Only 1% of packed lunches meet the nutritional standards of a school meal

[Ifailed]

According to a Government report www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53574164. Without Googling it, how many know what would constitute a "correct" packed lunch for a child - I know I wouldn't?

I find it hard to believe that only 1% meet sensible guidelines, but who knows what the actual guidelines are.

Oh, I don't know. In a dining hall of about 100 kids, I do only tend to see a couple that would pass muster from a dietary perspective, with some veg and fibre included. Most tend to be along the lines of a sandwich on white bread with a packet of crisps and a biscuit bar thing. A fair few have fruit but veg is quite a rarity. And the amount of parents that think a pain au chocolat is an acceptable main component for a packed lunch is astounding (you can get 10 for £2 though, individually wrapped, so they're inexpensive and convenient- I imagine that's a large part of the allure). To be fair, I'd say the meals on most of the school dinner plates in the other hall are nutritionally flawed too.

I'm not surprised when I was at school in the 90s and 00s people used to have sausage rolls, processed meat and bread, packet of crisps and a penguin bar with a sunny delight! It was honestly terrible. School dinners were a Yorkshire pudding filled with chips and gravy! It's crazy to remember. No wonder the North East has highest obesity rates! DP says in London he would have one piece fried chicken and chips from a fast food place. So hardly any better!

I remember going on exchanges to Norway and to Italy when I was at school and their school dinners were delicious! Small amount of pasta, vegetables, salad, fruit, nice bread. They were restaurant quality food. There was only a meat or veggie option and everyone just ate them. It was such a contrast to my school!

I remember going on exchanges to Norway and to Italy when I was at school and their school dinners were delicious! Small amount of pasta, vegetables, salad, fruit, nice bread. They were restaurant quality food. There was only a meat or veggie option and everyone just ate them. It was such a contrast to my school!

Makes you wonder why we can't do that here. Meat is rarely in "solid form" it's usually curry or mince or a pasta bake or something so you can get the cheapest crappest version and smother it in a sauce or cheese then get away with dishing up about three chunks with some rice or veg.

Perhaps they value education more there. Here it seems to be something that has repeatedly more added on whilst filling in gaps in parenting whilst having more and more funding removed. Perhaps children are something that are actually invested in in other countries?

Obviously I dont really think it's schools/teachers fault more a system failure.

I remember going on exchanges to Norway and to Italy when I was at school and their school dinners were delicious! Small amount of pasta, vegetables, salad, fruit, nice bread. They were restaurant quality food. There was only a meat or veggie option and everyone just ate them. It was such a contrast to my school!

My boyfriend is Swedish, he was sent to a very gold boarding school in the UK at the start of year 9, so 13? To this day he whinges about the awful food, god knows what he would think of school dinners in the average Comp!

It does however make me think of the blog neverseconds, the little girl from scotland? Was posting her school meals and people from other countries sent their own pictures. The little girls school dinners were so bad the school banned her taking pictures of them!

I think it would be interesting to see a comparison between what gets eaten in school dinners and packed lunches

Certainly in DS's old school the menu was very nutritious. However, the cook was hopeless so the majority of veg went uneaten as it was either mushy slop or bullet hard. The salad bar was also in a stupid place so very few kids used it

@ElainaElephant my DD has gradually sworn off almost all dairy. She just doesn't like it. I can get her to eat a little cheese, sometimes and preferably melted.

I think she has an intolerance to it and this is why she's stopped enjoying anything like that. She also has GORD (gastro oesophagus reflux disease, her Dad and her paternal Gran have it too)

So the dairy requirement of pack lunches would scunner me for sure!

I think we'll have to have pack lunches when we go back in August as a covid related thing. No hot meals provided in the sort term.

My daughter was also told when she was in primary that cheese was bad for you and the school said she shouldn't be eating it anymore.

In fact this was the start of an eating disorder that beganwhen she was 9 and we had years of hell with her. We later found out she was autistic but not till she was 16 so that did explain her rigid thinking but even so..the school were wrong

In regards to pack lunches when returning after covid my old school has shared a poster on Facebook listing things they would recommend for younger children to open by themselves so the lunch staff don't have to touch them.
Things like frubes, banana and oranges were out. But a packet of crisps was ok - presumably because the children don't put their mouths on the crisp packet unlike the drive.
So contradictory really as crisps are high in fat.

Sorry should say frube not drive.

I think the way the guidelines are phrased is what makes so few people achieve them. Both DC eat plenty of vegetables. Just not in their lunch boxes. DS quite likes a salad so I sometimes send him in with a small salad of lettuce, cucumber, peppers and maybe some feta, but DD doesn't like any raw veg.

However, at home we eat lots of veggies, both on the side and as main dishes. DD's selection is more limited than I would like, but she eats the standard peas, corn, carrots, broccoli and is quite happy with dishes with "hidden veg" such as bolognaise etc. So I can't get too worked up about it. Putting some veg in her lunch box is a complete waste of time though.

Also, I thought healthy eating was based on the nutritional value of, at the very least, a full day, but actually more like 3-4 days? People don't get scurvy after one day after all.

@DeltaFlyer

In regards to pack lunches when returning after covid my old school has shared a poster on Facebook listing things they would recommend for younger children to open by themselves so the lunch staff don't have to touch them. Things like frubes, banana and oranges were out. But a packet of crisps was ok - presumably because the children don't put their mouths on the crisp packet unlike the drive. So contradictory really as crisps are high in fat.

That’s just because crisps are easy to open. If they can’t do it by pulling then they can burst them.

When I worked in the school the dinner time helpers spent half their time opening frubes and stabbing straws into juice cartons because the little ones just couldn’t do it themselves

@BlingLoving

I think the way the guidelines are phrased is what makes so few people achieve them. Both DC eat plenty of vegetables. Just not in their lunch boxes. DS quite likes a salad so I sometimes send him in with a small salad of lettuce, cucumber, peppers and maybe some feta, but DD doesn't like any raw veg.

However, at home we eat lots of veggies, both on the side and as main dishes. DD's selection is more limited than I would like, but she eats the standard peas, corn, carrots, broccoli and is quite happy with dishes with "hidden veg" such as bolognaise etc. So I can't get too worked up about it. Putting some veg in her lunch box is a complete waste of time though.

Also, I thought healthy eating was based on the nutritional value of, at the very least, a full day, but actually more like 3-4 days? People don't get scurvy after one day after all.

Yes I agree. Based on what my dcs have eaten this week you would think their diet was appalling but that's because we had a bbq with a lot of sausages, crisps, ice cream etc and also because we are going on holiday so trying to use stuff up and avoid buying fresh stuff. I know that their diet is normally good with plenty of fruit and veg so I'm not worrying too much.

It also depends a lot on the child - DS has amazing packed lunches, but it’s easy for me to do that because he’ll happily eat anything and loves fruit and veg. It’s a lot harder for people with fussy children!

Opening a frube tube thing after a child has tried to open it with their teeth is not a pleasant experience in non Covid times.

@FlamingoAndJohn

Opening a frube tube thing after a child has tried to open it with their teeth is not a pleasant experience in non Covid times.

Yes, I used to carry a little pair of scissors in my pocket for such occasions. Could always guarantee they'd bite off the pully tab bit but not actually open it