to think that this is a pretty shocking school dinner?

[anchovies]

Today my boys had Caribbean style chicken with spaghetti hoops and garden peas. Pink sponge and custard. Strawberry milkshake.

£1.90 a day.

Thought there must have been some sort of mistake but have just checked the published menus and that is what they had planned for today. Only other main meal was the vegetarian option which they are not allowed (again with peas and spaghetti hoops.) Could have chosen fruit for dessert.

Mentioned it earlier to my neighbour who also has children who have school dinners and she thought it was fine as "the carbohydrate is in the spaghetti hoops".

Wrote (yet another) email to our local council but am now thinking I may be wrong?

I agree bruffin. The problem is that you can't seem to accept that someone may be able to eat healthier than you without being obsessed.

Obsessive healthy eating is now recognised as an ed termed orthorexia I believe?
Bubbleymummy - your 70's theory falls down somewhat as the current elderly generation bought up on bread and dripping and stodgy pudings are living to 90!! Our current old folk certainly did not eat nuts and avocados.

"The problem is that you can't seem to accept that someone may be able to eat healthier than you without being obsessed."

Sorry but I have no problem with any one eating healthy who have a sense of perspective, but it is pretty obvious that some people don't. There is far more to a healthy lifestyle than food and excercise. Being controlling with food has huge implications on mental welfare.

:) bruffin. If you're talking about me I can assure you I have a very healthy perspective on food. It may not be the same as yours but there is a spectrum you know. We don't all have to think the same as you.

I suspect your smugness will comeback and bite you in a few years time bubbleymummy.

We'll see. Hope all your sponge cake and custard doesn't come back and bite you in yours.

In my sons school they have pizza and chips on a friday which Im fine with its friday! But the rest of the week its all healthy food . I do think the menu you was a odd it didnt seem to go together more than anything rice would of been nicer!
I used to love school puddings chocolate hedgehog and custard mmmmmm

I loved that chocolate sponge with the green mint custard.

bubbley, I've read plenty thanks, but thought I'd double-check for you.

Saturated fatty acids can be made in the human body and are therefore not necessary in the diet.

YABU

We've just had our school newletter and I'm shocked that the price is going up next term to £2.20 a day!!!

"Our current old folk certainly did not eat nuts and avocados"

Actually my dad did He was from Cyprus and even over here grew his own vegetables. He had a classic mediterranean diet with lots of vegetables,salad, fruit, legumes, olives and nuts as well as normal meat and veg. We always had bowls of olives and radishes around the house to snack on. He had freshly made Halloumi sent over from cyprus. He would come home with huge water melons.
My friends and I were talking about our childhood diets at lunch the other day. The thought spagetti bolognaise was exotic in their days and can still remember the first time they tried it.

All this healthy food did him a lot of good , he died in his 60s from massive heart attack caused by diabetes

What on earth do you mean by cake and custard pushes you over? Into what? Is it a gateway drug into truffles and nutella?

My children are as healthy as you can find anywhere. They eat cake, and custard, and ice cream and biscuits and sweets. All in moderation as part of a regular, healthy, balanced diet. No food is bad, and shoud not be demonised.

You might be interested in new large scale studies that show children who have a regular moderate intake of sweets and cakes are 22% LESS likely to be overweight as those who don't.

Give them a sodding brownie and chill the fuck out!

Msteak - over the recommended amount. Thought that was obvious. Teaching about healthy and unhealthy food (please note I'm not using the word 'bad') does not demonise food.

Where have I said that my children never get unhealthy food? They just dont get it regularly or as often as some. In any case, why does it even matter to you? They're perfectly happy and healthy. You raise your kids how you want and I'll raise mine. The only thing I really object to on this thread is people saying that pudding/dessert are necessary for energy/fats etc.

Timewasting, surely that makes eating cake etc on top of all the usual dietary sources even worse?jUst think how much unnecessary saturated fat we consume in a day. We should all stick to vegetables and meat/dairy etc should be the things we only eat occasionally or as 'treats'. :) Good luck convincing people of that idea. Particularly some on this thread! A healthy balanced diet must include cake you know!

No but my own happy healthy balanced life must include cake.

I like cake.

I am good at making cake.

Whilst I do make cakes for others (cubs and fayre today) I don;t want to never make them for myself and my loved ones.

So much obsessive behaviour seen on this thread. Balanced diet - bit of everything including some of the naughty stuff but not too much is the way forward.

Yes we need some fat in our diet 'essential fatty acids' which of course the best source is oily fish but we also need some treats.

The psychology on this strongly suggests that the more we make treats seem really special, and only allow them for special occasions the more children want them. So when children grow up and are able to make choices for themselves, they often choose to treat themselves with all those 'bad' foods that have been denied to them thus leading to comfort eating and obesity. Individual differences apply of course so not all children will do this.
Same applies to dieting which is why so many restrictive diets fail.

Moderate intake is the way forward.

happy to post evidence of the research studies in this field.

I will be going via the cake shop on the way home with my DD after the school pick up.

Or you could also think that forming the habit of always having dessert and pudding means that people will continue to eat them when they're older and feed them to their children and argue with people that it is normal to do this and anyone who doesn't is wrong/obsessive about food and/or sucking the joy out of food and their children's life :)

I don't think anyone has said never to unhealthy good. There are just differences in what people think 'occasionally' or 'in moderation' means.

'good' should read 'food'

yes it is about forming good habits and in my family (and many others it appears on this thread) the occasional cake is what we consider good habits.

Back to the original OP, many many years ago I had an Italian boyfriend, who after visiting England took home with him a tin of spaghetti hoops to his father. His father didn't believe such a thing as tinned spaghetti existed and of course he wouldn't eat it and I don't blame it. He couldn't understand why on earth you would need to tin spaghetti when it was so easy to cook anyway! I think he had a fair point.

A healthy diet from what I've gathered ove rmany, many years of reading on this subject is mostly vegetables, legumes, grains, fruit etc. with a small amount of whatever else you migh like to eat. Avoiding processed food full of additives and fillers where possible.
Restricting foods too much, and certainly banning things will backfire.

Meat should be a treat actually bubbley, it's long been advice to restrict red meat to 2/3 times a week max.
Dairy is unnecessary and many people don't have the enzymes needed to process it, so it will actually be unhealthy for them.

Bubbley, I do see where you're coming from, but your nutrition understanding seems one-dimensional and you have demonstrated basic fact-incorrectness, so I hope no one is taking what you say as the gospel you appear to be wanting to spread.

Well put TimeWasting

I really want cake now seriously!

Of course it all makes sense when we see that Bubbley's children are only 5 and 2. Very easy to control and moderate, because they haven't found out what 'normal' is. Oh, how smug I was that my 2 year old had rarely eaten a commercially baked biscuit and how horrified the first time he ingested an iced Party Ring. Now he goes to school by himself and buys crisps and chocolate on the way home, because his friends do (he's nearly 13).

Our primary school dinners have pudding every day but it's home made cake and crumbles etc - most things have fruit in in some form and there's always fresh fruit and yoghurt too. They get pretty small portions and I really don't have a problem with it.

bubbleymummy you are obviously unaware of the recent meta analysis into the role of saturated fat and CVD
www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/ajcn.2009.27725

The guidelines WILL be reviewed very soon. Sure of it.

singersgirl - is it okay that I am pissing myself at the phrase 'commercially baked biscuit' and the image of you, him and the party ring? Hilarious.
I have an image of myself providing non commercially based biscuits and cake. Unfortunately I'm rubbish at cooking.