Is this a healthy packed lunch for DS9?

[mincepietwentytwo]

DS9 just switched from school dinners to packed lunch but I get stuck for ideas.

Won't eat:
Cucumber
Peppers
Tomatoes
Fruit (apart from raisins)
Tuna
Chicken (won't eat sliced chicken in the sandwich)
Marmite
Hummus
Nothing with a skin/pips

Will eat:
Ham sandwiches (50/50 bread or a bagel)
Crackers/rice cakes
Frube
Smoothie
Fridge Raiders
Crisps (only give every now and then)
Cheese cubes (won't eat the cheese in the sandwich)

He eats cooked vegetables at dinner and has a smoothie after school so not doing too bad?

Completely agree. Massive impact on behaviour mood and concentration. I am a rubbish cook but manage to avoid UPFs as much as i can. Most kids are fussy but there will be something relatively healthy they can eat

The fruit, etc given are just examples. Everyone has a responsibility to understand their budget and purchase healthy foods that fit that budget. I don't buy berries in the winter, not in season and more expensive. I pick fruits that are in season and often on offer.

And I wouldn't saying that most children lived off of ultra processed food for their lunches or that they are fine now as adults. Rises in cancers in the young (colon cancer being one and directly linked to poor diets and lack of fiber) as well as other health issues make it clear that our diets and lifestyles are not
fine.

A family sized pot of greek yoghurt is cheaper than frubes

You need a box of Um-Bongo juice, a Wagon Wheel and a squashed Dairylea Triangle in there.

#supreme80s

@teatoast8 ahh yes the inconvenient reality that ham is carcinogenic, luckily it can be resolved with a snarky emoji 🙄

@pepperminticecream this is a brand of Jam that had Queen Elizabeth's Royal Warrant so I assume that's the brand she had in her sarnies.
Don't know what bread she liked though.

I reckon Mighty White 😜

Not sure where you're shopping:

400g bag frozen blueberries is £1.99 at Aldi
1kg pot greek yoghurt £1.60 at Lidl
Honey is around £1.25 and will last for ages

I could have 20 bigger portions which are more nutritious for less money and will mean that I need less of the other crap as I'll feel full. It's really not that hard.

Frubes didn't even exist 30 years ago. They are not a necessary part of any diet. Of course there are bigger issues but they are a symptom of those problems.

. You’ve had tlook up two supermarkets to find the lowest prices - most people on a tight budget aren’t shopping around - they’re going to the closest supermarket.

And yes - poor diet is a symptom of larger issues - the poverty that a lot of people find themselves in - so I’m glad you agree with me. Maybe we should explore how to change that rather than making people feel like shit for their food choices - when relatively minor. Someone literally has said this thread made them feel shit. Because you want to pontificate about a yoghurt

And while Frubes didn’t exist 30 years ago - cheap yoghurts, fromage frais etc did. It’s just a change of packaging.

@Leavealightonforme Frubes might have not been around 30 years ago but here's some Munch Bunch from 31 years ago !
(and the brand has been around since the 80s)

You just unlocked a memory here!

Haha I was trying to remember their name!

@TheRealSlimShandy I still buy Munch Bunch. I like the ones that are two flavours together.
I also like Muller Corners. Sometimes I even mix a Munch Bunch with a Muller (such a rebel).
I know I could make my own yogurt out of some fresh goats milk and add homemade honey but I don't own a goat nor some bees and well.... I don't wanna 😂😂😂

Thanks for all your replies.

He is an active 9 year old. He plays lots of sport.

His diet is tricky but he's so active I must be doing something right. He has always had an issue with texture. He will not eat any fruit with a skin. He will eat raisins and very occasionally watermelon. I try and make him homemade smoothies but if there are any bits or pith he spits it out. He doesn't like things that look burnt (sausages need to be slow cooked) so sometimes refuses chips and the mince in the bolognase.

I've tried to put plain chicken slices in his sandwich but he says it's too chewy. I do homecook most nights (slow cooker/airfryer etc). He has tooth caps at the back so I wonder if that makes a difference.

I had some success last night when he ate some homemade roast chicken thigh and potatoes from the airfryer.

I asked him what else he wants in a sandwich and he says jam. He does like those protein bagels and the only other filling he will eat is salami.

The only thing he eats heartily is pasta so I do hidden veg and lentil sauces.

Also no sweetcorn, peas, green beans as they all have a skin he says. He will sometimes eat granary bread which has bits in(!)

So there's no cucumber, tomatoes or salady bits in his packed lunch but he will eat steamed veg happily every night for his evening meal so that's great. He does like greek yoghurt and honey at home for pudding so I could put that in a little pot for packed lunch.

If he eats cooked veg, could you put some cooked carrot or courgette batons in a little pot? Or cooked broccoli or cauliflower florets?

Yeah, same here. I really don't understand why people are so regimented over packed lunches now, banning crisps, chocolate, even white bread in some cases - wtf?

I'm sorry someone feels bad from this thread. It was only to get ideas. Every family has so many different factors. Time, money, kid's restricted diets/phobias etc. All just doing our best with what we have.

The average Mumsnetter knows as much about nutrition as they do about GDPR, i.e. absolutely nothing. Especially the ones who gravitate to food threads.

You'll get better advice on probably any other site, except ones for people with eating disorders.

No food is bad food. As long as your child eats as much variety as they can manage then just work within those parameters. Lunch is not the only meal of the day.

With respect, I suggest you don't ask Mumsnet for advice on such things. It's a pretty bonkers place when it comes to food moralisation.

In the 90s I was sent off to school with sunny delight, 3 straws of sherbert, a wagon wheel and a small Safeways pasty. 5 days a week.

Some Monster Munch if I was lucky but child poverty was so rife I had to share my
food with kids who didn’t come with lunch.

and that’s the way it was!

only posh kids got curly fries and Disco crisps 😂

Edited to say: those lunches are fine OP!

But we know more now. Same with smoking. Decades ago it was the norm to smoke on buses, in cinemas, in restaurants etc. No way would we put up with that now. It's going to be the same with food. 'Junk' food and ultra processed food will one day be banned or at least be restricted as we learn more about the detrimental effects they have on our health. We're starting to see it a bit already with proposed bans on junk food advertising etc. We're just not quite there yet.
And I say all this coming from a background of pretty poor eating. Pot noodles were a regular lunch if it wasn't a packed lunch of ham sandwich, bag of space raiders (pickled onion obvs), and a kitkat.

This book is worth a read if you want to know more about UPFs: Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop? : Tulleken, Chris van: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Can I point out that even the finest of yoghurts, honey, stewed fruits, cured meats, hand woven lentil crackers etc. have no nutritional value at all if they are not actually eaten.

If you have a child who likes those things - hurray for you! That's great. I would like that for my son too, and we are working hard on expanding his palate.

While we do so, I still have to put things in his lunchbox he will actually eat, or he will literally eat nothing for lunch each day. Is that healthier? If the options are limited, that's not due to parental laziness, or ignorance, and attempting to load additional guilt onto parents in similar circumstances is unhelpful and unfair.

👏👏👏👏 louder!

Okay and yet this a forum where someone asks a question and advice is offered. If other's don't like the advice or it doesn't pertain to them then they can move on from the thread.

OP did not say that she is on a strict budget and can only afford specific foods, she asked for advice on what to feed her DC and was given advice that she very kindly responded too.