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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

aibu to think school shouldnt serve unhealthy pudding every day!

118 replies

anothervisittothepark · 05/09/2014 13:20

Just been looking at menu. My ds starts school lunches next week.
Every day has a sweet pudding. Like cupcake. Or choc sponge and custard. Theyalways have fruit and yogurt too. But i can guarantee ds will take cake every time given the option! You would think they would have a couple of days with only healthy puddings?
My ds doesnt have a very good stop button. And while he is not overweight i do have to often say no to him and insist he has fruit etc. I cant see it a very good thing giving them cake every day!

OP posts:
Sirzy · 05/09/2014 13:22

Yanbu, I know they are supposed to be low/no sugar but I still don't like the giving of this idea that meal must be followed with pudding.

There again the menus I have seen so far are carb heavy stodgy foods for main and pudding. Hence why DS is having a packed lunch so I am in control

stargirl1701 · 05/09/2014 13:22

Have you tasted it? The puddings at my school do not contain any sugar. They are just weird. The chocolate cake tastes of flour. The apple crumble is so sour it is inedible. The custard just tastes of milk.

WalkingWolf · 05/09/2014 13:23

YANBU. My DC will never have school lunches unless they drastically change.

Original poster
anothervisittothepark · 05/09/2014 13:24

Yes i am tempted by packed lunches too now. My ds always polishes off everything on his plate. Its ok to say "oh we serve healthy options look lovely fruit" but not all5 year olds will have the sense to chose them!

OP posts:
captainmummy · 05/09/2014 13:24

Is this in the state system? I thought that the 'healthy meals' brigade had stopped cake/puddings more than 2 times a week? Like chips only 2 times a week now.

I used to go into primary school to help out; once a week I'd choose 4 children to help bake a birthday cake for the children with birthdays that week - they had a special assembly on fridays and the birthday boys/girls and the cake-helpers would each have a slice of cake. That's once/twice a year - a slice of birthday cake with icing and sprinkles.

It was stopped, as being 'unhealthy'. A homemade, fresh-baked slice of cake, up to twice a year.

PiratePanda · 05/09/2014 13:24

I absolutely agree with this, in this day and age when childhood obesity is such a problem. A proper fattening pudding used to be a necessity when many children came to school without having been fed since the previous lunchtime. Generally speaking the opposite is now the problem.

captainmummy · 05/09/2014 13:27

Sirzy - yoghurt and fruit are also 'carb-heavy'. Just because it's fruit doesn't mean it's not full of carbs. Fat-free 'healthy' yoghurts are full of emulsifiers/thickeners/sweeteners/flavourings.... not what I'd like my dc to eat. Full fat every day! = Just milk. Grin

Nothing wrong with a (homemade) cake - but not every day, I'd grant.

Smilesandpiles · 05/09/2014 13:27

Then give them a packed lunch. Honestly, the puddings have no jam, virtually no sugar, no taste - they are bloody awful.

Packed lunches have more salt and sugar in then school dinners. Ask if you can pay to go and have lunch one day - our school allows this for parents. You'll be horrified. It's all so bland.

Original poster
anothervisittothepark · 05/09/2014 13:28

Yes it is state school. I was really surprised when i saw the menu. I really expected treats only a couple of times a week. Not every day! We were at a playdate the other day and a little girl their said no to cake that was on offer. My ds and other little boy happily munched through a load. I had to tell him no more. So.e kods seem to have built in stop buttons so are ok. Others need their food controlled a bit more.

OP posts:
starlight1234 · 05/09/2014 13:29

YANBU. My DS has had hot dinners 2 1/2 years. ( 6 months of sandwiches not been eaten)

He has once in that time had a yoghurt as there was a new toffee flavour. His puddings at home do vary sometimes sugar filled puddings but also sometimes yoghurt ( still probably sugar laden ) sometimes fruit. I would like it to be the same at school

Hurr1cane · 05/09/2014 13:30

See I couldn't care less if DS has a tiny cake for pudding every day, but he eats like a fully grown man and you can still see his ribs because of how active he is.

I think being active is the best way to solve the obesity problem really, especially looking at DS.

Obviously he has a healthy diet as well and not a load of fried stuff, but a tiny sweet pudding isn't really a big issue in my opinion.

However, you could always just tell the school he isn't allowed the sugary stuff, and get him to eat the fruit instead, but that's also full of sugar, so if it's the sugar you are bothered about then maybe send in a packed lunch, but if it's the fact that it's cake and not something nutritious then just tell school he isn't allowed it.

QueenofKelsingra · 05/09/2014 13:30

this is why my DS is on packed lunch and will continue to be. despite the many Hmm 'but they're free' comments and looks I get.

I feel very strongly that there is no need to have pudding after every lunch. and totally agree that what 5 year old is going to chose salad and fruit when pizza and cake is an option??

plus I know DS will eat what I pack and we have a cooked family meal each night.

I sort of see the argument that if what the child gets a home is ready meals and junk food then comparatively the school meal is healthy but for a child who has a healthy, balance, varied diet at home the school meals are awful.

YouTheCat · 05/09/2014 13:31

The whole sugar-less cake thing mystifies me tbh. I don't see why sugar is seen as the enemy. Surely a nice slice of proper cake once a week is absolutely fine. But giving them some awful 'cake substitue' every day is just wrong. It doesn't teach them to eat healthily or to make the right choices.

I helped out at dinner times for a few months a year ago and so had to eat the dinners with the kids. They were mostly rank. Not healthy. Very limited amount of over cooked veg. Not filling at all.

Original poster
anothervisittothepark · 05/09/2014 13:33

I didnt know they are reduced sugar. I hope that is the case. We did go in for lunch once with him. He chose the sponge and gave me a taste. It was a big adult sized piece and i thought tasted ok. Hopefully it was in fact reduced sugar. But in some ways its just the habit of having cake every day that jist seems a bad habit to start them on at 5.

OP posts:
Original poster
anothervisittothepark · 05/09/2014 13:35

Thanks for replys btw. Thought i would be slated and told to chill out!

OP posts:
Smilesandpiles · 05/09/2014 13:35

As long as it's the only bit of cake they get in the day, one a day isn't going to harm them. Just keep them active.

WooWooOwl · 05/09/2014 13:37

My school quite often has cake on the menu, but it really isn't like most cake.

The chocolate cake has beetroot in it, the carrot cake has courgettes in it as well as carrot, there's another one that's made with dates. They are all low sugar and are all really nice!

There are other puddings that I can't see any nutritional benefit to, like the jam tart that is just a big slab of unappetising pastry with a dollop of jam on top, but the cakes definitely aren't the problem.

Smilesandpiles · 05/09/2014 13:39

Our jam tart doesn't have the jam in it. GUTTED didn't cover it when I bit into that.

The best bit of the cornflake tart is the jam. The jam MAKES it.

QuintessentiallyQS · 05/09/2014 13:40

Totally agree with you!

EvaTheOptimist · 05/09/2014 13:40

I completely agree. In fact as the "healthy" school meals that all infants get now are all over the news at the moment... its a very timely AIBU.

Both my DC are on 5 days a week school dinners (one gets them free).

I wonder why the schools do this?

I don't give a pudding "as of right" after a meal at home. And kids have way too many other options for eating beyond their sugar requirements every day.

How (un)popular do you think I'd be if I raised this with the school?!

Original poster
anothervisittothepark · 05/09/2014 13:40

I know a bit of cake isnt going to harm them etc. And i need to keep him active to compensate but it would just be easier if they werent having it. Next thing we go to grandparents at weekend and they want totreat them and wonder why i am so uptight banni g chocolate "just the once". Or they go to friends party with unlimited treats on table and tuck in. It just feels like i am battling relentless junk food being thrust upon them!

OP posts:
QuintessentiallyQS · 05/09/2014 13:41

I dont like to form a habit in young children that cake and pudding is an every day occurrence as opposed to special.

trikken · 05/09/2014 13:42

In agreement with you. Thats why dd will be having a packed lunch every day.

carrie74 · 05/09/2014 13:43

I used to have pudding at school meals every day (and I'm certain they weren't low fat, low sugar!). I can't believe I was the only person having 2 course lunches throughout school. Is the problem school meals, or is it lack of exercise (and I don't mean a football club once a week, but general movement as part of every day life? Walking to school, walking/biking to friends' houses, playing in the garden (I used to spend hours hitting a tennis ball against the garage door))?

LatteLoverLovesLattes · 05/09/2014 13:44

Would it help to think about it like this -

Over a year, 1/10 of your child's meals will be had at school (meals 365x3=1095, school days = 190). He wont always choose the cake/pudding because some of them aren't very nice. So less than one tenth of the time he will have a pudding - is that so bad?

I'd up the activity/sport level and stress less about a small bit of cake at school tbh.

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