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by Amy
Cates, Associate Editor
School
lunch can be good, bad, or somewhere in between. Some
schools will have a high quality program with tasty, attractive
food and others will not. However, federal regulations
assure that all schools at least have nutritious foods.
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School
lunches can be a positive thing because children can be
exposed to new foods. The more foods your child learns
to handle, the more comfortable they will be in the world.
He or she won't always be home with your good cooking.
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Schools
also provide other foods at lunchtime that is not part of
the daily school lunch, for example, a la cart items.
Here students can buy high calorie, low nutrition foods
such as fried foods, desserts and sugary beverages.
- Knowing
what your child is spending their lunch money on will help
you to know what kind of nutrition your he or she is receiving.
- Home
packed meals, on the average, are less nutritious and have
less variety. If you have finicky eaters this may
be a problem.
- It
is important to talk with your child to get an idea of what
he or she has been eating at school, what their friends
do for lunch and what your child wants to eat for lunch.
If you have been talking about it, he or she will know what
the issues and concerns are and they will be able to make
up their own minds.
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