I don’t have to think twice when it comes to wondering why I don’t like going to the grocery stores at this time of year. Junk food products back to school seem to invade almost every island. I know we live in a fast-paced world, but there is no food in the food we send to school with our children.

As adults we know that we need good nutrition in our body to be able to concentrate and learn at a high level. We know that fresh fruits and vegetables are what fuel our body and keep it functioning at optimal levels. We also know that high-fat foods run through our adrenal glands, slow down blood flow, and generally tire our bodies. So why are we willing to fill our children’s lunches with this garbage?

These companies are so good at marketing that they know that lunch and snack time is also a social time. They know that children watch what they eat each other for their lunch; in fact, it has long been a source of bullying in the schoolyard. Children seem to have more say than adults in what is bought for lunch. None of us want our kids to feel bad about what we put for them for lunch. None of us want you to bother with our children because we care about the nutritional value of their lunch.

There comes a time when we have to decide that we are the adults, we are the ones who are going to make the decision to prepare a nutritionally balanced lunch. There is a lot of education around this topic, both for children and adults. I hear people say that it is more expensive to eat nutritionally. Have you really seen the prices of this packaged garbage that we offer to our children? Not to mention the low nutritional value of the product means that it does not feed the body properly, which is why it is actually hungry more often, thus requiring more of the junk.

For a body to be in balance for proper learning, a person needs to avoid sugar and fats, these substances in food create ups and downs in the body. When the sugar level drops, the brain cannot absorb the information correctly because it is not balanced. The fat in these products makes the body work harder to digest them, thus removing the focus on learning.

A healthy and balanced diet allows the child to feel full, allows the body to function properly and therefore concentrates more on learning at a higher level. It may take a little longer to prepare a healthy lunch, but the time invested is well worth it for the whole family. A good motto to keep in mind is to eat more of what grows on a plant rather than what is produced on a plant. To make the process of making lunches a little lighter, keep your thoughts lighter. Yes, it takes a long time, but putting love into it for the sake of your child will help turn a tedious task into one that you can enjoy. You can also try delegating tasks to other family members to involve them in the lunch-making process. It doesn’t have to be a chore, it can be a pleasure, just by changing the thought process.

Can you imagine being a teacher in a mid-afternoon class with a classroom of children who have had a high content of sugar and fatty foods? Not surprisingly, there is an increase in children taking ridline and other similar drugs. Many of these problems could be solved with proper nutrition. Children are sensitive to the additives that are added to these low-quality products, but instead of staring at the food, it is easier to give them a medication to calm them down.

I encourage you, next time you go to buy lunch, please read the labels of what really goes into this food that you send to school with your children. Ask yourself if you’re really doing your body a favor. Are you helping their education by sending them this junk food? When it comes to buying fruits and vegetables, there are no labels to read, everything is pure, straight from mother earth. The decision should be fairly easy to make.