More schools ban birthday treats
Birthdays are becoming lessons in counting calories along with candles for thousands of kids heading back to school this fall.A growing number of schools nationwide are curtailing or cutting out birthday sweets in the name of nutrition and weight control. Others are concerned about food allergies and contamination. Some also argue that birthday parties eat up class time.
It’s a controversial topic, as local districts debate whether such policies protect the health of their children or if they needlessly destroy a longtime childhood ritual.
“There’s no question that it’s an issue out there,” says Erik Peterson, a spokesman for the School Nutrition Association, a national group of school-food directors. “ …But no one wants to be the food police.”
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one in six school-age children is overweight, triple the proportion in 1980. The agency has projected that one in three children born in 2000 will eventually develop a form of diabetes linked to being overweight.
One recent study says school snack fests may play a role: A survey of 3,000 Minneapolis-area eighth-graders found that their average body-mass index — a common gauge of weight appropriateness — rose 10 percent with every form of noshing a school allowed, from fundraising bake sales to congratulatory pizza parties. more…
