), and be all good!
Our slumber party at Grandma's actually went really well. We had a Blue's Clues Roller-Coaster Birthday Slumber Party, with popcorn and mac and cheese and presents (they each got a Blue's Clues playset) and sleeping in Grandma's bed! We munched popcorn through Hanna, which was little more than a prolonged summer storm here. No real flooding. 
Today we wandered into the woods to see how high the river was. I grew up in these woods. There was once a well-trod path here, beaten smooth by the passing feet of myself and my brother nearly every day. Now my sons had a look at their future domain, two princes of the woods where their mom once roamed free. 
I was roaming mostly free in these woods by the age of seven, when we started building the house. I would run down the path into adventure and freedom, and return with the ringing of the ship's bell my mom and dad mounted on our porch. When you heard the bell, it was time to come home. I assure you that bell is very loud, and carries a lot farther through those woods than one might expect. 
Joey is now six years old. There was a time when I thought by now we'd be spending summer afternoons with Joey wandering through these woods regularly. That has not been the case. WIll he ever roam free in these trees, in his own little kingdom? Will he learn to return with the clang of the bell? That day certainly is not yet here. I thin kit will come, but not today. 
We wandered over to the garden, too, but the deer ate most everything we planted there. I am dreaming of building something of a walk-in cage for future planting, but when will I have time and resource to build such a thing? Anyway, by that time, most of what was being said were whines, as if they were allergic to the woods and outside. I think we need to take more walks together! Beat down the paths a little more!
I couldn't even get Joey to look at the swollen river, or the trees, or anything. He was preoccupied with branches constantly brushing him and insects buzzing about and being tired. I may come some mornings and hack at the trees and the paths so he can get more used to being outside, being in the woods, and has some set paths he can use before he strike out to make his own.
Andy was being persnickety, too, though he had more interest in the woods, like the tree we saw that had been beaver-felled, and the small yellow flowers, and looking for spider webs. He's not old enough to be wandering about unsupervised, but I still need to get him out into the woods more. I hate to see them both with forest allergy. 
In the end, we retreated to the walking along the driveway. Joey is much more comfortable with having the set road to follow. Again, maybe if I make more paths clear, my little prince charmings will be more willing to survey their domain.
