Podar Jumbo Kids is a preschool.
Posted on 03/21/2005 2:28:06 AM PST by CarrotAndStick
Recently, in a tête-à-tête with fans, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he wants to ban all sales of junk food in California schools.
He disclosed he wanted vending machines that dispense fresh fruits, vegetables and milk in their place.
Radical? Not really.
Talk to dieticians, school counsellors, even educationists, and you will find that Schwarzenegger has probably said something very close to their heart.
Says Swati Popat, director, Podar Jumbo Kids, Mumbai, "We have a whole generation of kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. And the reason for this is largely [the kind of] food [that children eat]."
If you think your child is naughty and half an hour of him/ her is enough to exhaust you, it might be wise to check the food you are giving your child. Junk food might just be the culprit.
Please note, though: there is a difference between junk food and fast food.
Sports nutritionist and child counsellor Sejal Mehta says, "Fast food is food that is fast to cook. Idli is fast food and highly nutritious. [But] Junk food harms the system with empty calories. It has no proteins and vitamins. For instance, aerated drinks fill your stomach with carbon dioxide and decays the food in your intestine. The high sugar content slows down the blood circulation in the brain.
"The child feels full and is instantly energised. The energy then dissipates and the child is left lethargic in half an hour. S/he then wants more of the stuff, thus causing addiction."
So what is junk food, really?
Junk food is a slang word for foods with limited nutritional value.
To put it simply, foods high in salt, sugar, fat or calories and low nutrient content can be termed junk food.
Salted snack foods, candy, gum, most desserts, fried fast food and carbonated beverages are some of the major junk foods.
So if your child has fries at McDonald's or decides to wolf down vada pav at the roadside, or simply have some good old pav bhaji that mommy made at home, s/he is consuming junk food.
Any over-cooked food or food that is cooked in high heat kills nutrition. What you consume then is fibre.
All packed food contains preservatives. Most contain food colouring. But both are harmful and often contain carcinogenic substances.
When your child consumes foods like these, s/he could develop allergies like asthma and skin rashes.
Homeopath Rajiv Menon says he categorically tells parents to stop their children from eating all pre-packed snacks and stop aerated drinks when they come to him for prolonged allergies and asthma attacks. "Half the time, they don't even require medication after that," he says.
A step in the right direction
Some schools in India are taking a stand about children's diet, though. Take the Podar schools all over India. They seem to be imposing good eating habits among their students.
Says Dr Devika Paul, a parent, "I was surprised when my kindergarten-going daughter Priyanka told me not to pick up a packet of Ruffles [pre-packed crisps]. She told me it was bad to eat and her teacher would not allow her to carry it to school."
At Podar Jumbo Kids, parents whose kids have gained admission to the pre-primary school are surprised when they are counselled about food.
"The right diet is important for school-going kids," says Popat. "We give a food timetable to parents. They are free to work around it. For instance, on Monday, children are allowed to bring in cooked or uncooked cereal. On Tuesday, it is only fruit. On Wednesday, they are told to bring bran bread or chapattis with vegetables.
"We tell parents to avoid chapattis, though. They tend to get rubbery and can be hard on tender jaws. We also tell parents mandatorily that children cannot bring in pre-packed food, wafers and sweetened water in any form. We encourage children to drink water. The more water [you drink], the more oxygen [supplied] to the body."
As for parents, Popat says, "Mothers don't like it. It is so much easier to pack a Peppy [pre-packed crisps] for dabba along with a Frooti."
A school teacher at Arya Vidya Mandir, Bandra, Mumbai, says she noticed all 40 children in her class brought packed snacks to school. This causes a chain reaction. If ten children bring packed food to school, the rest, too, want to bring the same thing.
It is better if the school bans junk food at school, says another school counsellor.
Parents, heed this!
Perhaps an easier way would be to educate adults and children on how to judge the food you eat.
i. First, while buying pre-packed, convenience food, check the list of ingredients and nutrition facts label found on packages.
Keep an eye out for sugar, fat or salt as one of the first three ingredients. If any of these are listed high in the ingredients, consider that food to be very high in sugar, fat or salt.
The high sugar content in junk food causes tooth decay, increased tendency for blood clots, decreased levels of good cholesterol, increased levels of blood fat associated with diabetes and heart disease, and childhood obesity.
Says Meenal Rajani, "I just spent Rs 7,000 on root canal treatment for my 11-year-old son."
At Chaturbhuj Narsee Memorial and ND Parikh pre-primary school, Mumbai, children are served healthy snacks, like sprouted bhel, sandwiches, idlis, khichdi curry, patties stuffed with vegetables, unmashed pav bhaji. "And the children love it immensely," says a teacher.
ii. The nutritional information on the label also registers the number of calories per serving, grams of fat, sodium, cholesterol, fibre and sugar content. This information will make you more cautious and select the foods to reduce your child's nutritional health risk.
iii. Studies show that the colour of food affects us, too.
According to Monisha Bharadwaj, writer of Indian Luck Book: How To Bring Luck Into Your Life, the colours of some food are important. Some can calm you, while some act as anti-depressants. Some are stimulating, while others can be antiseptic (see below).
So are all junk foods bad?
"Not really," says Anjali Bose, dietician. "If you can balance junk food with a fruit or a whole vegetable, it is okay, really. Junk foods may have higher levels of fat, salt and sugar, but they still contain nutrients and can be considered a small part of a healthy diet.
"A general rule of thumb is to eat fresh, healthy foods about 90 per cent of the time, and indulge in junk foods no more than 10 per cent of the time."
Here's to healthy eating!
How colours in food influence our health
~ Blue
Examples: Raisins, blue plums, mushrooms. Characteristics: Antiseptic, soporific. They affect: The mouth, throat and respiratory system. They induce calm and restful sleep without nightmares. ~ Green
Examples: Green grapes, coriander, cucumber, milk and milk products. Characteristics: Calming, relaxing. They affect: The ears, arms, digestive system, heart. They impart energy to your body. ~ Yellow
Examples: Yellow lentils, bananas, pineapple, corn. Characteristics: Cleansing, laxative, harmonising. They affect: The stomach, liver, nervous system. They calm the mind, promote well-being and happiness. ~ Orange
Examples: Mangoes, carrots, egg yolk, papayas. Characteristics: Tonic, appetite-builder, anti-depressant. They affect: The legs, stomach, the circulatory system. They protect against air pollution and the sun's ultraviolet rays. ~ Red
Examples: Berries, kidney beans, tomatoes Characteristics: Warming, stimulating. They affect: The kidneys, bladder, muscular system. Excessive amounts can cause anger, irritability and hyperactivity. Illustration: Dominic Xavier
Podar Jumbo Kids is a preschool.
Good post.
LOL. They include yellow lentils, bananas, corn and pineapple in the orange category, but fail to include carrots.
BRILLIANT! LOL.
The formatting is screwed up. It's supposed to be color first, then list of foods.
By the way I never knew that mushrooms were blue??? At least not the kind we eat here. They're grey.
The government spending on public education doubled in the last six years, but they still fail to cair about feeding these children good food. What a sick joke!
Best to start over or correct it.
As it is it does not do the subject justice.
ROFL. Very funny. If only it were true. Somebody oughta send 50 pounds of beef bologna to Director Swati Popat just for making such a hilarious statement. LOL!
Interesting post. It reminds me of the Indian practice for seeking to eat all the colors of the rainbow daily to insure good health. That is a pretty good rule to thumb when you are seeking to balance nutrients. At least you tend to get in all the veggies in your diet. Except of course if you ate M&M or Skittles to get the colors.
Do they still make 'Chuckles'? ;-)
Vinegar, carrots, parsley, and garlic every day works for me.
" The government spending on public education doubled in the last six years, but they still fail to cair about feeding these children good food. What a sick joke!"
Since when is it the government's job feed brats?
Mommy always let me wolf down vada pav at the roadside. I mean, where else would I wolf it down?
Mommy never made good old pav bhaji at home. She made it on the bus ride on her way home from work.
Daddy didn't like the idea of that much, but he did not have much say in the matter.
Personally, I just can't get enough Idli in my diet.
We have a whole generation of kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Yes and a whole generation raised by baby sitters , parents who have no time to spend with them, and kids who receive no discipline at home or anywhere else.
I believe a lot of Attention Deficit Disorder is really a lack of discipline, and a failure of teachers to make the course interesting. Blaming it on food is a lot easier.
Well of course Mothers don't like it. Everyone knows that packing a Peppy is done not for dabba but for personal reasons. Besides your Peppy must be properly licensed.
And including a Frooti for dabba? That's beyond the pale. Dabbas only eat fried corn mush with maple syrup and a dollop of whipped cream, thank you very mush!
Ask them, you're asking the wrong person.
In case you didn't know,a lot of Hindus do eat beef. It is not much of a difficulty to get beef in India. The Vedas, a a sacred book of the Hindus, are full of descriptions of beef consumption after wars, victories, marriages, etc.
What you are aware of is stereotype. About a twentieth of Hindus object to consuming beef, though. And this practice started in the 1500s, when India was under Muslim rule.
You are correct. It is news to me to hear that "a lot" of practicing devout Hindus eat beef.
The devout Hindus who I am friends with here do not any meat at all.
I do know Hindus by birth and culture only who attribute their bovine laced diets to "becoming Westernized."
"and a failure of teachers to make the course interesting"
I think part of it is the curriculum being watered down to the lowest common denominator (so "nobody fails", thus no "damage to self esteem") to the point where many students are just plain bored silly. If a student is capable of learning faster, and wants to learn faster than the lowest common denominator, well, that just isn't fair! Those kids need to learn to "get with the program", and if it takes doping them up on Ritalin, etc., well that's what it takes.
While there are legit cases of ADHD (diagnosed by real doctors, not educrats and zampolits), it is nowhere near the level described in the media as far as real cases. Ritalin is to many times just automatically prescribed by the educrat (Why are educrats prescribing drugs? That's a whole 'nuther thread.) as a cop-out. To solve this particular "cause" of "ADHD" is not to throw more money into the education system. The solution to this "cause" is to require the teachers and educrats to DO THEIR JOBS! But then, the NEA won't allow that!
I'm the same way. In today's hectic world, it's just so much easier to pack a Peppy for dabba along with a Frooti.
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