Food at Daycare Poll

[dhsu25]

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]

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.

[Febby]

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.

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]

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]

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

[littletots]

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

[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.

[Thriftylady]

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.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[dhsu25]

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]

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

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]

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 . 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.