Where Is the Candy?

            Where is candy on the food pyramid? As you probably know, it’s not even on the chart. In spite of recent statewide discussions regarding whether candy can be considered food, doctors and dentists everywhere agree that candy is not good for our children. Too much sugar has been shown to be a contributor to child obesity, linked to childhood behavioral problems including an inability to focus, a contributing factor to childhood diabetes, and connected with dental decay. A recent study even found a link between childhood consumption of candy and adult criminal behavior (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1927347,00.html). You probably have experienced situations in which you’ve seen sugar’s effects on your child or other children: the jitters or a lessening of the ability to concentrate, and/or the crash that comes when the burst of energy wears off.

            Our recent celebration of Valentine’s Day, a holiday when candy is romanticized and seen by some as a birthright, presented challenges to adults who are faced with helping children make responsible decisions about what they consume. This is true even though candy had no role to play in the origins of Valentine’s Day, though love and notes did. St. Valentine was martyred in the early days of Christianity for performing the marriage ceremony for lovers. He received notes from the lovers he married, and even wrote his own love notes to the daughter of his jailer. At school, we celebrated Valentine’s Day with cards to our friends and with beautifully decorated lockers in the spirit of love notes from parents to their children.

            Throughout the day, as every day, candy was avoided. By resisting the temptation to pass along an unhealthy tradition instituted by candy manufacturers, parents demonstrated to their children their love and concern. By not including candy in the locker decorations, parents helped their own children and others avoid the temptation to plunder the works of art that the lockers had become. The day was a very special one for the students, with the excitement of entering a school full of Valentine’s Day artwork designed especially for them by their parents, sharing their and their teachers’ creative red and pink clothing options, and passing cards to friends and big/little sisters/brothers. Candy didn’t seem to be missed at all!

            We continue to look for ways to encourage children to eat healthy snacks and meals. These efforts are explicit in direct classroom lessons as, for instance, the Navajos had a recent guest speaker on dental health: Shelley Parsons from Pine Grove Dental. They are also implicit, as faculty and staff model eating healthy meals and snacks when they dine with the children. With school meals, we strive to provide a nutritious lunch with fruit rather than candy as a sweet element. And, as our Valentine’s Day celebrations reminded us, we help parents respond to their children’s media-fueled desires for candy by banning it from the school. Society will do its best to encourage children to eat unhealthily, but as parents and the school work together we can be successful in resisting that push and in keeping our children healthy.