It’s when the cookie jar is hidden above the cupboard that children want it the most. The idea of climbing up a kitchen chair or scaling the cabinetry makes the cookie more exciting in the end. It becomes a reward for the effort. There’s no challenge if the cookies are left in sight everyday, if they’re always available. After a brand new batch goes in the jar, eating the same cookies gets old after a while, and the kid will resort to some other snack.

The Health and Wellness policy was made with good intentions, at a time when the nation is concerned with the health of today’s youth. However, it is the same as putting the cookies out of reach rather than teaching how to balance a diet. It’s no different than “out of sight, out of mind,” when, in fact, it should be taught how to balance having a cookie with other foods or, at least, why that cookie isn’t as good as pretzels or watermelon slices.

According to the policy, “the emphasis will be on educating families and staff to voluntarily make better choices.” However, it is not a voluntary choice of what to eat if the only food available is healthy. Rather, the guidelines have “recommended that classroom parties for holidays and other special occasions be limited to one dessert item, with the emphasis on low fat or healthier baked goods.”

For student birthdays, “it is recommended that birthdays are celebrated with non-food items (such as pencils, stickers, donating a book to the school library). If a parent wishes to celebrate a birthday with a food item, they are encouraged to select something from a list of healthy alternatives provided to households at the beginning of the year.”

The pencils and stickers are like goodie bags at a birthday party. However, donating a book to the school library is in the best interest of the school, not the health of the child. It does not celebrate a student’s birthday. It isn’t able to be shared with classmates.

The amount the birthday boy or girl brings in is, in general, enough for everyone to have one cupcake or maybe two cookies. A child is not going to become overweight by eating one cupcake or two cookies. Fifteen cookies may, but not two.

It is more important to promote moderation in eating habits than in encouraging a child to never want less healthy food. Allow the choice to be a made, rather than just hiding the sweets or not selling them. Otherwise, the cafeteria will see an increase in bagged lunches filled with snack cakes and cookies, and a decrease of money coming in through healthy lunch purchases.