to not get this about pack lunches..

[Butterflykissess]

son today was told in school he is not allowed to eat oreos at lunch time. as they are "chocolate." its hardly a flaming mars bar! and considering on the school menu os chocolate cake, ice cream etc. aibu to think ots ridiculous?

Blows me away how many parents will fight for the right to feed their kids crap while at school.

my sons lunches certainly arent full of treats. its fruit, pasta, couscous, chicken wrap/pita/sandwich babybel, crackers, breadsticks, (not all at once thats just a general list) then something like a pack of small maryland cookies, a barny bear, or pack of oreos. he has only just started having packED lunches and mentioned it to me today.

You could be sending in beetroot falafel with organic spinach salad and radish flowers, packed in an edible box of woven lentils. We're still gonna take the Oreos off the dc.

I queried the regularity and large portion size of sweet puddings and desserts offered on the school lunch menu. They have sweet stuff every day and portions seem huge to me, especially for small 4 year olds. Anyway I was fobbed of with this email response :

I completely understand how frustrating it can be for parents to see puddings on the menu on a regular basis, and I can reassure you that this is an area of discussion and development. Up to now, national guidelines have said puddings as part of a main meal can help to meet the nutritional needs of children who may be nutritionally vulnerable or for whom school meals are their only meal in the day. However, our aim has been to transform puddings into a much healthier option for all; keeping added sugar levels to a minimum and packing them full of goodness, using oats, wholemeal flour, dried fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

the healthiness of school dinners has nothing to do with the healthiness of packed lunches though.

Parents like to use it as a smokescreen to justify "treats" in packed lunches. Treats can be eaten at home if really needed.

Did you see those school dinners? At private schools I know school lunches are prepared at the premises but state schools get deliveries and then reheat them. So it is basically like microwave food from the supermarket.

Our school doesn't want children to bring their own juice or biscuits as it is unhealthy but then happily sell bread rolls and juice to the kids.

Onecutefox you’re wrong. The majority is freshly made on the premises.

This is where I’m actually glad I live in a somewhat deprived area, my dd’s school is just happy that I actually feed her without critiquing her lunch box contents

The quality of school lunches do vary, true enough. All food at our school - and it's nothing special - is made and cooked on site. If you feel the school dinners at your school are awful - and complaints via the governors don't help - then send a packed lunch. With no sweets, biscuits, crisps or fizzy crap.

Deprived areas are the ones that most need lunchbox policing. I do not thank the parents who send in empty calories, just because 'at least they're fed'. That's not fed. It's food poverty. The children with rubbish packed lunches likely had rubbish for breakie, too. Or nothing.

Why are yoghurts allowed? Most of them have more sugar than a real chocolate biscuit (which Oreos are not, btw).

I managed to maintain a healthy weight through many years of eating school lunches in umpteen canteens in a variety of areas. The school puddings are of a small portion size, and the main meals pretty modest too. I miss the syrup sponge and custard of my childhood though

The puddings are planned in as a balanced part of the meal. While a couple of Oreos can sit happily in a balanced pack-up/ packed lunch, there are problems with enforcing overall balance of food choice and portion size, so an overly dumbed down blanket rule is easier to enforce over petty quibbling over individual products and combinations.

I agree. Sugary yoghurts should be banned. School has done it in the past, but not this year.

Kimber yes as in whole milk sent in instead of water. My ds isn't a great lover of water gets lots of water infections as it's all school will allow... unless you have a school dinner and you can have milk! When I queried the head she said it's because she couldn't police the others. It's such a load of nonsense. Makes me laugh too the first sign of lent or a pta event its buy a cake for this buy a cake for that. Towards the end of lent every day I received messages from school asking us to send 20p in per day to buy a cake. It's such a double standard.

Nah, the schools are cracked. Double standards.

Deprived areas are the ones that most need lunchbox policing. I do not thank the parents who send in empty calories, just because 'at least they're fed'. That's not fed. It's food poverty. The children with rubbish packed lunches likely had rubbish for breakie, too. Or nothing.

This is the problem our head is facing though, there's kids at school who might only have Oreos for lunch. Take them away and then what is that child going to eat? She can't pay for these kids to have dinners everyday.

What I notice about kids' packed lunches is that they have way too much in them. I have 4 crackers, a handful of walnuts, fruit and a yoghurt. The child sitting next to me today had 2 slices of white bread and butter, a packet of crisps, 2 kitkats, a frube, and a packet of mini biscuits. She's 8.

I regularly see kids with a packet of biscuits and a bag of crisps for their lunch.

However, I find school lunches too full of carbs. They give me a really upset stomach.

Ah, we do pay. PTA funding, mainly. But we try to keep costs down by educating parents on packed lunches. Thus the blanket ban and frankly intrusive policing.

Why are schools providing a pudding or cake as dessert? A one course meal is enough for lunch.

From what I hear from friend’s most schools have bizarre rules surrounding lunches.

One gives “good behaviour” stickers for empty plates. Another sets stopwatches and children who finish in x minutes get “better” puddings.

I’m very grateful that DD’s school is eminently sensible and apart from not allowing nuts, allow parents to feed their children in packed lunches as they see fit.

I don’t believe in the concept of “treat food” so would be majorly annoyed if part of my child’s lunch was removed

If thy have a no sweets rule?

Not like he needs the Oreos, right?

PackED

Pack sounds a bit lazy

I work in a school. As many people on here have said, school cooks have very strict limits as to how much sugar (and fat) they can put in each meal so consequently all puddings are v low in sugar.

We've had parents provide a lunch consisting of a very large bar of fruit and nut chocolate and a bag of crisps!

Why is it even necessary to send in a treat at lunchtime? Can children not survive a (short) day without a load of sugary crap?