It's Time to Rethink Food at School Parties

Click here to download the infographic in English and Spanish!

When you think of food at school parties, the usual suspects come to mind: cupcakes, pizza, candy, sodas, and cookies. Your initial thought is most likely, “Oh, it’s harmless if it’s only a few days out of the year.” Food at school parties are having more of an influence on health than you might think, and it’s time to face reality. Children can have more than 40 parties in one school year. When you consider the birthdays, holidays and school celebrations it all adds up.

Still unsure or unconcerned? Let’s reflect on the the stats: 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese. One step in the right direction to fight this statistic is cutting back on the not-so-nourishing foods served at parties during school. In this infographic to the left, we’ve laid out the details in what food at school parties means for kids, and it’s not good.

What is it? What one year of school party food really looks like.
How can you use it? Take a look, share, hang it up at your school, doctor's office, day care or on your home refrigerator to keep things in perspective.

To sum it up, if a child eats one of everything at each party, they will gain 8.9 pounds per year. It’s time to rethink what foods are brought to school parties.



Written by:
Amanda Taylor
Communications Assistant, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living