To think other children's snacks are irresponsible?

[cowgirljoey]

The official policy at DS's school (Year 2) is for them to bring a fruit or veg snack from home for break time. This seemed to be what happened when DS was in reception and Year 1, but over time DS tells me that his friends are regularly bringing crisps, chocolate bars and sweets in for their snack(s) and that he is one of the only ones who has fruit/veg each time.

Totally get that this needs fact-checking (I have a few reasons to think is is accurate), but if it is AIBU to think this is something I should contact school about? I don't think it's fair on the kids to be having junk food as a snack, and I've observed myself that lots of them eat barely any of their school lunch, suggesting that they aren't v. hungry at this point (understandable if they've had choc/crisps an hour beforehand). I think that parent are being irresponsible to be giving chocolate as a daily morning snack, but as I have no control over this, AIBU to think that school should be enforcing the fruit/veg policy?

Incidentally, I don’t understand why they need a snack an hour before lunch. It’s the same at my DC school. Makes much more sense to me to have an afternoon snack, if one is needed at all. Or just earlier in the day rather than one hour before lunchtime.

I love the word "snack". 😋 I just love it.

Best word in the dictionary

It’s not just teeth extraction, it’s also diabetes - there’s been an increase in rates of type 2 diabetes in children.

https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/15/child-diabetes-referrals-england-wales-obesity-crisis

More than a quarter of children are obese by the time they leave primary school 😯

One of the ways the government can support children is through healthy eating messages - which should be supported by schools.

Unless we don’t want the state to promote healthy lifestyle?

However when I asked earlier what you hope to gain from this you said
cowgirljoey · Yesterday 18:24
That they would enforce the policy. Friend's kids at another local school have same fruit/veg policy and snacks get checked.

You need a clear objective before you contact the school. So far it has been a mix of the above plus social responsibility and the obesity crisis.

I think it's fair enough to ask the school to clarify the policy.
They may well be trying to enforce it behind the scenes (we had similar at my DC primary with bookbags/rucksacks, school were doing their very best with the issue but some parents just won't listen) in which case, there's nothing you can do.
But if they are not trying to enforce it, they might as well ditch it as a policy and used their very overstretched teachers to concentrate on other areas.
Based on this thread, it seems the healthier fitter adults had a chocolate bar every morning, I wonder how well that translates into real life?

get lost!! are you perfect parent in every way, or just this one?

My daughters school doesn't have such a policy (Scotland) but I really wish it did. My daughter feels really hard done by taking in fruit when other kids have biscuits or crisps but I don't want her eating junk at 10.30am! We don't live in a very affluent area though and whilst we are comfortable and can afford fresh fruit, a lot of kids will be taking in food bank donations and such like so I think schools need to be careful about enforcing such rules sadly. Something is better than nothing and all that

🤣 you would hate my daughters school
in the last term she has come out with sugar rocks her teacher made, Easter muffins and Italian chocolate one of her teachers bring her back everytime she goes home for a week 🤣

because some parents cant afford to buy fresh fruit and veg - its the same with our school to i used to send fruit bags and snack tubs in but in the end crisps and breakfast bars are easier. also YABU

I can assure you the only dc at the school I work for having fruit as a snack are those who are sent without one maybe with exception of one child every 2 classes on the odd occasion or something. It's not a policy we could enforces as don't have the budget to replace all the confiscated snacks with fruit/many wouldn't eat it anyway - couldn't leave all those dc hungry

You do yours and let others do theirs. It's none of your business. Some parents may not have the funds for fresh fruit/veg every day. Just concern yourself with your child/rens diet.

I think if a school has a rule they should enforce it. My DD’s school has a ‘healthy snacks only’ policy but my daughter tells me most eat crisps from their packed lunch. I pack her fruit with her lunch but she started to also eat the less healthy snack at break time. More recently she picked up a packed of crisps to take out and was told to put them back in her lunch bag as they aren’t allowed at break. Her friend saw her being told so out her own crisps into her pocket and took them out to the playground and ate them.

Same with other rules. Uniform rules annoy me as we buy the specific items then others don’t and don’t get pulled. The times my DD forgets to take her ear rings out for school she gets told off but other girls are walking around wearing them all the time. I’ve seen this. The same when they banned boots over winter (stupid idea) and my daughter was wearing shoes and I saw loads of other wearing boots. By this point I decided I’d you can’t beat them then join them and when the weather was particularly bad she put her boots on (and I mean smart black school boots). I also saw a recent phot of them all on a school trip. What a state. The no trainers rule was clearly being broken by at least 6 kids wearing their latest expensive Nike air trainers. It winds me up. There’s no point to a rule of no one follows it up.

I think it's unreasonable for the school to have this policy to begin with. It's not up to the school to police what people eat and what parents give their children.

Does it really affect your life though? I can’t be arsed getting this het up over other peoples lives.

DS won't eat at school. As in anything. He's being assessed as neurodiverse. At home we are struggling to get him to eat fruit and veg. We are getting there, but forcing the issue won't / hasn't helped. When we've tried he has become distressed and it was on the verge of becoming disordered.

Frankly I don't care what he eats at school. I just wish he'd eat something, because not eating anything is more unhealthy than eating something 'unhealthy'. They have a healthy eating policy only and it's really not good for DS. I know another ASD/ADHD kid at the school who was told by a doctor he needed to put on weight due to medication/ health related issues and even then the school wouldnt relent.

Indeed all the talk of 'unhealthy' food impacts on the food DS will eat at home.

Quite honestly I wish schools and other parents would just fuck off policing my child's food because it's causing a problem not making him eat better.

The reasons these rules annoy me is I’ve one autistic child who is a rule follower. Even when her friends bend the rules she won’t. But then she gets really upset that those not following them aren’t being pulled up on it.

I agree though that schools shouldn’t police what kids eat. I’m a send teacher and work with children with some very restricted diets who have ended up being tube fed due to refusal of either food altogether or when they have safe foods that people try to restrict in favour of healthier foods.

Interestingly my non autistic child is a trickier eater than my autistic child. Although I think she might be ND with adhd. Her food intake is awful.

I think the reason parents start policing other peoples kids though is when the rules aren’t being implemented properly and some kids seem to get away with eating what they like when others follow the rule. These rules should be stopped and parents should be allowed to make their own decisions unless an extremely unhealthy situation needs dealing with by a professional (for obesity, to manage allergies, to manage food aversions etc).

YABU you give DS what you want to give him. You’ll find as you go further through the school the rules are being bended left right and centre. YANBU about wanting the children to have a healthy snack though.

Tell your son it’s up to each parent to decide what their child eats.
and butt out of other people’s business.

Healthy eating is obviously what is wanted but if you have a child who wouldn't eat a healthy snack-and you don't want them going hungry-then it's up to the parent what snack they provide?
Would have loved my child to have been the one with the healthy snack.but he'd have gone without rather than eat it..

Up to them. Their kids. Keep your nose out. You have NO idea why they give their kids what they do and it’s none of your business. Also check your own message to your kids. Sounds as if you are giving them issues with food (and that can last a lifetime). Kids need calories. Eating some chocolate at break every so often is not going to destroy them for life. Mine have chocolate most days - they are slim and healthy and don’t go absolutely crazy when offered treats like some of the kids I have on play dates do.

Parents have to be able to stand up and defend their own rules to their own children. Life will be full of people ‘not sticking to the rules’. You need to develop a way through it for them.

Reminds me of the school mum who asked me if I could stop letting my DC sit in the front, as their DC wanted to sit in the front too, but she didn’t think it was safe, but didn’t like to say no to their child, so could I please stop it too?

Erm, you know it won't be true when he comes home and says "everyone else has a playstation and is allowed to play it in the week" or "literally everyone else apart from me is on SnapChat" don't you?

It’s people like you who make it hard for my son in school with his packed lunch, who has Cystic Fibrosis which requires a very high fat diet & parents moan about it. Mind your business Mrs Bouquet.

My daughter is 8 and in age 11-12 clothes, there’s no way she’d get through the day on a piece of fruit. She doesn’t take in junk food though.

Oh my goodness you sound so high and mighty. You can't tell other people what to feed thier kids and you actually don't know that it is every day.

As if teachers don't have better things to do then be checking every kids snack anyway