How to stop the lunchbox police!

moomoomama27

gingin wrote: »

http://www.myschoollunch.co.uk/cambridgeshire/files/general/Winter%202011%20A3%20Choice%20Menu.pdf

this is a link to my authority's school lunch menu, if anyone is interested. the quality is pretty poor, apparently. Food is pre-cooked and reheated on the premises.

The puddings are terrible! That makes me giggle when they kick off about a cadbury mini roll, or a packet of quavers, when they serve up chocolate cakes, and custard puddings lol!

mishkanorman

**curlywurly** wrote: »

This is surely the point: moderation.

As part of a balanced diet, there is nothing wrong with a slice of something nice with your lunch! Yes, of course obesity and diabetes may be an issue, but equally there is a big problem with children becoming obsessed with their weight/figure. I think schools should stick to what they are there for - education. Educate the children about healthy foods, yes (and the parents if they must) but playing some sort of enforcement role as to what you can and can't feed your own children ought to be stopped.

The problem the school face is if they 'allow' all food types or (dont restrict some) then those children whose parents dont limit their sugar intake will take lunch boxes that contain nothing but junk such as crisps, fizzy, chocolate etc

Our school educate the kids on whats a good healthy diet and re-enforce that by having lunch guidelines. It would be pointless if they taught something but didnt practice it !

i know myself that when i feed the kids at home a usual plate of lunch will be sandwich, fruit sometimes crisps or a piece of cake or jelly sweet. Given the choice my boys ALWAYS start with the 'treat' and have to be pushed to eat a bit of everything or at least most of the good stuff. Can you imagine doing that for 30 kids in a class in a short 20min eating time :eek:

onlyroz

My son's school has a "no sweets, chocolate, crisps or fizzy drinks" policy, either at break time or in the lunch box. I got caught out once because I sent him in with some birthday cake that had sweets stuck to the top - they confiscated the sweets but let him eat the cake. However, I do know that the school dinner kids get pudding of some sort with their otherwise healthy(ish) meal.

I can see that they want to crack down on those parents who would send the kids in with a packet of crisps and half a pack of rolos in the lunch box, but I do think it's taken a bit far. I don't see a problem with allowing one "junk" item in the lunch box.

I remember from my own days that the (then) progressive head teacher banned sweets at break time, but the packed lunches were left well alone. I also remember the stodgy pudding being one of life's pleasures. And I remember a particular friend who, when we got to secondary school with its cafeteria style meals, would eat three or four "cheese patties" for her lunch. These things are basically deep-fried cheesy mash - and my friend is now the size of a small killer-whale. I can remember myself sometimes skipping the main course and having 2-3 puddings for my school dinner, but I've always been on the slender side...

msb5262

moomoomama27 wrote: »

My children have crisps and a cake/cereal bar most days as well as fruits/yoghurts/soups/rolls/sandwhiches etc. We lead a healthy lifestyle, do lots of exercise, as I don't drive, and partake in sporting clubs outside of school, so I'm not worried if they eat 'banned foods' (by scome schools standards! They are not on a diet, and I have their best interests at heart, and make decisions that I feel are right for them! I don;t need some jumped up jobsworth telling them that a food is bad! Everything in moderation!

Obviously you think carefully about your children's health and about your family's lifestyle.
However...according to the British Heart Foundation, eating a packet of crisps every day is equivalent to drinking 5 litres of cooking oil a year.
I believe in everything in moderation, but surely crisps every day doesn't count as being consumed in moderation?

MsB

Money_maker

onlyroz wrote: »

My son's school has a "no sweets, chocolate, crisps or fizzy drinks" policy, either at break time or in the lunch box. I got caught out once because I sent him in with some birthday cake that had sweets stuck to the top - they confiscated the sweets but let him eat the cake. However, I do know that the school dinner kids get pudding of some sort with their otherwise healthy(ish) meal.

How ridiculous :rotfl:
Sounds like they're trying to increase the uptake on school dinners which may not sound as daft as you think. Last I knew just under 4 years ago is that numbers of school dinner children was down and staff were under threat.

Nicki

moomoomama27 wrote: »

The puddings are terrible! That makes me giggle when they kick off about a cadbury mini roll, or a packet of quavers, when they serve up chocolate cakes, and custard puddings lol!

But it's a matter of opinion. Take the first menu which is probably one of the most unhealthy

Pork sausage and hot dog roll
Oven baked potato wedges
Sweetcorn
Flapjack

I think that is even so healthier and more balanced than yours of

Soup or sandwich
Packet of crisps
Slice of cake or cereal bar
Yoghurt

At least the school one has protein, vegetables, reduced salt, and only one sugar item. Yours is really high in sugar and salt, with no obvious fruit or vegetables, and three treat items to only one nutritional one.

School menus whilst they may seem uninspiring are still checked by the local authority to ensure they are nutritionally balanced by qualified people. A parents idea of what is healthy and balanced, even if it is not as bad as just crisps and chocolate, is not necessarily correct.

mikey72

The problem is everyone always says fats are bad, but most of those meals are high carbs, with starchy or sugary foods, which can be worse.

meritaten

*max* wrote: »

I'm pretty sure "paeds" in his post means "children".

THAT part of the post WASNT what I objected to - I considered the post to be deliberately offensive.

msb5262

mikey72 wrote: »

The problem is everyone always says fats are bad, but most of those meals are high carbs, with starchy or sugary foods, which can be worse.

Not all fats are the same.

The fats I worry about are transfats which are in many processed foods (along with high levels of sugar and salt).

At my school - which is a Food For Life Partnership school and has a School Nutrition Action Group - we have a lot of our foods cooked from scratch, from good quality ingredients, and they are great.

The Food For Life Partnership has made a massive impact at my school and I am hoping against hope that it will continue to exist.

Apart from anything else, it will save the NHS huge amounts of money in the future just by helping children to make better choices.

We can cut spending now but you can bet your life we'll be paying later...

bylromarha

Personal experience with DD (5), DS (7).

old school were awful - lunch box police everywhere that inspected lunchboxes and staff used words like bad, phrases like you'll get fat...with my then 4 year old daughter.

I moved their school this sept as that was one of the several things I could no longer put up with. New school promotes healthy eating in the classroom and lunchbox inspections only happen during healthy eating week - parents are informed about this, are given ideas for substitutions they could make and are asked to substitute 1 item from the current lunchbox for a healthier option if they can. Kids get stickers for trying a new food, but no condemnation if nothing changes.

In both schools there were kids with the choc spread sandwich, choc covered crisps and choc covered chocolate cake for pud. One school had a go at the kids, the other gets dinner ladies to speak to the class teacher in order to speak to the parent should a lunch box been seen to be this way on 3 occasions.

I don't think anything cna be done IMHO to change schools that fervently inspect lunchboxes - maybe the best way to tackle it if you feel militant is to write to the NAHT as each head tackles the issue differently. Some head teachers get this issue very right, others very wrong and a third group don't see it as a priority when faced with literacy and numeracy issues, so leave the dinner staff to their own devises.