British kids and eating habits - IABU ?

Head for Turkish, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants. But out of cities you might be eating a lot of pizza....

I recall going to France as a teen and as a vegetarian it was a bloody nightmare, everything had meat in, fairly often it seemed to be ham. I recall trying to order a plain omelette - when it arrived it had bloody ham in it.

Oh God yes, I found eating in Germany a right struggle - not vegetarian but I do like a vegetable with my meal.

We ate a lot of Turkish, Thai and Vietnamese food in Germany! I can't get on with traditional German food - even if it is home cooked etc.

Southern Med food, amazing, Scaninavian food..amazing....

Polish, German etc I find more of a struggle...

@Smittenkitchen
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Fruit and vegetables are generally high in carbohydrates.

They are. I thought I was reasonably clued up about nutrition but was very surprised just how many veg were banned on a strict keto diet. You could basically eat salad leaves and a few berries.

I remember many years ago my ex-DH went to Germany for work. He was very much a fan of Germany and spoke German. He is also a vegetarian. He found it very difficult to eat in Germany, everything had meat in it - or had had - and vegetables were few.

The quality of hospital food is equally grim and you would expect it to be nutritious bearing in mind the health impact.

Good quality sausages aren’t fatty. You can prick them while cooking and virtually no fat comes out.

Some, like root veg, are higher than others but I’m not sure I’d refer to them as “high”. I suppose it’s subjective. My original point was that a balanced diet is a good way to build a healthy lifestyle. Excess amounts of any food (ie not in moderation) is not particularly good for us.

timesofmalta.com/article/more-than-75-of-maltese-men-are-overweight.952336
Not to single out Malta particularly (only as you mentioned it in comparison to UK habits), but unhealthy habits exist everywhere

But OP all countries struggle with this.

lovinmalta.com/news/maltese-with-the-second-highest-consumption-sugary-drinks-across-the-eu/

Fruit and vegetables are generally high in carbohydrates.

There were vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Berlin and Munich so I’m sure they’ll have them elsewhere. I really struggled because I’m coeliac and literally everything had gluten in, but i recall vegetarian schnitzel, pizza and pasta, noodles with cheese and onions, potatoes, potato salad, dumplings in mushroom sauce. Just not much actual veg aside from sauerkraut and asparagus. Loads of bread and pretzels too. You’ll definitely be fine for a few days but your options might be a bit limited.

We absolutely should! Your body also needs carbs, protein, iron (to name but a few) which you won’t get from filling up exclusively on fruit and veg. I wouldn’t advise excessive fibre intake either but feel free to try it if you’re feeling brave 😊

I can see it’s interesting to look back and compare memories (recollections may vary, as her Late Majesty memorably said …)

But why does it concern you? Are you worried that you’ll wake up one day and be obese when all the Angel Delight suddenly catches up with you?

I agree - it is something that concerns me. DM would tell you that she cooked from scratch but I remember a lot of Angel Delight, jelly and packet puddings like cheesecake and lemon meringue pie. (She did make a weekly cake from scratch.) She also used the delightful Smash with the laughing space aliens in its advert. She will talk endlessly about how once she bought a freezer she'd go to a farm and buy half a sheep etc but I recall a lot of fish fingers, frozen burgers etc as well as Sunday roasts and weekday stews.

I was amazed at the size of the Nesquik tubs in French supermarkets in the 1990s!

😂
the first time I saw chocolate spread on a breakfast table was when I was 12 on a German exchange. Nutella,processed meats or processed cheese.

I have gallstones and buy sausages with very little fat content. They are well flavoured (I don't like plain sausages) and are delicious.

I don’t think this is particularly new, because schools spend less on lunches than we do on prisoners, but to say it’s gone downhill in the last five years as school budgets have declined is an understatement.

Still I think you are unreasonable OP. No one moves to the UK for good food, which is an act of will here. You want nice food you are never getting it in any State institution either.

Keep giving your kids the good stuff. You may really save them from serious disease when they get older.

Was there any vegetarian food in Germany? I'm going there in August!

The obese adults of today are those who grew up in the 70s and 80s....I've always heard it said the 70s was when all the processed food started.

Salmon? That's amazing. I think the only fish my DC's Primary had was fish fingers and the Secondary has battered white fish on a Friday!

Low sugar juices? What do you mean by that? What juices aren't sweet? Maybe they are just used to water?

Personally I would find it a bit weird a family giving DC some special 'low sugar juice' rather than water or perhaps milk.

Most schools have jacket potatoes. But they don't have kitchens to can't make these things.

I grew up in the 70's too and my mother cooked from scratch. If we had sausages they were from a butcher and may have been better quality. We didn't have supermarkets until the late 70's and never ate ready meals or much in the way of processed foods. Chocolate was a very occasional treat (Easter, Christmas, birthday!). We didn't overeat, there was much less obesity and we didn't feel deprived! I agree with OP the pressure on parents to feed their kids fast food rubbish and overly fatty, processed junk is enormous. No idea what the answer is apart from sticking to your principles and keeping your kids healthy. One day I hope they'll thank you! 👍👍