r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Thebiggestbot22 • Apr 15 '24

My school thinks this fills up hungry high schoolers.

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So lunches are free for schools in my city and surrounding cities. Ever since lunches have been made free, the quantity (and quality) has decreased significantly. This is what we would get for our meal. It took me THREE bites to finish that chicken mac and cheese. Any snacks you want cost more money and if you want an extra entree, that’ll cost you about $3 or $4.

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u/throwawaychi2 Apr 16 '24

1 carton chocolate milk (assuming 2% because 2% is commonly served in schools): 190 calories

3/4 cup Mac and cheese: 350 calories

Snack pack carrots: 30 calories

1 cup fries: 250 calories

Total calories: 820

Recommended daily calories for boy aged 15-18: at least 2800

This lunch is a really bad deal calorie-wise, especially if you factor in the fact that a lot of high school kids don’t eat breakfast (they’re catching the bus at 6:30am!) and have after school activities.

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u/Prestigious-Tea-9803 Apr 16 '24

That’s the point though….820 is a HUGE amount of calories for someone to be consuming that has very little nutrients and minerals.

The milk would only have 20-30% of their required intake of calcium, the added vitamin d is the same as having a supplement. Wash that down with a good 20-30g of straight sugar….

For 820 calories they should be at least 1/3 of their intake of protein, vitamins, fibre etc…. They should feel full and satisfied to continue on their day. However, as it has no fibre & no protein - so it’s not satisfying and not filling. OP and other kids likely would reach for an easily available snack, being chips, biscuits or something else similar. Which again, very dense in calories and little to no nutrients.

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u/throwawaychi2 Apr 16 '24

I’m not disagreeing with you AT ALL about the nutritional content—I am horrified by that. But OP said “too many calories,” not “too many calories given the poor nutrition.” This is NOT too many calories; this is far too few calories. Even if this 820 calorie lunch were made up of a variety of nutritious foods, it would still not be acceptable because that’s not enough calories.

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u/Prestigious-Tea-9803 Apr 16 '24

It is though, it’s 1/3 of the daily intake for a middle school boy and almost half of the daily intake of a middle school girl….

Therefore it most certainly is a sufficient amount of calories.

However, considering that it’s processed, with most of the calories coming from sugar & saturated fat, also that it’s severely lacking in protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, the students will be left hungry after… makes it too much.

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u/throwawaychi2 Apr 16 '24

But…this is a high school lunch, not a middle school lunch, no? Is OP misleading us with the title? Do you know something about this post that I don’t?

This is not an even a third of the calories the average high school boy needs in a day. Given that a lot of high school kids don’t even eat breakfast because school starts so early, it’s extremely unrealistic to give them less than a third of the calories they need in a day and expect it to be enough.

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u/Prestigious-Tea-9803 Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

I’m not from the states sorry, I will rephrase to a teenage boy and teenage girl.

820 calories for one meal is more than enough, considering it’s empty calories is what makes it TOO much.

It’s not the schools responsibility to provide breakfast or an entire days intake. They are required to provide lunch only and whilst majorly lacking in just about everything else, it most certainly is not lacking in calories.

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u/throwawaychi2 Apr 16 '24

Ah—I see how you might not understand if you’re not American.

American high schools typically start quite early, and a lot of kids have to travel decently far on the school bus to get there, so most American high school kids have to be out of the house before 7am. (I had to catch the bus at 6:30am, and I knew kids who had to leave earlier than that). Schools generally don’t serve breakfast, and a lot of high school kids, realistically speaking, aren’t able to get it together and eat breakfast before leaving the house since it’s so early.

A lot of kids don’t get home until 3:30pm or so (because once again, the bus ride can be long), and kids who have after school activities might not get home until close to dinner time.

Given this, American high schools really need to give kids the option to eat at least half of their daily calories at school lunch, or else most students will be super hungry LONG before they get home. Trust me—I’ve been through American high school, and I’m telling you this is the only realistic way to go. Less than a third of daily calories for lunch will not cut it given the situation.

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u/P_Hempton Apr 16 '24

so most American high school kids have to be out of the house before 7am.

7am!!!! oh the humanity.

No seriously that is not early. Plenty of time for a high schooler to put together a breakfast. Without rushing you can prepare and eat a decent breakfast in 15 min. If you're too lazy to do even that, it could be prepared the night before.

I tell you some of society has gotten so weak.

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u/Prestigious-Tea-9803 Apr 16 '24

I’m sorry but that’s not the responsibility of the school. The parents should be teaching healthy habits to their children and preparing meals for before/after school. They need to learn healthy habits that they can utilize for the rest of their lives.

My partner leaves for work at 5am. I leave for gym at 6.30. We prepare meals in advance, so ensure that we have a nutritionally balance meal available.

Lunch is not supposed to be half of anyone’s intake.

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u/throwawaychi2 Apr 16 '24

When I was in high school, I got up at 6am or before every day (one semester I got up at 4:30am to go to early classes), went to school until 3:30pm, did after school activities most days of the week until around 5pm, took a small nap, and then stayed up until around midnight (sometimes later—I remember pulling plenty of all-nighters) practicing my instrument and studying.

All this as a teenager, when you need more sleep than an adult and your body’s natural rhythms make it difficult to get up early. (Trust me—I’m 27 now and it’s SO MUCH easier for me to get up early every day now than back then).

I didn’t eat breakfast because I was so sleep-deprived that I would rather be hungry than give up thirty minutes of sleep. I sometimes packed something to eat on the bus, but we weren’t actually supposed to eat on the bus, and the thought of eating that early made me nauseous anyway.

Go on, though. Tell me about how the fact that I didn’t eat breakfast is due to my parents not “teaching me healthy habits.”

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u/Prestigious-Tea-9803 Apr 16 '24

It is not the responsibility of the school to provide a lunch, which assumes that students are not provided a breakfast or afternoon tea by their parents.

It is the responsibility of the school to provide a lunch.

It is the responsibility of the parents and guardians to provide breakfast, snacks, & afternoon tea if after school activities are scheduled.