Please help me not sound preachy

[LaurieG]

DH and I are coaches for our sons T-ball team. Practices will start soon, and at the first practice one of the things I traditionally do (this will be our 3rd season as coaches) is organize post-game snack schedule. Each family usually brings drinks and snacks once or twice during the season.

After witnessing the junk that is brought to give to the kids for 2 yrs, I'd like to encourage or empower the moms who are inclined to bring healthier treats but afraid to have their kids be the one who brought the unpopular treats, yk. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the childhood obesity issue and how these kinds of "fun" traditions feed into the issue. Everyone thinks, oh - it's just one night. But the thing is T-ball is twice a week for 2 months and then there's the birthday parties and the summer runs to get ice cream and all the other one nights and pretty soon kids forget that they used to like oranges. And oranges become untouchable. So my thought is that by making a pact with the other parents that we're going to bring healthy snacks all the kids have the opportunity to rediscover how good those things can be.

But how do I say that to the parents, some of whom I will be meeting for the first time that night and some who may not see a problem with the highly processed junk food. I don't want to outlaw junk food (well, okay, I do but I'm trying to be flexible ) but would like to do some gentle prodding.

Thoughts? Would you be offended by someone talking about how you feed your child the first time you met them?

[zinemama]

If you were just one of the other parents, this might be something to worry about. But you are the coach. You are in charge. I think you have every right to require the parents to bring healthy food.

Of course, frame it in a positive way, which it sounds as if you are going to. Mention your point about this being twice a week and it adds up. But don't frame this as "prodding" or "suggesting." They need to know what is ok and what isn't. I'm sure that the snacks you have in mind are not going to cause anyone extra work - you're not requiring them to slave over quinoa/wheat germ muffins, just asking for some cut-up fruit and cheese sticks (I imagine).

I think that what would really help a lot of these parents is if you made up a handout with a list of different kinds of snacks and portions to bring. Tell them they are welcome to bring anything on the list. (I know that as a new preschool mother, I really appreciated having that sheet to turn to when it was my turn for snack.)

[iamama]

Hand out a list of appropriate choices!

[One_Girl]

I think that you should encourage people to send their children with a snack of their choice if it is a problem. Actual healthy snacks are very expensive and I wouldn't be willing to buy snacks for a whole team of kids if I couldn't buy something like crackers. I can provide a healthy snack that works for our family and a water bottle for my dd for much less than buying snacks for a team of kids. Maybe you could request that parents send a water bottle instead of asking for juice (which is pretty much sugar water with some vitamins added) and then hand out a list of healthy snacks and ask parents to try to buy things from the list. Even if they do go with an unhealthy choice it won't be washed down with empty calories on top of that.

[ASusan]

I agree with zinemama. You are the coach. You set the standard and you have the information about what is best for little bodies that will be participating in sport. I also agree that suggestions of buying a water bottle are right on. You can even frame that as an earth friendly choice, in addition to a growing athlete choice.

So, this year, it's water bottles and a list of healthy(ish) snacks.

[LaLaLaLa]

My kids play soccer, and different parents sign up to bring something every week. At the first meeting, coaches explain that many of the kids on the field have various allergies to various things, so the snacks should only be fruit and popsicles. Fruit for halftime (oranges and watermelon slices are most popular) and popsicles for after the game. You could even go one step further and list acceptable brands of popsicles that don't have added sugar or food colorings, if that's an issue.

We've never had parents bring anything besides fruit and popsicles; that's just the routine throughout the league. Can all of the coaches get together and be a solid force on the food issue? If kids want extra junky stuff at our soccer games, there's a snack bar there with food for sale.

[LaurieG]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. The idea of having parents bring water bottles is a good one. I like trying to be a little more green while we're at it.

Originally Posted by LaLaLaLa

My kids play soccer, and different parents sign up to bring something every week. At the first meeting, coaches explain that many of the kids on the field have various allergies to various things, so the snacks should only be fruit and popsicles. Fruit for halftime (oranges and watermelon slices are most popular) and popsicles for after the game. You could even go one step further and list acceptable brands of popsicles that don't have added sugar or food colorings, if that's an issue.

We've never had parents bring anything besides fruit and popsicles; that's just the routine throughout the league. Can all of the coaches get together and be a solid force on the food issue? If kids want extra junky stuff at our soccer games, there's a snack bar there with food for sale.

Oh boy, don't get me started on soccer. That's going to be my next thing to tackle. We are not currently allowed to bring snacks to soccer games. Everything must be purchased from the snack bar, which offers nothing but super processed snacks and candy. I would love to be able to give the kids fruit at halftime!

I like the idea of approaching the other coaches and trying to get everyone on board, though I don't know how easy it will be. Maybe it's a regional thing, but it seems like people are so attached to their super processed foods.