Kids snacks at school - white carbs twice before lunch

[prettyflowersinthesky]

DD is in y4.

I seriously don't want to be "that" parent so am wondering on the consensus on this.

DD's school has started giving the whole school's kids stodgy white carbs with jam twice before lunchtime (bagels).

Once when they arrive in the morning, and then again at break time.

DD is coming home with most of her lunch uneaten.

I fully appreciate about food poverty and that giving the kids food in this blanket way is a way of addressing that without singling out or embarrassing hungry children or families.

But I question

1. Whether or not the white carbs plus jam is appropriate nutrition
2. Whether or not most kids really need this
3. Whether or not two snacks between breakfast and lunch is excessive

There is no requirement for the kids to take and eat the snacks but to say to my child not to take them when the other kids are seems unfair.

I'm a bit torn, and certainly don't want to deny hungry kids access to food. But also wonder if the school needs to give this twice and also maybe the nutritional content of the snacks could be improved (e.g. fruit, whole grain snacks or something instead). I do appreciate that kids need more carbs than adults.

What does everyone think? Is this appropriate? I feel for the vast majority of kids without food poverty issues this is not necessary, so by serving all the kids a snack it is enforcing bad snacking habits, poor food choices as well as encouraging childhood obesity.

In many very healthy countries no snacking is allowed although I appreciate for very young children it may be necessary.

I am wondering whether or not to speak to the school about my concerns about them finding a better way to address the issues for the hungry kids.

But I do not want to speak up if I am seriously misinformed about all of this, hence interested in your responses. Thanks.

Yanbu = this is not appropriate / YABU - give the kids the snacks

So the first bagel is for breakfast which not all children will get before going to school.

The second is available as a snack at play time which is much easier than parents having to send something in.

Neither is compulsory. I really can’t see a massive issue here. Many schools will offer toast or something at break time.

@sirzy I just think that most kids will have had breakfast already - and that snacks at break should be provided as fruit or something more healthy.

For my DD if she has both bagels, she will have had breakfast (sometimes carby cereal - she is fussy), followed by more carbs, followed by more carbs, followed by lunch (which you've guessed it often contains carbs e.g. sandwich). this seems an excessive amount of carbs and three meals before breakfast seems crazy.

I would have thought the kids not eating breakfast are at a minimum.

*before lunch I mean!

I think it’s quite naïve to think that most children will have had breakfast before school. That’s often not the case for a whole host of reasons.

If your daughter wants to have the bagel at school then can you not give her a piece of fruit at home instead?

Tell your child not to eat them, explain why and leave the other children to their own reasons for eating/not eating.

I wouldn't really want my child eating like that daily. Occasionally I would t care. She has weetabix or porridge for breakfast most days. Then the snack school provide mid morning is fruit (various, but usually an apple, banana or satsuma). She has a free hot lunch plus pudding (as she's in reception) but nothing else at school.

I don't think it's usual for schools to give two snacks, is it? Maybe a breakfast for those children in the club then a snack but not two for everyone!

But no, I'd not want her having two daily bagels with jam! That's a lot for a young child, I wouldn't eat that myself in a morning plus breakfast and lunch.

The first meal is breakfast not a snack, they have probably identified a significant portion of the school are not eating breakfast and this way nobody knows who they are. Never heard of a mid morning starchy snack - fruit is normal

There's a research paper that suggests that 86% of primary children have had breakfast before school:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2012.01973.x

that means you're feeding up to 86% of kids an unnecessary snack of white carbs.

I appreciate 14% of kids being hungry is not good. Could there be a better way of addressing this though that doesn't negatively impact the health of the rest of them?

www.magicbreakfast.com/order-your-food-deliveries

This Charity sprung to mind when you mentioned it being bagels that are provided.

This shows why such things are needed

Think about changing your own behaviour first rather than trying to make the school change something that obviously works for many.

Give your child a protein based breakfast at home. That way she is unlikely to be hungry for a bagel or two before lunch.

Tell her that she needs to ask her tummy if it is hungry when it's bagel time. If her tummy is hungry it's fine to eat it. If her tummy is not hungry it's fine to say "I'm not hungry thank you".

I just think that most kids will have had breakfast

This isn’t the case in the school I teach in. So we used to give all students a breakfast on the mornings of their exams, and now we’ve got the funding to give all kids breakfast every day.

But yes, kids in need to breakfast should be given a varied healthy breakfast and snack and not white carbs with sugary jam. Great sentiment, poorly executed!

@jgjgjgjgjg
I do give her porridge with peanut butter most days. This does keep her full. But she is one of those kids who loves to graze and would take it anyway.

The bagel thing is a new thing for the school which is why I am questioning it at this time in y8. If it was unecessary before then it is unnecessary now.

*I mean y4

1. Lots has changed since 2012
2. What % of your school is PP?
3. It’s actually probably half a bagel if it’s like the bagel’s my kids get at break
4. Give her a healthier lunchbox if you’re really worried.

Don't you think the massive rise in redundancies recently might have had an effect then v now?

I’d either not give your DD breakfast at home so she can have school breakfast, or tell her not to have it.

Send her in with a piece of fruit for snack. If you don’t think she will do as you tell her, contact the school and ask that she isn’t given a snack.

It does seem like a lot. Where is the funding coming from for this? I suppose it really depends on the situation for the majority of pupils in the school though. If a high proportion of pupils are not getting breakfast it is a good idea, if it's a school where only 1% of the pupils won't have had breakfast then they are probably overfeeding them.

14% of all kids in all schools have not had breakfast. At your school maybe that's 20% or 30%. Don't assume that because it's a good school or in a good area that people can afford to feed their children properly.

As for feeding her oatmeal and peanut butter - that sounds disgusting to me. I'd much prefer my oatmeal with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup.

That's totally crap. If its about food poverty then its almost insulting too. Like poor kids deserve sugary, carby crap instead of something nutritious. I would ask my child not to eat it and explain why and then also contact the school. No need to be confrontational but I think they need to review the food choice.

Not ideal I agree. That said I can see why they want to make sure all chidlren are fed without feeling singled out. I think you'd need to either convince DD not to take them or just make up for it with what you feed her at home. For example give her some fruit and yogurt for breakfast, if she's still hungry she'll fill up on bagel.

@prettyflowersinthesky with respect OP, schools have to be of a certain demographic to access this support so while I understand your child does not need it, many children at the school will. Your options are talk to your child about only having 1 occasions (at my school some parents say you’ve just had breakfast so you don’t need a bagel today) or cut breakfast at home. I’m surprised they are having jam though as Magic breakfast don’t provide that, it’s purely bagels so slightly healthier.

Feed her healthier food around it then. Stop giving her cereal.

I can't believe you would begrudge children a bagel. You are absolutely that parent.

So, is she 8?

If so, I think that you can tell her not to eat both bagels. I also agree with others, change your habits-it's easier. You can start by not giving her a sandwich for lunch.

They have two jam bagels before lunch? I'm so relaxed about food as to be horizontal but even for me that seems a bit ridiculous.

@DimidDavilby

Feed her healthier food around it then. Stop giving her cereal.

I can't believe you would begrudge children a bagel. You are absolutely that parent.

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