Let there be choice

Last fall, Los Angeles took a hard line on school nutrition. In an attempt to mold better eating habits in kids, the Los Angeles Unified School District eliminated flavored milk, chicken nuggets, and other longtime childhood favorites. But instead of making kids healthier, the changes sent students fleeing from school cafeterias. There have been reports of a thriving trade in black-market junk food, of pizzas delivered to side doors, and of family-sized bags of chips being brought from home. Garbage cans are filling up with the more nutritious food (not if it gets dirtied up for Oscar or any other grouches living inside the bin), even if kids aren't. The lesson? You can't just bully kids into eating healthful foods and take their lunch money. Children will choose their food no matter what you place in the lunch line, even if the choice is simply not to eat. If you impose too big a change, kids will simply bring their lunch from home or have pizza delivered at the side door. Or they may skip lunch altogether and wait for an after-school junk food binge. If I were in charge of the district, the schools would give students a selection of healthy and unhealthy food. As the example in LA makes clear, trying to teach students to eat more healthful foods by removing other choices can backfire. When children (or even adults) feel restricted or forced into a decision, they naturally rebel. This rebellion is the drive behind the Arab Spring and several other revolutions. Heavy-handed measures might be effective at putting nutritious foods on the lunch tray, but it is crucial to remember that the food's nutritional benefits will not materialise until it is eaten. In other news, Michelle Duggar has had a miscarriage, so 19 kids it remains (for now). The other 19 kids' names, all starting with J, are: Joshua, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn-Grace, and Josie.