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FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Candy-colored sugary yogurt and fried prepackaged meals: That’s what Michelle McCabe remembers her oldest child eating for lunch when she first started school in Fairfield. Those meals, coupled with her reading of the food industry analysis “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” inspired her to work to change what her three kids eat at school.
McCabe is chair of the Fairfield PTA Council’s Fuel for Learning Partnership committee. Through the groups, she has worked to improve the quality of lunch options at Fairfield’s public schools. And she feels she’s largely succeeded in helping to fix a nationwide problem at the local level.
“They have shown so much improvement,” McCabe said of the district’s Food Services department. “There’s more fresh produce, they’re trying to make more menu items from scratch. Considering the obstacles that are in their way of trying to produce a good lunch, I think they’re doing a good job.”
On average, an American child will eat more than 2,300 lunches during his or her primary and secondary education. If a child opts into school lunch programs, much of his or her long-term nutrition is dictated by the choices the school district provides.
Nationwide, 17 percent, or 12.5 million, children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 years are obese, according to data from the National Health and Examination Survey. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define childhood obesity as having a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. The CDC regards a child as overweight if his or her BMI falls between the 85th and 95th percentiles.
The National Conference of State Legislatures found that in 2007 that 25.7 percent of children ages 10 to 17 in Connecticut qualified as overweight or obese. Although this ranking is lower than many states, it still shakes out to more than a quarter of the state's children in fifth through 12th grades having a medically diagnosable weight problem.
According to the CDC, overweight and obese kids are at increased risk of multiple health problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and fatty liver disease. And this is to say nothing of the potential psychological effects of being an overweight child. Additionally, the CDC finds that children who are overweight are more likely to become overweight or obese adults.
But the PTA Council’s committee and Joanne Fitzpatrick in the district’s food services department have pushed to make Fairfield’s school lunches — and hopefully its kids — healthier. McCabe listed many small changes to the weekly menus that promote better health: organic yogurts instead of brands packed with high-fructose corn syrup, ground meat without preservatives, fresh fruits and veggies and more fish worked into the rotation, to name a few.
“Last week my daughter came home from school and was talking enthusiastically about the salad bar entrée that was served at lunch,” Anne Tack-Eckel, a member of the PTA Council’s Health, Safety and Fitness committee, said in an email. “How amazing is that?”
McCabe admits the menu “isn’t perfect” — the district is still under budget constraints, and healthy food often costs more to serve. This week’s menu, for example, includes less-than-healthy standbys such as chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. But the district is moving in the right direction.
“It’s a process. It takes time,” McCabe said. “[Now] there’s always healthy options on the menu, and I think that kids are picking them.”
To reach Greg Canuel, email gcanuel@thedailyfairfield.com.
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