To think banning fried eggs is a step too far?

Yes, because diets and exercise levels have changed since then. Skinny kids in the 70s haven’t suddenly become obese because they had a bit of sponge and custard as a child. We are moving less, eating more, and increasingly relying on UPF. The problem with obesity is now across all age groups.

I think the schools should be setting an example of a healthy diet. No one needs a stodgy pudding after lunch every day. Yes there are the arguments that it will be some child's main meal of the day so should be something they'll eat without fuss, or some children get fed rubbish at home so it makes no difference trying to get a healthy meal into them at school etc. But why should the other kids be getting into bad eating habits due to other kids having less optimal diets for whatever reason? Of course most kids like an unhealthy meal now and again, just like a lot of adults, but it shouldn't be the default every day option.

People on here always comment that there wasn't any fat kids in the 70s and 80s.

Those skinny kids are now the fat middle aged adults that are walking about.

Stop and think that though banning shops on route to school.
You realise in some towns that would effectively close every small independent shop?

I don't think our school give out sweets etc for rewards.

But denying pudding to the sandwich kids is just going to encourage packed lunches. BTW i don't agree with the lunch box police either.

Agree, but we're completely deluded if we think 5 meals a week during termtime from school catering is going to achieve that.

Where the hell are the parents in all of this? And also surely we need to ban any kind of convenience store or takeaway on a route to school if we're going down this route...

Original shredded wheat bite size is also healthy.

Muesli usually has lot of sugar.

Completely agree with both, if kids have the sandwich option at my child’s school they’re then not allowed the dessert all the other kids have, only a yogurt or fruit, so a lot of kids choose the main meal to only eat the dessert.

Of course none of these guidelines mention all the additional cakes and biscuits given out as rewards in the classroom either.

The only education they’ve received on healthy eating was not to eat any fats or sugar at all, it took ages to convince my child to go back to their already balanced diet at home! Banning fried eggs solves nothing.

I couldn’t agree more! Artificial sweeteners are a bugbear of mine. I’d much rather have a bit of sugar that artificial sweeteners. Everything in moderation. The problem is that too many people now think that the low/no sugar option is healthy and can be eaten in vast quantities. It’s not a popular opinion, but I’m convinced that in years to come we will realise that sweeteners have done more harm than a bit of sugar.

I think all the healthier alternatives are a step forward. My concern is whether the children will actually eat it. I’d so love my daughter to tuck into a chickpea curry, I’d be over the moon if she loved this sort of thing.

It was about 40 years ago that Margaret Thatcher's government changed school meals and allowed contacts to be bidded for by private companies, who fought to provide the lowest cost meals to increase their own profits. The nutritional requirements were scrapped as well. To get back to the standards of the 70s would cost a lot of money - absolutley money well spent but where will it come from?

I agree with this.

It’s the processed food not a bit of frying or puddings that causes a problem.

You can see kids who look like they’ve been inflated rather than simply being a bit overweight and that’s processed food. Puddings don’t cause that.

I also think artificial sweeteners are a big problem and need to be more discouraged than sugar.

I’m surprised secondary school kids can’t have a pastry, that seems a bit unnecessary.

Just take a step back from the outrage and consider the bigger picture. The context.

School dinners and now breakfasts, (just like hospital food and catering in army barracks etc) are provided by service companies. To get the business they have to meet the decision makers' expectations and be cheaper than the opposition, to make money they have to provide the meals and services at below the quoted price. The net result is cheap processed food full of empty calories.

Now they are trying to regulate an issue which is baked into the(ir) cake.

Lentils can be extremely delicious though!

Like all the pulses, their own flavour is subtle, it's what you do with them flavour wise that counts. Pulses in general are so good for fibre and protein whilst also being extremely cheap if you buy bulk and dried.

For some kids it may be the only decent, or quite simply only, meal they get all day.

Indeed, some of the black-and-white thinking on the thread is bonkers. Yes frying an egg causes if to lose some nutrients, but unless you absolutely obliterate it the great majority of the good stuff is still there. And yes the oil adds a few calories, but a calorie is not some great evil to be avoided at all costs so unless you're downing pints of the stuff it's fine. I honestly think worrying about food to this extent is more harmful than eating a sub-optimal meal now and again (or even quite often). Eat a balanced diet, lots of veg, not too much sugar, drink lots of water and do lots of exercise. That's it. No need to fret about eggs.

I think- forget the feckless uneducated mums with trollies of shit- this thread on mumsnet perfectly illustrates the problem. You’re the only person to hit on this and it’s undoubtedly one of the main drivers of the problem.

banging on about kids blood sugar and 10% loss of vitamin D from frying is mental and shows how little parents feel in control of this.

where I disagree though is I think ultra processed foods in moderation have their place and aren’t going anywhere so we need to learn to live with them- with greater regulation

I've never seen a school that did fried eggs but it does do my nut in when people think a fried egg and a scrambled egg cooked in the same amount of butter or oil are somehow different nutritionally. Or a poached egg served on lettuce dressed in 1tbsp olive oil, for that matter.

I look at it like this, even my 14 year old son who plays football 3 times per week MMA twice per week, goes to the gym, doing food tech gcse because he’s interested in getting good nutrition as he’s very interested in health and fitness, eats a wide variety of foods, snacks on fruit and salads, loves raw carrots is refusing these new “healthily” lunches as there’s nothing he likes (he will generally try most things but he knows what he likes and doesn’t). If he wants a slice of cake or portion of chips do be it. He’s just shy of 6ft and 10 stone with no excess fat on him. I would like him to have a hot meal at lunch esp in winter.

There should be an element of choice there with education around making those choices. This whole thing is utterly ridiculous.

Get kids moving more, make our streets and parks safer so kids can be out and about, subsidise sports clubs. Limit online activity for under 18s. Legislate against UPFs. Make life more affordable so families have the time and money to invest in decent meals.

Jamie Oliver was right starting the whole campaign for better school meals years ago, but there comes a point where you bring in stuff the kids just won’t eat. Totally for fruit rather than cakes, but lentils, really, how many kids will willingly eat them and yes I know they are in with other foods not served alone. It’s finding a balance that’s important

That’s not just what they have done though is it so don’t sneer.

It’s about time food and nutrition was prioritised for us all and children. It’s the most important thing in the world in my opinion.

I wouldn't ban cakes or fried food.

But I do think kids ought to get used to eating big healthy vegetarian meals like curries and strews with brown rice. These are easy to scale up and also by far the cheapest way of delivering nutrition. Given they aren't allowed to serve nuts, schools ought to make wholegrains and pulses a completely normal part of meals.

I've never seen egg on our school menu anyway apart from scrambled for a brunch type lunch (I think our menu is awful btw). I don't think any kids are getting anything more than toast as a cooked food at breakfast club?

I'm somewhat confused though as I thought most schools did most if not all of this already? Ours haven't had deep fried food for years. Always have a veg with every main. Cakes were removed a couple of years ago and it's just fruit, yoghurt, jelly most days (although I think that was more cost cutting!) are schools actually serving deep fried foods and not putting veg with their mains???

Active growing children need lots of calories. These “experts” never seem to look at the bigger picture. They assume that we have an obesity problem because kids are eating dessert. Kids in the 1970s ate dessert and fried food. They weren’t obese. The problem now is that too many kids don’t do enough exercise (in or out of school), and are fed over processed rubbish. We need to get back to basics - get kids moving more and feed them a balanced diet made from proper fresh ingredients. It’s really not rocket science. Obsessing over how an egg is cooked is not the answer.