to question nursery as to why they are serving jam sandwiches to babies?

[choceyes]

My DD is 14 months old and goes to nursery 3 days a week.

I won't know whether I am being precious or not, but it annoys me that occassionally she gets given jam sandwiches and also tinned spaghetti hoops on toast for her afternoon snack. I would never give these things to her at home. She always has healthy stuff, no treats at all, cos she is not a big eater, so I don't want to fill her up with junk.

My DS, 3yrs, is also at the same nursery, but there's nothing much I can do to stop him eating jam sarnies, as he would want to eat what his friends eat. and as he eats fairly well most of the time he can afford to have the occassional junk.

The nursery lunches are fine, and they also do fruit, chesse, crackers, tuna sandwiches for afternoon snack , so this probably happens about once a week I guess (i mean she gets either jam sarnies or hoops on toast maybe once a week, the rest of the meals are fine).

I dunno really. I was talking to a friend about it at the weekend and she was appalled at the jam sarnies, so got me thinking maybe I should say something to the manager.

I'm not in anyway a health freak, and against giving kids sugar, but not at 14 months, it's too young for me. And the nursery serves them to kids above 12 months I think.

It's just there is NO nutritional value in jam sarnies. I@d rather they gave her a flapjack or something (and they sometimes for the older ones dessert), which although has sugar, has got good things in it too.

Choceyes I am just imagining what the party food and bags at your childrens parties are like. Is there usually a lot left over?

My point ismost of the posters who claim that jam/beans/spaghetti etc is shite eat it themselves.

I will never understand parents who ban food for their kids cos its crap, but eat it themselves.

choceyes, even if it was sugar syrup, a smidge, probably barely detectable is no big deal.

well then you have been proven wrong with regards to me Carmen.

lol at sunrays.

They probably all meet up at McDonald's after.

In days gone by, people had to give their babies sugar water because there was nothing else.

This is all MADNESS.

Surely jam is better than marg, no? I don't know I have this thing about marg too... I am fine with jam though. Even with sugar, we need sugar...

What do you mean choceyes? that you never eat junk/processed food. It must be fun in your house.

No, no Carmen.

I do eat jam (especially that made by my mil), but don't do spaghetti hoops. Or cadburys. Or crisps, I can digest them. I love, however, cheese puffs.

can't

How do you make jam without sugar? I mean, what preserves the fruit?!

you can get sugar-free jam for diabetics, laWeasel. Don't know how long it lasts though, nor what it's made with.

I honestly can't see anything wrong with jam made with sugar, as it's always been like, I suppose. Obviously not as a main meal...

Yum yum. Jam sarnies and spaghetti hoops!

lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/products/a/sugarfreejam.htm

That's what I am wondering. I make my jam from an ancient preserves book, so I expect the author just wasn't terribly bothered about providing options for diabetics etc.

But for eg, the jam I had today contained: strawberries, sugar, small amount of pectin, lemon juice.

A bit of googling suggests you need to use sweetners, artificial sugar-free pectin and possibly jelly! And that it needs to be frozen if stored for more than a few weeks.

I'd rather DD had the sugar.

yes, that's what I found too and ditto - sugar isn't all bad! I'd rather have that than the artificial sweetners, polyols and other altered sugars that exist.

My point ismost of the posters who claim that jam/beans/spaghetti etc is shite eat it themselves

that's where you we wrong. I don't eat tinned spaghetti and jam very rarely.

We do eat junk sometimes and that proves what? I'm struggling to understand you point.

My DD wouldn't know what a party bag is. My DS however would. And I do give him sugar sometimes...sigh.. this thread is about a year old child. like i said before when she is older she can gave whatever crap is in a party bag for sure.

only on mn could someone think jam was bad

Dear god. Now I have to add jam sandwiches to my list of Dangerous Food.

I saw an interesting program about sweetners a while ago, which suggested that although they are often better for you in pure content terms, because your body doesn't get the sugar hit it is expecting from the taste you crave sugar more intensely after you have eaten them. So effectively, sweetners create more of a sweet tooth than natural sugar does.

This thread is totally bizarre!
It wasn't that long ago that the only way for us to get fruit in winter was preserving it in sugar or alcohol!

choceyes,

I don't have a point to be honest.

I just find it ridiculous that posters can get so worked up over food. And food that is apparently given in moderation.

Even if the jam in the original post was replaced with a donut or chips or a bit of sausage roll i still could not see the issue. A minute amount of food, given once a wk. No matter what the age.

I have two kids at nursery. They have a hot(healthy) meal at lunchtime and various things for their dinner or at 'teatime'. Sometimes it's a jam sandwich, or ravioli(tinned). Not worried in the least. It's a small snapshot out of their weekly food menu.

Equally I am not concerned at a party or at someone else's house as a one off. You need to keep it in perspective

Op the healthiest attitude to food is that there are no "good" "bad" foods and I instilled in my DC that they could eat/try anything they liked.
I provided healthy home cooked food and didnt bat an eyelid if they had jelly,icecream ,party rings if at a friends party etc.
Fruitbowl was a free for all ! constantly refilled .
They have grown up enjoying food,cooking and eat everything .
You seem very stressed and thats not good.