Skipping those veggies? The cafeteria lady knows

[clearvision]

mySA:

Five San Antonio elementary schools are placing cameras in cafeteria lines, hoping to learn whether those green beans are going uneaten.

Alarmed by the growing waistlines of children and unsure of how much they actually eat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending $2 million over the next four years to develop a scientific way of determining what ends up in those little bellies.

Thus the idea to use sophisticated cameras — two at the cash register, two more at the disposal window — to take before-and-after photos of trays, and develop equally sophisticated software to analyze the results. Each set of cameras captures an overhead and side view, to better determine food volume. Trays are also weighed to help with the calculations.

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I thought we were out of money....

[pollyannaish]

Yes, because FORCE is always the best long term strategy...

 

The sad part is, that force makes most of us rebel. It's just a fact of life. I like eating healthy, until a health nazi tells me I have to. And then the Cheetos start looking really good.

 

I am convinced the Obesity epidemic is related to several systemic problems with American society today:

 

1. People/Families are WAY, way too busy. With both mom and dad working, often with lengthy hours or long commute times, the amount of time people have to actually cook is limited to weekends. Time that isn't filled with work is often filled with hauling kids to and fro for activities--at which they are expected to excel.

 

2. People do not sleep enough. Studies are starting to show (and I think we're going to see more of them) that lack of sleep contributes to obesity. And kids especially need a lot more sleep than adults. I know a lot of kids in grade school who regularly stay up into the wee hours of the night because they have extracurriculars late into the evening, then homework and then video games, computer and television after that to unwind. It can't be helping.

 

3. We work/school/play with too many "mind" hours, and too few "body" hours. Our lives consist of long hours of mental strain and stress, with very little counterbalance of physical work. It's not so much that we work too much...we just work to much of one thing and not enough of the other.

 

4. We never really rest. We watch tv, we play video games, we surf...but none of those are the same as sitting quietly reading a book, or enjoying the sound of an evening on the porch over a quiet conversation. Even when we rest, we're doing.

 

None of these things can be solved by cameras watching what kids eat. They can only be solved one family at a time deciding that they want balance instead of perfection. Once we have the (and here is that ugly word again) discipline to do this...our culture and our waistlines will change. Until then, we are what we are.

[Rheo]

Bravo and well said, Polly!