Picky Eaters and Restrictive Diets

[Tampa Turtle]

We have some boys that will only eat junk food and will bring their own food (bag after bag of Doritos, candy bars, etc) We generally squash that for the following reasons: (1) The boy needs to be in the menu planning and we eat as a patrol (2) It is unhealthy for outdoor activity (3) and it creates LOTS of problems with boys wanting to "raid" the junkfood tent.

 

I used to think the boys were pulling a fast one on us but the parents usually supported the boy!

 

I always remind the grubmaster that we have "the grubmasters prerogative" The grubmaster may purchase one reasonably priced "luxury item" for the patrol at his choosing. It usually is a small jar of Nutella or some Sardines. One time canned squid --the things boys will eat at a campout. Other time Rooster sauce.

[perdidochas]

And there's also the problem with food in tents attracting raccoons/bears/other wildlife.

[Eamonn]

The number of people who will get seriously sick due to a food allergy is very few.

They as a rule know what it is they have and also knows ways to avoid it.

Basementdweller,

Have say that my experiences with "boys from the hood" Is the exact opposite.

Parents are rarely home so the kids live on a diet of pizza, fast food or things that can be re-heated in the microwave.

Talking with a large number of inmates the special meal that they enjoyed as a family was Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Many of these guys don't know what a vegetable looks like.

Some have never had a Home cooked meal.

If it doesn't come in a box they just think they don't like it.

Maybe the hood around your way is different from the hood around the Philly area?

Ea.

[Basementdweller]

Sample size.....hmmmmm

 

Could be.

 

Based on what I am reading, over the years I have been involved in scouting I should have encountered at least 1, Right???????

 

We did have a picky eater and that ended by Friday at summer camp. He was scarfing down what was in front of him no problem.

 

 

Eamon I am not saying they had quality home cooked meals, they eat what ever is on sale that week or is handed out at the food bank.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

[Tampa Turtle]

Funny many of the rich kids in our Troop eat a lot of the same fast food as Mom totes them from activity to activity. My wife cooks dinner and we all eat at home together so I guess we are throwbacks.

[perdidochas]

Base,

 

How many hundreds of kids have you worked with? I'm just talking in terms of allergies, not in terms of picky eaters. I do agree that picky eating is a byproduct of pampering.

 

 

[dg98adams]

Only 1-2 kids so far with food allergies.

 

Most common - picky eaters - skinny kid. Only wanted chicken breast- grilled or baked, no cheese. no sauce, no skin. Only side dish, salad (lettuce only), fruit consisted of apples or bananas.

 

His menu for a weekend was sparse, with add-ons for junk/food/dessert (mostly pressed by others in the patrol since they tried to accommodate him). he only did 1-2 camp outs, and could not last thru summer camp...he never got past 2nd class before dropping.

 

Some times those chicken-nugget - french fries & picky eaters get exposed to stuff not served at home. several in our Troop have become really good at menus 7 cooking (relatively). Mostly we see it when they the Scout is not involved in the shopping or cooking process at home.

 

But it has always been, if you can't abide the Patrol menu, bring your own but you gotta cook it (no fast food/frozen premade pizza) ... but you still have a patrol duty, and if it involves cooking or dishes, you do you own stuff on your time.

 

I like to offer up a "Back-packing option" - minimal utensil, low-impact cooking option, usually need 2 Scouts. A menu still needs approved by the PL.

[gcnphkr]

Now and then we serve things like crayfish, rattle snake, octopus, silk worm pupae (very nasty indeed), grass jelly. Once a boy eats a grasshopper they get over being picky.

 

Regarding real restrictions. Each patrol works it out. If one scout can't have something the patrol either does something else or the scout provides an alternative for that meal.

 

We've one scout that carries an epi-pen, but has never had to use it.

[sailingpj]

I went through a picky phase when I was 10ish. My mom simply said you eat whats in front of you, or you make your own dinner. Fast forward a couple years and I was cooking dinner for the family on a regular basis. If acorn squash isn't being cooked you don't have to eat it.

[Tampa Turtle]

We have unannounced food competitions among patrols on campouts. The menu complexity, variety, and ambitiousness has really gone up. Also the ASM's keep getting samples all the time for judging.

[Horizon]

I have gluten allergy boy who has introduced his patrol to the wonders of gluten free pancakes, etc. He will also pack his own bread for the sandwiches while everyone else uses the regular stuff. He does a great job of feeding his patrol.

 

I have a vegetarian who has brought veggie bacon when he was grubmaster. The patrol went vegetarian for the weekend so that he could prove that it can be pretty good. They all liked it, even the bacon. When he is not grubmaster, the patrol makes sure that they have peanut butter, pasta, etc. in the grub box for him. The only panic was his first campout when the PL realized that he was a vegetarian, and the PL was a hard core carnivore (this PL would go cheap on all meals so that he could grill rib-eyes for Saturday dinner and still be under budget). He came to me, begged a loan, and sprinted to the grocery store as we were loading cars. He picked up a bag of stuff to take care of his vegetarian. They both learned a good lesson.

 

Picky eaters - if you don't like it, be the grubmaster or come to the meeting where the menu is determined. I have had many short conversation with a boy about the Patrol menu where I explained that HE had the option of making his voice heard in the Patrol meeting, and that there is a price for silence or apathy or general laziness.

 

My Jewish and Muslim Scouts luckily don't keep Kosher or Halal, so that has not been an issue. Luckily both are available at a local store at decent prices - but it could cause some interesting challenges if the grubmaster was not aware. Not to mention that our Patrol Boxes are certainly not Kosher (a fine layer of bacon grease must be on every single surface I am sure).

[Tampa Turtle]

Our jewish scouts only keep kosher if Bacon is kosher...us goyim seem more concerned then they. Our Moslems keep Halel but usually bring along a meal or two themselves as "backup" and help have some appropriate choices.

 

It is a good thing when the boys work it out...

[Engineer61]

Some food allergy info .... (U.S.)

 

As many as 15 million people have food allergies.

 

An estimated 9 million, or 4%, of adults have food allergies.

 

Nearly 6 million or 8% of children have food allergies with young children affected most.

 

Boys appear to develop food allergies more than girls.

 

Food allergies may be a trigger for or associated with other allergic conditions, such as atopic dermatitis9 and eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases. 10

 

Although childhood allergies to milk, egg, wheat and soy generally resolve in childhood, they appear to be resolving more slowly than in previous decades, with many children still allergic beyond age 5 years. Allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish, or shellfish are generally lifelong allergies.

 

(http://www.foodallergy.org/page/facts-and-stats)

 

Also ...

 

It is estimated that food allergies cause approximately 150 to 200 fatalities per year, based on data from a five year study of anaphylaxis in Minnesota from the Mayo Clinic.

 

Fatal food anaphylaxis is most often caused by peanuts (50-62%) and tree nuts (15-30%).

 

http://www.aaaai.org/about-the-aaaai/newsroom/allergy-statistics.aspx

(This message has been edited by Engineer61)

[qwazse]

I was in the Bahamas on a boat full of youth who didn't like seafood. Good thing I didn't catch anything big. On the other hand, the one girl who over the past year had developed a seafood allergy loved learning to fish. Go figure. Would have been nice to see her with a tarpon on the line.

[hopalong]

Glad to see this thread. I've been tasked by our Committee to have a group of parents come up with a "policy" for how to deal with the range of allergy/intolerance/preference issues for food.

 

Would like to have a policy that allows it to be dealt with at the patrol level, but the impetus for the policy seems to be that the patrols are not handling it well. So, fix it with a policy, right? :-) My hope is that in the process of trying to come up with a policy, we will see that it should be handled at the patrol level.

 

In our troop of 40 boys, we have at least three vegetarians, at least four gluten intolerant, one milk protein allergy, one boy who's mom has him avoid so many foods we can't keep track (and he doesn't want to eat this way), and another scout with severe (anaphylaxis) allergies to four foods.

 

The severe allergy scout is a 16 yo Life Scout and handles his foods well and independently. The milk protein allergy scout is 11 yo and his father is an ASM who accompanies him on each outing. These severe allergy and milk protein allergy scouts bring their own substitute foods rather than take a chance. They also pay the grub fee just in case there is something on the patrol menu that they can share in. This works well for them and their families.

 

Parents of our other seven special diet kids dislike this approach and want to make sure the patrol meal is edible by all OR pay only for what their scout will eat from the patrol meal. One issue comes up when the scouts who are on the special diet don't follow it and eat what they haven't paid for, resulting in the other patrol members having less. Another issue comes up when the patrol just doesn't want to have to eat that yucky food that the special diet kids eat. This is especially true of our vegetarian and gluten scouts. When one of our gluten kids did his 1st class patrol cooking requirement, some of his patrol members scrounged food off of other patrols because he didn't "like" what was being served.

 

Since the menus are planned by the patrol and approved by the SPL, it seems to me that intervention to correct the "issues" should be at those level.

 

Am I on the right track?