Téxãs to photograph school lunches?

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

In Texas schools, a picture's worth 1,000 calories

SAN ANTONIO – Smile, Texas schoolchildren. You're on calorie camera.

That's the idea behind a $2 million project being unveiled Wednesday in the lunchroom of a San Antonio elementary school, where high-tech cameras installed in the cafeteria will begin photographing what foods children pile onto their trays — and later capture what they don't finish eating.

Digital imaging analysis of the snapshots will then calculate how many calories each student scarfed down. Local health officials said the program, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, is the first of its kind in a U.S. school, and will be so precise that the technology can identify a half-eaten pear left on a lunch tray.

"This is very sophisticated," said Dr. Roberto Trevino, director of the San Antonio-based Social & Health Research Center, which will oversee the program.

Parents will be required to give consent for their children to participate, and receive regular reports showing what foods their kids are filling up on at lunch. Trevino said only the trays, and not students, will be photographed.

Here's how it works: students are assigned lunch trays with a unique bar code. After the children load up their plates down the line — mashed potatoes or green beans? french fries or fruit? — a camera above the cashier takes a picture of each tray.

When lunch is over and the kids return their plates to the kitchen, another camera takes a snapshot of what's left on the tray. Software then analyzes the before and after photos to calculate calories consumed and, according to Trevino, a report of nutrients in the foods.

Researchers hope parents will change eating habits at home once they see what their kids are choosing in schools. The data also will be used to study what foods children are likely to choose and how much of if they're eating.

Five San Antonio elementary schools will take part in the program. Researches selected poor, minority campuses where obesity rates and students at risk for diabetes are higher.

The grant from the USDA will fund the study for four years. Trevino said the coming school year will be very experimental, with programmers fine-tuning the cameras and imaging software to accurately identify what's a pear and what's an apple. He expects the "prototype" to be in place by the second year.


Full story ~ news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110511/ap_on_re_us/us_calorie_camera

Attachments:

[chiver78]

wow. how Big Brother-ish.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Researchers hope parents will change eating habits at home once they see what their kids are choosing in schools

I ate very healthy at home. I ate the junk food at school because I had the opportunity to eat the junk food at school.

Sounds like a waste of money to me, it'd be better spent making the school lunches themselves healtheir.

[ty]

How stupid. Can't they just read the freaking menus on what the kids are served daily and weekly. Is our effen country just filled with stupid government and politicians that enjoys wasting money on nonsense such as this.

Texas, Bush, what else would you expect to come out of that state.

[Deleted]

2 MILLION $$$$$$$??
Has money started growing on trees, MICHELLE??

Good grief.

[Deleted]

Texas did not do it. Dept of Ag did. Another stupid gov't program.

[chiver78]

May 11, 2011 11:41:29 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Researchers hope parents will change eating habits at home once they see what their kids are choosing in schools

I ate very healthy at home. I ate the junk food at school because I had the opportunity to eat the junk food at school.

Sounds like a waste of money to me, it'd be better spent making the school lunches themselves healtheir.

but, but, that makes too much sense.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I'm just surprised this didn't come out of Berkeley.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I suppose the people who came up with this idea have forgotten how much kids swap and trade food at lunchtime, anyway. After all, things like Twinkies and Flaming Hot Cheetoes are the currency of elementary school. This will hardly measure when Kid #1 eats the french fries off the tray of Kid #2.

Then again, if I had a personal camera, I could probably better monitor when my wonderful DH steals one of my fries.

[Deleted]

Maybe little red lights and sirens will go off when kids swap.... just a thought.. we should perhaps pass this on to Michelle..........


BAD children, BAD parents, BADBADBAD!!!!!!!

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

(now I want fries)

Attachments:

[Deleted]

LOL, Dawg-- does sound like Berkeley!!!!! Hey, how are they doing with their adopt a terrorist program?

[thyme4change]

I think it is kinda awesome. I would totally sign my kids up for this. We eat really well at home - but I often wonder how and what my kids actually eat. Even in their homemade lunches, they could easily toss the apple, eat half the sandwich and wait it out until snack time.

[Deleted]

$2,000,000.00 awesome, thyme?? That's a lot of money to see if your kid eats their whole pear.


See, when Pubs say cut, cut, cut-- this is what we mean, but then people say we want everybody to DIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
;D

[ugonow]

Texas did not do it. Dept of Ag did. Another stupid gov't program.

I think it was a grant from the ag dept.Doesn't a local official have to request a grant?I could be wrong......

[thyme4change]

I will agree that $2M would be better spent hiring additional teachers and such, but hey, gathering data is tough.

[deziloooooo]

Kids aren't suppose to clean their tray in to a trash bin before turning in the tray to be washed? mmmm, wonder if there is a plan to recycle whats left for say, "Friday Surprise" on the menu? mmmmmm

[Deleted]

I don't know if the state has to apply. AZ has done some STUPID things because the Feds threw us money that could be used no other way. Wasteful spending. We have also done some things not good for AZ because Feds threatened to withhold essential money if we did it.

[ty]

If you pick the right Michele Obama, you win a dinner for two at the Whitehouse of BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn on the cob, honey biscuits with loads of butter, coke, pizza, and burgers and fries.

[deziloooooo]

May 11, 2011 20:26:36 GMT -5 @ty said:

If you pick the right Michele Obama, you win a dinner for two at the Whitehouse of BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn on the cob, honey biscuits with loads of butter, coke, pizza, and burgers and fries.

Think she is a bit older, has also given birth to two Children, a bit of wear and tear on her, the other two, think still kind of new out of the box that way, just a thought.

Me thinks the one on the far left, from the rear, keep wearing those spikes all the time, will be walking on her knees in 10 years.

[ty]

Think she is a bit older, has also given birth to two Children, a bit of wear and tear on her, the other two, think still kind of new out of the box that way, just a thought.

Me thinks the one on the far left, from the rear, keep wearing those spikes all the time, will be walking on her knees in 10 years.

[deziloooooo]

;D Thank you , wearn't those two young ladies the Bushes daughter visiting the white house.

[ty]

May 11, 2011 23:41:14 GMT -5 deziloooooo said:

;D Thank you , wearn't those two young ladies the Bushes daughter visiting the white house.

Interns... Clinton approved!

[ty]

May 11, 2011 12:02:49 GMT -5 @krickitt said:

LOL, Dawg-- does sound like Berkeley!!!!! Hey, how are they doing with their adopt a terrorist program?

Any relation to Broccoli?