Is this menu healthy enough?

[Gershwining]

My daughter attends the local primary which is a designated "healthy school". We aren't allowed to take in cake or sweets for birthdays. She's in KS1 so gets free school meals at the moment. But I had a good look at the menu this week and I just wondered AIBU to think this is really unhealthy?

Oh and OP, I agree that it doesn't look like a healthy balanced menu.

I forgive the deserts because I'm pretty sure they're really low in fat and sugar. I remember being excited when chocolate cake was on the menu but it was really a brown sponge with some brown liquid. It sounded like a treat but tasted like nothing 🤣

That looks full of junk to me. The macaroni cheese is the only dish that would get a pass from me.

I just want to post this- not with any attack or defensivelness in mind, but just to give my own perspective to the 'fussy' easters should not be tolerated' idea.

I have a child with sensory issues and this also relates to food. He has a limited diet and a limited palate. I am slowly expanding it out with the support of a dietician.

I was the parent who thought fussy eating was a bit of a nonsense. Until mine turned up. I am a great cook. I have written a food blog since before my child was born. I also developed a special interest in optimal ways of feeding children and was absolutely obsessed with books on feeding children and developing their tastes and have spent hours and hours researching school dinners in France (as well as other places) and how different cultures approach feeding children.

All the theory has been great- until I was faced with a child who vomits back up anything he cannot tolerate. Who literally would see himself starve rather than eat something he cannot cope with. So I feed him what I can and supplement as much as possible and gradually introduce foods as carefully and as sensitively as I can. Last week he ate 3 peas. Without vomiting. He's 13.

It is easy to say that fussy eaters and made, not born and that the Brisih approach to feeding children is flawed (it IS flawed, in my opinion). But there are loads of parents out there who agonise over their child's diet.

His school does the most glorious school lunches. I have volunteered at the school a couple of times the past few months for various reasons and have eaten there. I know for a fact that the food is brilliant. We are so so lucky. But DS won't eat it. He eats a packet of crisps and some water. Every single day. He told me the other day he quite liked the school's lemon drizzle cake and I got very excited indeed about that. Lemons! There must be some juice in there somewhere surely??!!

I just see the approach so often on MN; 'Well I would not tolerate fussy eating' said by someone who may not ever had to deal with a very real food issue. With the subtext that parents who are suffering with fussiness are clearly inferior sort of parents. It's not the case. And one of the things i adore about MN is that it gives me exposure to opinions and views different from mine.

Which is why i have posted my view on this issue.

That said- the menu posted by the OP does not fill me with joy- particularly if the school calls itself a healthy school. I suppoose it would depend how the food is made.... fresh pizza base with fresh tomato passta is one thing. Perhaps.

I can see both sides. My son went to a French creche for 1 year and at lunch they were served a 4 course meal, including a cheese course,at no extra cost (and childcare was highly subsidised). The menus always sounded delicious and it was essentially an adult menu with the textures modified for babies and toddlers.
Now my son is in a UK nursery, the menu is very much like OPs and I was very shocked at the contrast. However, the food culture is very different here, and since these are foods most kids are familiar with I do think it's better to ensure most kids are eating one hot meal a day. Serve a French style menu and a lot of kids would go hungry and a lot of family are relying on these school meals.
I would have thought there could have been some middle ground though.

Very carb and sugar heavy, even if made from scratch.

For those mentioning French lunches, I went to a French primary school and there were plenty of fussy kids, we just traded food with each other or went hungry! I can still remember one day every month it was fish with lentils. I don't like fish so always traded it for everyone else's lentils as they didn't like those. Otherwise if you didn't like the main you survived until 4.30pm with just your cucumber salad and plain yogurt. Not having a choice of mains was not a great experience for lots of children so in some ways I'd rather have some more child friendly options to ensure that the children eat. But the menu you've posted isn't great. It could easily have a few small changes to make it more healthy and would benefit from some more fresh vegetables.

@ComeTheSpringLobelia I don't think any of us were saying fussy eaters shouldn't be tolerated. My story of the children in France was because I'm bewildered by it. I don't understand how those boys and their friends would eat whatever you gave them (some food obviously preferred over others but most willingly eaten) and yet I was the fussiest child I knew. I have no special needs but I would feel physically sick at the thought of eating foods I didn't like when I was younger. As an adult I'm will veggie but less fussy though I do love food with lots of spices and herbs which didn't feature in my menu as a child.

Yes it’s a shame we feed our children rubbish at school when other countries manage healthy, varied menus.

What happened to the Jamie Oliver initiative? Did that juts have zero impact?

Looks a pretty crap menu to me, mainly processed and not many vegetables. Certainly doesn't scream "healthy school".