To not know what exactly passes as a healthy lunch for a 5 year old?

[DragginBallsEEEE]

Just reading another thread and opinions are mixed on whether OPs lunch is ok or too much which has made me question my own DDs lunch. I will say that I grew up quite poor and getting groceries was the highlight of my week and as such I am now an adult who is overweight so definitely don't have the best relationship with food and my children are larger than their peers. I don't deny them food and they do snack on things like fruit and yogurt or sliced meats but do limit their junk food and presently don't buy anything other than wotsits/quavers and fibre one bars as junk.

DD is 5 and on the heavy side. On a typical day for school lunch I will give her:

Either a ham thin OR cold pasta with ham chopped through it.
A banana or handful of grapes.
A cheesestring
A small yogurt/frube or custard pot.
A bottle of water or on the odd occasion apple juice.

I thought this was perfectly fine but after seeing replies on the other thread I am wondering if I should change what I give her. She eats the whole lot most days. She doesn't eat salad or veg which is frustrating but will eat fruit.

So AIBU to be worried about what I am giving her or does it sound ok? What do your lower primary aged children have?

That's another thing what is wrong with actual cheese? Why has it always got to be dairylea dunkers or a cheese string - both complete processed shite.

Ham is healthy as part of a balanced diet. Honestly the shit diet advice people give on here is infuriating.

And the Mum suggesting peanut butter - which nursery / school would allow that? Ours are all nut free.

Op, your DD's lunch is fine.

@IHaveBrilloHair processed meat is linked to bowel cancer

www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/meat-nutrition/

Custard is full of sugar

Gosh I feel sorry for some of your kids they must be starving

Oh nonsense, all food is fine in moderation.

Do you know if someone asked if it was ok to serve a lovely home made apple crumble and custard I bet no one would have a problem with it, but put custard in a lunchbox and it's eeeeevil.
I didn't see any talk of bowel cancer on the glazed ham threads at Christmas either.

Orthorexics r us on here.

Brillo ham is full of nitrates, salt, fat, and is not really recommended as a regular part of your diet, especially if it’s more processed ie not a ham you’ve cooked and sliced. Increases risk of cancer and everything. Custard is full of sugar, and if in those pots is also very processed and full of preservatives.

As far as I can tell ham is the devil. As is bread.
Pom bear anyone?

My 6yo takes a wholemeal sandwich with a range of fillings, ham is her favourite but she doesn’t have that every week (we tend to do the same thing for a week as it cuts our waste). Sometimes cheddar, marmite, homous...

With it she has chopped cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sometimes pepper or carrot sticks and a portion of fruit (but rarely banana). Apple juice carton and often a digestive or a hobnob (one).

Everyone saying it’s fine, the OP is specifically asking for advise as she’s concerned about her child’s weight and health. It’s all processed and really not ideal as a daily lunch. The OP is being nice and taking advice on board, so why is helping someone to get their child healthier seen as something like ‘healthy eating gone mad’? Yoghurt, ham, cheesestrings, are all not ideal and are processed and full of preservatives, salt and sugar. Op wants her child to be healthy, that’s a good thing!

And?
Moderation is key, we're all going to die of something, I'm not going to stop eating ham or custard to live an extra week.

"
Today 15:46 IHaveBrilloHair

Do you know if someone asked if it was ok to serve a lovely home made apple crumble and custard I bet no one would have a problem with it, but put custard in a lunchbox and it's eeeeevil."
The responses woukd have all been variants of" ooh yummy "," you're making me hungry now", "can I have some?"

Oh no Stealth cereal is worse, shit in a box that stuff.

If you are that worried can’t she just have school dinners?

No nobody was talking about bowel cancer at Christmas because it’s once a year, not every day and on top of other processed food. What’s the big deal about aiming for a healthier diet? Healthier child is the OP’s aim here, FFS.

Very true.

It's not about living an extra week, but living in full health for as long as we can. Personally we don't eat processed meat 90% of the time, so then the other times we will eat it happily, eg lunch out

Sugary cereal is bad for you

Again, we don't have sugary cereal in the house, so that the odd time eg on holiday that my kids or me want something different then that's fine

If you're worried about her weight I would look at portions but not exclude any particular foods. I a, about to feed my children Happy Meals so my advice may not be too welcome on MN.

These threads do attract the extreme posters who think giving your child one packet of crisps will lead to a life of obesity.

Its fine. Mumsnet is full of "i eat less than a small bird" types so you'll get told its far too much.

I agree op wants her dd to be healthier but this lunch (while not perfect) is normal and does not seem likely to be the problem. So it's other meals / snacks or lack of exercise.

Also a lot of this advice is batshit if her losing weight (or not gaining it too fast) is your aim op.

Replace cheese string with cheese. Ok so thats getting rid of processed food but i can bet that a chunk of cheese would be more cals than a cheese string. Whether ita processed or not that will not aid weightloss.

Too much protein and ham everyday is a really bad idea. Can't you put in a cheese sandwich instead of the string thing and the ham?

Her lunch alone isn't making her heavy. What does she have for breakfast/dinner/snacks at home? How active is she?