MANY OF you probably are not aware of "the cupcake problem" in this country. Many of you probably assume that cupcakes are merely harmless sugary confections, popular in elementary school classrooms and birthday parties. Oh, but you cannot underestimate the power of the cupcake. Recently, some school districts have banned cupcakes for their high sugar and calorie content -- just another step in the effort to curb childhood obesity and childhood diabetes. This does not seem outrageous. And yet, "the cupcake problem" has been met with genuine concern.
Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, is a supporter of banning cupcakes in schools because of what she calls in the New York Times "the cupcake problem." She goes on to say that, "Cupcakes are deal breakers. It sounds like a joke, but it's a very serious problem on a number of levels. You have to control it."
The main problem I see with cupcakes, however, is that the government cares about them at all. What happened to the days when parents controlled what their children ate? What happened to the days when kids were still allowed to be kids and eat cupcakes for their birthdays? I have never been one to stand in the way of government intervention for the sake of the good of the people, but banning cupcakes is completely absurd.
If you think I'm alone in my outrage over banned cupcakes, then think about this. In 2005, The Texas Legislature passed the "Safe Cupcake Amendment" in response to the new federal nutrition guidelines and protesting parents. The New York Times noted a blogger on the Web site Homesick Texan, who wrote, "I don't think it necessarily warrants all the hubbub, or the intervention of legislature to intervene on behalf of the cupcake. ... but then, another part of me is screaming 'CUPCAKES!!!' because they just make people happy."
I did not include that quote just to make you laugh, but to demonstrate the powerful emotional pull of the cupcake. We can all remember birthdays in elementary school and how exciting it was to get to eat cupcakes for either your own birthday or someone else's. And I'm sure some of us can remember baking cupcakes with our mothers and getting so excited just to lick the bowl afterwards. There is an emotional resonance within the cupcake that is perhaps only matched by apple pie, something that our parents' generation can understand..
The cupcake is much more than a miniature cake or just another sugary junk food. It is, in some bizarre way, a symbol of innocence and youth in our culture. Banning foods like cupcakes from classroom birthday parties is denying the right of kids just to be kids. There is already enough pressure on kids to "grow up," from forcing kids into accelerated classes starting in kindergarten to forcing kids into lessons in everything from piano to karate from the time they can walk. I don't mean to sound nostalgic, but I miss the carefree days of elementary school, when the biggest problem I had was that annoying boy who chased me around the playground and something as simple as a cupcake made my day. Worrying about the calorie content of my food was certainly not on the top of my list, and it shouldn't be now either.
Many will argue that it is exactly that carefree attitude that has led to the enormous childhood obesity problem in this country. But the government cannot be held responsible for the weight issues of its youth. Parents need to take responsibility for their children's eating habits and learn to cook healthier meals at home. Parents need to stop relying on fast food as a quick fix for dinner when life gets too chaotic, and parents need to focus on getting their children active. The government has a duty to provide healthy meals during the school day, but banning occasional, pleasure foods, like cupcakes, is an extreme that is entirely unwarranted.
The obesity problem in this country is socially ingrained in our culture, where portion sizes are grossly misunderstood and cars take the place of walking. But, that is not to say that we cannot change it through some old-fashioned work. Many kids with obesity problems learn their eating habits in the home, not during school hours, and it makes far more sense for parents to make the choice about baking cupcakes for themselves. Of course, if another parents chooses to bake cupcakes for the class, then perhaps your child will eat one without your permission. An occasional cupcake in school, however, is hardly the cause of childhood obesity.
Taking away the simple childhood pleasure of eating cupcakes is both unnecessary and silly. I stand up for the rights of the cupcake and the importance of childhood memories. We all deserve a sugary sweet, every now and again, and kids deserve one more than anyone else.
Lindsay Huggins's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at lhuggins@cavalierdaily.com.
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