Up in Arms About Calorie Maximums

I admire student protests; it is a virtue that must be instilled in the young as a deep form of patriotism and democratic values. I think this is awfully funny, and the production values on the song are pretty darned good, too.

All that said, I do think that the policy message is a bit misguided. 850 calorie maximums for lunch should be plenty for the average kid. Remember, the average calorie count for a person to maintain their weight is 2000 for the whole day. If you had 850 calories at every meal, and didn't even have a snack, that would be more than 500 extra calories a day you would eat. But who doesn't have a snack. And most teens also drink a lot of their calories irrespective of the food they eat.

 Many have cited linebackers complaining, and I do feel for them. Yes, athletes need more food, but I'm not sure the solution is to give every child, particularly those that don't play sports (the majority of students), more calories. That is a good way to get our childhood overweight and obesity levels through the roof; and they are already at about 30%. No, the solution is to find a way to give linebackers more food without throwing out an otherwise very reasonable policy that has been a long time coming.

Oh, and as a parent, I'm wondering who the heck thought it was a good idea to let a kid slide out of the back of a moving ambulance?!!  Kids, don't try that at home!