This was the contents of an 8 year olds lunchbox.

[IAm1]

Nutella sandwich
Bar of dairy milk
Pot of joy
2 custard creams
Cheese string.

Dd asked me if she could have a big chocolate bar in her lunch box. I said no so she declared that Chloe gets all of the above.

I didn't believe her at first but when dd said at the school gates ' my mum doesn't believe you get a whole chocolate bar for lunch'
Chloe nodded and showed me the contents. Her mum stood smiling and nodding and I felt embarrassed.

I didn't really know what to say so just laughed and said goodbye to dd then walked off.

Would you feed your dc that?

I work in a school and that's pretty much a standard lunch tbh, very few kids come with fruit or veg. We aren't providing hot meals at the moment so families are sending their own more than normal as they have the right to. If you confiscated all the chocolate/sweet things from that lunch a child would have to survive all day on a cheese string. We have no bit ban either but plenty people use Nutella as a blanket name for any chocolate spread. It's not being fed to your child so I don't see why you're bothered

Not being rude but parent your own kid.
Yes it's not a healthy lunch. Yes it's got a teeth rotting amount of sugar.
But perhaps she's a fussy kid who would starve with fruit and veg sticks in her lunch, perhaps mum can't afford the amount we are all meant to spend on artisan lunches now.
Concentrate on your own kid

Maybe you should pat yourself on the back for being such a marvellous mummy and leave Chloe and her mum alone. This lunchbox judging is completely barmy.

I would concentrate on my bringing my own child up and stop judging others....

I love on these threads the posters that come on to list everything their child gets in their lunch box, and then list the rest of their daily food intake just to prove how much better and healthy they are 😂. Yes you are truly winning at parenting. Bravo 👏

Everyday here is a;

Cheese spread sandwich on white bread (no butter)
A few olives and a couple of dill pickles
Barbeque flavour 'pop' crisps
Frube
Banana for snack time.
Squash in his lunch bottle

Nothing else gets eaten (and he eats well generally)

Some might judge having the same thing every day (and it's not the healthiest) but I do occasionally attempt to vary it and it comes back uneaten.

If challenged I would just state I would rather he eat and they are welcome.to provide him with a lunch that won't get eaten at their own expense.

Doesn’t surprise me. I see this in the majority of lunchboxes everyday, a lot of the time it’s worse. But no one can say anything as apparently it’s ok, “at least the child is being fed” and “it’s no one else’s business”....except, that doesn’t sit right with me. The child has no one else to go by except the parents/carers giving this food, so they are helpless to a lifetime of obesity, diabetes, dental cavities, heart disease etc through no fault of their own, and because no one is allowed to say anything for fear of offending. All of this of course is paid for on the already drained NHS which we all contribute towards. And then there is the immediate impact of a child too tired/wired to learn because of their rubbish lunch (majority of cases like this they haven’t had breakfast either), and their behaviour towards other children for the same reason. But of course, no one else’s business!

People would be appalled at my youngest sons diet but he has a few different diagnoses that mean he has a very limited pallet and will literally not eat anything else! Maybe stop being so judgmental and nosey and just worry about what your child is eating?

Also remember that when you are relying on food banks there is chocolate spread and custard creams aplenty but little in the way of pepper sticks and fruit

Truth is, you have no idea why that little girl gets what she does in her lunch box. She may have sensory issues and her mum just wants to make sure she actually eats something she may just be really really fussy and when you have a child that refuses to eat, you will give them anything to make sure they do. Did you want her mum to hang her head in shame and explain herself to you?

@Soubriquet

Well, the pack up for your dd is unhealthy already, so no I wouldn’t give them a bigger bar of chocolate.

I’m not anal when it comes to lunches, but even I cant see how this pack up is allowed in school

Why are you saying ‘pack up’? is it a regional thing or an autocorrect? I’ve heard ‘pack lunch’ (rather than ‘packed’) but not ‘pack up’.

OP are you just jealous because you want Nutella sandwiches and pots of joy every day? I am! (I just added pots of joy to the shopping list 😂 already have Nutella in the cupboard and considering my lunch options)

I wondered the same regarding SEN or similar, maybe it's the only way the mum can make sure her DD will eat her lunch and maybe the school is aware?

Off now to eat shovels of Nutella for breakfast 😋

My son is a REALLY fussy eater, his packed lunch consists of,

Ham sandwich
Sugar free drink
Yogurt
Crisps
Cake bar
Banana ( sometimes)

You would get told to mind your own business if you were questioning the contents of his lunch box.

There could be a perfectly good reason for it

I wouldn't start a thread about another child's lunch box. If there's a problem the school should deal with it. I can't imagine that they wouldn't. But you don't know the reasons why anyway.

But you could divide that lot up over a day and the child could still have the same. So e.g.

Breakfast of serial/eggs/toast/whatever the child likes, most of which isn’t that unhealthy.

Snack - a cheese string (I’ve never had one but even the word sounds horrible but to each their own,) Lunch Nutella Sandwich, fruit, maybe a custard cream, and water

Snack half a chocolate bar

Dinner meat/vegetables/healthy sauce with potatoes/rice/pasta depending on the meal, fruit, followed by a pot of joy and water to go with it.

Unless you actually live with the child and know that they have the same for breakfast and McD’s for dinner every night, you cannot possibly judge a child based on one meal.

On MN people go to the other extreme and claim their children have vegetable sticks and hummus for lunch, and that at their children’s birthday parties they serve carrot sticks etc, none of that unhealthy rubbish....

In the real world most people are somewhere in the middle, with children having maybe ham/cheese sandwich, some fruit, maybe a biscuit or piece of cake, and if they don’t have that at school they certainly do at home, and a children’s party being a free for all with biscuits and cakes a-plenty, and harribo in the party bags for good measure.

And reality is that this is just for a couple of years. Once they start secondary the parents literally have no control over what they eat, and if they choose to go and spend their pocket money in burger king every afternoon after school the parents A, are likely never going to know, and B, unless they refuse to give their children pocket money, can’t do a thing about it.

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion

Truth is, you have no idea why that little girl gets what she does in her lunch box. She may have sensory issues and her mum just wants to make sure she actually eats something she may just be really really fussy and when you have a child that refuses to eat, you will give them anything to make sure they do. Did you want her mum to hang her head in shame and explain herself to you?

This is always the argument. But 80% of lunchboxes are like this where I am, and I know for a fact most of those have no sensory issues and they can’t all just be labelled as “fussy”!

@GreyishDays

Must be regional...I’ve always said pack up and so has everyone else I know.

It can swing between pack up and packed lunch, but if you said pack up everyone would know what you meant

Are you a teacher / work in a school Greensleeves?

Also it’s worth bearing in mind that the anaphylaxis campaign are strongly against nut bans as children often enter secondary (where nuts are never banned as it’s unenforceable) the children are unable to consider their allergies since these will have been micro managed for them until now.

Omg a Pot of Joy is the most amazing thing ever! But clearly not for a child's lunchbox!

There was a thread the other day where the mum had been told off for an allegedly unhealthy lunch (it was nowhere near as bad as what you describe)

So I'm pretty shocked that the school allow it tbh

On MN people go to the other extreme and claim their children have vegetable sticks and hummus for lunch, and that at their children’s birthday parties they serve carrot sticks etc, none of that unhealthy rubbish....

I'd say every birthday party DS1 has been to where the parents made the food had a plate of token/ignored carrot sticks.
We went to one party where the parents had made beautiful Japanese style fruit skewers, they all got eaten!

DH says ‘pack up’ - Midlander

@midnightstar66

Also remember that when you are relying on food banks there is chocolate spread and custard creams aplenty but little in the way of pepper sticks and fruit

^ this

I can't believe all this supposed policing of lunch boxes that goes on in some schools. At our primary, lunch boxes certainly don't get checked. I'd imagine if it had been noticed to be a regular thing, staff would mention to SMT, who would look out for any signs of support being needed, but they certainly wouldn't 'confiscate' a child's food.

@GoodbyePorpoiseSpit

DH says ‘pack up’ - Midlander

Oh, sounds quite cute, like going on an adventure.

@DumplingsAndStew in Ireland we take healthy eating quite seriously in primary schools. We have healthy eating policies where the lunches must contain a carb, a protein, a dairy, 2 portions of fruit and 2 portions of vegetables. A small chocolate bar is allowed but ONLY on a Friday. No such thing as hot dinners either so parents over here (mostly) make a good dinner in the evening.