to be annoyed that my dds school has been giving out certificates to children who bring in healthy packed lunches?

[spudmasher]

Today she took in a ham roll, four cherry tomatoes, a few slices of cucumber, some fresh pineapple and a small apple pie.

She was not given a certificate because she had the apple pie in her lunch!

When I was making her lunch tonight she asked me not to put a little cake in because it was unhealthy and she would not get a certificate.

I thought it was unreasonable to reward a child, or deny a reward on the basis of decisions made by the parent.

I also feel that six is too young an age to bear the responsbility of deciding what they should eat. Surely the child should be carefree and just trust the parents to know what is healthy?

I also thought that a little fat and sugar occassionally, will not be harmful to a child.

I also felt that they are encouraging children to deny themselves small pleasures - could lead to eating disorders imo.

Thanks. Feel better now.

Am I over reacting?

Have sent snotty e mail to school........

Wasn't there a study some time back that said something along the lines of certain additives change your metabolic rate? So it could be that explosion of obesity isn't necessarily due to increased fat in diet (after all, as is pointed out over and over again - the War diet had much more fat in it) but due to increased additives changing how we process that fat and masking our feelings of being "full".

Iliketosleep, I am surprised, do you really think that what Jamie Oliver has done/is still trying to do is bad?

Tiramisu - healthy eating isn't necessarily a habit you form. My eldest ds was a fussy eater from around 3y to 13/14. Then he started fancying different things. Now at 20 he eats anything put in front of him. He is well aware of having a balanced diet. He is as fit as a fiddle and very athletic. My sister lived practically on custard during her childhood. It was the only nutritious thing my mum could get her to eat. Again in her late teens her diet opened out and she then began to eat a whole range of foods. Now in her mid 40s, no major health problems, not overweight and loves lots of different foods. Early eating habits don't necessarily set the pattern for life. But the detailed attention that giving certificates etc and making a big deal about good/bad foods can cause hangups and problems with food for life.

Or an increase in the amount of processed carbs and hidden sugar.

I hope you chopped up those grapes Tiramisu [stern]

Look, it is great if your child will EAT that sort of diet. But mine simply won't. It is a struggle to get her to eat ANYTHING. And she is now moaning about chest pains at school because she is hungry. She weighs 2 stone FFS, I hardly need to worry about the fat content of her diet.

But children should not really have low fat foods and artificial sweeteners, in the same way as they should not really drink blue fizzy drinks!?

I am guilty of giving my kids the odd muller rice for treats.

I also suspect this book might be an interesting read: The Obesity Myth

the food standards agency suggest hot cross buns in week 4, having worked in a bakery I know they are one of the worst cakes to eat!!

dd1 had

cheese on white bread (Milk Roll is her current fave, I await the slagging of this product )
apple juice carton
chopped up carrots
apple
small tub filled with Hula Hoops (about 1/3 of a bag)
Petit Filous mini pot

apple and carrots will come back, they are usually eaten with a pouty lip after her tea later

Message withdrawn

noooo, but I chopped the strawberries.... I guess it should have been the other way around.... lol

"But children should not really have low fat foods and artificial sweeteners, in the same way as they should not really drink blue fizzy drinks!?"

I agree.

So it very depressing that the FSA are recommending them.

Oh, and part of the point of the initiatives is because unfortunately for many children all their meals are crap, so trying to encourage one meal to be healthy has bigger benefits (likewise with the free portion of fruit at break time). Having said that I would be really mad if food was taken away from my children without prior warning. We have had lots of conversations at home as a result of the healthy eating lessons at school, and I too have moderated the "bad" food message, but surveys still show that people don't have a clue about what foods should be eaten in moderation so I think the message has been simplified (oh and processed foods are all in the "red" category). If anyone has watched the "Honey I've killed the kids" programme the level of knowledge of some parents is incredibly low.

ah Lorayn, that is a shame, because I have been known to give my son a halved toasted hot cross bun with some margarin, sour cream or fromage frais, with a little dollop of raspberry jam as a treat. Didnt realize they were so bad?

Not to be rude but how many of you who thinks so strongly about this are on the school board?

I may lose the will to live if I see 'part of your 5 a day' on a product

seriously it is a farkin disease, an obsession

I agree low fat food is an abomination, low fat cheese ffs

nooka, I have watched that programme many time with disbelief, I think the reason many of us are against our childrens lunches being policed is that we give our children (over the whole day) what we believe to be a good, varied, healthy, balanced diet.
I know that is why I would be annoyed.
It isn't my fault if children are going to school with terrible packed lunches full of rubbish, and maybe those parents should be spoken to about healthy eating rather than other children not getting a certificate for an apple pie..........

Haven't had time to read the whole thread but my DD's school has started doing the same, but with stickers. DD didn't get one yesterday because she had a few crisps in a plastic pot - to eat after her tuna pasta. Yet if they had queued up for hot dinners she would probably have been able to choose chips, pizza and a cake for pud. Doesn't make sense to me.

I havent checked the FSA website, if they do recommend this it is sad. I believe in a diet as free from anything artificial as possible.

tiramisu, I would happily give it to my child, so I wouldn't worry, but I know that as many of the people that worked at the bakery were obsessed with healthy eating the bakers would tell us that the danish pastries and the hot cross buns were the worst.

my DH is on the school board

bastard

I am completely flabbergasted and at the op's school. More sticks to beat parents with.

My dd goes to a school where they have proper cooked lunches every day including puddings. They also have tea which consists of things like white toast and chocolate spread. The school chef is famed for his chocolate brownies.

oliveoil, care to explain/expand? Surprised to see the B word.

hot cross buns aren't htat bad are they? I thought that they were pretty low in fat