British kids and eating habits - IABU ?

Giggling at the idea that being Maltese means you have a healthy diet. Clearly OP hasn't heard of pastizzi. Or noticed that Malta's obesity rates are among the highest in the EU.

Had a quick look through your responses OP, and I haven't read the whole thread. Perhaps you could give us all a lovely no processed meal plan for 7 days? You'll get extra stars if you make it vegan (only for me and the other vegans who might read it). Cheers.

I agree with you that school lunches are not healthy and there's so much room for improvement. However for many parents they do not have the time or mental capacity to make lunches for their children everyday.

When my kids were in nursery I looked for one with a cook on site and they were so proud of her cooking and even let me come in on several days to try out her menu. It was delicious and nutritionally balanced. My kids are in primary school now and bring home cooked food for lunch because that's the taste they prefer. They are lucky because as a sahm I will do this for them, but even I find it a pain and get lazy sometimes. Can't imagine how hard it gets for working parents to do the same.

I think variety is a big thing. Everyone is always astonished I don't like steak but I eat most other stuff
So yes the grains and pulses and salads but also pizza, burgers etc. Not a fussy eater and if it's put in front of me I eat it

A colleague hadn't tried a lot of foods and as an adult she said one day she was worried about trying new stuff because of cost. Like buying blueberries and not liking them and they would be wasted. Ended up bringing different stuff every day and she found loads she liked

Another colleague had an awful diet (mostly red bull and sausage rolls) and would sit going "ugh what's that? Ew I would never eat that. That salad looks disgusting"
STFU and let me eat my lunch

Yes, YABU. You parent your kids. You send them to school with lunches you're happy with - but don't paint the UK as the only country that promotes unhealthy eating in Europe!!

The UK is way ahead of most European countries when it comes to vegetarian restaurants or being vegan, gluten free, etc.

Chuh.

This is the dinner menu from the primary school that my daughters went to. There is always veg available, they don’t get a pudding every day and one day a week is always meat free. My younger daughter went to school dinners more than the older one, she preferred a packed lunch.

They were both brought up eating home made food from scratch with the odd chicken nugget dinner thrown in. They both like sausages but only one will eat mash and neither of the two of them like beans 🤷🏼‍♀️

Yes 😂😂

That looks fine. When I visited a French Lycée for the day as a teenager, the lunch we were served was chicken and chips. Not particularly better than that menu.

Bratwurst, currywurst, pommes frites, croissant, pain au chocolat, Kaffee und kuchen, schnitzel, apfelstrudel, schinken und käse - in fact in Germany, breads, hams, sausages, cheeses, and pickles are all common food staples in many Central European countries. A 'continental breakfast' is actually less healthy than scrambled eggs, beans and wholemeal toast.

There's a desire to push food consumption in the UK as unhealthy but cured meats, bread, cheese, pasta etc are all Northern European staples.

@MeowCatPleaseMeowBack

I hold my hands up - reading my message back I did sound like a bit of a dick 😂

In Wales we feed our kids raw leeks and laverbread.

But coffee isn't necessarily bad for you, individually you might not like it because of side effects but it's got good effects as well
I drink coffee and tea all day, no issues. Can have a coffee and go to bed as can my dad

Hahaha

OP, you seem to be very exercised about the idea of British children eating sausages (with "god knows what meat in them"), but last time I visited mainland Europe, sausages were pretty popular there too. From Spain's chorizo to Italy's salami, from France's saucisson to Germany's Wurst, they were everywhere (perhaps not in Malta, eh?).

Has anyone actually bothered to check the school lunch menus? This is the one closest to my house, bog standard primary in a London suburb. Really doesn’t seem that awful to me!

This is the most hilarious story of a sanctimonious parent getting their comeuppance I have ever read, thank you!

You can just hear her “But Felix, darling, there are special rules for hummingbirds!”

I voted YANBU…although I do I think there are some inaccuracies in the OP (such as about baked beans!). I agree peer influence makes it hard for those of us who prefer to feed our children a more balanced diet. Not impossible of course, as yes, you can say no, it’s just far more of a battle when peer influence is so strong and not very balanced!

Op I'm not British either but married to a British man and I too had some surprised over how food was done in the UK.

However, having said that your post comes across as very patronising and frankly uneducated.
Gods know what meat in Sausages and ham? Go ask the school kitchen and they will show you what meat is in them. Simply because it's sausages and ham doesn't = it is bad

Your comment about sugar in school bread rolls have you spoken to the school about the recipe they use? If not how do you know there is sugar in it? Or that they are unhealthy?

My children are mid to early 20s now they eat a varied diet none of them have chips often it was not a regular part of their growing up. Even with the friends where baked beans and sausages (that you seem to so disdain) was a regular occupancy. Fruit shoots were not a regular drink. Mine got capri sun at times but mostly they had water. (None of them were milk drinkers and 2 have lactose issues) only 1 of my friends kids regularly had sweet drinks and she had some medical issues that frankly meant anything she would eat was a good thing.

Your kids moan if you give the. Other stuff than their mates? Tough they will get over it. Parent them if this is a big deal for you. Kids learn soon enough at we do x at others they do Y.

Also open your mind a bit. There is plenty of good stuff in British culture including their food (Stilton yum) it is easy to get caught up in "back "home" we have it right" then you go back after a few years and you realise they have moved on.

Parent as you wish don't try to keep up with the Jones and also look for the positive in both cultures and celebrate this. No matter if you like it or not your children are growing up with a lot of British culture why dish it all?

Agree with you OP. We live in this country now but I grew up elsewhere and agree that most children’s diets, and a lot of adults diets include a lot of ready prepared frozen or convenience food. My DC were reception age when they were invited for their first pizza by their friends on a play date - they’d never had it before then. A year later it was McDonalds. They are now teens and I still cook everything from scratch but they do have a lot of beige food or fast food when with their friends. Just do what works for you.

I always take all that French advice with a grain of salt, but I have children who are not neurotypical. I realise that of course some children are picky for other reasons, but in my experience if you serve a varied diet at home, expose your children to different foods, and they still always want the same things, it's probably not your parenting. One of mine just watched me pop cherry tomatoes in my mouth while I was preparing dinner, but wouldn't touch one, because he will not eat raw veg, ever. I have watched parents absolutely twist themselves into knots over kids who are neophobic or selective, and pressuring them backfires more often than not. I always want to hear more about how the system works for children with real issues, because France's reputation for autism is appalling; they only wrested control from the psychoanalysts in the past decade or so!

@violetmountainhare has a point... an acquaintance of mine absolutely banned her kids from having artificial sugar of any kind - no occasional treats of baked goods, sweets, chocolate or anything. They became obsessed with sugar. She discovered they were drinking the nectar she was putting out for hummingbirds (1 part white sugar to 4 parts water)...sigh.

Oh I think British food is great, but I’m talking more the restaurant scene rather than school dinners and not specifically British dishes. School dinners just sound gross though and why would they care! It’s all contracts & you can’t just not return to the canteen the next day because the food sucked, it’s a captive market plus kids most of the time don’t even know what good food tastes like. Anyway someone should ban ultra processed hot dogs on school menus.

It's quite normal to have a pudding at the end of a main meal. I always cooked good, healthy food but we had a pudding, even if it was only fruit with cream or ice cream. Apple (or other fruit) pie, tart or crumble at weekends. I always had that too when I was growing up and I was healthy., never had much of a sweet tooth. My mother was a splendid cook, she too was healthy and lived to be old. I had strawberries, grapes and blueberries with a little rice pudding tonight, it was good. Moderation in all things.

I'm old enough to remember the scousers sketch in Harry Enfield. They would say "are you on crack?" if one of them said something wierd/out of character. We say it sometimes in my house as a quote as we find it funny.

You clearly don't.

Take a chill pill. Am I allowed to say that? or are you concerned I'm alluding to recreational drugs again?

How’s it snobby?