computers suck - period - kind of like school lunches

All hail my true blog followers.  Sorry it's been a while.  Our office is completely electronic.  You now what happens when your doctor's office is completely electronic and the software fails?  Your doctor ends up working 12-16 hours a day at the office taking care of computer issues instead of taking care of you.  Yay government for forcing us to go to EHR!!!  So, I've had two weeks with no fax, no labs, and only sparingly being able to use my medical record.  Then, I spend the evenings trying desperately to get the practice partner support team on the phone to help me.  What fun. 

Anyhow, that's enough of that.

I think it's time for my school lunch rant.  Bottom line, Jamie Oliver is my hero, and school lunches are horrible.

I don't know why the schools think that processed pre-packaged carbohydrate bombs are good for children.  I had one educator tell me that they had to make sure that the school provided the daily caloric intake for children in two meals in case any children didn't have food when they got home.  Don't get me wrong, I think that there are some kids for which this is an issue, but I think that this is completely ridiculous logic.  Why should the 99 percent of the children be forced to eat large amounts of calories rather than taking the 1 percent on a case by case basis.  Most of these kids not only go home to food, but are eating chips, little debbies, and chocolate milk when they go home.

The schools come back and say that they do have vegetables provided for the kids on a salad bar.  True.  And some kids actually do take a couple of grape tomatoes or cucumber slices to have with their mac and cheese and pepperoni roll.  You know what else in on the salad bar?  Ham chunks, jello (not sugar free), popsicles some days.  You'd better believe that the kids take that stuff when it's available.   I saw a kid the other day eating "soup".  The soup was broth with chicken and rice in it - it could have been pretty good if they'd put a few veggies and less rice in it, but it was still an effort.  Unfortunately, the kid took about 4 tablespoons of ham off of the salad bar and put them in the soup - he said it made the soup taste better.  OK.  It probably did.  But, if he'd just had some veggies on the salad bar, that wouldn't have happened.

Jamie Oliver did his show from Huntington, WV, because it's the fattest city in the country.  Oh, how we love these hills.  The absolute fervor that his show caused was amazing.  People were SO angry that someone would actually try to teach them how to cook healthful meals for the children.  The cafeteria workers at first hated it because they had to actually, (gasp) cook!  (Instead of just reheating). The schools didn't like it because they had all of the wonderful USDA food already in storage.  BTW, the USDA food is really cheap for schools.  It cannot be destroyed or given away once purchased, so that does put a school in a bind.  Also, they feared it would cost much more.  Turns out it didn't, and the project went well.  The schools where the food was changed actually had over 50 percent reduction in discipline issues and an increase in test scores?  Why?  Probably less hyperglycemia post breakfast and lunch and less hypoglycemia 2 hours later.  The kids interviewed at that school actually didn't know what certain raw vegetables were.  Sad.

Another thing that blew my mind in this special was that the school considers french fries a vegetable.  Potato = vegetable, therefore french fries = vegetable.  That's the USDA for ya right there.  Potatoes, peas, and corn are starches, people, not vegetables.  You cannot give a child a hamburger, corn, and french fries and expect them to feel well as the day goes on!!!

As Jamie Oliver has seen, try getting anything changed in the WV school system, and you're in for a lot of heartache.  I have mentioned my concerns before, and many people support me, but it's like climbing up a down escalator.  Many of the parents are not educated, and many don't really care.  We have such a huge problem with obesity in this state (and the country - something like 60% of people in the country are overweight?) and we just keep fighting this uphill battle. 

I had a patient today that told me that she keeps gaining weight because she can't afford healthy food and she can't have 6 small meals a day because she has to make her food stretch.  She gains weight every time she comes in the office.  I try to be understanding, I know that healthy food costs a little more.  I also know that you can make a big pot of beans for about 1.50 and eat that instead of the pasta or white bread sandwiches.   Also, nuts are pretty cheap as is the Kroger brand yogurt.  You can get meat at shop and save 5 packages for 25 dollars.  Fresh veggies are expensive, but frozen ones can be cheap if you look for the sales.  I don't think that not having enough money is an excuse to be fat.  I think it's an excuse to be skinny.  No matter what your income, if you consume more calories than you expend, you'll gain weight. 

People today blame the obesity crisis on video games and television.  Yes, this is part of the problem, but it's not the whole picture.  Most of the people going on about it are sitting at their computer eating a bag of ruffles when they complain.  Is this a generalization?  Of course!!!  That's my prerogative because it's MY blog!  Ha!

I have been fired by more patients than I can shake a stick at because I tell them, there is no magic pill.  There is no magic wand.  You have to take responsibility for your health.  I can't do that for you.  I can't come to your house and clean out your cabinets and refrigerator.  I can't make you eat less or better.  I can only educate you (and I do) and ask you to try a little harder.

So, as for school lunches....

Another school in NY City (I think) had really poor test scores and discipline problems.  The new principal made the school stop with the processed foods and simple sugars.  They had whole foods only with breakfast and lunch as well as whole grains.  The children were not allowed to bring in anything from home that didn't meet the guidelines.  Within a year, they had very few discipline problems and the test scores improved dramatically.  Why?  Well, I think I've already addressed this.

There is  protein in the urine of people who have schizophrenia and autism that goes away when gluten is removed from the diet.  Symptoms also improve when this happens.  Doesn't mean much by itself, but it does imply that the things we put in our body may affect our psychiatric condition.

How can we expect the schools to provide a healthful environment for our children when we aren't doing it at home?  How can we expect anything when the FDAs food pyramid is based on grains???  It is completely asinine.  We need to make changes within our own homes, then move to our friends, family, and then to the community.  People need to understand that if they think health care costs are high today - wait until these children who are diabetic, hypertensive, and hyperlipidemic at age 10 turn 60.  If they do.  We are killing ourselves with school lunches, fast food, and supersized meals. 

I feel kind of like Susan Powter (sp?) right now - STOP THE INSANITY!  (I'm not going to give myself a crew cut, though.)

Phil and I would love to open a community center here in Elkins.  We have a dream of a place where kids can go after school and have active things to do,  nutrition classes, healthy snacks, education for parents - maybe some cooking classes for kids and parents.  We have seriously considered this, but realized that we don't have the time to run it because we'd have to have full time certified helpers, food handlers cards, insurance, liability waivers, etc...  God forbid we just try to make a healthful place for kids to go in the community.  They Y does a good job, but they have to charge and not everyone can afford it. 

Anyhow, that's my rant for today.  I'm a little disjointed due to also working on computers during the writing of it.

Dr. Mindy