Popcorn healthy snack at school?

[Mimmi78]

DD had her snack confiscated at school today, popcorn from Aldi. Content attached. Background, active kid 7 yo, does cross country practice today and runs 3 x a week with dad as well as gymnastics. We have v v healthy, home made balanced diet! She needs snacks and mixture of grains, protein and good fats etc. I don't think this is a bad snack, she also had a small bag of dried cranberries but came home quite upset about it. AIBU or is this really considered an unhealthy snack for an active child? Should I raise with school?

schools are weird about snacks fruit and veg are the only thing you can guarantee they won't make a fuss about ime.

That's absolutely ridiculous. She is growing up, she needs calories. Do they want her on a diet?

Not allowed in our school due to the mess. Seems quite healthy though.

Schools are so judgmental with snacks yet serve main course and pudding for school dinners. This often means cake and custard or a cookie.

Is it flavoured popcorn? Is that why they objected? Or is plain popcorn also banned?

I think it is a healthier snack so yanbu. If you put it in a food bag they'd never know if you had popped the kernels and added seasoning (as some people do), making it as healthy as popcorn can be.

Then again, I disagree with schools removing snacks. DS has one small pack of crisps (aldi pea/lentil snacks) or popcorn at break. He has no other bad food at home, bar the odd treat. If the school removed that I'd be fuming, it isn't up to them to police my child's snacks (and being a teacher I know thw biscuit laden table of the staff room). I've never removed a snack but have, on occasion, suggested that a pupil doesn't eat both chocolate bars and crisps in 15 minutes.

At my DD school they are only allowed fruit or veg for their morning snack. They can have what they like for lunch except they can only drink water and no sweets allowed, chocolate is fine.

My DS has just started Secondary School, he won't take in a packed lunch and seems to be surviving quite happily off strawberry milkshake and the homemade waffles they make there . I shove a few protein bars in his bag for emergency hunger pangs.

Seems fine to me. Some schools have a fruit and veg only snack policy though, could this be why?

Feeling better already! Yes, chocolate or biscuit and /or crisps allowed in lunch bag! Madness! I'd like to give her a plain nut selection but understand that this is banned due to allergies and would never dream of breaking this rule! She actually eats quite a bit of fruit and I've been careful because of the natural sugars and our family history of terrible enamel!! Today's dinner menu was pizza followed by cake and custard. I make pancakes as snacks too, no sugar and low fat (I recently had my gall bladder out so have had to be careful & kids liked them) these were also confiscated as it constituted a cake! I'm going to have a word and see if I can explain.

By menu, I mean school dinner selection, not what I cooked!

What are their rules about what snacks you can bring in? Surely there must be some rather than staff just deciding as and when what they feel like confiscating. Personally I feel like dried cranberries and popcorn is a lot for a snack. And popcorn (assuming its sugar coated) isn't particularly healthy.

Cranberries AND popcorn for snack? That seems a lot.

Popcorn is better than lots of the alternatives, it's the toppings (salt, sugar) that make it not so great

I like popcorn as a snack. My DD needs filling foods, fruit just wouldn't cut it and I don't like to give it alone as a snack. Popcorn in itself is filling and low calorie - a healthy snack. And you have to have something on it like salt or sugar so it doesn't taste of cardboard. I really find this kind of thing ridiculous and I hate the 'good food/bad food' approach which is only likely to lead to complexes - for example your DD may not enjoy popcorn quite as much again now due to this bad memory. Personally I would take up it up with the school. Especially ridiculous given that biscuits and crisps are allowed with lunch.

Cranberries for morning, popcorn for the afternoon! Less than 30g popcorn and around a child's handful cranberries. Rules are "healthy snack" but I'll seek clarity tomorrow. Cross Country was one mile run which she did in ten mins then some twenty mins training after that. She does gymnastics at the wknd and likes to practice and make up routines with her pals at playtimes. I'd quite like to know the proper RDA for her age but a quick google was baffling!!!

Plus we are v v careful re using terms healthy and treat! I treat them on a Friday after school, tomorrow's is an eye watering Rolo pot dessert!!! Which they will only get if they eat a healthy dinner.....then go swimming lessons! We are a sporty family but I'm not averse to giving the occasional treat, the roll pot would NEVER go to school though lol

Final answer is, they only allow a snack I.e non lunchtime to be a fruit or veg, she could eat as much popcorn as she likes at lunch!!!

This whole policy is a complete joke. Back in the 80s when I was at school we were eating all sorts and very few were fat. Schools need to introduce more physical activities rather than police food.

When I was at school in the 80s we never snacked at school. We had dinner and that was it.

That said I don’t think harping back to how great things where in the 80s work when I look at my generation and how many are overweight and obese as adults it would suggest that the relationships built with diet and exercise possibly weren’t all that healthy!

I can understand an only fruit or veg rule for snacks it leaves no room for “but she has...” type arguments. There is plenty of time outside of school to give your child as many snacks as your heart desires!

You should opt for plainpopco next time to be safe.

That's the same rule as I have at home so I think it's a good habit to be in though they should have just said fruit/veg only rather than being vague. I don't really think kids need a morning and afternoon snack either tbh. My kids school doesn't do one. The afternoons are short. Surely they can survive a couple of hours after a decent lunch without needing to eat? It's just eating for the sake of it imo.

I had a snack at school in the 70s and 80s. I either had a chocolate biscuit bar e.g. Club or Penguin or on some days I bought a bag of crisps which were sold in school.

When I was at school in the 80s we never snacked at school. We had dinner and that was it.

I had a piece of cake at morning break and a piece of fruit at afternoon break.

Hmmmm. The g of fat and sugar are quite high possibly. Does the bag contain 20-something grams? Then snack is ~20% fat which is pretty high imo. The amber's relate to an adult diet too, not a child's. Can be misleading- are the amber's and greens what made you think it's healthy?

We had juice and biscuits at morning break and that was it. But then we also played out on the street skipping and playing tag until the streetlights came on every evening and all day at the weekends. Nowadays people think their kids doing a few half hour clubs a week in between sitting on their iPads constitutes them being sporty!