This question in parliament to the Minister of Education today, Does he have confidence in the Ministry of Education; if so, why? resulted in a supplementary from Tariana Turia about why there are 20,000 children going to school without breakfast.
Parekura Horomia, answering for Chris Carter, said that there are many reasons children go to school without breakfast one being that they are trying to stay trim (I thought he said thin but no matter.) This provoked uproar in the house. And this press release from Anne Tolley.
"It is appalling for Associate Education Minister Parekura Horomia to claim that children up and down the country are going to school hungry because they’re trying to keep their weight down.”
Mrs Tolley is referring to comments made in Parliament today by Mr Horomia, who said ‘there are a host of reasons why students and pupils don’t have breakfast. They are trying to stay trim…’
“These comments are nothing short of a disgrace. I challenge Mr Horomia to stand on the corner of every street where parents are struggling to feed their children and repeat these obscene comments.
There seems to be some confusion here. Mrs Turia was on the 'children in poverty' bandwagon. The minister was responding directly to the issue of children going without breakfast. While there might be a problem with context or appropriateness of the answer, in the minister's defence I believe he is absolutely right. Many young girls skip breakfast intentionally. Just google the words "children skip breakfast to stay thin" and you will find many references to this practice.
It makes me very uncomfortable when someone can't state facts without provoking derision.
If we want children and young people to eat breakfast a good place to start might be to stop nagging them about obesity. The next would be to find out what family support payments are being spent on, if not food for children.
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4 comments:
He is right. That is one of many reasons not related to poverty.
As a teenager, I was guilty of skipping breakfast to get more time in bed!
Absolutely he is right. I read somewhere that a child's body image is internalised by the age of 5. So we have to be careful about what we say to kids. The emphasis on obesity is really 'fat or marginally overweight' IMO.
It's terrible that primary school age kids are in effect being told that one has to be thin to be acceptable. I don't know the stats but I would suggest that most children grow out of 'puppy fat' chubbiness as they get older.
Yes, but don't you agree that he got things slightly out of order/priority. I daresay far more children skip breakfast by necessity than those skipping breakfast to stay thin.
I just don't buy this no food in the house thing. You can get a loaf of brown bread from PaknSave for .90c. A jar of jam for $2.00 and a tub of marge for $3.00. That is $6.00 for twenty slices of toast (or bread and jam if you prefer) and you will have most of the jam and marge left for the next loaf. If kids are hungry it is because their parents don't make smart purchasing choices.
Brian Smaller
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