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-   -   Food at Daycare Poll (https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79575)

dhsu25 10-08-2015 01:18 PM

Food at Daycare Poll
 
Hello, I'm curious to see how much of a concern the healthiness of food is at daycares.

Here are menus from two different schools. There are degrees of healthiness in food, so I wanted people to weigh in on these two menus specifically and not bias anything with descriptions.
School 1 menu: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img903/6748/kN99CM.jpg
School 2 menu: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img903/4838/r1FCM3.jpg

AND HERE'S THE POLL:
http://www.poll-maker.com/poll439370xbEb241c6-17

Please take a second to do the poll and feel free to leave any comments!

Heidi 10-08-2015 03:06 PM

Just to make it clear, you are getting answers from daycare providers here. So, it's not your typical cross-section of parents. Most of us SERVE healthy foods (and are knowledgable about nutrition), so we aren't likely to want our own kids fed junk. :ouch:

Febby 10-08-2015 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by Heidi:
Just to make it clear, you are getting answers from daycare providers here. So, it's not your typical cross-section of parents. Most of us SERVE healthy foods (and are knowledgable about nutrition), so we aren't likely to want our own kids fed junk. :ouch:

Yup. And as someone who has always worked in centers, there are even more factors for me to consider (work environment, pay, benefits) which complicates things.

I do definitely prefer healthy foods though.

Thriftylady 10-08-2015 04:26 PM

I prefer healthy foods and sometimes serve things like nuggets. Some days I just want the kids to eat what I put in front of them because they never see anything besides fast food at home. I am so over kids refusing foods because they have never had them. Yet I still serve them. I am on the line with this one because I see it both ways.

LysesKids 10-08-2015 05:11 PM

See, I'm lucky, I do infants/toddlers only (1-23 months); My parents are onboard with made from scratch, organic meals; most of my stuff is Ethnic too... I definantly don't have picky eaters here lol

littletots 10-08-2015 06:26 PM

Of course, healthy menus get my vote. I participate in the food program, trained to prepare approved menus.

Josiegirl 10-09-2015 02:31 AM

Ideally, all my dcks would eat everything from the healthy menu. Realistically I have to add a bit from the other side of things to make sure they eat something and not scream all day from hunger. I still try to keep the sugar/white flour/fat balance to a low point.
Looking back over my 32 dc years of caring and feeding, my menu has made a drastic change for the better. No more boxed mac n cheese or fish sticks. But it's not all fresh veggies either. I think you have to have a balance where it's healthy but you also need to find ways to present so it gets eaten.
I remember growing up on Koolaid and white bread sandwiches. :rolleyes:

Thriftylady 10-09-2015 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by Josiegirl:
Ideally, all my dcks would eat everything from the healthy menu. Realistically I have to add a bit from the other side of things to make sure they eat something and not scream all day from hunger. I still try to keep the sugar/white flour/fat balance to a low point.
Looking back over my 32 dc years of caring and feeding, my menu has made a drastic change for the better. No more boxed mac n cheese or fish sticks. But it's not all fresh veggies either. I think you have to have a balance where it's healthy but you also need to find ways to present so it gets eaten.
I remember growing up on Koolaid and white bread sandwiches. :rolleyes:

This is me. I do a lot better than I did ten years ago, even for my own family. Things I used to do from a box, I do mostly from scratch now. But I do both sides also. I think that it is hard to go full out healthy, the key is moderation on the "bad" side.

happymom 10-09-2015 08:09 AM

I am "just" a parent.

I picked that the unhealthy menu bothers me a little but is not a deal breaker. It's very similar to what my kid eats in his daycare.

laundrymom 10-09-2015 12:19 PM

We only serve healthy here. Well, occasionally we serve store bought saltines. But generally everything is homemade. It's a service my families enjoy and pay top dollar for

LysesKids 10-09-2015 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by laundrymom:
We only serve healthy here. Well, occasionally we serve store bought saltines. But generally everything is homemade. It's a service my families enjoy and pay top dollar for

I haven't touched a Saltine in years ... yuck city in my book

dhsu25 10-10-2015 04:24 AM

Thanks for all the responses. I'll keep the poll open for a few more days. I also find the comments insightful. Cheers!

dhsu25 10-15-2015 07:46 AM

2 Attachment(s)
The links to the 2 menus in the original post are broken because they expired, so I've attached the two menus (see below post).

What a difficult battle it must be if a child gets the tasty treats at home but can’t have them at daycare. And vice versa. I do not envy some of the troubles caretakers must go through daily.

At my current daycare, the admin and staff are terrific in accommodating the food restrictions we place on our child (like no juice or cheese puffs). Most of the other kids get all the items on the menu (I did not post this menu). I do worry a bit about the possible clash when my child starts to realize she’s missing out on some yummier looking stuff during snack time.

Also the admin gives me heads-up if somebody brings in a cake for say a going-away party. I am very appreciative of things like this and I don’t think every daycare would do this. Communication goes a long way.

Thank you to all who took the poll and left comments. Cheers!

Hunni Bee 10-20-2015 09:49 PM

Geez

BOTH menus sound better than what we serve at my school. The menu is just plain gross...in addition to being unhealthy. Everything is either canned, frozen or boxed...although they're trying for a fresh fruit/veggie per day :rolleyes:

My personal favorites are the black bean breakfast burritos (literally cold unflavored canned black beans and a cold slice of processed cheese in a tortilla), chili potato casserole (boxed mashed potatoes mixed with canned chili with cheese on top), and "trail mix" of which the last batch consisted of: Apple Jacks, Cheerios, tortilla chips, taco seasoning, Cheezits, graham crackers, chocolate chips, marshmallows and Froot Loops.

Horrendous. :dislike:

lovemykidstoo 10-21-2015 05:42 AM

I belong to the food program also and so I serve nutritious meals according to that for lunch and snack. I don't serve breakfast most days. I do have to say that it kinda drives me nuts the talk about the school lunches. Yea, they're not the healthiest that's for sure, but they're actually better than what I had at school when I was that age and we didn't have the obesity factor like many have today going on. I just hate to see the schools blamed for that. It's 1 meal a day. Take a look at any fast food restaurant between 6-8 p.m. every single night of the week. There is the problem. Parents feel the need to have little Johnny and Susie involved in every sport, with practices every night and no time to make a regular meal at home anymore. Then add in the parents like I have right now where the 4 year old wants to get on a power trip and refuse to eat any meal they make, so they give him a lunchable for dinner or lucky charms (which he eats only the marshmellows). I don't recall my parents ever asking me if I liked something or making me something else if I didn't. Don't get me started on the "snacks" in the car that they insist on for the big 1 mile ride home. This, after we just had a snack. Sorry lol. pet peeve of mine haha Oh and let's cut the gym classes in schools due to funding. That's a good idea to keep obesity down.

Thriftylady 05-12-2016 04:42 AM

Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
I belong to the food program also and so I serve nutritious meals according to that for lunch and snack. I don't serve breakfast most days. I do have to say that it kinda drives me nuts the talk about the school lunches. Yea, they're not the healthiest that's for sure, but they're actually better than what I had at school when I was that age and we didn't have the obesity factor like many have today going on. I just hate to see the schools blamed for that. It's 1 meal a day. Take a look at any fast food restaurant between 6-8 p.m. every single night of the week. There is the problem. Parents feel the need to have little Johnny and Susie involved in every sport, with practices every night and no time to make a regular meal at home anymore. Then add in the parents like I have right now where the 4 year old wants to get on a power trip and refuse to eat any meal they make, so they give him a lunchable for dinner or lucky charms (which he eats only the marshmellows). I don't recall my parents ever asking me if I liked something or making me something else if I didn't. Don't get me started on the "snacks" in the car that they insist on for the big 1 mile ride home. This, after we just had a snack. Sorry lol. pet peeve of mine haha Oh and let's cut the gym classes in schools due to funding. That's a good idea to keep obesity down.

It's two meals a day here. And I am not on the food program, but the schools here seem to serve stuff we could never get by with on the food program. I mean every day it is chicken nuggets, corn dogs, something highly processed. When I was on the food program we weren't allowed to feed that kind of food daily if I remember right. You are right though about the lack of PE these days. It was an important form of exercise when we were in school.

ETA: I have three kids that eat the breakfast I serve here and go to school and have another breakfast of sugary cereal, honey buns, sugary yogurt and chocolate milk. The parents have told the school that the kids shouldn't be getting a second breakfast but they still serve it. And the kids know they are not supposed to be getting it but since I don't offer "sweets" or processed foods, they do it anyway.


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