School lunchbox police

[Beyondbeliefsometimes]

Just after some input on others thoughts. Kids have come home from school that they are to have a healthy snack at school. The last few years my kids have been taking a fruit and the youngest also 3 cream crackers with a slither of butter (she doesn't like much butter). My youngest only eats fruit for breakfast, so 3 hours later she is hungry and does need a carb of some sort. Occasionally she will have bread sticks.
She has now been told that she isn't allowed butter, it is not healthy, she is to have dry crackers.
Their lunch consists of a sandwich, a yogurt and a small fun size bar. They have been told there is too much in their lunch bag... On a Friday when school dinners are hot dogs or pizza, they occasionally, very occasionally get a jam sandwich as a treat, they have been told this is not healthy enough. Yet if I paid for school dinners they could eat the healthy alternative of pizza or deep fried chips and sausages... Make it make sense to me! Also not allowed sugar free squash which they will still be getting as my youngest has constipation and needs lots of fluids to help and that doesn't happen when drinking water only. They have also been told their lunch bags will be checked. Yet dinner always involves a cake of some sort!

It is the dry crackers for me... Is this bat crazy or am I so out of line that they dry crackers is suitable. Jeepers we used to dare each other as kids to eat them dry it was that hard to do

(both my kids do afterschool sports 5 days a week and gymnastics at weekend. Both always need their clothes taken in as they waist size is much smaller than their height, you cna count every rib they have from across the room. So definitely not over weight. We are also in NI so back to school already)

I'd leave the butter on but please do not smear peanut butter or any tree nut product on anything that goes into school. I appreciate that it doesn't impact you, but it certainly could for a child with a severe allergy.

Scottish school holidays start in late June.

English schools are literally crackers.

We don't let schools behave like this in Scotland

🤔

Do you have a recipe for these?

Give them cheese spread instead

How about some cream cheese instead?

not that you should have to change because butter isn’t unhealthy.

I thought all school had a "no nuts" policy?

Poor kids? I don’t think so. 😂😂

We went back on Thursday and here in Ireland our secondary schools have 12 weeks summer holidays and Primary schools get a minimum of 8 weeks.

Sorry for being clueless (my DS is still in nursery) but HOW do these checks even happen? Do schools have some sort of "lunchbox checking" procedures or do they walk around the canteen and look at kids' food?

I'm really baffled and unless the kids are bringing in something that really upsets others (eg super smelly food or McDonalds happy meal) or dangerous (nuts if there are kids with severe nut allergy) I can't comprehend on what grounds can the school interfere with this. "Healthy" is such a spectrum and people will have different opinions and levels of tolerance for certain foods. The OP's lunchbox is neither the healthiest nor the most unhealthy so how do they draw the line...

Given the number of overweight/ obese children waddling into schools it's clearly a failing policy to monitor childrens lunches, it's been going on for more than a generation of primary kids.
Maybe they should focus on children moving around more, proper exercise introduced into schools.
Or feed children themselves if they think they know better. I'm sure they can cope with all the dietary variations involved..🤔 Remembering friends son who ate jam sandwiches, apple pie and strawberry yoghurt for 12 years, every day, while being underweight because he was so active

Scotland has been back for a couple of weeks
Not everyone lives in England!

About 15 years ago an EU country (I think it was Denmark, but not sure, it could have been Hungary) decided that Fat Is Evil and brought in blanket taxes on any sort of fat, by the gram.

Of course, while the intention was to make crisps and fried chicken more expensive, the foods that actually went up in price the most, because they have the highest fat content, were butter and olive oil.

IIRC the taxes lasted about six weeks.

Scottish schools have always broken up late June and go back mid August.

Our half terms are different too

Its unbelievable. A toddler was ‘expelled’ from
his nursery in my home town a few years ago for having….cheese sandwiches. The nursery said they would only be allowed if the sandwiches had either lettuce or tomato on, neither of which he would eat.

@Beyondbeliefsometimes We don’t have the lunchbox police over here in Ireland because the parents wouldn’t stand for it, so you’ll get all sorts of interesting concoctions but the chicken fillet roll is an absolute staple for secondary kids. 😂

What would they do if you sent a note in saying you’ve considered their advice and decided that the butter stays?

Poor adults more like!

Our primary school specified no nuts but there was no such rule for our secondary school. I'm sure such bans aren't recommended anyway

Hmm, pizza is healthier than a jam sandwich + chocolate bar.

@HauntedbyMagpies

Leicestershire go back straight after bank holiday, sometimes before. They get out in early July. Traditional from factory days.

It shows how poor we are with food in this country that a lot of people think this is an acceptable lunch. Crackers are not healthy. Butter is not healthy. Fun size bars are not healthy. Fruit (really jam) yoghurts are not healthy - unless it's plain greek/natural yoghurt. The bread might have some healthy benefits if it's wholemeal and seeded but if it's just a white loaf then again there's not a lot of good in it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't eat butter - it's better than a lot of butter alternatives - but it's the fact there's not a lot of healthy food in their lunch that's the problem.

How is butter not healthy?

What? Butter is healthy!

Nrtft

but dose this mean they check every sandwich sent in? What about the butter put in baked goods?

This is totally ridiculous, someone has got their god complex on. Go in and ask what the issue is and explain that dairy, fats etc are part of the main food groups that people need in their diets.

But crackers (presumably white) and butter isn't healthy, children need protein not empty carbs, so cheese on wholemeal crackers is fine. Fruit or vegetables is better than a snack bar too. I think people have lost touch with what healthy lunches are including portion size. Children do need lunch before school though