to feel almost bullied by schools/packed lunches?

[SufferingSaffy]

Generally I'm quite supportive of schools trying to get childrens' lunch boxes in a healthier shape.
My DSs usually contain something like:
wholemeal cheese or ham sandwich
yoghurt
fruit
bread sticks/crackers.

(I used to send a cake bar instead of crackers but it got sent back home so many times for being chocolate)

The school are on yet another healthy lunches mission. This time they want to see all packed lunches contain 2 pieces of fruit/vegetable. They are also encouraging children to eat something other than sandwiches and will award children with an alternative to sandwiches with a certificate for healthy eating.

I personally find my DCs 1 piece of fruit enough. We like sandwiches in this house so why should they discourage it?

*and don't get me started on the ice cream/ cakes they dish up with school dinners.

AIBU? Go on, I can take it probably

Yanbu. I fume at packed lunch 'rules'.

Why, thank you.

WIBU if I continued to send in 1 piece of fruit and stick with our beloved sandwiches?

YANBU! I'm with you! Lunchboxes shouldn't be full of crap but schools seem to be going too far with the healthy thing (unless it's school dinners, then you can eat all the cake you like)

Tell them there's bit of fruit in the yoghurt.

Just raid the staff room enough chocolate in there to feed the third world. And wtf reward for something other than sandwiches I hope they coming to do the pack up !

Send in some crisps as an alternative to sandwichs, or even better a sausage roll!

carrot sticks
pepper sticks
cucumber sticks
stick sticks?!

YANBU

YANBU what are they suggesting you put in there as an alternative to sandwiches?

oooh genius littleducks!

Stick with what you've got, but put in a whole, raw aubergine. Just for a laff, like.

Food police alert. There needs to be some sort of carbohydrates in the pack up and sandwiches are surely better than crisps. Don't even need to be bread based could be wraps. After a period of working within public health nhs based, this type of fascism really gets on my tit ends. Cola and cream eggs all the way in pack ups.

YANBU, school packed lunch rules are a pet hate here.

DS2 (4 years old) has multiple allergies and is very small for age due to this - he is under the care of a dietician who takes the approach that high-calorie food of all kinds are good for him (he can't have dairy, nuts etc and there is only so much avocado any one person can eat).

The assumption that all children are overweight and gearing everything towards managing a child obesity problem creates a different but not lesser problem for those of us with underweight children.

Oh gawd, I have all this to come.

I too think your lunchbox sounds great (and will keep its contents in mind when I have to start this)

Sounds perfectly balanced, and one piece of fruit is fine.

YANBU at all. They take these things way too far. It sounds like they are eating perfectly acceptable lunches already. How do they know whether parents are already giving their DC (for example) juice and a piece of fruit at breakfast and three lots of veg for dinner? They are being patronising by assuming that parents don't know how much fruit/veg their child wants and needs.

They always seem to have a bee in their bonnet about something when it comes to lunchboxes. It irks me that the lunchtime supervisors at my DC's school insist on the children finishing all of their sandwich before they are allowed to eat anything else in their lunchbox. Frankly, I'd rather they insisted that the fruit was eaten, but no, it's fine for DS to bring his apple home untouched as long as he's eaten a jam/chicken/ham/cheese or whatever sandwich

Also, excellent point about the puddings at school lunches - Okay for some children to have a cookie for pud, but I can't send DS in with one in his lunch?

YANBU

I have to say that I am horrified every time I read a lunchbox rules thread, I just can't get over the fact that schools police this. I don't have a problem with encouraging healthy eating and more exercise but some of the stories I read make me vow not to send my DD to any school that does this.

Schools need to make a decision about how far they get involved, my Mum and sister both work in schools and bemoan the fact parents expect schools to teach pupils everything from manners to how to hold cutlery which they believe is the job of parents. So if this is the case then they should let parents get on with deciding what their child eats surely??

I know people always go on about the sugary desserts with school lunches but the menus are balanced (apart from the fast food day that schools seem to offer nowadays) If the school gave their blessing to cakes, crisps and sweets then some lunchboxes would just contain those. It's very difficult to target the offenders without singling them out which is why the policing seems very annoying.

Sandwiches with a decent filling are an excellent choice for primary children, hopefully a carbohydrate and protein boost all in one.
My DS had the same ingredients in his packed lunch for 5 years. Every day.
Made shopping very easy.
I hate seeing those dipper lunchable processed packets, there's really not enough in them to keep an active KS2 child going. OTOH, we have a large ethnic minority community, so rice and fish or curry are often key components.

I'm very pro-healthy lunchboxes but thats taking it too far. How ridiculous to dictate to that extent.

(ds prefers non sandwich lunches so I have done pasta, mini quiche - great recipe in the recipe section here - and pitta bread but mostly he has a sandwich as I don't have the will to go to that much effort every day)

YANBU

It annoys me that they seem not to understand balanced eating. Sandwich covers carbs. What is wrong with that? I scoured the supermarket for bread without added sugar so it is good bread. I would love it if the children got to Police the teachers' lunches. How many of them have no chocolate and no sandwiches and three pieces of fruit?

Wouldn't have said fruit would provide enough calories for an energetic kids - surely they need something like a sandwich. You could make it a banana buttie, I suppose.

YANBU. At our school children have arrived with cold chips, chocolate spread sandwiches or even no lunch at all, only to be treated with a MacDonalds when mum has been called! Your lunch sounds very healthy!

If the sandwiches don't have any veg in could you put some cucumber or carrot sticks in?

Having said that neither of my DC eat well at lunch time as they are in too much of a hurry to get out to play. So my favourite lunch rule is that they have to bring everything home and then I make them eat it when they get in.

But I am excessively smug at the moment as my DD is the envy of her friend as I made her some tuna onigiri.

Its an absolute joke.

In DDs school they police lunchboxes, whereas children who have school dinners get to enjoy burgers, pizza, ice cream, doughnut, chocolate cake. It makes NO SENSE!

And what the hell is wrong with sandwiches? IMO a cheese and tomato sandwich has got all the elements of a balanced lunch.