Rethink Sweets for School Holidays

Share On Social!

Did you know your child could consume up to 31,260 calories of unhealthy school foods and beverages in just one year! That is approximately 8.9 pounds of weight gain per year, according to a new graphic called “Food At School Parties”, produced by the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living.

This graphic estimates the number of foods kids eat during one school year of school parties. It gives parents, teachers, and schools a closer look into how many unhealthy snacks are being served. Revealing that if students have more than forty plus parties in a school year, they will most likely consume at least one of everything ( a cookie, pizza slice, cupcake, juice box, serving of chips, etc.) at each party.

Many families are not concerned with a few school festivities here and there, but when you add up the calories of un-nutritious foods that are being offered at school birthday parties and the like, it can present an unhealthy truth.

Having healthier foods at school celebrations is important, but how can you know that your kids are eating nutritious foods at these events?

Parents need to decide what can be eaten at local school events. Giving guidelines and showing resources to the school board or other parents, may help the school implement healthier eating rules at celebrations. When one in three children are either overweight or obese, and Latino kids are more likely to be diabetic, it is important to limit sugary sweets in kids diets.

Bilingual resource of graphic: School parties Eng-Span

To learn more about the graphic or the Dell Center, click here.