Size Acceptance/HAES people, critique my letter!

[rivka]

Alex's nursery school newsletter this month brought the news that "Bolton Hill Nursery will be the recipient of a free nutrition education program - Food Is Elementary - for preschool and elementary school students. [...] The Food Studies Institute is devoted to changing the health destinies of children through proper nutrition and education. The curriculum is designed to create a positive experience of plant-based (fruits, veggies, grains) foods and food preparation that is fun, hands-on, and sensory-based."

Well, that sounds nice, but I read Junkfood Science, and it's made me skeptical of "nutrition education" as it tends to be offered in schools. So I looked up the Food Studies Institute and found this description of the lessons.

Now I am writing a letter to the parent and Board member who is listed as a contact person for the program. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions people may have, especially from a Size Acceptance/Health At Any Size perspective and/or an "I know preschoolers" perspective.

Here's the letter:

Hi [name redacted],

I saw in the Bolton Hill newsletter that the "Food is Elementary" program is going to be offered at Bolton Hill Nursery this fall. I'm [Rivka], and my daughter Alex is in the Yellowbird room. I looked at the foodstudies.org website, and I have a few questions about the program.

Generally speaking, could you please give me an idea of how the program as described on the website here:
http://www.foodstudies.org/Curriculum/LessonSummaries.htm
will be adapted for nursery school kids?

Some parts look great to me, like the lessons about exploring different fruits, veggies, and whole grains, and doing hands-on cooking in the classroom. But I'm concerned about whether the curriculum gives kids messages that fats, sugar, and refined grains are "bad."

The lesson summaries mention teaching children that fat will clog up their arteries and that they should count fat and sugar grams in food. I'm assuming that this will be adapted, given that most of our kids are still learning to count at all! But given that fat is an essential dietary requirement, and that it's recommended that preschoolers get 25-35% of their calories from fat, I'm worried that there might be confusion if the children are taught that fat will make them sick.

Could you also please give me a sense of whether the curriculum will teach that some foods are "good" and other foods are "bad?" We try to avoid such judgments in our family, because I think they lead to an unhealthy, dieting-oriented mentality. I am particularly worried about introducing those concepts in nursery school, because children this age are such concrete thinkers and tend to see things in strict black and white.

Finally, are there any messages in the program that it is bad to be fat/overweight/obese, or that children should try to avoid becoming fat? As you may know, dieting and body image problems are becoming more and more common in children, and are now appearing in the early elementary years. I would be very concerned about my child being exposed in school to messages about the importance of restricting weight gain, especially at a time when she is growing so rapidly.

Again, it looks as though the curriculum has many segments that are highly positive and offer the kids opportunity for fun exploration. I'm hoping that you can put my mind at ease about these other elements!

I can be reached at this e-mail address, or at [phone numbers]

Thanks very much,
[Rivka]

Comments

[jenett]

I like this - it's really clear.

One thought on the size-acceptance stuff - one other reason I'd have concerns about it would be a child's assumption about people who are fat (i.e. the old biases about it being because someone's lazy or doesn't care about their body, or whatever that may not actually be true - or that someone's body is reflecting choices they made 20 years ago and have since changed, but have left a mark on metabolism.)

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

You may have done this intentionally, but what leaps out at me is that you don't mention anorexia.

Finally, are there any messages in the program that it is bad to be fat/overweight/obese, or that children should try to avoid becoming fat? As you may know, dieting and body image problems are becoming more and more common in children, and are now appearing in the early elementary years. I would be very concerned about my child being exposed in school to messages about the importance of restricting weight gain, especially at a time when she is growing so rapidly.

I think this is a good paragraph, and if I were writing it, it would be more like this.

"Finally, are there any messages in the program that it is bad to be fat/overweight/obese, or that children should try to avoid becoming fat? As you may know, body hatred is extremely common in our culture, and eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are seen more and more frequently in children, including in the early elementary years. The health risks of these disorders are well understood, while the comparative risks of being fat are coming more and more into question all the time. I want my daughter and her classmates to grow up loving and appreciating their bodies, whatever sizes and shapes they may turn out to be."

I also like jenett's point a lot.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

that looks good. you left out the "ARE YOU PEOPLE JUST STUPID????" part, but that's likely for the best.

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

I know you've already got this covered, but I want to have your babies. :-)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

The hell do I have it covered! Michael is making me have all the babies myself. ;-)

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

Hee! Sadly, someotherguy says my eggs are stale. :-)

[ailbhe]

ABSOLUTE laugh out loud moment.

[naomikritzer]

That program actually looks very cool to me, and I like the fact that when they talk about fat, they're always talking very specifically about dietary fat and the ways that it can harm your body if you eat too much of it, not about fat bodies.

Molly got taught about the food pyramid but they skipped over (or she tuned out) the part about how the grains on the bottom level should be WHOLE grains, and she kept insisting that I should let her eat all the white rice and pasta she wanted (sans sauce or veggie) because, after all, they were GRAINS and grains were on the bottom of the food pyramid.

The core of the program seems to be preparing and tasting a bunch of delicious yet healthful foods full of ingredients that a lot of kids (not mine and not yours, but many) won't usually have anything to do with.

I think my concerns, if my daughter's preschool were doing this, would be the following:

1. The food labels project is going to be a lot harder to do with preschoolers. Is it going to be skipped over (which would be fine, I think) or simplified into something useless or misleading?

2. How will they manage the food prep? Are you going to let the preschoolers use knives? If not, how will you engage the kids enough that they will be excited about trying some fairly challenging foods? (Even my adventurous children are not wild about curry.)

3. Will you send home recipe sheets so that parents can follow up by making some of these foods at home, if our kids are particularly enthusiastic about something?

4. Will you please warn my child in advance that the "sushi" you'll be making will not have raw fish in it? Because she is going to be SO MAD when she's promised sushi and no tuna is involved.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

That program actually looks very cool to me, and I like the fact that when they talk about fat, they're always talking very specifically about dietary fat and the ways that it can harm your body if you eat too much of it, not about fat bodies.

I think the program could be either cool or not-cool. I want to get direct confirmation that they don't include any messages that children should try not to get fat, and that they don't categorically label foods as "good" and "bad." If they don't, that takes care of most of my concern. But I'm especially afraid that simplifying the curriculum for preschoolers will mean making categorical judgments about foods.

Will you please warn my child in advance that the "sushi" you'll be making will not have raw fish in it? Because she is going to be SO MAD when she's promised sushi and no tuna is involved.

Hee! I could see this being an issue with Alex too. When she hears sushi, she thinks "nigiri" - and a big slab of raw salmon. I suppose they could do tamago safely, and that wouldn't disappoint her, but given that they're trying to discourage dietary fat they probably won't.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

The problem with the 'fat is bad' message is that it leads many people to eat a diet extremely high in carbohydrates - and while those are not bad in themselves, they are bad for the growing number of diabetics.

And my body does not make a great distinction between whole grain and refined carbs.

[zingerella.livejournal.com]

I like this letter a lot.

Something else that jumped out at me about the curriculum was the emphasis on the nutritional value of home cooked over prepared foods—there's a set of class and lifestyle assumption in there that sit poorly with me, especially because children are such absolute thinkers. Not every family can manage home cooked food every day—when both parents work and it's as much as anyone can manage to put food on the table at a reasonable time at all, a can or jar of soup can be an absolute boon. With all of the other crap we're all exposed to, I don't see tinned food as the enemy of all health.

[ailbhe]

Yesterday Linnea told me fat is bad and I said little girls need it to grow their brains. Now, I know that started off in toddler development handbooks but I have no idea when it stops being part of brain development, if ever.

Also, early winter - good time to tell kids to reduce fat intake! Yes! what with all that COLD and all! Hmm.

I think it's a great letter and you are a far nicer person than I am. Again.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Myelinization of neurons, which is where each neuron gets coated by a little sheath of fat, is largely completed by age six.

Does she know that her body is made up of cells? If she does, you can tell her that every cell in her body is surrounded by a "skin" (cell membrane) made of fat. Eating fat in her diet helps her body take vitamins from the vegetables and fruits she eats. (Some vitamins are fat-soluble, which means that they are more bioavailable when eaten with fat.)

Let's see, what else? Fat helps her skin stay healthy.

[ailbhe]

Ooh, thanks for that.

Since we usually don't have meat, and we never have dairy, her diet is not very high in fat, but I can tell when I need to increase it because she starts to eat mayonnaise with a spoon.

[jenett]

Fat soluble vitamins are also important in lung health - took me ages to figure that out, until my herbalist pointed it out (and I suddenly realised why I get huge fatty food cravings when I start having issues.)

Taking vitamin A or E or both solves the problem nicely.

[telerib.livejournal.com]

The only possible edit I would make would be to ratchet up the formality just a notch, and start it "Dear [Name]" instead of "Hi [Name]." Otherwise... spot on.

[charlottezweb.livejournal.com]

There are also studies showing that an emphasis on diet in elementary school children is more likely to actually cause disordered eating--which you allude to in your letter but if they argue with you, the evidence is there for a stronger statement.

[(Anonymous)]

I know that you and I have disagreed previously as to whether low-carb is healthy or is a fad diet. From my reading of the scientific literature (I'm a chemist), there is a good data supporting the assertion that low-carb is healthier than other possibilities. However, I think it is fair to say that at the very least the situation is not black and white as far as research supporting the current US Food Pyramid as being the most healthy way to eat. (I do read JunkFoodScience and, while I applaud the author's general "common sense" approach, I do not agree with all her interpretations.)

To bolster your comment about fat, studies of pre-schoolers are starting to show that they get too little fat, not too much. Here's one link:
http://www.thelocal.se/6201/20070125/

Even ignoring the low-carb issue, I feel very strongly that the downside of the proposed program -- for the reasons you mention and and for the additional ones in the comments here --are sufficient to argue against its use.

Grandma Susan

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, man, the endless re-education we had to do after Wall-E. Thanks, guys.

Yes, children are absolutists. No, bacon is not the mind-killer.

Which is to say, probably you are right to be concerned, although I love the idea of exposing the kids to things they might not meet at home. So far, school lunches have introduced Baz to several new dishes. They get a choice every day, and one choice is always pb&j, but we can encourage him to try the beef teriyaki or peanut stew.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I love the exposure part of the curriculum. Preschoolers are such neophobes. I am really hoping that for application in nursery school they will just focus on the positive, exposure-and-exploration-based elements.

Ohhhh, man, the endless re-education we had to do after Wall-E. Thanks, guys. Yes, children are absolutists. No, bacon is not the mind-killer.

Well, and it's the whole idea of a one-size-fits-all diet, where what is appropriate for older adults with high blood pressure or heart disease must also be appropriate for active three-year-olds.

As you know, we've struggled with Alex's eating, and at several points she's had inadequate weight gain and dropped down on the weight chart. We've really worked at increasing the caloric density of her food, so that she can get adequate nutrition without stretching her limited appetite. So I am happy when she wants butter, eggs, bacon, cheese, et cetera. And we still give her full-fat milk. Her BMI is in the 7th percentile. It would be completely inappropriate to encourage her to adopt eating guidelines designed to stave off obesity.

[tendyl.livejournal.com]

Having a little one who does the same thing as far as eating and weight, I wholeheartedly agree that her adopting those guidelines would be 'not good'. I think this is a good letter, especially with additions of mentioning anorexia/bulimia.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

My neighbor who cleans for me was here today and she told me she had been to a friend's house yesterday because their 19-year-old son had tried to kill himself for the third time. He had been teased about being fat his whole life, was bulemic, and had tried with his meds this time.

[moobabe.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I can see how that could cause some fat issues; it really seems to be an emphasis in the curriculum.

It's really funny: Hannah and I just had a discussion in the grocery store where she said we should get "no fat" something and I had to emphasize that, actually, she really does need fat, and that eating a healthy diet--including fat--is a good thing. She's such a tiny little kid that I really worry about her eating.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

She's such a tiny little kid that I really worry about her eating.

Alex too, which is why I worry about programs that define "healthy eating" as "perpetual dieting."

[(Anonymous)]

The more I think about this, the more I think that teaching about what to eat -- at least for preschoolers -- is just as much something that should be up to parents as teaching about religion or sexuality.

Some people don't eat certain foods (e.g. pork) or food combinations (e.g. meat and dairy) for religious or cultural reasons; some people (including vegans and PETA members) don't eat meat for any number of strong-held reasons; some people believe that one should always give thanks before eating, etc.

There are (possibly private) medical issues -- from peanut allergies to metabolic disorders such as Type 1 diabetes or celiac disease to various feeding problems -- that affect appropriate food choices.

There are medical issues or behaviors -- such as hyperactivity -- where parents may be trying to determine the effect of diet.

And finally there are individual family preferences such as not eating between meals, not eating non-organic foods, having to take at least one bite, clean-plate club believers and non-believers, etc. that deserve respect.

Grandma Susan

P.S. Note that T. Colin Campbell, author of the controversial The China Study, is on the FSI Board of Directors.

[txobserver.livejournal.com]

I suggest that everyone read Gary Taubes' "Good Calories, Bad Calories". He is an NY Times science writer, and the book began as a series of articles in Science magazine. Excellent history and description of the high carb / low carb debate, as well as fat and cholesterol role in heart disease. Well written, also.

food is elementary

[(Anonymous)]

Please read this:
http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/08/lessons-
for-youngest-school-children.html

Sandy

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

I'm just wondering if you'd heard anything back from the preschool?