to show you these pictures of Danish children's packed lunches?

[wallyfeatures]

I've followed a few of the lunchbox threads and thought it might be of interest to mumsnet to see what is allowed and typically given to young children here in Denmark in schools and kindergardens. I am a member of a closed facebook group where Danish mothers share ideas on packed lunches. The photos below are a typical sample of what is given to children from 3+ years up. The food shown would be enough for lunch and a mid afternoon snack. Happy to answer questions about what is shown.

Typical NZ lunch (according to my DDs)

White bread & Vegemite sandwich.
Big chocolate bar.
Big bag of crisps.
Fizzy drink.
Muesli bar for good health.

Pie and a can on the way home for high school pupils.

God only knows how they produce All Blacks.

ah. it was bad luck I think rather than design but yes, I was unable to digest it myself due to needing to comfort them. Now they are calm and on their pc's I am feeling very wobbly.

hope it wasn't the Furies, hearing me boasting SO much about the lovely food (that they now wont get any more :(

Oh fleuricle that's such a shame that the school is closing (and especially sad that your children found out first). I hope you can find another good school for them (and when you do, tell them about how nice it was to have the good food in case they go for it too)

I love the mini cucumbers and mini peppers you get in lidl for lunch boxes. Yoghurt tube and cocktail sausages, piece of fruit and a shaped egg, last of all a sand which as you have all the food groups covered. Job Done!

@fleuricle so sorry to hear that news. It sounded such a lovely school. Unmumsnetty hugs from Viking land.

This is really interesting, I always wonder what goes into other children's packed lunch. We have few rules at our primary - just no chocolate, anything else goes but I try to keep it healthy yet filling.

Typical Indian school lunch options at my nephew's bog standard school in Mumbai. Everything is freshly made in school and free for teachers and students.

1. Dal, rice, wholewheat chappati, two curries with non-starchy veg. Kids with wheat allergies get a millet or corn rotlo instead of chapattis
2. Masala dosa or idli or uttapam, sambhar, coconut chutney.
3. Chicken or goat biryani.
4. Rice and lentil risotto (khitchdi), yoghurt soup, and either black chickpea curry or okra curry.

Kids are encouraged to eat as much as they want - second, third helpings if required. No obesity.

Fleur that's terrible I'm so sorry to hear that, maybe the parents can get together and try to get it to stay open ?

Ooh yes to makral on rugbrød with mayo. Its what I have on my days at home when im studying. And dd has an ostehaps (cheesestick) and a mini yogurt when she comes home from cm every day.

I'm Danish living in Denmark and I have never cut up grapes or berries or any other type of fruit. And I don't know anybody who do, so I think some of the answers is defn colored by what they think you want them to answer. And lunches are rye bread with stuff on, fruit, veggie sticks, water.

Nice snack where's the lunch

Frazzled74 - have you looked at yumbox? Sadly, rather expensive, but you only have to buy it once!! At LittleBird they do a 50% off yumbox bundle at the mo.

Thank you, I will look at little bird. Yum box do look good.

And? Your point is? Sorry - don't get this thread - they look quite normal, attractively laid out but pretty normal except the cold pancake (yuk)

Nice of you to offer your help OP, but you'd be surprised how many intelligent people there are in the UK who know how to nourish themselves and their kids without overdoing the fruit acids at lunchtime. Most of us actually aren't obese, and the people who are don't need to be told fruit is good for them, they'd just rather eat junk because they're lazy and greedy

Frazzled, Sistema do loads of different ones depending on what you are looking for - DSs have the cube one but there is a lot of choice.

www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=sistema+lunch+box&tbm=shop

For those interested, I know that in Paris there are central kitchens for school meals apart from in the biggest Lycées. School food is in the remit of "Municipalité" which is like a council, as is lunchtime supervision. I have very good memories of the canteen in my lycée in the south of France. Proper plates and glasses and water jugs, a choice of starters , mains, cheese or fruit and a dessert and bread of course, and at least one 100% organic day a week!
The meals here are also priced on a means tested scale, there are 10 levels in Paris, starting at 13 euro cents a meal for families who have less than 234 euros per person per month after tax and going up to 7 euros for the familles who are the best off. The price is the same from preschool till the end of Lycée.
There are also canteens open to students all around Paris some open 7/7 they even have food trucks now !!! ( Restaurant Crous) with meals at 3.25 a pop if you have a student card, there's even one on a barge on the seine! (see pic)

Prices of school meals in Paris

Tarif 1 (inférieur à 234 €) -> 0.13€
Tarif 2 (inférieur à 384 €) ->0.85€
Tarif 3 (inférieur à 548 €) ->1.62€
Tarif 4 (inférieur à 959 €) - >2.28€
Tarif 5 (inférieur à 1 370 €) ->3.62€
Tarif 6 (inférieur à 1 900 €) ->4.61€
Tarif 7 (inférieur à 2 500 €) ->4.89€
Tarif 8 (inférieur à 3 333 €) ->5.10€
Tarif 9 (inférieur à 5000€) ->6.00€
Tarif 10 (supérieur à 5000 €) ->7.00€

tbh young children ( i have worked in lots of nurseries) choke on all manner of things - bits of sandwich, chopped fruit, biscuits etc etc. I think its more a matter of not chewing or putting too much in their mouth at once.
They need lots of supervision and help to understand how to eat a packed lunch - its quite hard when they are young. We try our best to have an adult on every table assisting with this.
(I'm not saying you shouldn't cut up fruit but that the more this is done the longer it takes for the child to learn you have to bite and chew)

My DC and I were lucky enough to do a primary school exchange to Italy. Italian school meals are provided for the whole class including the teacher and they all sit and eat together as a class. They also keep the same teacher (unless she/he leaves of course) the whole way through primary so by the latter stages of primary, they all know each other very well.

I really liked it as a system. makes a change from the teachers hiding in the staff room with a tin of biscuits avoiding the children :o

My DC were a bit astounded at the chicken being served with the feet still on and one of the UK kids ate so much of the sauce that was served with it that he threw up in the playground!

DDs got a sistema box, I think they are great. She will have either cold tuna sweet corn pasta or a tuna sweetcorn wrap in one compartment, mini sausages in another, raw pepper, carrot or cucumber in the third and either cheese or pretzels in the last.

She also takes a bar of some kind for snack (she likes the go ahead yoghurt covered things best) and a small bag of trail mix (she calls it bird food - nuts, dried fruit, raisins, chic drops).

When I lived in Germany I pretty much lived on frikkies, bratties and salami. My arteries are hardening just thinking of it - but ohh, lovely.

where are the skittles and mars bars

I'm really not sure what you are getting at. Seems fairly standard.

*pimmsy
Now that really is worth sharing. Wish we had something similar here.

DD is weighed down with her lunch box poor child. 4 Sandwiches, a portion of fruit (a whole punnet chucked into a sealable bowl) a juice drink, a oaty bar or vegan naked bar, a fruit bar and a cheese thing. Depending on mood is it all eaten or finished just after returning home.