Packed Lunch help needed please

phlipp

Hello! I am new to this forum - I've 'lurked' for many months but now am coming out of the shadows for some help please.:wave:

I am trying to introduce a 'Healthy Packed Lunch' policy at my school and want to offer advice on what could be included in a healthier lunch box.

Many of our families come from one the most deprived areas of the country and from a variety of cultural backgrounds; some are overseas students or economic migrants and are not entitled to any financial help. I know they shop at either small ethnic corner shops or bargain chains.

The School Food Trust offer some good ideas for exciting lunches but they consider £1.50 to be cheap for a packed lunch.

Has anybody got ideas for inexpensive, healthy, easy to prepare packed lunches please?

ifonlyitwaseasier

i think you should come and ask in the old style board, we have several lunchbox threads over there

Glad

Hi and welcome to MSE

here are a couple of threads you can look at for ideas for school packed lunches

Ideas for cheap packed lunch ideas

Packed lunch ideas

tandraig

you sound like a headmaster to me - can I offer one piece of advice? dont introduce 'lunchbox police' !!! its great you want to get the kids to eat healthy lunches - but some parents will always resist it - because the kids wont eat healthy choices - and if it comes to unhealthy and going without any lunch....then sorry, but as a parent I would give them what i KNOW they will eat. and this from a parent and grandparent who had a tantrum with headmaster cos the school lunch served chicken dippers and turkey twizzlers and tinned spaghetti and not a fresh veg in sight!
i think what i am saying is - dont make hard and fast rules on lunchboxes but give guidelines - listen to what the parents are saying - some kids really dont like fruit! and dont say chocolate is banned from lunchboxes and then the canteen is serving chocolate sponge and custard for dessert!
oh and good luck - you are entering a minefield here!!!!

phlipp

Thank you for the welcome and the sign posts - I had searched, but, as in real life, hadn't found what was right there all the time!

I don't want to be too prescriptive - I know how difficult it is to make sure children eat at lunchtime but a lot of food is put back into lunch boxes (or worse, left under the table or slipped into hidey holes around school!). We are thinking of saying 'no chocolate' to stop those children who have 3 Curly Wurleys and a handful of Roses for lunch - it might actually help parents who find it difficult to say no. Any rules we do make will be phased in between now and next September to give children a chance to wean themselves off chocolate spread sandwiches gradually. Hoping lots of suggestions might give food for thought!

fuzzybear01

Why is a kit kat considered worse than a cereal bar? I don't understand the introduction of chocolate bans as there are far worse things that don't contain chocolate e.g. yogurt-covered cereal bars containing over 200 calories

VfM4meplse

phlipp wrote: »

Many of our families come from one the most deprived areas of the country and from a variety of cultural backgrounds; some are overseas students or economic migrants and are not entitled to any financial help. I know they shop at either small ethnic corner shops or bargain chains.

I work in one of the most deprived communities in East London and there are plenty of ethnic shops that sell big bowls of fruit for a pound. The bargain chain Lidl is well known for good quality fruit and veg. Yet when the kids leave school they head straight for the chicken and chip shops so money seems to be available to undermine an healthy eating strategies.

If you want a policy answer I suggest that parents be asked not to send the kids into school with money; travel is free at that age and they all seem to have mobiles too. Maybe organise some parental sessions wth the 5-a-day co-ordinator a la Jamie Oliver?

savingmummy

My niece had 1 chocolate digestive removed from her lunch box due to this `healthy eating` policy at her infant school:rotfl:
Must add the remaining food in her box was ALL healthy. Stupid imo!

tandraig

PHLIPP - i guessed chocolate may be an issue - read my post again!
the chocolate spreads such as nutella arent so bad! generations of french kids took them to school! and you need to look at what the school is offering - I bet chocolate isnt OFF the menu - before you ban it from lunchboxes.
I am trying to help here - dont make too many changes and dont ban chocolate crisps etc per se. just ask parents to limit them.
why?
because parents usually think they know what their kids will eat! and a sudden ban will cause difficulties because the kids will just not eat a healthy lunchbox if suddenly faced with one! then you are going to get furious parents and hungry kids!!!
make the changes gradually is my advice.
first ban sweets
then ban quavers skips etc
other than that - not sure you aint on a sticky wicket! is your diet 100% healthy?

Janepig

Yes it does seem to me to be double standards if a school says no chocolate in a lunch box, but then has chocolate cake and custard for the hot dinners children. However, as far as I am concerned, if that was the school rule then I would stick to it and not make a fuss to the headteacher - it's not going to kill your child not to have chocolate in their packed lunch.

However, I think perhaps saying one chocolate item per lunchbox would be better. I would certainly say no sweets - I wouldn't even consider putting sweets in a lunchbox. At least chocolate has some nutritional value, unlike sweets. And crisps aren't much better.

Thing is, it's easy for sensible parents who limit their children's rubbish intake but allow some treats to complain about and rail against the school's attempts to try and get children to eat more healthily, but as Philpp has pointed out, some children only have chocolate in their lunchbox and nothing else. And as I mentioned on the thread about christmas spending, some parents are totally incapable of saying no to their children, and if they can pass the buck by saying "I'd let you have rubbish in your lunchbox, but the school say no" might just help.

Jxx

bonty44

The only other thing I would say is, if you are going to advise parents ref healthy packed lunches, make sure your school dinners are healthy also! I saw red last week when DS1 and DS2 brought home a 'healthy packed-lunch' suggestions later ... the day before DS1 had been given a sausage roll, chips and iced bun for school dinners!!!!!!!