By Shmarya Richler
Recently, I was in a grocery store here in Montreal. Walking down the aisle, I saw a father shopping with his two children. Or should I say, shoveling?
The boys looked to be about 8 or 9. Let’s say that they looked very well-nourished. And they were literally shoveling junk food into the shopping cart at a very fast rate. I saw their full cart at the checkout counter and noticed that most of its content could hardly be classified as “food.”
It made me think of going to visit overnight camp this past summer. What I saw there probably replayed itself in many other camps and it was very concerning. I’m not talking about the hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries, knishes etc. There was enough of that consumed on visiting day to feed an army.
I’m talking about the “canteen scene.” The canteen is one of the favorite spots for campers. They sell sweets, snacks, drinks, and favorite fast food that some children prefer over the camp-wide meal the kitchen staff works hard to prepare.
If while shopping with their dad, those 2 kids lacked self-control. Imagine what happens when they are on “their own” during the summer season at camp. And even a child with healthier eating habits, it’s tough to resist peer pressure.
The childhood incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes is on the rise. In most cases this is a direct result of eating the wrong foods and overeating. The easy availability of junk food, sugar sodas, and prepared foods is widespread.
Let’s focus for a moment on sports drinks because I believe they are the worst culprit and because during Visiting Day in camp, it looked like they were outselling the regular sodas).
Sports drink manufacturers do a great marketing job. They convince you of two things. One, that somehow because athletes drink them, they are healthy, and two, that if you drink them, you are an athlete. Did you know that a 20-ounce bottle of a very popular sports drink contains 34 grams of sugar?
Sports drinks contain less sugar than a 12-ounce can of Coke (39 grams of sugar), but the daily recommended maximum sugar intake is 36 grams for men and 25 grams for women. For children, it is 25 grams. So, two sports drinks alone have more than twice the sugar than the daily recommendation for children. And that’s not counting all the other sugar sources consumed during the day.
(There are sports drinks with zero sugar. They use sucralose instead, but that’s for another discussion about chemicals.)
I did an informal survey in 6 running groups I belong to. I also polled some elite runners. 98% do not use sports drinks when running. Too much sugar is the main reason. It gives you an immediate high followed by a quick low, and it negatively impacts performance. The sports drink manufacturers tell you that their drink is for athletes, yet most athletes don’t use them (in real life, that is. Not in the ads).
You may think that the children are very active in camp and need sports drinks to replace the carbs and electrolytes they are losing. They don’t. They are getting all they need in their regular meals. I am a distance runner. I run marathons. Running a marathon, I expend more energy than what your children will expend in three days at camp. To keep hydrated, I take water and electrolytes capsules. I don’t need the sugar drink. Your child does not need it either! And based on my research, most distance runners do the same as me.
So, what can we do to stem this seemingly unstoppable tide? Adults need to start leading a healthier lifestyle. This means eating better and exercising. This would show a living example to our children. And start reading labels. I suggested cutting down on sugar sodas and buying seltzer with a bit of fruit juice as an alternative.
But with camp season around the corner, it would be a good idea for camps to mandate that the canteen does not sell sugar sodas or sports drinks. There are plenty of flavored seltzers around that have no sugar in them. And why not sell good old-fashioned water? It may be difficult for the campers at the beginning, but I firmly believe they will be happy with the change after a week. Camps will be doing a huge favor to the campers and to their parents.
Have a healthy and happy summer!
If you have any questions or comments, email: [email protected]
I think the more concerning part of this article is the father in the store scene. If a parent teaches their kids to eat healthy during the year the child will be pretty balanced in his canteen intake. Before complaining to canteen let’s talk to these parents…
If the father would train and educate the child in a healthy way. The Canteen would be transgressing לפני עוור לא תיתן מכשול !
Either way fingers will be pointed toward the Canteen manager !
some parents restrict their kids from sugar intake and the minute they have some access they shovel and grab whatever they can find. We should be having conversations about Healthy balanced mediums, and good food relationships. Fear mongering never helps
i’ve never met anyone who that happened to.
don’t let your kids eat unhealthy food and processed sugar!!!! i wish my parents would have raised me like this
My family eats healthy at home and when I got to camp I didn’t have the urge to buy candie and sodas every day like other kids
You forgot to mention it’s also a mitzvah to take care of your body. As important as many other mitzvos
Thank-you!
See my article at the beginning of May addressing this issue.
https://collive.com/start-exercising-and-eating-well-as-the-rambam-says/
Shmarya Richler
For these health articles!
These are so important!
Check out Trio, the new healthy drink/juice with only like 20 cal. or something and not tons of chemicals. And owned by a yid
Thanks for recommending this, I’ll try it
Why so much negative on this comment? Has anyone heard of this drink? Is it unhealthy
Keep on running
Keep in mind it’s the high fructose corn syrup that the problem
If you only bought items made with real sugar it’s ok if you’re not a diabetic
The reason is sugar has a mechanism to tell the brain I had enough not corn syrup
Refined sugar is not natural. It’s a highly processed food, and it’s poison. Your brain responds to it the same way as cocaine. The only “natural” sugar is the sugar in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, grains…
Shmarya and the above anonymous commentator. Excellent article! You are correct. The body does not know how to process sugar substitutes, both chemical ones and as you wrote HFCS. (Whoever voted negatively- do yourself and your body a favor and look it up.).
The canteen business is very lucrative- at the expense of kids’ health.
Kol Hakavod for posting this view. Important message. When I went to camp out-of-town a zillion years ago, parents paid up front for canteen. They paid for the child to have either one treat a day or two a day– maximum was one candy item (1 oz.) and one small package of gum or hard candy. There were no ices, burgers, etc. sold. Each day the counselor asked us our order, and it was delivered after dinner. Everything was under control, and that was a good thing. We were thrilled with the treats we got; we didn’t know or expect… Read more »
Yes, the sugar issue is of extreme concern. However, with these “sports drinks” the high caffeine content raises the level of alarm way higher.
I think we have to keep in mind the summer is the time the kids are meant to be enjoying themselves a bit without all the rules of school etc, so technically it’s be best that it should start throughout the year at home and in school and at home and summer should be a result. But that’s obviously not an option as everyones makes their own decisions in life.. Another thing is that candy and soda are literally the go to prizes all the time in camp and there really isn’t a substitute. “A case of soda for the… Read more »
When I was in camp the bunk that won shabbos went on a special trip. There are plenty of small inexpensive toys you could give to the winners that have no unhealthy side effects. Kids will be just as happy with any prize they get if you make it sound fun and exciting.
The wining color war team doesn’t get a prize and the kids work like crazy to win.
FYI Camps actually use Rebbe Albums as prizes, which don’t have any sugar and are highly popular.
😃😃😃
Thanks a lot!
Thanks for publicizing this. Very important for this time of year. As I remember years ago, myself being a camper then staff. I think psychologically, (at least for me). Throughout the year we are in Yeshivah. Most of the day is consumed sitting in class learning. Recess/lunch time we play (or played) a sport for 30 min or more. The physical activities are very limited to those few minutes or maybe a walk home afterwards. Whereas in the summer, we get a lot more activities then throughout the year. Therefore one may think, “I’m doing all these sports, running around… Read more »
I’m tired of seeing articles on platforms like this one every year in the weeks leading up to camp about all the issues of camp. Don’t blame all your kids problems on the 4/8 weeks a year that he’s in camp. Take responsibility as a parent and educate your son/daughter properly. I remember as a child being educated that eating candy first thing in the morning and drinkin Coca Cola and Sprite instead of water is wrong and unhealthy: camp came and shockingly I didn’t eat candy as soon as I woke up and didn’t substitute Gatorade for water. Take… Read more »
Wow…thank you Shmar for this great post! I would add that sugar profoundly impacts mood (it depresses serotonin which is the main component of the mood medication Prozac) – so affects children’s mood as well as it’s part in weight gain, ADD, ADHD and risk of diabetes. Camp is a wonderful opportunity to meet new and old friends, spend time in nature, and learn in expansive ways; as the Rebbe says – both Torah and refining middos. Such a shame to compromise a child’s mood for this great experience. Children naturally have great flow and need lots of nourishment –… Read more »
Great article. I hope camp directors take note
while this is a problem, we have more pressing issues. focus on erlichkeit and yiras shamayim. how many kids come from homes with open internet? focus on that and encourage them to get filters!
With this theory, we can theorize further. Because there are too few bridges in Africa we should not fix potholes in Crown Heights
Spot on!!!
Is that with less sugar, caffeine and and food coloring in their bodies, the kids will behave WAY better making it a nicer experience for everyone in camp!
As someone in the nutrition field, while I agree that the amount of sugar being consumed is alarming, I DO NOT think attacking camp/canteen is “worth it.” 4 weeks of extra treats in camp is not going to make or break a kid. The issue is whether the children are brought up in homes with balanced meals. Kids should be allowed to be kids. If there are healthy foods being supplied in the home, then any extra “junk” is not concerning. I’m more concerned about how the yeshivas seem to be giving more and more candy as rewards. While it’s… Read more »
we were only allowed to buy max 2 items a day. which i think was very smart.
Camp Emunah does the same thing!!
Maybe you could consider that both are very important. Different yes, nevertheless extremely important. The amount of sugar and chemicals consumed by kinderklach these days is very concerning. It actually can affect that learning you refer to, as well as memory, focus, physical health, mood. When left unaddressed, lifelong problems often develop. So I wouldn’t be so quick to say “wrong emphasis”, just another related emphasis.
Great Op-ed, I just have to say that fruit juice has a negative impact as well.
real 100% organic fruit juice is fine.
The best way to be healthy is to eliminate bread and all wheat products and avoid all seed oils like canola grape seed,cotton seed,corn etc and only use avocado,coconut or olive oil and to eat lots of grass fed grass finished beef and raw unpasteurized not homogenized grass fed raw milk/ dairy look up carnivore md for more info.
i’ve tried that diet before. then i became kosher and now i try to eat vegetarian
It’s ok once a year for the kid to have some candy. Write about important things.
it’s not ok
So I agree with the whole no piling ur cart with snacks and other garbage but altho camp gives 3 meals we are running around and getting hungry really quickly and want to snack on things in btwn. When we were younger we wld bring tons of snacks and snack on those but as we got older we actually preffered to snack on more healthier choices. Now we bring snack which is totally fine just not overload and we also bring crackers, tuna,rice cakes, heart of palm, pickles ect… And just to point out girls camps don’t have fast food… Read more »
i very much agree with this point and honestly its what the parents decide to give their children when they go to camp
Kids consuming junk, very very alarming. not good for them (don’t forget that their knowledge is still limited, they are kids!)
Adults consuming junk food??
VERY VERY VERY ALARMING!!
Since grown ups have to act like grown ups, we should really take care of what we are eating. its an obligation from Torah.
We have plenty of info out there today of how to have a healthier lifestyle.
And also how to beat the yetzer Hora everyday. (that thing that we call hiskafiya etc)
healthy habits start at birth
Pls camps take note, and do not sell soda or sport drinks in the canteen this year!! We parents would really appreciate it!
This is why most camps are stopping visiting day
Why not sell unsweetened no chemicals soda, juice, packaged hummus/crackers, packaged guacamole/crackers, pretzels, nuts, fruit strips, cold water, popcorn, and the like. Shop for healthy convenient-sized options. Kids get accustomed to those things when they are thirsty/hungry and there are no junk options!
There are plenty of treats much healthier than soda and candy! Ok, once in a while, but every day and so much? Not ok! Where are the adults whose job it is to set good examples and teach healthy options? A canteen could sell delicious fruits, cheese and crackers, fruit rolls, juice, nonsugar carbonated drink, veggies with dip, trail mix, nuts. Be creative, use imagination.