When Schools Push the Healthy Eating and Fitness Topic...Are They Doing More Harm Than Good?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about raising "Healthy Kids" and I understand that we have many kids that are not at a "Healthy Weight". I think it's great to teach kids about healthy eating habits and encouraging them to be active instead of playing video and computer games. I also know that kids spend more day time hours at school than they do at home, therefore most of the "Healthy Habits" they are learning are coming from school.


Now my kids are all on the small side, my 10 year old son has yet to hit 60lbs and my 8 year old daughter actually weighs 60lbs. All of my kids eat three meals a day and several snacks as well, meals are healthy and snacks are healthy about 90% of the time. Just the other day my 4 year old asked for a snack and when I asked what he wanted he said "a fruit or a vegetable, because they are healthy for me". So now they are starting to teach this in Pre School because they want them to learn this at a young age so that as they get older they can make better choices about their eating habits. I get it!


I totally understand what the schools are trying to do but do they understand what they are really doing? 
I now have an 8 year old that weighs 60lbs that thinks she is fat and that her butt is too big. 
I also have a 4 year old that throws temper tantrums if we run out of green peppers because they are healthy for him. Although my daughter is bigger than her older brother, she is by no means "fat".


I feel that by pushing all of these "healthy habits" and focusing on size and weight at such a young age is just lighting the candle that will burn the house down so to speak. I can foresee many of these kids having issues like anxiety and depression, low self esteem and eating disorders as they grow older. I really don't think that they should be putting so much focus on something like a child's weight and their eating habits.


I mean I wonder if the school system really thinks that an 8 year old borrows her parents Lincoln Navigator on Saturday morning, picks up all of her girl friends and takes a trip to the produce isle at Giant. Wake up people, the parents do the shopping and the parents are the ones who let the kids play video games. I think if there is a change that needs to be made regarding a child health then that is the child's parents responsibility. I also believe that is the school systems job to provide our children with an education, not to have them stressing out over things that they can't control.


I'm sure that in the beginning, they thought this was a great idea to teach these healthy habits and encourage more exercise. Maybe they didn't think about what kind of negative impact this may have on a child's emotional health and those health issues are far harder to fix.


These are just my opinions based on my personal experiences and are not directed at any single person.


What are your thoughts on this topic?


Leave a comment, follow my blog and stop by again.


Have a great day!