Why are they so focused on being low calorie when for alot of us that was all we got. For freshman year my stepmom was super strict a out us eating when she wasn’t home, which was close to never. How did I manage to do school and work a farm on 6-700 calories a day? Was it different cuz I was younger?
I don’t know if you’re in the US but the focus has never been on low-calories but on balance. Lunches being reimbursed by the federal school lunch program are meant to be 550-600 calories which, assuming the child is eating 3 meals a day plus a snack, should meet or exceed the calorie requirements for the majority of kids (of course there are exceptions). Because of the obesity epidemic in this country and the assumption that parents are feeding their kids outside of school, the caloric requirements for school lunch are meant to be a part of a diet that features 3 square meals. The issue here is not the calories of the lunches, but your stepmom’s neglect.
What? 600-700 calories a day is close to malnourishment for practically any weight (excluding very young/small children). That few calories could possibly stunt growth and would absolutely have health impacts in the short and long term.
You are likely severely underestimating calorie content which is very common - people don’t understand how calorie-dense a lot of the food out there is - especially fast/junk food.
I went to a school that had such high poverty levels that breakfast was required daily at school (in addition to lunch obviously) so at my school you would have at least gotten two meals. I’m sorry your step mom was like that
I just looked up 2 of my elementary kids’ lunches on the school website (which has a nice nutrition calculator). One had turkey and cheese sandwich, the other a cheeseburger. Adding on an apple and milk, they ended up at 510 and 530 calories, respectively. I mean, that’s the average size of a meal I’d eat as an adult, but they also come home and devour all sorts of other foods too.
I do lament the focus on things like low-fat and whole-grain foods being the only option at schools, because that’s just performative theatre and not doing anything to improve nutrition in schoolchildren.
Schools offer free breakfasts as well, and towns offer lunches during breaks and summer often to support struggling students. I’d have to check the calorie counts though. Amazing that ketchup is considered a vegetable, stuff like that. No differentiation based on quality. Sugar laden chocolate milk is equal to regular milk my ass.
Because Obama. Back then in the day Michelle Obama imposed my plate plan some shit like that. I remember back in the day the portions were much bigger and higher calories. Since this happened school lunches quality of food went down and portions and low calories foods became normal. Honestly school lunches need to change. These meals are sometimes kids only meals of the day. There’s broke families out there. This whole plan made by the Obama’s was a disaster..
It’s a shame that during Physical Education lessons, weight and fitness levels are not determined regularly.
That way the poor, active skinny kid (this was me) could have a bigger portion compared to the wealthy, inactive overweight one.