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.

@wallyfeatures Yeah the lunches are provided free for all children at the schools and daycares and its the same meals for all, from one years old (daycare children get afternoon snack as well) to 16 (although the older children, like 12+ are more likely to get choice in their meal and more likely to get a pudding although not every day).

I used to make packed lunches.
At a school where most pl's were fruitshoot, jam sandwich, choc bar.

Now, my kids are at a school where the (cooked from scratch) school lunch is:
homemade steak pie / roast gammon / salmon / chicken breast/ fruit crumble and custard / rice pudding and fruit, choc cake and fruit variety.
Big portions, 2nds avail, plenty of free salads to add. for £2.50 a day.
AND home baking for 50p at snack time.

The kids LOVE it.

I am in HEAVEN and have taken the pl boxes to the charity shop

@Anatidae that's really peculiar about the vegetables. Here cucumbers, carrots and peppers seem to be a national religion. I always joke that they way to shit down the Danes would be to destroy the veg crops and cut off supplies from the outside. They'd capitulate to any demands pretty quickly!

not jif I meant if!

*shut, not shit

The truth is formerbabe that we in the U.K. and a lot of other countries aren't getting it quite right. There is an obesity problem in kids, and it can't harm to look at other cultures.

My sister was advised to not give brown bread till 5 as childrens gut cant cope with it

Yes I've heard this too. Never gave it to my dc for that reason.

@seafoodeatit point taken, and sometimes I see photos where they have used shape cutters to make pretty sandwhichs and think 'get a life'. But having seen lots in real life it's not far from the reality if maybe rather better presented.

@londonrach children start eating rye bread from about a year old here in Finland, probably the only way to get them to like that foul tasting stuff!

@fleuricle

Sorry, I do not think that mothers who contribute to a Fb page for pictures of packed lunches are likely to be 'typical ' in any culture. They are 'conscious ', their contributions are 'presented' for documentation, they have the time. No sticky work tops, unwashed butter knives in those pics.

I'm not disputing that Danish kids may have healthier diets (despite the obsession with sweet white flour baked goods that they are so good at, and which were eaten in huge quantities for breakfast when I lived in Scandinavia), just that you cannot claim that this is likely to be 'typical '.

I'm Scandinavian, and a typical lunch in my class at school (in the 90s) would be an open sandwich split in two, with brown cheese or ham/cheese or salami on, and a whole apple/banana/pear etc. Not sliced in funky shapes or anything. Mind I made my own lunch since about 9! The baking paper pieces that are sandwich sized are brilliant.

Also, work/life balance is way way way better in Scandinavia, so they do actually have time to make lunches like that.

@SixthSenseless point taken, and sometimes I see photos where they have used shape cutters to make pretty sandwhichs and think 'get a life'. But having seen lots in real life it's not far from the reality if maybe rather better presented.

Gosh, that's a lot of food in those example lunchboxes. Way more than any of DC ever ate until they were teens.
DC1 would have ranted if I put any of OP's stuff in his lunch box.
DC2 & DC3 would have eaten the fruit & ranted about the rest.
DC4 would have eaten nothing & sobbed inconsolably.

@Purplebluebird that is definitely the case. The working day here is maybe 7.30/8.00 until 3.30/4.00 and very little working outside of these hours as a rule. Plus a lot of people live local to their work and so the commute is very short.

He

But the shopping is shit

I will soon be creating this years menu for our Danish group so it is interesting to read here what they like eating. We try to do something different every night, and breakfasts alternated from traditional British cooked, continental, and pancakes/pastries. They also preferred hot drinks (tea/coffee) to juice.

Bread of all kinds is popular with all meals.

On the night we did "fish and chips" we offered a choice of breaded or battered cod and very few wanted the battered so I assume that isn't too popular in Denmark.

I was a child in the 1960s, and my packed lunch was full of raw carrot, apples, pears, grapes, cucumber, sandwiches (brown bread) with the crust cut off... oh ,and a Blue Riband wafer biscuit! My mum must have been ahead of her time... or maybe in the 60s, that was more typical.

PS I'd often drop in on the sweet shop on the way home.

@lljkk not my children's lunchboxes! They also sob on occasion when confronted with ryebread.

That is very true! My dad works 8.30-4, and is always home by 4.30! It's brilliant :) I don't work here at the moment, but when I did for a short while, it was 9.30-6, and then a 3-4 hour commute total.

Well if you work for a Scandinavian company work life balance is good ;)
I work for an American company and have an American boss (who is awful) and struggle hugely to balance work and life.

My boss is of the opinion that Xmas isn't a holiday in Europe (errrr....) and that anything more than four weeks mat leave is unconscionable.

I try .... but it's hard

wallyfeatures

I know! I cant believe my luck.

And this is a small state School, not Eton (although they eat like Kings)

The kids want to take pics of their lunch and email it to their old friends.

AND, on high days and holidays (Xmas etc but also Chinese new year on Fri) the PARENTS ARE INVITED IN TO EAT WITH THE KIDS FOR FREE.

I am SO looking forward to my Chinese buffet on Fri.
(and I will be donating £5 to School Funds for it :)

@Crispbutty unheard of. I pine for battered fish and ships......