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Nutrition For Our Children

As parents, many of us have lost the art of feeding our children.  I have the privilege of working in my children's classrooms during lunchtime.  Inevitably I leave them grieving for the future health of many of the children.  I remember one occasion in particular.

I was working in my daughter's 2nd grade classroom.  One particular boy's lunch really stood out and has stayed in my mind almost 9 mos later.  If you look at this child you can see he is unwell.  He is thin, short in stature, pale complected and possessed an obsessive behavior pattern.  Why would this lunch stand out you ask?  Because it wasn't food.  It was highly processed and *white*. 

There are 825 calories in this "lunch".  There are 30 grams of sugar - that's 7.5 teaspoons full of sugar (or 2 1/3 TBS)!

The thing that is most troubling about this is that this food is dead.  There are no enzymes, vitamins or minerals.  The body cannot use this.  The brain is starving for good fats.  Cell regeneration requires good fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals.  Without them the cells DNA will mutate and disease sets in.  Whether you see it in your child now or not.  It is inevitable.  Tooth decay, allergies, hyperactivity and more.  They are all signs of a poorly nourished child.  In future blog entries I will begin to cover what things you should consider feeding your child. 

Here are the "nutritional" breakdowns of this child's lunch.


Ingredients


School Bagel and Cream Cheese Bars/Original-bagel-fuls Original (Water, Fine Whole Wheat Flour, Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], Cream Cheese [Pasteurized Milk and Cream, Cheese Culture, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum], Brown Sugar, Contains less than 2% of Each of the Following: Wheat Gluten, Sugar, Extract of Malted Barley and Corn, Yeast, Wheat Flour, Salt, Dimagnesium Phosphate, Degerminated Yellow Corn Flour, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Soybean Oil, Calcium Sulfate, L-cysteine, Ascorbic Acid Added As A Dough Conditioner, Niacinamide, Sorbitan Monostearate, Zinc Oxide, Azodicarbonamide, Calcium Iodate, Ammonium Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Enzymes, Calcium Peroxide.) Contains: Milk and Wheat Ingredients.
 
Nutrition Facts
Kraft Bagel-Fuls - Whole Grain W/Cream Cheese Servings: 1 filled bagel
Calories 180
Sodium 200 mg
Total Fat 6 g
Potassium 0 mg
Saturated 4 g
Total Carbs 26 g
Polyunsaturated 0 g
Dietary Fiber 3 g
Monounsaturated 0 g
Sugars 4 g
Trans 0 g
Protein 7 g
Cholesterol 15 mg
Vitamin A 0%
Calcium 10%
Vitamin C 0%
Iron 10%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily


Nutrition Facts
Little Debbie - Boston Creme Rolls Servings: 1 roll
Calories 270
Sodium 140 mg
Total Fat 12 g
Potassium 0 mg
Saturated 5 g
Total Carbs 40 g
Polyunsaturated 0 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Monounsaturated 0 g
Sugars 26 g
Trans 0 g
Protein 1 g
Cholesterol 15 mg
Vitamin A 0%   Calcium 0%
Vitamin C 0%     Iron 2%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.






Lay's - Classic Potato Chips Servings: 1 oz (28g / 15 chips) 
Calories 375
Sodium 450 mg
Total Fat 25 g
Potassium 825 mg
Saturated 3 g
Total Carbs 38 g
Polyunsaturated 11 g
Dietary Fiber 3 g
Monounsaturated 11 g
Sugars 0 g
Trans 0 g
Protein 5 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Vitamin A 0% Calcium 0%
Vitamin C 25% Iron 5%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily

This is a sample of my children's lunches.  I use the Laptop Lunchbox system.  My children's lunches consisted of fresh strawberries and blueberries, trail mix (cashews, peanuts, almonds, raisins and M&M's), cheese stick / cubes, pretzels and home made gluten free applesauce spice bread.  There are proteins, enzymes, whole grains, and good fats in these lunches. 

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3 comments:

Eat To Live said...

Congratulations on ending your Journey with Cancer. How wonderful for you to be healthy.
I am now fighting candida which has the possibility to turn into cancer. Eating healthy has changed my life.

I am also having an APRON GIVEAWAY on my blog. Please check it out. Thanks Terry
http://myjourneywithcandida.blogspot.com/

Kathy Fannon, CHHC said...

Are you serious? He had Bagel-fuls, Boston Creme Rolls and chips? That was it? Oh my! It doesn't take a nutrition expert to know that's just bad. How incredibly sad for that little man.

And I'm hearing more and more about Bento boxes. LOVE the idea! I did some studying about Denmark few years about (my people!) and they eat similar to that...a little of a lot of healthy things. "Sachiko in Osaka" is a GREAT blog about Bento box lunches. (She's in our IIN class.)

Tracy said...

You know it doesn't surprise me. I worked in daycare many years ago and we had a little girl that had Lunchables every single day for her lunch. She looked sick and tired all of the time. I felt so bad for her that I used to pack extra stuff for her to eat because she grew so sick of eating that garbage.

Even now that my girls are older its amazing to see what parents put into their kids' bodies. I always make an effort to make healthy lunches.

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