Snack-Hating Soccer Mom
It has already started: the dreaded snack emails. Am I the only mother that detests being mandated to supply junk food to my child after he finally burns a few calories?
Another typical kid coming off the soccer field…
“Oh, but the kids just love it!” I hear. They would love having ice cream for dinner, too, so why stop there?
“Oh, a little treat isn’t going to hurt them!” Is another point of view. If only it were that ONE treat we had to deal with. Now you are encouraged to bring enough treats for siblings too. We have four kids and have an average of 4-6 games a weekend! On one special occasion, after consuming an untold number of fruity snacks, my son thought something was really wrong when his bathroom deposit was blue. Egads! How about hardening of the liver due to over consumption of high fructose corn syrup?
Treats have become the standard American reward system. Treats for good grades, treats for nice manners, treats for going potty on the toilet…do we really need to continue this illogical tradition of rewarding physical activity with calories? Do you treat yourself to a juice box and bag of chips after breaking a sweat?
So, to all you snack-list-making-moms out there, I give you five good reasons we need to stop the soccer snack madness:
1. They are eating more calories that they burn
How many calories do you think my five-year-old burns playing soccer? Taking into account actual playing time, intensity, and weight…about 80. (Check out this site) Yes, less than a low sugar granola bar. So, the argument that we are replenishing our children’s used glucose stores isn’t very compelling. Add a Capri Sun or Gatorade, and you have a potential weight gain scenario. While your child may not have a weight issue, it is an epidemic in America. Childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years and has no sign of slowing down.
2. It engrains a “Pavlovian” response
This has already happened in our house. When I asked my son today how his soccer game went, his FIRST response was, “Bad. They forgot to bring snacks.” I am not making this up! Do you think, as a man, he’ll have an unidentifiable urge to eat goldfish after running on the treadmill? He might already be ruined. Perhaps I’ll send him to behavior therapy to disconnect the sweat-gut connection.
3. It is unhealthy
Here are the top snacks I see around the fields: fruit roll-ups, cookies, doughnuts, goldfish, granola bars, and graham crackers. And that doesn’t even take into account the sugary drinks. There may be the occasional mom who cuts oranges and organic apples, but more often than not the snacks are JUNK! They are highly processed and full of chemicals, sugar, HFCS, and trans fats. Rather than requiring the snacks be healthy, JUST DON’T HAVE SNACKS! The kids will survive that 20-minute drive home.
4. It can be unsafe with increasing food allergies
With the ever-increasing issue of childhood food allergies, we have to be very careful what we put out there. Nuts, wheat, and dairy are in almost everything. No mother wants a child to feel left out, but more importantly, no one wants an accidental allergic reaction from handing out Oreos. Especially when the kids come at you, like a pack of wild hyenas, grabbing bags of Scooby Snacks like it was their final meal before Judgment Day. One unintentional Nutter Butter munch and a kid could be sent to the Emergency Room.
5. Remembering to pick up snacks is a pain in the arse
What more is there to say? Please, spare me another item on my “to do” list. I can hardly remember to pick up milk, let alone 4 boxes of Juicy Juice….
I am with everyone here, THANK YOU for posting this! The kids I know believe that for every ‘healthy’ food they eat they should get one treat. For instance, for every cup of water they drink they expect a cup of chocolate milk, juice or soda and that for eating a piece of string cheese or some mandarin oranges they should get a cookie. It drives me bonkers! What happened to real fruit (you know, like apples with the peel still on them) and plain milk?! Not to mention WATER!
Thank you for writing a post about this that isn’t hysterical and ridiculous.
When I first started reading, I was thinking, ‘Oh god, another one of these health nuts…’ but I was wrong. You’re just being reasonable, and there’s nothing wrong with that!
Further, why do people have such a hard time saying ‘no’ to their kids? Seriously? Why is it so bad to say “You can have water and orange slices, or you can have nothing.” What, are people afraid to hurt their kids’ feelings? Seriously, stop enabling your kids and turning them into entitled little brats!
(On the other hand, and someone who worked in a public school for 5 years, I’m slightly annoyed with the whole ‘healthy’ campaigns at schools. These kids are not getting fat from one meal a day at school. They’re just not. While I don’t disagree with a healthy meal from school, when is someone going to stand up and state the obvious – Kids are getting fat because of the crap they eat at home and because they play videogames after school. We had to play outside until dinner when I was a kid – no ifs, ands, or buts! And a cupcake for a kid’s birthday in the classroom WAS a treat when I was a kid….not an expectation.)
I am right with you! My son played baseball and basketball last year and I really just wanted them to not have the snacks. I think it’s just ridiculous, seriously. When I played soccer growing up, we had someone cut oranges so we could drink the juice quickly at half time to give us all a burst of energy. Like you, we don’t see that. At my daughter’s first soccer game last weekend, it was gatorade and rainbow goldfish. Blech. Gatorade is not made for children number one, but add in a hefty dose of artificial food coloring on top. I will grudgingly bring snacks when it is our turn, but IF I bring drinks, it will be water, and I’ll do my best to find something that is not sugar/artificial food coloring-laden. Hm, maybe some cut up oranges! Enough already!
Maybe I should cut up apples and oranges for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop when it’s my turn to bring snacks. The girls (and parents too) are so used to junk food that it’ll probably go over like a lead balloon.
In this economy it’s silly to ask someone who is financially strapped to feed the team and their siblings, too. You want snacks for your kid, bring them yourself.
I bet you are right – the kids will look at you like you are crazy! But it is a start!
When I played soccer, we always had orange wedges during half-time. It was more of a way to keep us full as we were still young(this was grade school). I never got a snack that wasn’t oranges, so it just seems weird that all these unhealthy snacks would be passed out. It seems weird.
Totally agree and appreciate this entry. Two years ago when my daughter was in 8th Grade I put my foot down about supplying snacks to my daughter’s basketball team in what was effectively a 40 square mile area during rush hour in the busy DC suburban area. She went to a private school and games could be played at some distant locations. I was the only parent who refused to deliver snacks such as pizza and other heavy snacks before these athletic events. A simple snack bar in the backpack would have been sufficient.
I played basketball as a child for 10 straight years and we were never supplied a snack. Parents routinely overfeed their children and wonder why they have poor eating habits and fight weight issues when puberty sets in.
It’s no mystery.
Thanks again
I’m glad you put your foot down! Thanks for sharing…
Great post, too funny. When I was a kid the moms brought orange slices and water. What is happening in our world today? You know there is actually a kids only gym around the corner from my house, that’s how many overweight children there are. A gym. Just for overweight kids. Unbelievable.
I wish I had the time to comment on every post, but I had to say HOLY COW! What happened to riding bikes and playing outside? It breaks my heart.
When I played soccer in high school on multiple teams, we ALWAYS had orange slices and bananas on the bench during the game. Maybe you could try that instead.
I don’t think that’s near as bad as potato chips and capri sun.
Totally agree — thanks for a great post. We condition our kids to believe that their every activity is deserving of some edible reward. It’s completely ridiculous. How about, after your soccer game, your reward is feeling really good about those two goals you scored … not after your soccer game, your reward is a package of Oreo cookies and a juice box. Love the post, thanks again.
HAHAHAHA….LOVE!
I have the same aversion to snack with regard to my Girl Scout meetings. Most of the time we don’t even do anything that warrants the need for additional calories. But the girls drive me bonkers about snack almost as soon as they enter the meeting. ARGH!
If it was up to me…NO MORE SNACK!
We don’t do treats. It helps that my husband is the coach, so he could suggest it as an option at the beginning of this season.
We decided to try it because last year one of the mom’s on our team mentioned that her other son’s team just didn’t do treats and it was great!
And as someone who has a child with food allergies, it’s just nice that he doesn’t have to feel left out while the other kids eat things he can’t.
well said! nothing like setting your children up for failure by making them run around after a ball and then getting them hopped up on crap after they’re done running.
O.M.G. You are my hero! I have been saying this for years in my community!!! I REFUSE to participate in any of it! Rock on!!
I am not a soccer mom, or a mom, but I write a newsletter for a student writing coaching program and include a section on nutrition for 6-12th graders and love your thoughts. I also jus watched Food, Inc. and…whoa.
Thanks for writing. I’m enjoying your posts/raves.
I hope other parents read this and actually understand. A snack here or there wouldn’t hurt, but if kids are being treated to snacks daily or multiple times daily, it will add up. Obesity, diabetes, um it’s a no brainer! I would suggest sharing this post with @changefood
Thanks for the tip! I’m going to check that out!
YES. GOOD FOR YOU.
I always hated it, too, and I’m a dad.
I’m not a mom, but I have to say I’m glad to see that there are parents who are concerned with what goes in their kids’ mouths. Junk food shouldn’t be a reward for physical activity– or anything at that. It’s sad that healthy food seems to take a backseat nowadays, because it isn’t being hawked on TV by a cartoon character.
Brilliant!
Totally agree!! I refuse to send my daughters to my father-in-law’s church for Summer VBS because they are given junk ALL day. It seems like a lure to get them to want to come back. Great idea, kill them with junk food, but at least they know God. Food should not be a way to entice children to do anything, it’s just not right.
Couldn’t agree with you more. Silly to give out junk after an athletic event!
psst… up at the top… it’s “due to” not “do to”
I love you! Can I keep you around as a proofreader?
Congrats on getting Freshly Pressed! Glad you did because this was brilliant!
I agree 1000%! I gave birth to a healthy boy whom I breastfed and introduced slowly to REAL foods that I cooked in my kitchen all to see it go down the drain with the advent of SNACKS. Now I worry about his weight and I find that ridiculous and appalling.
Another are that irritates the snot out of me is Sunday School. Seriously?! A child can’t go 50 minutes without an animal cracker during church? And if it were actually and animal cracker I’m not sure I would mind so much but a 2 foot artificially dyed gummy rope?
Praise Jesus!
All this to say, “Bravo” and I’m linking this post to my facebook!
To further illustrate the church school thing – our church changed to Monday nights from 5-6 and they still will hand out candy! Nothing like a little sugar boost right before dinner :)
To further illustrate the church school thing – our church changed to Monday nights from 5-6 and they still will hand out candy! Nothing like a little sugar boost right before dinner :) And, what an amazing story YOU have! Glad that everything is going well!
My son is a senior in High School and I am so glad those days of “required” anything or almost over! He played soccer for one year in middle school and I remember going through the same thing. Wrestling, too–although those snacks did seem somewhat healthier than the soccer snacks.
I thought it was really unfair to ask parents to do this for another reason as well–the financial burden. Maybe the other soccer moms and dads didn’t have a problem with this, but for everyone to assume I should just be willing and able to provide for a whole group of kids that weren’t mine was not at all fair to me. I was a single mother struggling constantly to raise her two kids. It was enough for me to pay the fees for playing soccer, along with the cost of the uniform, shoes, socks, shin guards, etc. let alone adding to my single burden of feeding everyone! Not nice.
What an excellent point. That should have been #6!!!
Great Post! Thanks for sharing this story. I agree on the fact that a little snack once in a while won’t hurt anyone.
I will never forget eating sugar-soaked oranges during half time of my football games. I never really thought of the downfall of consuming all that sugar. You’re absolutely right, nice post.
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Clearly the majority of respondents feel like the junk food snacking is out of control…….so where are all these crazed-food-obsessed mom’s we have all been forced to bring in snacks for?
Are we all bringing snacks just so our kids will not be ostracised?
I am all about water and apples. Love it or leave it… or take me off the snack rotation. :-)
Isn’t it interesting. If we all feel the same way, let’s call it a day!
Totally agree! Glad to see it written about! We stopped it when we coached our then 7 year old’s soccer team. We were not popular… some even brought snacks anyway.
We promised a big pizza party at the end of the season… the kids loved it!
Another one out there like me! I abhor The Snack. Throw in there the school party snacks and treats, and the soda and snack machines in some high schools and it’s a mess. It’s all marketing. We’re victims of companies competing for our business. No one sells tasty little snacks anymore. They sell FORTIFIED, HEALTHY, NATURAL, LIFE-ALTERING GOODNESS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. Sheesh. We need to start thinking for ourselves again.
Thanks for this!
I thought I was the only one….
Unfortunately “a little snack once in a while” is NOT the case.
Kids are eating donuts for breakfast in the car on the way to school, soda for lunch AND dessert, and soda in after school care. The teachers reward with candy. The Sunday School teacher serves donuts and chocolate milk and the Children’s Church passes out candy rewards, and that’s all before they meet the church “grandpa” who carries candy in his pocket to give to every kid he encounters each Sunday.
Grandma “treats” them with homemade goodies, birthday parties are sugar fests, and the bank passes out candy.
There’s enough candy at Halloween to last until pumpkin pie is served at Thanksgiving and then the Christmas candy canes tide us over until New Year’s dieting – which fades by the time we’re getting Valentine chocolates. About the time we’re recovered from the clearance Valentines we’re chomping on yellow peeps and chocolate Easter treats followed by end of year parties and and endless sugar summer of ice cream and freeze pops. August rolls around and it’s back to school parties and the cycle begins again.
Every other commercial on TV tempts children with sugar cereal and HFCS “treats” It NEVER ends. Maybe we should stop calling the junk “treats” – it’s not a “treat” when they are getting it all day long, all year long. It’s just “standards”.
Well said! And, bravo on your weight loss journey!
Amen!
Excellent post!! And ab excellent point about food allergies… I work in a school- and you would not believe the number of children with various food allergies and the amount of epi-pens they (hopefully don’t ever) need. I am absolutely CONVINCED it is additives etc creating these allergies…
I feel your pain. I’ve always been (secretly) baffled by it, but conceded that it was a cultural thing that I might as well go along with. Now, I find myself at times with this stupid anxiety about it…What if I forget the snacks???
How silly is that? I mean, its is not like any of the kids on those teams are depending on that snack nutritionally.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I have 5 boys and they all play sports. What ever happened to eating oranges and drinking water. Why are we feeding kids garbage after they exercise? Why also is there a need to feed teenagers this junk after a game? Can’t they wait until they get home?
If you want your kids to have a snack after a game, bring it yourself and stop making me bring it for the whole team! I don’t have time for this. The last straw for me was when my high school lacrosse player told me I had to sign up for snack for his team. Half of the kids can drive themselves to the store to get a snack, and the other half probably have overprotective parents who will make sure their kids get a “treat” after the game anyway. Our kids are way too spoiled.
Well said!!!!!!!!! These are great comments too about VBS and Girl Scouts. My pet peeve are the cookies my daughter must sell to support her troupe. What example is that? If they sell organic veggies or green-good-for-our-Earth products, I’m in. I had to sign my permission for her to sell cookies and felt so mixed up. Yes? No? Should I be the only one of 50 mom’s to boycott? Does it matter? Dilemma that was solved by signing and promptly misplacing the cookie order form….
Sometimes the Universe helps in mysterious ways!
I never realised that this happened! How shocking. You lay out the arguments against the snack practice very well though, and the more people that can be convinced against it, the more children and mums will have a healthier and less stressful experience after games.
It is crazy, isn’t it!
Who are you, Michelle Obama? XD Cuz u sure sound like her!
Ha! I’ll take that as a compliment :)
I couldn’t have said it better myself! Another serious issue is Pep Baskets for High School activities such as tennis matches, soccer games volleyball, softball, even Band performances! I am the ONLY mother who has said enough is enough! No! I will not give you $10-$15 bucks to take to the nearest Dollar General and blow on HFCS and processed foods to put in one more basket type container in exchange for same before the event. Stop The Madness! Lina I love your blog!
I have never hear of such a thing! I was hoping in a couple years the candy madness would be over! Jeez…it never ends!
orange slices and bananas!!! ;-)
Easy peasy, right? And so much better for you!!!
I realize this post is 2 years old but I just got the snack info for my son’s soccer team dictating the parameters of said snack and could not agree more with every sentiment you expressed. Apparently, we are now not only responsible for fruit at half time, a drink and snack after the game, but also extra for siblings, coaches, and referees. It actually says that; not just implied. Talk about out of control. I will be drawing the line in the sand. I would prefer to just provide my own child’s snack, as most of them are disgusting, but how do you start that one?
An oldie but goodie. Still holds up today and I feel exactly the same! I just got my fall round of snack sign ups and want to tear my hair out! I have tried to say “let’s not to snacks” but it just doesn’t stick. Maybe one year we skip, but someone always wants to bring it back. Honestly, I’m not against treats and fun. Even if one insistent mom had a big bag of dum dums or starbursts and each kid got one – that would be better than a juice box and bag of fruity snacks. And, yes, it is totally out of control how many snacks we have to get now. Is if telling a sibling you ran out would stop the world from turning…
Wow! Thank you so much for the link! Enjoying your videos…