School telling what to put in packed lunch?

[mum22ttc#3]

I would love my child to have school dinners He wouldnt touch them with a barge pole and will only eat cold foods that are pretty bland or what he is used to. His diet is VERY limited and he has no risk of being over weight lol he is teeny.

Its like he cant not have peanut butter sandwiches as that is his routine. He does eat his lunch in a separate lunch club but he has to have his sandwich and jaffa cakes!! lol

Thats why although I totally understand why the rules are there and in most cases completely agree with them I do think that dinner ladies should just use there judgment more iykwim.

Is it because your son is autistic that he has to have the same every day, I'm not being nosey just wondering?

Obviously there are going to be children that need certain foods ie because of routine or because some may need extra fat etc and in them cases the rules are not going to be able to be applied.

For the most part though I still do think it is a good idea to have a certain amount of rules in place.

 

[kelzyboo]

Midnight_fairy my dd is the same, awfully limited diet and the same things every day, theres just no way she'd eat a school meal, theres not one single thing on the menu she would touch unfortunately. Her diet really bothers me at times, she's not overweight at all its just that theres so few things she'll eat, no vareity in there at all so if they told me she couldn't have what's in her lunch box i'd be extra mad. For a long time she wouldn't eat much at all and was under weight if anything, she eats a bit more now but still the same things!

I agree with whoever said that letters should be sent to parents who continously fill their children's lunches with crap, just with healthier suggestions but other kids shouldn't be deprived of a treat just because some parents take it too far, its unfair. x

 

[bumpy_j]

mm I kinda get it, when I was little my mum would only ever give me a sandwich or a drink really - sometimes a piece of fruit. All the other kids would have crisps and chocolates and all sorts and it made me really jealous. So i'd make her get me lunchables eventually in year 6 so they'd all be jealous of me

 

[CarlyP]

When J started school we got given a lunch time pack which stated the do's and dont's for lunch boxes, they do frown upon crisps and chocolate, the only thing chocolate related is them cake square things, I've never received a letter about them.

What I don't understand is that if they were to stay hot dinners then they can have a pudding, i'e flapjack and custard but their not allowed a little chocolate bar??

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Midnight_fairy my dd is the same, awfully limited diet and the same things every day, theres just no way she'd eat a school meal, theres not one single thing on the menu she would touch unfortunately. Her diet really bothers me at times, she's not overweight at all its just that theres so few things she'll eat, no vareity in there at all so if they told me she couldn't have what's in her lunch box i'd be extra mad. For a long time she wouldn't eat much at all and was under weight if anything, she eats a bit more now but still the same things!

I agree with whoever said that letters should be sent to parents who continously fill their children's lunches with crap, just with healthier suggestions but other kids shouldn't be deprived of a treat just because some parents take it too far, its unfair. x

Yeah he has his set school lunch which he has to have every day x

 

[Amber4]

Oh geez. I don't have any children in school but my little brother is 6. He eats well but can be a bit fussy with fruit/water. I could only imagine how well stopping crisp/chocolate bars would go down well with my Mum! I don't blame her either. I wouldn't be told what I can and can't feed my child. In fairness his school is really good (it's a small village one) they encourage healthy eating and they have really good meals - I don't know everything they have but I've seen salmon, roast dinners, curries etc on the menu (gets sent home every week and they decide whether he'll take his own, as he often won't eat this type of food) I know every Friday morning they have bacon sandwiches as a snack. lol. He takes 50p a morning for his snack which is usually toast/fruit along with water/milk/juice. Very good I think for a school Not too extreme or anything.

 

[SKATERBUN]

well you could say that about anything, my LO would get upset if she didnt have grapes in her lunchbox and someone else had them LOL - she did actually kick off once at nursery when she saw a baby having some milk, I had stopped putting millk in her bag at this stage as I only wanted her having it before she went to bed.
NaH i think its wrong what the teachers are dictating, out of order.

 

[Arcanegirl]

Im curious how lunchbox rules apply with children with allergies? Something we may be facing, a packet of crisps to us is an okay food because there is little "fatty" foods that Alex can eat, if he doesnt have something like crisps then he would be underweight!

 

[Janidog]

Im curious how lunchbox rules apply with children with allergies? Something we may be facing, a packet of crisps to us is an okay food because there is little "fatty" foods that Alex can eat, if he doesnt have something like crisps then he would be underweight!

I would assume you would bring it up at the school with the doctors avice

 

[Feltzy]

Sorry I've not read all the replies.

Evie started school in September and one day I was limited on what to pack her so I put in a club biscuit as well as her sandwich, yoghurt and fruit. When she came home the biscuit was still in the packed lunch box and she told me 'mummy you're not allowed chocolate in the lunch box they wouldn't let me eat it'.

I wouldn't mind so much but the thing that annoys me is the teachers, on a number of occasions, have sent her home with sweets/chocolate that other children have brought in for birthdays and one time even the teacher brought in for her birthday. So my niggle is why is it ok for the teachers to give my child sweets/chocolate but its not ok for me to give her a chocolate biscuit with her lunch? Double standards if you ask me.

 

[shortie1990]

I think it's rediculous, what do you put in so your child has had a decent dinner? Surely a sandwich, apple, crisp/chocolate or cake, and yoghurt is an acceptable lunch?

Surely a sandwich and yoghurt and an apple isn't filling?? I know I'd hate to have that in my lung box, and I'll put what I want in my sons lunch box, (or school dinnerd if he likes them) if he wants a packed lunch and they aren't happy at what I give himcl, I will bring him home for lunch, but that's a few years away now, but I'm not having any one dictating to me what I can and cannot feed my children

 

[Janidog]

I think it's rediculous, what do you put in so your child has had a decent dinner? Surely a sandwich, apple, crisp/chocolate or cake, and yoghurt is an acceptable lunch?

Surely a sandwich and yoghurt and an apple isn't filling?? I know I'd hate to have that in my lung box, and I'll put what I want in my sons lunch box, (or school dinnerd if he likes them) if he wants a packed lunch and they aren't happy at what I give himcl, I will bring him home for lunch, but that's a few years away now, but I'm not having any one dictating to me what I can and cannot feed my children

But why is crisps and chocolate acceptable for a lunch box EVERYDAY? Most families will also being giving their children crisps and chocolate when then get home from school, so thats an awful lot of bad food in 1 day.

I don't understand why so many parents thinks it ok to give their children so much bad food and then assuming they are doing it in moderation when in fact its WAY over what is recommended to children

Some occasional bad food is ok but not everyday or multiple times a day

 

[Arcanegirl]

Thats might be the only bad food in the whole day
I think healthy food should definatley be encourages but i dont think they should stop childrean from eating what theyve been sent with. Let them eat it but send a note home with some healthier suggestions?

Healthy eating can advertised to the death, but try to control how parents upbring their kids, then you'll get an uproar which ill bet is why many have reacted the way they have on this thread. Ill bet most dont disagree with healthy eating promotion at all.

 

[Janidog]

Thats might be the only bad food in the whole day
I think healthy food should definatley be encourages but i dont think they should stop childrean from eating what theyve been sent with. Let them eat it but send a note home with some healthier suggestions?

Healthy eating can advertised to the death, but try to control how parents upbring their kids, then you'll get an uproar which ill bet is why many have reacted the way they have on this thread. Ill bet most dont disagree with healthy eating promotion at all.

But isn't that the whole point of the lunch box policy?? That the child school time is where they eat all healthy food, and then you can feed them what you like when they get home.

If every parent is supposedly giving their child a good diet with everything in moderation and getting fed up with the Government interfering, the why the hell is there an obesity epidemic???

 

[Arcanegirl]

Lack of education with parents and poverty. As you said parents "think" they are giving a balanced diet, but they are not. Of course healthy options getting more and more expensive is never going to help.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

I agree with Arcanegirl. What is the harm in having a treat in their lunch? My dad always put a treat in our lunches and we didn't go home and eat crisps and chocolate. I think that's a very big assumption.

I think that every school should make an effort to educate parents on healthy choices, but not force a policy upon them. If a child is bringing really bad food every day, call the parents in for a meeting. It's terrible to lump everyone under one stereotype.

 

[~RedLily~]

If a child didn't have a particularly healthy lunch box would teachers take all the bad stuff out even if it meant the child going hungry?

 

[kelzyboo]

I agree with Arcanegirl. What is the harm in having a treat in their lunch? My dad always put a treat in our lunches and we didn't go home and eat crisps and chocolate. I think that's a very big assumption.

I think that every school should make an effort to educate parents on healthy choices, but not force a policy upon them. If a child is bringing really bad food every day, call the parents in for a meeting. It's terrible to lump everyone under one stereotype.

Completely agree

Parents and children should be better educated on healthier options and offered suggestions but dictating what they can and can't eat/put in their childs lunch is never going to work!

Also, while i agree with educating kids about healthy lifestyles and food choices, i don't think its right to push for cutting out all snacks from lunches, moderation is the key to a balanced diet, not cutting things out and to teach and allow them to believe otherwise is just as dangerous as the obesity problem, childhood eating disorders are on the rise, perhaps they need to look at why that is aswell as obesity?

My child is 6yrs old and has already mentioned diets to me many times, she's also showed me the 'fat' on her tummy (there isn't any fat there), that scares me just as much, i think people are so caught up in pushing healthy foods that they forget that it goes the other way too. I don't agree with the way its being done but i agree that both issues need to be addressed before our children grow up with a seriously unhealthy view of healthy. x

 

[rwhite]

I could understand if they sent a note home if a child's lunch was consistently unhealthy (no fruit/sandwiches, every item with high sodium and or sugar levels) but to ask that a chocolate biscuit be left out is very silly.

 

[pinkie77]

Ive not read the whole thread but just wanted to say this is nothing new. My sons ex-school started dictating what he could and couldn't have in his lunchbox back when he was in yr 2, he's in yr 6 now. What makes me laugh is when they get to secondary school, all this healthy eating stuff goes out the window. My 12 and 14 year olds refuse to have school lunches now cos it's everything with chips or pot noodle type dishes all the time