Opinions Wanted

Students Criticize Michelle Obama's School Lunch Regulations.

The other night I was talking to my husband and he was telling me about one of the kids he visits. We were talking about food in schools. This kid who will be named "Fred" and is a football player was saying that his school watches his calories now. Before for school breakfast he got a pint of milk, a pop tart and oatmeal. Not the healthiest but was food that he ate. Now that schools had changed their food he gets less then a pint of milk and a granola bar, and spends the day starving. People, I eat more then that, and I'm on a diet! Lunch is just as bad, Fred was saying that before kids would eat what they wanted, now its fruits, veggies and a main course but very very small portions. Many kids trash their food because they don't like it. Meaning, many kids go hungry throughout the school day because they don't have options at lunch, and the ones they do have, aren't ones that they like. Schools even got rid of salad bars! My husband remembers having one, I remember having one but according to Fred, schools aren't allowed to have them any more. Fred, as mentioned before is a football player. He needs calories... apparently, he is in a computer system that counts his daily intake. Poor Fred can't even have a small cookie at lunch because his food intake is watched so much at school. I think its with the school, but don't quote me on it. His parents also watch what he eats, because according to the system, our healthy, very active friend Fred, is obese! WHAT? According to my husband, Fred is a smaller guy, tall and very thin. It broke my heart to hear that his calories are being counted and that his food at school isn't enough. Food is needed to make the body function correctly, right? So why are schools controlling what children eat to this point? Sure we want our children healthy but I want them to have options to pick from that they like instead of starving. My opinion is that sure, they are thin and healthy now, but don't you think this will backfire? That as soon as kids are out of school and intake for a meal or 2 isn't controlled that they are going to binge on everything they haven't had before. Then we are really going to be dealing with obese people.

So I want your opinion on this situation. Do you agree that schools should continue controlling meals, or that kids should have more options? I understand Michelle Obama wants healthier lunches for kids, and that children won't always pick healthier options, but am I the only one who would rather my kids eat something unhealthy, then to throw away their lunch because they don't like it? I want healthy kids just like any mom, but I want them to learn to eat healthy, not be forced to eat healthy.