Early this week, we had a conference with my oldest daughter's teacher. Mostly it was because of issues with homework not being turned in, but during the conference she brought up the fact that my daughter seems to have difficulty focusing and is easily distracted and wondered if we would mind if they evaluated her for ADD. I have no problem with that and plan to have her evaluated myself as well (hey, a second opinion never hurts). The dietary changes have helped, but they may not be enough. The thing is, I mentioned that my daughter is sensitive to sugar and that this adds to the problem and we even discussed supplying this teacher with a stash of sugar-free treats for my daughter so she won't feel left out when the other kids get treats from the teacher (although why they are passing out sugar-laden treats when it's discouraged to put them in their lunches is beyond me). She seemed to understand when I said that I didn't want my daughter to be given sugary treats.
Friday she came home with two Twinkies and said that her teacher gave them to her.
I'm thinking of taking up a collection so I can buy this lady a clue. She can't seriously think that Twinkies don't have sugar in them (not to mention all those nasty trans-fats they contain) and I don't know how I can be any more direct without becoming offensive.
Aaaarrrrgghhhhh!

Sorry....just needed to rant a bit.

Would talking to the principle be an option? If they aren't supposed to pack those things in their lunches, it is against school policy I would assume. Plus you are more than likely not the only parent who isn't happy about it - or just plain doesn't know about it.

NOTE: I don't have kids, so I don't know if this would cause more problems, but I would think someone in authority should know about it.

The mixed messages that schools and teachers send out is really unbelieveable!! First, they teach kids all that silly food pyramid business and then they undermine their own practices by giving kids junk. Then they wring their hands that all the kids are puffing up. Add to it that they have practically removed recess and voila! Also, I hate the idea that sugary things might be rewards - that sets kids up for a lifetime of inappropriate food ideas. I think you are right to be concerned... I'd take the position that my child has a food allergy to sugar (this teacher wouldn't be forcing Reese's on a kid with peanut allergies, right??!)

Anyway, I'm so glad my daughter goes to a Montesorri school - where they eat good complex carbs - no refined sugar, flour and no deep fried stuff. The kids eat family style (no buying ice cream, etc. in the cafeteria; you get what Miss Esther cooks or you go hungry ) And they play outside 2 hours a day. Funny, they even make little applesauce bran muffins instead of cupcakes to celebrate birthdays! Add to it that at a whole school function (toddlers- 6th grade - about 150 children, total)I was surprised to notice that there are NO OVERWEIGHT KIDS. Is that amazing or what?

When I hear what other parents have to deal with, I'm so glad about my daughter's school!

I plan on talking to the teacher on Monday to find out if my daughter really got the Twinkies from her or if she raided the lunches that are brought in for other kids on the lunch program (which I know she sometimes does).
If she truly did get these from the teacher, I plan to reiterate that I don't want her to have such things. The hard part is that the teacher is not in the classroom at lunchtime; they have lunch monitors that take over so the teachers can have a break. If it continues, I will have a talk with the principal.
Sugary treats are not forbidden, just discouraged. The only thing that is forbidden for lunches is red juice, reason given that it stains the floors, but I would think that purple juice would stain just as bad so I think it's because they are aware of the negative effects that red dyes have on a lot of kids.
I'm sure there are other parents that don't like this or are just unaware as most kids would have happily scarfed them down and not said anything to their parents. At least my daughter brought them home (with the idea of sharing one with her sister), so I could confiscate them before she ate them and explained that there are lots of things in them that are very bad for her. I also replaced them with a sugar-free treat that she really likes so she wasn't too upset about having the Twinkies taken away. I'm actually rather proud of her for not eating them immediately...that's a lot of restraint from a second grader.

lperk...I'm also concerned about the lack of physical activity. The kids only have physical education once a week this semester (twice next) and only get two recesses a day of 15 minutes each. That's not much time to exercise.
I'm seriously thinking of starting a campaign to get the sugary stuff out of the schools. If the parents want their kids to have them, they can have them when they're not at school and I really believe it's a bad message for the teachers to be rewarding the kids with high sugar treats...."Hey...you stayed focused all day. Here....stuff your face with sugar so you're nice and wired when you get home and it takes you two hours to do 30 minutes of homework because then you really won't be able to focus."