Schools need to form nutrition committee - gulfnews.com

[Scott Adams]

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Open Original Shared Link gulfnews.com The guidelines advise schools to provide specific foods to children with diabetes, debilitating and celiac diseases. Many teachers are in the dark on how they should deal with diabetic children. Recently a 'Bill of Rights' was issued to cater for ... Open Original Shared Link AME Info Open Original Shared Link

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[Takala]

I wonder if the people setting up the (school food nutrition) guidelines realize that newest research shows a genetic link between celiac and type 1 diabetes.

However, growing children need to eat a bit differently than adults, and a celiac may have a different carbohydrate needs than a type 1 diabetic who is taking insulin. Also, the article was not clear whether it was a problem with type 1 diabetes which is auto immune and present from birth/young childhood, or type II which tends to develop later, as a result of being overweight, and is partially a result of metabolism and genes meet too much easily digested carbohydrate and don't get enough exercise. (also.... don't forget that thyroid problems can be a result of undiagnosed celiac/gluten intolerance, and contribute to being overweight) The article here Open Original Shared Link says :

"The guideline includes regulations for both food safety and nutritional requirements that must be followed by all schools in the Emirate of Dubai. The guideline will educate schools on the basics of healthy nutrition and will explain the concept of the food pyramid, calorie requirements for every age group. Moreover, the guideline emphasizes on incorporating healthy meals keeping in mind good carbohydrates and the food pyramid colour grading system. The guideline also provides schools with examples of healthy meals which include a variety of food types so that the children get adequate nutrition from all healthy food sources."

If this is based on the American United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) "Food Pyramid" that is part of the problem right there. Since the introduction of the dreadful thing here in the early 1990's, which is bottom heavy with many, many servings of grain per day, and assumes a very low fat, high grain based diet is the best, one fact is absolutely irrefutable - everyone in the United States, on average, has GAINED WEIGHT.

The USDA has now had a bill passed by Congress which further tinkers with what is supposedly "good" nutrition for children. I was not surprised but certainly dismayed to see that the Grain Lobby (agricultural subsidies and the genetic engineering companies) won once again, and what started out as an attempt to get more vegetables onto the school lunch program ended up getting more grains on to the school lunch program to replace other starchy vegetables. This is, contrary to whomever thought it was a brilliant victory for nutrition, not a good idea for the hypothetical, "normal" child they are designing this for - one that does not have a problem consuming a high carbohydrate, high wheat, high soy, low fat diet that may even be quasi - vegetarian, and it's even worse for the ones who, for whatever reason, tend towards insulin resistance.