School telling what to put in packed lunch?

[Midnight_Fairy]

But forcing poilcies on them will help?
I think the element of being dictated to will do more harm than good, well you 'tell' people what to do they have a habbit of rebelling against it. I just think its the wrong way to go plus as you said, if they eat junk at home, not having junk as part of that one meal (school lunch) will make very little if any difference to the overall obesity problem.

I just don't think it will help and it punishes the parents who are doing their best to moderate their childs diet, just because some other parents don't, that is unfair! I think address issues with specific families, if there are weight problems or junk being sent in on a regular basis for no good reason (like food aversions) but to punish everyone is just annoying people and in the long run won't work! The more you deprive people of something, the more they will do anything to get it.

I don't know what will work but i think our government need to have a rethink of their forced policies and find a better way x

Sorry but i had to laugh at this, how can you say its punishing the children? Because little Jonny didn't have his crisps and chocolate bar in his lunch box, get a life and worry about your childrens education and not whether they are allowed crisps in school


I

You seem to be really defensive, there is no need for replys like that really.
Actually to some kids who rely on food for routine, structure etc it would be punishment.

 

[Snuffy]

I appreciate that I'm going back 20 years here, but I remember when I was at primary school my friend's lunchbox used to comprise of two packets of ready salted crisps. So bearing that in mind, I can understand them having policies these days.

To be honest I don't have a problem with any of the policies I've seen on the websites for the schools we've considered. There is still a huge variety of food available to the children - so where I used to have a penguin bar, Amy will get a yogurt pouch instead, where I used to have a panda pop, she'll have a bottle of water (she'll prefer that anyway).

At least one of the websites gave suggestions for alternatives to sandwiches as well to give a bit of variety for the less imaginative parent.

 

[Snuffy]

This is from the website of our first choice school - it doesn't seem so unreasonable to me

As part of being a ‘Healthy School’ the children are taught the importance of healthy eating and exercise.

Each child has their own water bottle in class – supplied by the school.

We do not allow sweets or sugary snacks at playtimes or for ‘birthday treats’. Children are encouraged to bring fruit snacks into school.

The school sells fruit tuck and milk during the mid-morning break. Fruit is 5p a portion and milk is 10p a glass [Children receive ‘Free School Milk’ until they are 5 years old]

As a member of the ‘School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme’ every child is also given a piece of fruit, or a vegetable, during the school day as a snack.

They don't state a specific lunch policy but I would assume that it follows the same lines as the snack policy.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

^^ I said in a post a while back that there is a family that I follow each morning and each morning they will stop at the bakery or shop and fill their lunch box from their. They will also have a sausage roll or cake on the way to school, so it does still happen, and I'm sorry but the kids are overweight. The crap thing is is that there is a Lunch box policy that the school asks you to follow but obviously some parents either just don't care less or they genuinely can't see the problem.

Thats also what I find hard to belive, that you can't make up a healthy, filling lunch box without having crisps or chocolate.
This morning DD1 took a pepporoni and salad wrap, an apple, a yogurt and a rice cake, she also took money for fruit at break, that is plenty for her and if it wasn't then I would add another rice cake or a homemade cheese biscuit. She will then have a snack after school, either fruit or breadsticks and sometimes both which will keep her going until dinner time.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I wish my kids would put on weight!!!

 

[mum22ttc#3]

This is from the website of our first choice school - it doesn't seem so unreasonable to me

As part of being a ‘Healthy School’ the children are taught the importance of healthy eating and exercise.

Each child has their own water bottle in class – supplied by the school.

We do not allow sweets or sugary snacks at playtimes or for ‘birthday treats’. Children are encouraged to bring fruit snacks into school.

The school sells fruit tuck and milk during the mid-morning break. Fruit is 5p a portion and milk is 10p a glass [Children receive ‘Free School Milk’ until they are 5 years old]

As a member of the ‘School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme’ every child is also given a piece of fruit, or a vegetable, during the school day as a snack.

They don't state a specific lunch policy but I would assume that it follows the same lines as the snack policy.

No, I'm failing to see how that is unreasonable either.
In my daughters school they are also able to buy fruit which is 10p, milk (not sure how much as DD1 doesn't like milk) or yogurts for 30p.
They don't get free fruit though after year 2 which is why she now takes in money each day, if I happen to have no change on me then I will put extra in her lunch box which she is able to take out at lunch time.
They are though allowed to take in birthday treats but are given these at the end of the day to bring home, I think this is reasonable as it then allows the parents to make the choice of when it is allowed and if it is.
Basically the Lunch box policy is no chocolate, no crisps and no fizzy drinks, I really don't think that that is to limiting at all.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

I wish my kids would put on weight!!!

Sometimes I don't think no amount of Junk food will make certain kids put on weight. Once I got to secondary I used to take money and the whole lot would go on crisps and chocolate (obviously my Mum wasn't aware of this), it didn't matter how much I ate I was 6.5 stone until the day I got pregnant. DD1 is the same, not with the junk food obviously but it doesn't matter how much she eats she is still stick thin, obviously just genes though.

Different story for me now though

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I wish my kids would put on weight!!!

Sometimes I don't think no amount of Junk food will make certain kids put on weight. Once I got to secondary I used to take money and the whole lot would go on crisps and chocolate (obviously my Mum wasn't aware of this), it didn't matter how much I ate I was 6.5 stone until the day I got pregnant. DD1 is the same, not with the junk food obviously but it doesn't matter how much she eats she is still stick thin, obviously just genes though.

Different story for me now though

Matthew is on a diet specially tailored for him with high fat food, I am not allowed to give him "light" stuff etc. He is still underweight x (by high fat- I dont mean just junkfood lol actually hardly any)

 

[mum22ttc#3]

^^ See even though I agree with the policy I obviously do think that there are going to be exceptions and some kids aren't going to be able to follow it, obviously your son wouldn't be able to for health reasons and I'm assuming from previous posts for routine reasons too?
I just think that it is a good policy with good intentions in general and for the majority of children iykwim?

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Ours is not to strict, they are allowed a choc biscuit bar or biscuit/cake. (small) and fruit juice or water x

 

[kelzyboo]

But forcing poilcies on them will help?
I think the element of being dictated to will do more harm than good, well you 'tell' people what to do they have a habbit of rebelling against it. I just think its the wrong way to go plus as you said, if they eat junk at home, not having junk as part of that one meal (school lunch) will make very little if any difference to the overall obesity problem.

I just don't think it will help and it punishes the parents who are doing their best to moderate their childs diet, just because some other parents don't, that is unfair! I think address issues with specific families, if there are weight problems or junk being sent in on a regular basis for no good reason (like food aversions) but to punish everyone is just annoying people and in the long run won't work! The more you deprive people of something, the more they will do anything to get it.

I don't know what will work but i think our government need to have a rethink of their forced policies and find a better way x

Sorry but i had to laugh at this, how can you say its punishing the children? Because little Jonny didn't have his crisps and chocolate bar in his lunch box, get a life and worry about your childrens education and not whether they are allowed crisps in school


I

I seriously can't believe you told me to get a life??
When you know nothing about my child and what would and wouldn't affect her. Changing whats in her lunchbox would directly affect her education. Thats a fact.
This is what gets my back up, judging comments as if i'm more worried about my child having treats than i am her education when you have absolutely no idea what deviating from routines would cause for my child and the limits of her diet aswell. As if have a peice of fruit instead will make me think 'oh yes, bad mummy why didn't i get that', what if you have a child that categorically will not eat certain things? What if that will affect them profoundly and damage their education?
I'm glad you have a child that isn't affected by things like that, i am. But don't dare judge me because my child is, we have things hard enough as it is without people who's children don't have a problem telling us to 'get a life'. This is my life and these are the things i have to deal with, you can count yourself lucky that you don't.

And anyway, while you're all following this policy, it doesn't and never will apply to my child so i'm not that bothered about it. I don't agree with it for anyone but those rules don't apply to me.

 

[RachA]

^^^

If your child has a specific medical problem that with be affected by changing her routine that i would say that has to be taken into account as well as children with allergies etc.


I just never considered not being able to put certain things in my child's lunchbox a problem. Ok if might annoy me that he is not allowed to take sweets for his class friends on his birthday but at the end of the day life is made up of rules we have to follow and if i tell him 'it's ok, i'll put this in for you even though they don't allow it' that is just teaching him that no all rules have to be obeyed.
I give him treats after him dinner if needs be but tbh we aren't big on having sweets and chocolate or crisps everyday so he never expects it.
I can manage to full his lunch box with the need for putting in anything that is not allowed.
Today he had:
Cheese spread & beef sandwiches
innocent smoothie
innocent tube thing
plum
grapes
little packet of cadburys animal biscuits

he also gets given milk and a piece of fruit at school. I would given him more fruit but if i give him too much he doesn't have time to play lol

 

[kelzyboo]

They get milk and fruit for snack at DD's school too, only she won't eat the majority of it, so all she gets all day is her lunch.
Usually she'll get a sandwich, a youghurt tube, fruit juice a little cake bar and maybe a packet of crisps. Although i'm not sure it would be classed as a 'medical' problem, but it deffinately is a problem and others judging me without knowing this bothers me.

I'm not a huge fan of being dictated to by schools anyway, as her parent i have the right to decide, unless what i'm doing is potentially causing her damage (ie, obesity) then i don't think they should decide what i feed her. I'm pretty sure if i tried to switch her foods to some off their 'good' list, they'd beg me to change back after a day. Things like that need to be considered too and it annoys me when other parents can't understand that different children have different needs.

 

[indy and lara]

Kelzyboo, I don't think people are judging you. It has been agreed over and over in this thread that there are exceptions to the rule and they would include children with dietary needs and also those with conditions such as Autism who would respond negatively to changes in their regular diet. However, these cases are the exceptions and the vast majority of children could be fed adequately with their parents following a lunchbox policy.

 

[kelzyboo]

Telling me to get a life and worry about her education instead was judgement.

The majority of people have not judged but it only takes one these days to get to me. I do think most people 'could' follow it and their kids be fine with it, i just don't think forcing poilicies will encourage them to do so, there will always be those few that don't, i just think the government should be thinking of ways to reach them on a level that they will understand instead of trying force, it just doesn't work well in my eyes.

I know the poilicies don't include me but obviously even if that wasn't the case i wouldn't agree with how they're doing it. The reasons behind it i agree with, the way they do it i just don't x

 

[indy and lara]

An argument with one poster does not mean that others can't see where you are coming from. For the majority of people who have minimal contact or experience of children with ASN it does not automatically come to mind that there would be genuine problems for others enforcing this kind of policy.

People do know what constitutes healthy eating (Well the majority do) but we still have an increasing problem with obesity and childhood obesity is particularly worrying. People lead increasingly sedendary lives and are getting less healthy generation upon generation. We have had leaflets, booklets, workshops and so on but they have not really helped address this. So maybe an enforced policy is the only thing that is left to try? Being honest with you, if my school were to introduce this and it meant I didn't have to try to manage the behaviour of kids who had a lunchbox full of processed junk and chocloate bars in the afternoon then I would gladly give it a try.

 

[hopeandpray]

I think people are confused about the term balanced diet. It does not mean that there should be a treat with every meal. I had a sandwich, 2 crackers and a piece of fruit at school and that filled me up. Why would a child need sweets and crisps every single day? They may be filling but if they're filled with food without much nutrition then they won't have an appetite for the healthy stuff. I understand that some places it's going to far and a pack of crisps once a week isn't the end of the world but I know a lot of kids when I went to school had crisps and bars for lunch everyday, some had sugar sandwiches even. Since the rules came in this doesn't happen any more so overall I think it's good.