Mass. seniors tell board: Let us eat doughnuts

[March 19, 2009]  ASHBURNHAM, Mass. (AP) -- Senior citizens in a Massachusetts community are telling a town official to keep his hands off their doughnuts.

Francis "Bill" Johnson is chairman of the advisory board in Ashburnham, a 90-minute drive northwest of Boston. He said at a Council on Aging meeting this week that spending money on doughnuts and pastries for the local Senior Center's morning coffee club encourages unhealthy eating habits in a population that already has health issues.

Council on Aging board member Lorna Fields says Johnson has "overstepped his boundaries." She says that many seniors won't eat "carrot sticks and stuff" and that healthier items such as grapes and cheese are available.

A cream-filled doughnut covered with sprinkles has about 350 calories.

But 67-year-old Senior Center regular Betty Bushee tells The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that no one has the right to tell seniors what to eat.

[Associated Press]

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