AIBU - restrictive school snack policy, hungry child

[nemoni]

Our children's school (primary) has a policy of only allowing fruit and vegetables for snacks at school. Completely get the rationale - healthy eating, relatively easy to set parameters, no overly complex education needed around it etc.

The only problem is I have an active child - plays sport (on top of PE etc) 5 days a week and generally on the go. He comes home from school ravenously hungry, grumpy and tired. He's also going through a growth spurt. I'd like to be able to give him more carbohydrates, even protein, during the day as snacks, as I do on weekends, particularly on days he goes to after school sports sessions. I'm not asking for crisps/chocolate/jam sandwiches etc.

School so far saying no, no, no.

I think it's a cop out, it means they get to look like they're promoting healthy eating while not really promoting a balanced diet, kids are scoffing loads of dried fruit, and don't have access to a water fountain during school hours except at lunch. And don't get me started on school dinners.

Am I being unreasonable?! What parameters does your school set? How do they promote and support healthy eating? Thoughts welcome before I book a chat with the headteacher :)

Waves to fellow banana haters. I gag at the sight of a bruised bit and they stink and have a weird texture.

I don't like hard boiled egg yolk either unless it is well disguised in mayonnaise, so the 'eat hard boiled egg as a handy low carb snack' tip is no good for me.

Arethereany I've had the phobia since I was a child so we think it's linked possibly to a fear of spiders. My DM remembers a story about tarantulas being brought into the UK accidentally in boxes of bananas & thinks I may have linked the two when I heard about it.

Until I was in Uni I couldn't sit near people if they ate a banana it made me feel sick so I would walk away if people had them for lunch for example. In High School I had a horrid teacher who found my phobia amusing and chased me around a classroom holding a banana, I cried it was horrible!

I couldn't & still can't touch them or touch things that had touched a banana. As a child my DD (Dad) & I had separate fruit bowls as I couldn't eat fruit that had been near them as he refused to not eat them but I always had to leave the room when he ate one. I also wouldn't use the kitchen bin if there was banana peel in it as the smell made me sick.

I'm better now in that I can handle seeing people eat them without feeling sick but the smell does turn me off & I don't allow my DH to have bananas in the house. He loves them and I know he eats them when he is at MILs house so I never kiss him hello after he's been there!

I've never eaten one so always check with smoothies or mixed deserts what the actual ingredients are and ensure that if I ordered one the smoothie machine has been cleaned.

I know it's fairly odd and have been know to tell people I'm allergic in regard to smoothies etc as I find otherwise people laugh & don't take it seriously.

We're currently weaning DS & people keep trying to get me to give him banana but I refuse and have told DH I'll be incredibly upset with him if he lets him have any as I kiss him and cuddle him all the time and can't handle the thought of kissing him if he's been near a banana.

Can't see how some peoples kids hate ALL fruit and veg surely? There is so many to choose from.

My kids will eat a reasonably good variety of those. If they have a choice of fruit/veg or a biscuit though, they'll take the biscuit everytime. Which is why I think it is good that schools have introduced that rule. If the child is hungry, they will eat the fruit/veg and it stops them bringing in all that rubbish stuff that so many have on a daily basis (unless their mothers hide it in their pockets of course )

That's really interesting bannana, thank you for explaining. What a horrid teacher.

Can't see how some peoples kids hate ALL fruit and veg surely?

But not all fruit and veg is in season at any time! At this time of year the choice is not great. Plus one of the reasons our school changed to this policy was ironically because it would mean that less well-off families wouldn't feel disadvantaged if they couldn't afford branded snacks - fruit is pretty expensive so this doesn't really hold up.

Fruit is carbs Give him a large banana and apples for breaks along with a high protein breakfast and a big lunch. And something to snack on when straight out of school.

My DM remembers a story about tarantulas being brought into the UK accidentally in boxes of bananas I remember hearing about this as a child and having recurrent nightmares about tarantulas!

Allegretto where are you buying your fruit? Because it's really not that expensive. Especially not at Asda or Morrisons. Or Aldi or Lidl.

bonbonours, my daughter had a jaw operation. Hospital kept forgetting to provide soft food so she ended up with mashed banana several times a day. How appetising is slimey brown mashed banana? Not very. She can't eat bananas now, they make her vomit, even the smell of them. So not the answer to everything for everyone.

Wando, allegretto isn't in the UK.

We used to have crisps and wafer biscuits from the school tuck shop in primary in the seventies. Hardly any of us would touch the nasty unrefrigerated milk though. Only the poor, and possibly hungry, kids to be honest.

Can't see how some peoples kids hate ALL fruit and veg surely? There is so many to choose from

I'm am adult who strongly dislikes or even hates the majority of fruit and veg. For me it's texture based - most fruit especially is quite wet and moist, lots of it is quite slimey to me. I can genuinely say there's not a single vegetable I actively like, I've forced myself to eat some as an adult but they generally have to be well buried in other things e.g. stews

In my case it's a sensory issue from my asd combined with a mum who is not a good cook and made everything taste dreadful.

I remember fondly the tuck shop at school you could buy cans ok coke and chocolate and crisps. Them were the days!

To be fair we were all skinny too.

Banana/mango/grapes/sweet corn oven baked sweet potato bits are full of carbs and energy.... (((I fully appreciate no Mumma has time for this and not every child will hoover up whatever is in their bag)))

Maybe, speak to the Parent Gov's and explain that something like a flapjack with dried fruit or even a dried fruit snack with fresh fruit/veg may help?

Children need energy. They're growing, learning, fighting off bugs and doing everything else kids do.

FAT is a healthy part of a balanaced diet and 'good fat' is positive for MH (true story) xx

When I was a child in the 1970s we had elevensies. Probably a biscuit. Maybe fruit. But that's what we called it.

Unless your child has some metabolic disorder YABVU.

You'll quickly become THAT mother if you book a chat with the head over this.

Give him more protein at breakfast and lunch but don't teach him that's it's normal to have to eat anything between meals other than fruit or a light snack because it's really not unless you're an Olympic athlete or a body builder.

These schools that only allow fruit for break, usually give puddings after lunch, and guess what else? Biscuits.... Absolutely shocking.

FAT is a healthy part of a balanaced diet and 'good fat' is positive for MH

Completely agree, but I do think that on a day to day basis fat should come from avocados, nuts, eggs, blue top milk and real butter and cheese, as opposed to biscuits, cakes and waffles...

Mumzy, have you ever tasted the biscuits or looked at the recipe? They are far lower in sugar than commercial ones - and the point is, they are part of a whole balanced meal - protein, carbohydrate, fat, fruit, veg and yes, a little sugar for palatability. If you were giving a balanced snack - cheese and tomato sandwich, say, or hummus, breadsticks and red pepper, then yes, the addition of a small sweet biscuit isn't going to be a big issue. It's the 'two sugary biscuits + a sweet waffle' that forms the lack of balance.

My dc started complaining he was "starving" before lunch and after school. I simply told him he is expected to eat enough at each meal to feel full. This will allow him to last to the next meal.

I often see first year undergrads who fully believe they will faint if they don't eat constantly. It is forbidden in the labs and they are amazed to find they can live without food for three or four hours. The many snacking threads on MN have helped me understand why these kids are so horrified when, aged 18, they are weaned off their constant nibbles.

Cantkeepawayforever....Who said two sugary biscuits and a sweet waffle? I never said sugary or sweet. There will be some sugar and some sweet, but we are not talking about poison here. How do you know mine aren't home made? People do get worked up about nothing. You try putting a sandwich in a pocket!!!

It's fine. As an earlier poster clarified, it is absolutely within your CM's registration for a child to eat a pre-packed meal in her house, so maybe you could return to the idea of a later, nutritious breakfast there?

It should all be in moderation. My son eats a well balanced diet throughout the day. People really get worked up about a couple of biscuits. All these kids who just get fruit and nothing else are going to gorge themselves stupid when they get to high school. I'd much rather allow mine to have a good mix of food. Sometimes I think people are bringing up a nation of hungry children. They say that we were our healthiest in world war two when food was rationed. That's when children had a good mix of fruit, fat, sweet, carbs, protein etc and we're brought up with a healthy attitude to food.

But not all fruit and veg is in season at any time! At this time of year the choice is not great
I find the range is pretty constant throughout the year in our local supermarket, so I'm surprised to hear that - what things can't you get at the moment?

Of course, some of it may have come a long way and have a big carbon footprint, but thats a different issue..