Packed lunch police

[penneforyourthoughts]

DD’s school has changed their packed lunch policy and no longer allows them to have juice cartons of any description.

I know that there are bigger problems in the world but it’s made me pretty cross. DD is quite food avoidant and I do my best to pack a sensible lunch for her but I like the fact that I can give her fruit juice (flavour, texture and one of her five a day, I think).

I don’t want to make a fuss because it’s a great school but AIBU to raise it with them?

My daughter is autistic and it’s still always been water only allowed, it has since she started 6 years ago, never known them to allow juice, flavoured water is a way around it....

After that it's much better - contains the same goodness but without the fat.
Clearly for a school then, skimmed is better.

What it actually says is that after age 5 skimmed milk "can" be given to children. That it is "safe" to give to them. It does not say that it should be given to them, or that it's better than whole milk or semi skimmed, or that whole milk or semi skimmed are bad. There's a reason they do not say those things.

I drink whole milk still as I don’t see a problem with full fat dairy.

I wouldn’t give a child anything other than whole milk or full fat dairy products.

My point really is I think it's an argument OP should be using if the school are banning fruit juice.
I agree you need to be careful with sweeteners/artificial crap in non full fat stuff, but that's not an issue with milk. I only ever had skimmed milk from 5 and still drink it now; when my kids are that age then I'll defo be doing the same, and woebetide the school that tries to give them fatty milk saying it's healthier.
Anyway, drink what you want! And let OP feed her child what she wants is all I'm really saying.

@LadyCampanulaTottington

YABU fruit juice is not healthy. It's foie gras in a carton.

I never thought I’d say this but…..only on Mumsnet!

That is a classic example of why people mock Mumsnetters.

I wonder if it's real - look at the name being used.

Fruit juice is unhealthy so yabu I think. Surely if you're that bothered she can have juice with breakfast?

YANBU. Juice is fine with lunch, they presumably have water the rest of the day.

When my kids were in school almost 20yrs ago it was water only in classrooms.

All rubbish brought home.

OP would you like a link to the reuseable pouches my kids have for juice in their lunch? They don't have cartons because they struggle to open them without spilling, they never manage to get all of it out so it leaks in their lunchbox and our youngest has real issues with the texture of the paper straws and she won't take one of the metal ones into school so this solves all our issues. It also works out a lot cheaper because we can buy bigger bottles of juice and recycle them when we are done.

I should say this all goes out the window in year 7, they'll let them eat any old shit, which most of them do. DS2 has school dinners, and usually has a sandwich at first break and one at lunch, both accompanied by a fizzy drink

That's true. Every day at break BELGIUM WAFFLE listed on Parentpay.

It's still important to teach them the basic of healthy eating though and not to just give up when they have more autonomy about what they eat. DDs are 16 and 12, fit and slim even if they do eat a metric ton of processed carbs at school and when out and about and they get their fruit and veg in at home with healthy meals for dinner. They can both cook and feed themselves and they know what to eat for a balanced diet, even if they don't always choose the healthiest options at school.

@DifficultBloodyWoman, 'foie gras in a carton' has actually made me laugh most of the morning.

@TataMamma

Fat is an essential part of any diet. The idea that "low fat" or "fat free" means something is good and healthy is part of the very real reason we have such a problem with obesity.

Skimmed milk is there for people who go to Weight Watchers or Slimming World - those who are fleeced every week to join a group, get weighed and eat all sorts of food that is "banned" or assigned an arbitrary number of points, instead of eating a balanced diet and limiting calories.

Feed your children what you want, but you can cause a lot of damage by dragging kids into this bullshit skimmed milk pseudo-science.

I am now only ever going to refer to fruit juice as foie gras in a carton.

I love it.

@Lukasmummy, thanks for the offer but we don't send bottles in with our lunch. They have reusable water bottles kept at school (for water only) that they fill up there.

I didn't realise it was such a thorny topic! FWIW, DD has always brought all her rubbish home with her so I don't think it's a packaging issue.

As per my original post, I know it's not the worst thing that's ever happened in the world but I'm slightly peeved about it so I think I'll speak to the head.

Have you asked why? Now they have paper straws I can see the hassle in trying to help 100 kids with their drinks and it might be preventing staff from helping actually serve food for those on dinners.

It could also be an issue with kids leaving juice in their pack lunches and then it leaking all over the cloakroom/classroom in the afternoon. Given dinner ladies can't police 100 kids emptying their cartons and kids will ignore the request to do so, it is clearly an issue of some kind.

The rule is there for a reason, whatever that is. Just follow it. Pretty simple really.

Doesn't solve the issue of the school being weirdly controlling, but OP would your DD like tinned fruit in juice? Like pineapple or mandarin oranges served in a little tub with a lid and a spoon? You could even make quick fruit salad yourself - bit of chopped fruit in juice of her choice. Even if she only/mainly had the juice...

Yanbu, IMO. DD takes a small bottle (I think it's 250ml) of juice in her lunch bag. It's a reusable bottle, double walled so it's kept cold. I put in squash or apple juice. She also brings a much bigger bottle for water through the day. Most days she doesn't finish the juice, and I really don't think it's such a big thing.

This would annoy me too, even though fruit juice is not healthy. When my dd was in primary school it was difficult to get her to drink and eat enough at school (even though she drank water and ate well at home). I used to give her a small carton of juice in her packed lunch just to increase the calories she was having.

My ASD dd drinks water like crazy. She also has one serving of juice a day, at lunch. It’s because it’s ridiculously hard to get enough calories into her at school. Mumsnet would be horrified by the lunch I send her each day. That is life for a child with food issues from asd. You can’t let hunger disrupt learning. I make sure she has a nutritious diet on the balance, but the stressful school lunchroom is not the place where that is going to happen.

Schools just aren’t thinking when they try to put in these policies. They have real consequences for kids with medical conditions, allergies, or sensory disorders. Most of those children already feel othered are school and this is just one more way that makes things more difficult for them.

[quote Snoozer11]@TataMamma

Fat is an essential part of any diet. The idea that "low fat" or "fat free" means something is good and healthy is part of the very real reason we have such a problem with obesity.

Skimmed milk is there for people who go to Weight Watchers or Slimming World - those who are fleeced every week to join a group, get weighed and eat all sorts of food that is "banned" or assigned an arbitrary number of points, instead of eating a balanced diet and limiting calories.

Feed your children what you want, but you can cause a lot of damage by dragging kids into this bullshit skimmed milk pseudo-science.[/quote]
Yes, of course fat is an essential part of a diet, but still most people have far too much of it (along with other bad things).
Agree that low fat and fat free does not mean something is good and healthy - I've already said that a lot of the time it's full of other shit, artificial or too much salt or something, although that is not true of skimmed milk unlike the vast majority of fat free products.
Can't agree that skimmed milk is only for those who go to Weight Watchers etc. Personally I love it! Can't stand semi-skimmed or full fat milk, they just make me want to vomit. Also, can't stand cream so maybe there's a relationship. I can't accept that skimmed milk is the same as other stuff that is fat free, because, crudely, they don't add shit to it, just take off the excess fat/cream, which as I said, I personally cannot bare the taste of.
And I'm not trying to ban this or anything else tbf. I was arguing against the ban OP is facing! Agree that the focus should be on a balanced diet generally, which is why I am against the type of ban OP is facing.
Totally baffled by the pseudo science claim, which is totally not my thing at all.
I think you need to read my posts. I simply said I think OP should use as an argument that natural fruit juice is healthier than semi-skimmed or full fat milk, which I stand by. But I'm not telling you what to feed your kids, let alone yourself! The whole point is, I'm against that.

TBH, I really find it difficult to believe how schools are dictating what children are supposed to eat or not etc.
I am all for healthy eating, DD has water, fruit and veggies and some healthy stuff for lunch, simply because we don't do junk but tbh, I see nothing wrong with the occasional packet of crisps or carton of juice.
The nannyism of institutions is reaching new levels. School uniform rules can be bad enough but this is a new one. Funny enough, they seem to be generally OK with a white sandwich bread and pieces of pork glued together (also called ham) but a carton of juice is a no no.

Id calmly ask the reason for the new policy.

perhaps some kids are bring sunny d and getting hyper
perhaps juice is being spilled all over the classroom and attracting insects

The rule is there for a reason, whatever that is. Just follow it. Pretty simple really.
Wow, that's a sheep flock rule.