Posted on 05/12/2011 5:08:08 AM PDT by markomalley
Smile, schoolchildren. You’re on calorie camera.
Health officials trying to reduce obesity and improve eating habits at five San Antonio elementary schools unveiled a $2 million research project Wednesday that will photograph students’ lunch trays before they sit down to eat and later take a snapshot of the leftovers.
A computer program then analyzes the photos to identify every piece of food on the plate — right down to how many ounces are left in that lump of mash potatoes — and calculates the number of calories each student scarfed down.
The project, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, is the first of its kind in the nation. The cameras, about the size of pocket flashlights, point only toward the trays and don’t photograph the students. Researchers say about 90 percent of parents gave permission to record every morsel of food their child eats.
“We’re trying to be as passive as possible. The kids know they’re being monitored,“ said Dr. Roger Echon, who works for the San Antonio-based Social & Health Research Center, and who is building the food-recognition program.
Here’s how it works: Each lunch tray gets a bar code sticker to identify a student. After the children load up their plates down the line — cole slaw or green beans? french fries or fruit? — a camera above the cashier takes a picture of each tray.
When lunch is over and the plates are returned to the kitchen, another camera takes a snapshot of what’s left. Echon’s program then analyzes the before and after photos to calculate calories consumed and the values of 128 other nutrients. It identifies foods by measuring size, shape, color and density.
(Excerpt) Read more at syracuse.com ...
“.. monitor the children’s toilet habits”
Seriously. Will they measure it as well to make sure the same amount of weight going in is going out? This is absolute insanity.
Get the heck out of Texas.
San Antonio public school system has had 100% of its students enrolled in the federal free lunch program for years. If the feds pay for the food, they certainly can monitor what is eaten. There is no such thing as a “free lunch.”
I'm still waitng for anyone to tell me what the Dept of Agric has to do with anybody's business in Texas. This is a department that should be shut down completely.
There are more beurocrats on their payroll than there are farmers in this country. The state of Texas should tell them to go to hell and leave them alone. That is, of course, unless you can find "breakfast," "food,"or "children's lunches" anywhere in our Constitution.
What will be the result? Will fried foods be eliminated and replaced with healthier foods? Kids will just dump the raw veggies if forced to take them. How will Texas control their diet out of school? I guess Texas could pass a law controlling food along the lines of alcohol and tobacco – only people over 18 can buy junk food including fast food.
This is so ridiculous...surprised that it is taking place in Texas.
‘Get the heck out of Texas.’
Nope....Texas is the only place to be. This is anomaly and most certainly thought up by a few of the misguided ‘liberals’ who happen to live here.
well I think its a natural progression. If the government is paying for your schooling and as another poster mentioned food then as far as I’m concerned you’ve signed away most of your rights already.
I wonder how many girls will develop eating disorders from this new “experiment”.
Kids will just dump the raw veggies if forced to take them.And they will get creative in doing it. The cameras will also snap a picture of the trays when they're returned to the kitchen for cleaning. Kids will take plastic bags to school so they can pack the leftover food and throw it away later, or they will take stuff in and add it to their plates to make it look like they ate less, or they'll pile the leftovers from 4 kids' plates onto 1. I could have a great time screwing with the minds of these researchers and bureaucrats. This is a complete boondoggle.
What about the kids who bring lunch from home? My kids won’t eat school food, they say it tastes like crap.
Well, that just will not be allowed, will it.
Your kids will like school food whether they like it or not!!!!
what they’ll get is hours and hours of video proving that children WILL NOT EAT the sort of nouveau-green cuisine that Michelle Obama is attempting to shove down their throats.
In Chicago schools, homemade lunches are forbidden.
It does open a lot of fun things for the kids to do. They can be creative.
Nanny State PING!
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