Finish your Milk

That pressure is entirely inappropriate. I remember getting it when I was under strict orders *not* to drink milk - disgusting stuff - because it gave me serious mood problems.

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Children aren't going to get "fat" regardless of their mother's weight issues by being forced to finished their teensy little carton of milk at school. Now, if the lunch duties were forcing chocolate bars and apple pies or Pepsi (you will eat that or not be able to go out to play in the park) I would be much more concerned. But MILK? Come on. I think kids can finish their milk....you've seen the cartons they get at school right...we aren't talking HUGE here. Tell your friend the mother to suck it up.

K.

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Milk is very healthy and all of us here LOVE it, even plain with no chocolate, etc. I would be ok with my son being told to finish his milk. It's good for your body and I would hope the person telling the child to finish it gave a REASON. Kids can understand plenty! If it was some other food though I would probably be against someone telling my child to finish it.... so guess that makes me some sort of hypocrite?

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It's debatable how healthy that milk is for children, and I think they should not be forced to drink more than they want. Children know how much food they need. We don't need to throw off their ability to regulate their food intake. The teachers should cut it out.

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First of all, I personally believe that there would be fewer weight issues if children were required to eat all of their (properly proportioned) meals, because they would crave and eat fewer between-meal snacks. So I think that reasoning, which I hear from time to time, is faulty.

Secondly, even if a child eats nothing else, she should finish her milk as it is one of the most important parts of her meal. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the lunch ladies strongly encouraging the kids to drink their milk. If an individual child has a medical issue making this a bad idea, it is up to the parent to inform the school. Personally I would much rather my child be required to finish her milk and everything else on her plate. If I didn't agree with what they were feeding her, I would pack her lunches.

On the other hand, when I was in school, the milk was delivered and left outside all morning and sometimes it was quite sour by lunchtime. Kids' taste buds are very sensitive and sour milk is very hard for a kid to drink. Kids did all kinds of things to deal with the rule that you couldn't go to recess until your food and milk were finished. Hopefully my school was an exception, though.

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Children should not be forced to eat or drink anything they dont' want to. Yes, they ARE going to develop bad eating habits, if you are full, darn it, you are FULL. Liquid or no liquid. Kris, have you looked at the calories in milk? You may as well cram quarter of a sandwich down their throats when they are full.

I have an absolute no-bending rule with my family and friends, my children are never nagged at or forced to finish their food. So needless to say, I would be telling them to leave my daughter alone.

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I just hate wasting food. My personal belief is that it's sinful to deliberately waste food. I teach my kids accordingly. I agree that the school lunches are often poorly planned, and that being the case, I would rather pack a lunch that my child would eat than have the school prepare food that will be wasted.

As for milk, despite the calories, it's been shown to help people maintain a healthy weight, due to the good balance of protein, carbs, and fat. It is one of few excellent natural sources of calcium. I drink it all day long and am anything but fat. I hope people are not teaching their kids to avoid milk as a dieting strategy.

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Food is just as much of a 'waste' on my butt and thighs than it is in the garbage.

As far as kids go, some days your eyes are bigger than their stomachs. Some days my kids are really hungry and they're not. Kids eat like little camels, some days they need a ton of food, and some days they live on air. A lot of the food I make doesn't keep well, so if they don't eat it, I chuck it. I don't mind wasting some food. I'd rather teach them to eat until they're full than until the portion randomly selected by their mother is gone. It's one thing if they ask you for something specific and they turn their noses up at it. Then I'll try to save it for later.

I'd gently ask the lunch ladies to leave my child alone. Kids regulate themselves really well if you let them. I almost never ate lunch in grade school. I wasn't a picky eater and the food was VILE, and nobody had time to pack a lunch (including me). I survived and went off to college and the appropriate time. Finishing the milk won't matter in the short run or the long run.

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Look the point is, if my 8 month old can finish an 8 ounce bottle (that is equal to 1 cup) of formula in a sitting, then my own 5 year old son can finish his little carton of milk with his lunch that the school provides at lunch. And yes it is appropriate for lunch duties to encourage children to finish their lunches whether milk, sandwiches or not. I did not see implied though that this child was being FORCED to eat and eat and eat until her stomach explodes. Give me a break people.

And yes, the mother did imply that she was worried her child would get FAT.

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NO way, I'd tell them to leave my kiddo ALONE or deal with me.....grrrrr. Eat unil your full and toss the rest.
And dear Kris, your 8 month old can finish her bottle because it's her MEAL. I assume that this child isn't only have milk as her lunch. Duh.

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Milk is NOT a healthy food. There are more milk allergies than just about any other food, and the dairy lobby is one of the largest in DC.

For every study there is to say it is healthy, there are as many studies that say it isn't.

But - the problem here is that these are not huge issues. If you have a problem with something at your child's school. Take the problem directly to the person involved. Politely state your request. You may hear an explanation that gets you to change your mind. You may not. Either way - the person involved should respect your decision (when accommodating you is possible). If they don't, then you take your complaint to an administrator.

If the school insists that their way is the only way, and you still disagree, then you can decide how far you want to take it. But the first step is to take your QUESTIONS (because your daughter could be giving you only half the story) to the people directly involved.

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I think the Mom hasn't matured enough to stop blaming her own mother for her own current-day issues. I'd recommend that she take a look at taking full responsibility for her own actions first before she starts wigging out about a few ounces of milk at school.

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I would be upset if my kids were coerced or threatened ("No recess until you finish") to finish any of their food. I would not be upset if a teacher said something to my child if he/she habitually got milk and threw it away without at least drinking a portion of it, because that's entirely wasteful. I really think that it is important for each person to listen to their own body, and eat/not eat accordingly. Sometimes after eating a filling sandwich, even drinking water fills me up to an uncomfortable point. Other days I could probably eat more. I do believe that children regulate their hunger pretty well, and I believe that adults *can* do it too. Takes work, because in some way or another we've all been influenced into eating when not hungry, which is unhealthy. So, I would tell this child's mother to talk to the child first. She should ask her why it is that she doesn't finish it. Does it taste funny? Is she full? After getting an answer from the child, then the mother will be able to decide what, if anything, to say to the school. If she decides to talk to a teacher or principal, exactly how will the adults on lunch duty be expected to remember that this one kindergardener should not be bothered about her milk? The mother is responsible for devising a plan for this before suggesting anything to the school. Perhaps the mom should try sending lunch with her child for a week or two, and sending an alternate drink such as a 100% juice box.

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All over the country there are grave concerns regarding obesity issues with our children. Millioins of dollars are being spent to counteract the problem. And research shows that a huge part of this issue is that parents often don't understand when their child has a weight issue.

School lunches, especially milk, are given to the children in specific portion sizes. The child has no control over how much s/he gets. If the school is a K-5, or even K-2, the school has to balance the nutrition needs of the older and larger kids with those of the smaller kids.

What is a reasonable serving of milk, say, for a large 3rd grader could well be too big for a small kindergartener. And small children like to please adults - they don't see the difference between "please finish your milk" and "YOU MUST finish your milk"

Studies show that overeating as a child does affect one's weight as an adult. I also don't buy the 'wasting' food argument or the 'starving children in Africa' one. Throwing out an ounce or two of milk that comes pre-packaged is going to hurt anyone, or save anyone either. Children should be empowered to listen to their own bodies and determine their own needs.

This is another area where schools are frequently counteracting their own efforts. We'll take away phys ed and make sure all the kids finish all their food and milk, while at the same time institute draconian policies such as measuriing the BMI of all students and forbidding the booster clubs to sell hot dogs at the football games.

This is a great opportunity for the Mom to open a dialog with her daughter's school about nutrition and weight issues.

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1) It's a myth that milk is oh so very good for you.

2) Many small meals a day is better than a few big ones, so I don't see how finishing your milk so that you won't snack is a good alternative, it is after all dependent on what kind of snack one has whether it's bad for you or not.

(And milk, by the way, shouldn't be had with meals as it prohibits iron uptake - if you must drink milk, don't drink it with liver and onions if you're anemic!)

And my own 0.02$ worth..

3) We're born with a relatively clean slate, and bad eating habits are taught. If your body tells you you are done eating (and milk can be very filling, like a meal), and someone tells you to keep going, that would be teaching you to go against your own body. Absolutely not something I would want to teach my daughter!

My girl is 16 months old now and has never had any plain cow's milk. She does eat cheese and yogurt because I feel that the amount she eats versus the good qualities in these milk products evens out the bad - and my best guess is that she won't start drinking milk regularly until she starts kinder garden or school.

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