Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

"Healthy" school lunches

59 replies

ambereeree · 17/09/2020 10:21

My DC started reception and I was told by the teacher to go for school lunch as it becomes a social thing and encourages children to eat.
The school doesn't allow crisps or chocolates in the packed lunch and the school lunch is a balanced healthy meal... Or so I was told.
My DCs lunch is now the highlight of the day and when I ask how school was all I get told about the sausages or burger they ate along with the chocolate cake or icecream jelly.
I admit I'm a bit strict about sweets and chocolate and the first day sent in a packed lunch of cheese sandwich, chopped fruit, vegetable sticks and crackers. I normally give a biscuit or piece of chocolate after dinner but not everyday.
DC now asks before school whether they'll have school lunch and how excited they are to eat the pudding. I'll never be able to send in a packed lunch again will I?
What's happened to the healthy school lunch advocated by Jamie Oliver?!?!

OP posts:

timeforanew · 17/09/2020 13:06

My oldest has inherited my dislike of sweet (we both don’t eat shop bought biscuits or birthday cake for example - way too sweet). he does eat school puddings, so they can’t be terribly bad.
Also, from a eating habit point of view, a pudding is a good thing as it ends the eating occasion, and tends to lead to a reduced calorie intake.

lazylinguist · 17/09/2020 13:09

a pudding is a good thing as it ends the eating occasion, and tends to lead to a reduced calorie intake

Eh? Eating desserts reduces calrie intake? That's a new one!

CrunchyNutNC · 17/09/2020 13:13

@wewillmeetagain

Having worked in school dinners in the not to distant past I can honestly say that most of it is crap! It's the cheapest, fattiest cuts of meat and mince! The menus may sound lovely but what is on the menu and what is actually given to the children look nothing alike!!!

Kids need fat in their diet, cheap fatty cuts of meat and mince are very popular in our house - slow cooked cheap cuts can be delicious, and fatty mince makes amazing moist and flavoursome burgers.

Fat isn't the enemy, it provides energy and nutrition and is very filling.

ExplodingCarrots · 17/09/2020 13:13

I agree. My DD have a 2 week temporary menu at the moment and both weeks chips are being served 3 times. Pizza, burger, hot dogs etc Most of the puddings are cake and ice cream. I worked as a lunchtime supervisor not long ago and the portion sizes are tiny and the food isn't that great. I used to wonder why DD was coming out of school super ravenous and when I started as a dinner lady I realised why. She's much taller for her age, she's 7 but is as tall as a 10 year old, but as she's still infants she gets the small portions.

Ding123 · 17/09/2020 13:15

DC are fussy eaters and both underweight. They've always enjoyed school lunch and I've chosen to turn a blind eye to any unhealthy choices as it's quite infrequent anyway (eg pizza on Fridays, and puddings are tiny). Since the return to school this month however there are no hot dinners available and a tuna sandwich and some fruit was placed in front of them. Not even a choice of sandwich filling and they won't eat tuna. After the third day of them barely touching lunch we switched to packed lunch and they love it. The problem now is "friend A sneaks a chocolate in his lunchbox why can't I" "Friend B brings a chicken burger every day and no fruit it's not fair". Ffs. I've threatened to put them back on school lunch.

timeforanew · 17/09/2020 13:28

@lazylinguist it does indeed. Because it reduces snacking afterwards. You satisfy your sweet tooth with a small amount, and at the same time have a signal that the meal is over. Prevents people from either continuing to graze. or having a usually much bigger snack a bit later. It reliably works (if the pudding is small!)

sashh · 17/09/2020 13:29

I always think I'd like to have school dinners for lunch! Although they have something sweet it is small and they offer fruit as well.

Check your local council, mine does meals on wheels for anyone living or working in the city.

spanieleyes · 17/09/2020 13:30

www.publichealth.hscni.net/sites/default/files/Nutritional%20standards%20for%20school%20lunches%20-%20a%20guide%20for%20implementation%2009_10.pdf sets out the standards all school meals have to meet.

CrunchyNutNC · 17/09/2020 13:39

[quote timeforanew]@lazylinguist it does indeed. Because it reduces snacking afterwards. You satisfy your sweet tooth with a small amount, and at the same time have a signal that the meal is over. Prevents people from either continuing to graze. or having a usually much bigger snack a bit later. It reliably works (if the pudding is small!)[/quote]
It def works.

I find a small sweet thing when I'm otherwise full just tops off a nice meal. If I wait I'll end up having a larger sweet thing later.

I think it might be because if you have something sweet later on an emptier stomach you get a bigger insulin spike than if you have immediately aftera meal (where the sugary ness is diluted by your meal). When high insulin levels start to drop you feel hungry and end up snacking again, so you want to avoid.

Heartofglass12345 · 17/09/2020 13:45

If my kids school didn't allow crisps or chocolate in their lunchbox my son wouldn't eat anything their school dinners aren't too bad health wise, but i can't afford £2.55 a day for dinners for 2 kids when one of them won't eat it.

Rinoachicken · 17/09/2020 13:58

Definitely check the website for a menu or request one. My youngest used to come out of school everyday saying he’d had roast beef for dinner - turned out roast beef wasn’t even on the menu for ANY day! (turned out to be gammon he was thinking of, and even then it was once a fortnight!)

Alloftheboys · 17/09/2020 14:33

@Rinoachicken

Agree, most days kids would say how lovely something was when it was actually something else. E.g roast chicken when it was beef and the chicken nuggets were fish bites.

Liverbird77 · 17/09/2020 14:56

I once saw pictures of school lunches from around the world. The UK is embarrassing.
I was always shocked at the utter crap on offer when I was a teacher.

WaterOffADucksCrack · 17/09/2020 16:01

I’d rather my children eat normal food and have the odd naughty treat so they learn how to balance food themselves If you want yourself and your children to have a healthy relationship with food don't refer to food as "naughty treats". Less heathy food is perfectly fine to have if it is part of a balanced diet. Nothing "naughty" () about it.

Quickchange5 · 17/09/2020 16:56

@WaterOffADucksCrack I have a very healthy relationship with food thank you - never been on a diet in my life :-) ...

UndertheCedartree · 17/09/2020 17:15

It depends on the school - I looked at a few menus when choosing my DD's school.

Her school serve a reasonably healthy lunch - tomato pasta, roast turkey, jacket potatoes with vegetables and unlimited salad. Dessert is fruit jelly, yogurt, sorbet, flapjack or fruit. But on a Friday they do have burgers, hotdogs or fish and chips and ice-cream for dessert. However due to Covid they have had to limit the menu so no salad bar or jacket potatoes.

I also like the school's lack of lunchbox police - only rule is no nuts and a recommendation of only 1 'treat' so no problem to include a homemade banana bread or flapjack or the occasional kitkat!

lyralalala · 17/09/2020 17:22

The difference from school to school can be vast.

I used to work in 4 different schools a week. 2 had lunches that were small, but absolutely the highlight of my week. 1 had distinctly average, but nutricious food. The last made me genuinely sad for kids for whom school was their main source of good food. It was awful. The kitchen manager was so tight you'd think she was personally paying for ingredients.

Pesimistic · 17/09/2020 18:10

School meals in my area are very strict with the items you can provide for lunch. For example only two pre fried options a week, like chips or roast potatoes, any cakes or biscuits have to contain 50% fruit and less sugar than an average cake, vegtables to be served with every meal, fish served at least once a week, processed meat only once a week so thing like sausages, beef mince or bacon, no added salt ect, fruit and yoghurt to be provided as an option for dessert every day and salad has to be offered to go along with the main meal. Some menus I've seen in the district do not comply with the regulations at all and sound awful. I would talk to your school about this, I'm not sure but I think all schools regardless of area have to conform with the school meal guidance, which you can find online.

UndertheCedartree · 17/09/2020 21:05

Parents get to have school lunch with their DC on Mothers/Fathers day. The food is nice - much better than when I was at school! Don't remember ever having salad or fruit for dessert!

dameofdilemma · 17/09/2020 21:49

It’s a bit depressing when dd comes home and tells me what was served for lunch...this week so far:
Burger and chips. No veg. Cake
Lasagna. No veg. Cake
Macaroni cheese. No veg. Cake.
Jacket potato and cheese. No veg. Cake.
Fish and chips Friday. No veg.

Dd is 8 and quite adept at finding veg in meals (and doesn’t mind veg) and assures me she couldn’t see anything veg like.

Have tried to convince her to have packed lunch but of course she’d prefer the above menu....

Have a lot of sympathy for schools especially at moment but wish they could just serve some carrots or something along with the crap food. And ditch the cake.

lyralalala · 17/09/2020 21:52

@dameofdilemma

It’s a bit depressing when dd comes home and tells me what was served for lunch...this week so far: Burger and chips. No veg. Cake Lasagna. No veg. Cake Macaroni cheese. No veg. Cake. Jacket potato and cheese. No veg. Cake. Fish and chips Friday. No veg.

Dd is 8 and quite adept at finding veg in meals (and doesn’t mind veg) and assures me she couldn’t see anything veg like.

Have tried to convince her to have packed lunch but of course she’d prefer the above menu....

Have a lot of sympathy for schools especially at moment but wish they could just serve some carrots or something along with the crap food. And ditch the cake.

There are normally veg options at school dinner (some schools insist on putting them on the tray, some dont), pretty much every school I ever worked in had at least one veg a day, and there will likely have been veg in both the burger and the lasagna. Possibly in the macaroni too depending on the cook.

The cake very likley had fruit or veg in.

dameofdilemma · 17/09/2020 22:00

Lyra - I really hope so.
Even the vegetarian options (there were veggie lasagnas and veggie burgers) seem to rely on meat substitutes/quorn rather than actual fresh veg (going from the descriptions in the menus).

Just some frozen peas or sweet corn on the side would be something.

lyralalala · 17/09/2020 22:23

@dameofdilemma

Lyra - I really hope so. Even the vegetarian options (there were veggie lasagnas and veggie burgers) seem to rely on meat substitutes/quorn rather than actual fresh veg (going from the descriptions in the menus).

Just some frozen peas or sweet corn on the side would be something.

I'd be very, very surprised if they were serving fish and chips without peas or beans

Has your DD asked? My DS went through almost all of Reception before realising he could ask for veggies

The cake will likely have carrot or beetroot in it at some point. They do have certain guidelines they have to meet in terms of nutrition.

I know at the moment the salad bars have been removed in lots of places for distancing and hygiene reasons (Though there are a few schools I know offering it on a serve up basis)

dameofdilemma · 18/09/2020 10:58

Lyra - sadly at the moment there are no side veg and of course no salad bar.
The f&c used to come with either baked beans or peas (do bb count as a veg??) but now meals are served in individual boxes so guess logistically it’s difficult.

It’s not the schools fault, they’re doing the best they can.
It does make me sad though, dd ate really healthily during lockdown, ten fruit and veg a day easily, her skin and hair looked much healthier.
Now I’m trying to cram it all in post school.

timeforanew · 18/09/2020 11:25

It’s not the schools fault, they’re doing the best they can.
Nope, it is their school’s fault, and they are NOT doing their best. Not offering vegetables is unacceptable, and they are cutting corners to make things easier right where it hits the poorest kids.
I would hope there is a lot of veggies hidden in the burgers, but I would definitely question this. Making school meals poor nutritional quality is hurting the poorest children

Flip

1 2 3