A new Pasco schools program aimed at improving kids' eating habits is sending children the wrong message: It's okay to have fun (and eat better) as long as you have money.
The district's 2-week-old trial program, FunMeals, provides healthier a la carte lunches served on kid-friendly paper plates. But, it misses a key audience - poor children whose families' incomes qualify them for free or reduced-price meals at school.
It is a large demographic to skip. Nearly 44 percent of Pasco's school-age children, or 26,561 kids, receive free or reduced-price lunches, according to year-old Florida Department of Education data.
But under the FunMeal program, elementary schoolchildren, including those who normally would get a free lunch, must pay $2.75 daily for a healthier alternative. That is $1 more per day than the regular-priced school lunch.
The pricey menu means children at a higher risk of becoming overweight aren't likely to participate. Obesity among young people has tripled over the past 25 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally, 16 percent of children ages 6 to 19, are considered overweight. The numbers are even worse in Florida where 26 percent of high schoolers are overweight or at risk of becoming so and 28 percent of the state's low-income children, ages 2 to 5, are in the same category.
Because low-income children are at a greater risk of having weight troubles, it would make sense to tailor a program focusing on that audience instead of ignoring it.
But that is exactly what the Pasco effort does, particularly because the program's acknowledged target is the brown-bag audience - children who bring lunch from home. We suspect few children who can receive a free lunch at school, would carry a meal from home each day.
The program is being run on a trial basis at four elementary schools with fewer needy children than the countywide average. Still, the pricing excludes significant numbers of kids. One of every four students at Pine View Elementary in Land O'Lakes and one of every five at Denham Oaks Elementary in Lutz qualify for free meals. (The other participants, elementary schools at Longleaf and Seven Oaks, opened in August in affluent areas of the county.)
Too often, schools' health and nutrition decisions are driven by the bottom line. The district opened its schools to a deal with Pepsi-Cola seven years ago because it figured money for athletic scoreboards, computers, classroom flags, scholarships and other extras was worth the tradeoff of allowing teenagers to buy sugary, caffeine drinks on campus. Likewise, budget cuts two years ago forced changes in school athletics fees. Middle school children, for instance, must pay $20 just to try out for an interscholastic sport.
Encouraging better nutrition and a more active lifestyle for children is a laudable goal. But, it shouldn't come with a cost beyond the reach of children who need it most.
