PrintGovernment plans to weigh and measure your child in daycare
Just like any good nanny, the US government is proposing to weigh and measure all children in public and private daycare facilities. The proposal is part of Michelle Obama's Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.
Bureaucrats from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will weigh and measure children in daycare as part of a study mandated by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.
The agency published a notice in the Federal Register on Friday proposing data collection on what meals are served in professional and home daycare facilities and how much physical activity children perform.
Aside from assessing how healthy the food in daycare is, the USDA will also check the weight and height of roughly 3,000 children.
“Children will be asked to cooperate with study staff who will weigh and measure them for the Standing Height and Weight Form,” the notice said.
The study is required by section 223 of Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by Mrs. Obama and passed in 2010. The main aspect of the law implemented new standards for school lunches.
A lesser-known requirement of the law is the “Study on Nutrition and Wellness Quality in Childcare Settings (SNAQCS),” which the USDA announced Friday. The public will have 60 days to comment.
The USDA said the data collection is important since more than 30 million kids are in daycare.
“Good nutrition is a key to proper childhood development, but not enough is known about the food children are eating in childcare and related programs,” the agency said. “In 2011, 32.7 million children were in a regular childcare arrangement while their parents worked or pursued other activities outside of the home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.”
The study will collect data on the “nutritional quality of foods offered, physical activity, sedentary activity, and barriers to” healthy food and exercise in childcare.
It's difficult to wrap your mind around some of these initiatives by Mrs. Obama. It's almost like she doesn't trust parents to raise their kids according to her high standards.
Well, maybe not "almost." Perhaps it's the goal of her programs to let the government decide what's best for your kids. Because children are all alike, right? One size fits all. What's good enough for Mrs. Obama's kids is good enough for yours.And she obviously believes that government bureaucrats have superior judgment when it comes to knowing the best way to raise your child.
No doubt there will come a time when the government forces your child to join the "Young Democrats League" or some other youth organization. It's for the best, of course. How can parents be relied upon to indoctrinate their children into the tenets and practices of the Brave New World?
