A Nanny State out to lunch

Overruling a mother's judgment on what her child eats is a risky endeavor. A nutrition "agent" employed by the state of North Carolina recently learned that the hard way after issuing a faulty verdict against a 4-year-old's lunch.

As reported last week by Carolina Journal Online, the lunch that a preschool student at West Hoke Elementary in Raeford brought from home didn't pass muster with that alleged expert. From that story:

"The girl's mother -- who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation -- said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a 'healthy lunch' would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25."

OK, so as child obesity soars, schools should help make sure kids are eating healthy food. But that mission should be carried out in a reasonable manner. And in this unreasonable case, the lunch should have been recognized as healthy enough, even including potato chips along with that sandwich, a banana and apple juice.

As a state official later conceded, it was mistakenly faulted on the shaky grounds that it didn't meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture's vegetable standard for pre-kindergarten students.

The rightly annoyed mother said: "She came home with her whole sandwich I had packed, because she chose to eat the nuggets on the lunch tray, because they put it in front of her. You're telling a 4-year-old, 'Oh, your lunch isn't right,' and she's thinking there's something wrong with her food."

And we're thinking there's something wrong when kids have to learn so young that the folks in charge can be so foolishly officious.