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Should cupcakes be banned?
Filed under: Health & Safety: Babies, Nutrition: Health, Day Care & Education
I love cupcakes. LOVE them! I never really cared about them until I became pregnant, at which point, during my third trimester, I developed a craving for them. This turned into an obsession, which, once the baby was born, put cupcakes squarely into my life where they belonged.
My son is 6 months old, so I wouldn't be aware of the alarming -- and growing -- trend of banning cupcakes in schools. I get where the banners are coming from. Cupcakes are bad for you. They're made of sugar and butter and all those delicious things that I think it would ultimately sad to deprive our kids of.
But, I get where the banners are coming from. Start kids with sweets now and they could end up as obese kids soon enough, and obese adults later.
Still, I agree with the sentiment of a recent New York Times article. In it cupcakes are likened to apple pie. Some consider them to be the new definition of Americana.
Reading this article I thought about all the opportunities I had to eat cupcakes when I was growing up. Most of the time I declined them -- after all, even at a young age I knew they were bad for me, full of sugar and butter. They became the enemy. Well, frenemy -- special occasions merited a bite or two.
My grandmother never made cupcakes. She made pies, the old edible ideal of Americana. Reading about cupcakes made me wish she had.
What's interesting to me is that in the article the banning of cupcakes from classrooms is discussed, but so is the backlash. I think it's a pretty sweet fight.
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ReaderComments (Page 4 of 4)
10-01-2007 @ 7:54PM
Aurora said...The cupcakes didn't hurt anybody! If all a child does is eat fast/overly processed food, sugary drinks/snacks, and sits on their butt all day, then yes they're going to be OBESE. It's not just one thing that contributes to obesity, don't blame just the foods.
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10-02-2007 @ 8:04PM
Debbie said...Let's see...my son gets a half an hour to eat his lunch AND go outside for recess. Gym is limited to a brief time twice a week, and homework is so much that he can't get outside for long after school. Cupcakes are NOT the problem - time for physical activity is!
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10-01-2007 @ 8:05PM
Crafto said...the problem isn't the cupcake, it is the abundance of junk food in the schools. They celebrate everything with food. 20 birthdays, person of the week, multicultural day, etc. In first grade my child was offered a "treat" every three days. I know this becuase he has a food allergy so I was informed. i could not believe how many times they give our kids junk. I had two other kids go through the same school and never knew. Most people who are against the ban think it is silly because it is a "once in a while" thing. It is not. I wish they would ban all food from school. let us parents give our kids a treat when we want to and not have to think that they already has donuts today. long live the ban!
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10-01-2007 @ 8:09PM
Liz said...Oh Please...The same people that are shielding junior from a big scary cupcake...cant control that smart mouth junkie 10 years from now....choose your battles more carefully people!
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10-02-2007 @ 8:02PM
Bertie said...Just Great!! After reading all of this I want a cupcake.
I better get it before the food Taliban takes them all away.
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10-01-2007 @ 8:30PM
cindereilaone said...I ate cupcakes, candy bars, cakes, and every other sweet imaginable at school as a child. I have never been obese or even overweight, because I was not allowed at home to indulge in such desserts on a daily basis. Food intake should be regulated by the parents at home and health and nutruition should be taught in schools as an alternative to taking something so innocent away from America's youth.
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10-01-2007 @ 11:24PM
PeanutFumer said...Get ready for an uproar.
No need to ban anything.
If a kid is so sensitive he almost dies from peanut butter fumes, that kid should not be allowed in school. He can get his education at home, and the other 900 kids can have their PB&J.
If a child is unfit for school, the district will provide tutors. This child's idiot mother should not force such a child to be "normal." He isn't, and can't be. Face it and change your life accordingly, not everyone else's.
We have become a society which caters to its weakest members, making us all weak.
Give the kids their damn cupcakes.
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10-02-2007 @ 9:47AM
chris said...Don't forget, sweets(including oils, fats and sugars) are a part of the human diet. They even have their own place in the nutrition pyramid. They're just not meant to be the base of any diet. Lighten up...no pun intended.
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10-02-2007 @ 6:47PM
Rachel said...My parents never withheld sweets and the like from my younger brother and me when we were children. We always, always had a candy jar available to us, and because we were never denied sugary treats (denying something only makes that thing desirable to kids, who will sneak them anyway when their parents aren't watching) we've grown up without an implusive need for chocolate. Every adult I've met that was denied candy as children are gluttons for it now, and seem to be pretty fat. I'm a promotional model, and while I enjoy a fun-sized candy bar from time to time, I don't feel the need to eat candy. I've gotten it out of my system.
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