British kids and eating habits - IABU ?

[lovemycoffee2]

I have two young kids and we live in the UK but we are not originally from here.

At home we cook everyday from scratch our food and we take that food at a lunch box at our workplace. We have a light dinner again made from scratch.

The issue is our kids which are of course going to school/nursery and they love to copy their friends!

In the UK it's healthy if a kid eats sausages (god knows what the meat has inside), or for example Heinz baked beans which have 10% sugar and 20% salt (leaving 70% being actual beans) or if they eat fish fingers which are pre-fried (even if you bake them they were already fried before got frozen) or chicken nuggets (again pre-fried which god knows what was the oil quality).

It's also acceptable to drink juices which have no sugar but plenty sweeteners.

Also, it's perfectly fine to have a ham sandwich for lunch which has ready made processed bread full of emulsifiers and ham which (like sausage) god knows what ingredients has.

It's ok that primary schools offer desserts, even if they are small portions and low sugar on a daily basis - not on a weekly or as special occasion! I don't have a dessert everyday, why my kid is offered one?

Honestly, are all these things ok? Am I paranoid?

I am very worried that the kids will either end up obsessed. with diabetes or with other health issues given all the processed food and the fact that we are what we eat.

YABU - are you crazy?

YANBU - unfortunately this is a "balanced healthy diet" in the UK!

Malta has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe

As does the U.K.

As others have already said it's even higher in Malta which is the country that op claims is sooo much healthier and superior to the UK.
Funnily enough sausages and mash used to be even more commonly eaten in the past when people weren't as big 🤷🏻‍♀️

You're not going to spontaneously combust if you eat some pork and potatoes

The problem isn't the school; it's the other parents. The council area where my Dc went to school had salmon on the primary school menu a few years ago and a parent questioned on the council's social media "what child is going to eat salmon?". My DC have grown up eating salmon because it's something that DH and I both enjoy and we have brought our DC up eating what we eat (one won't eat white fish thanks to the awful offerings at primary school lunches) and chicken nuggets, pizza, potato waffles, etc have been treats rather than the norm.
I'm not going to judge the choices of other parents. I love cooking and spending a day batch cooking after a trip to Asda for yellow stickered meat is my dream; others don't have that time, freezer space or drive. My DC had allergies to artificial food colourings and aspartame when they were small so my slow cooker became my best friend.

If obesity is about environment - how come Italy and France which has some of the best food in the world - has some of the lowest rates of obesity in Europe - 20% below the U.K.

Obesity is as much about eating habits, food quality, attitude to food.

If you actually check Malta has much higher rates of obesity than the uk. The OP is the one claiming her country is healthier than the UK.

The things aren't contradictory at all. "Environment" includes things like food quality & availability.

You can eat a healthier diet and still be overweight or obese, they’re not mutually exclusive. In the UK we have a terrible diet and a high level of obesity. Someone who eats mostly whole foods and is overweight is still healthier than someone whose diet is full of processed meat and junk food and is overweight.

😂😂 all parents in the UK are dreadful and so are their children, didn't you know.

OP you're clearly doing what you think is best for your children, great! Other parents might not have the resources, money and skills you have - there's lots of really good research which will give you evidence and reasons for this. Yes it should be better - if you're passionate about it, join your schools governors board and push for change.

I would say that taking the moral high ground / being pompous about / being horrified by other parents and children is unlikely to win you favours with your kids.

Congratulations- this is the most self-congratulatory, superior post I have ever read on Mumsnet.

Why are you expecting strangers on the internet to tell you how to parent your children? The same strangers who you think can't adequately feed their children?

I doubt that many people across Europe have pudding/coffee/chocolate/etc. after lunch or dinner every day. Perhaps on a Saturday /Sunday or a treat.

Good tomatoes dont need something sweet .

The Maltese have a massive problem with obesity!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_Malta

Hmm. What I've taken from this thread is that I'm still not clear what is worse - ham sandwiches every day or nutella baguettes every day.

@NotAlexa
“Kids menu's on the continent are also significantly better - there are no chicken nuggets and pizza's; kids eat what adults eat, just smaller portions!

We also don't have a problem with children and tantrums. Somehow european kids palates are well developed and they simply don't want unhealthy stuff.”

Utter bollocks. I’m in France right now and every kids menu has been solely chicken nuggets and chips. Also nowhere offers vegetarian options. Get off your high horse!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with sausages and mash unbelievable that they are being slated on this thread.

Thank goodness Leah5678 ! We had sausage and mash with onion gravy tonight.

Also just to add, there’s been an explosion of McDonalds/Burger King/KFC etc in France over the past few years. I’m sure their obesity rates will be climbing. Supermarkets have just as much crap as we have here.

Ive also just spent three weeks in Germany and the food was atrocious. A million types of sausage or schnitzel and no other meat. Hardly a vegetable anywhere other than sauerkraut. We travelled all over and it was the same everywhere.

This! Agree. Sausages and mash is fine. Ham, egg and chips (I do mine in the oven using a low calories spray) is also ok. A lot of food Puritans on MN!

When I was on holiday as a teenager in France many years ago, I remember McDonald's being extremely popular. So I wouldn't say it's particularly recent although of course it could be getting worse.

I don't think 'all things in moderation' is a good thing to live by. We shouldn't be eating fruit, vegetables and fibre in moderation as a general rule!

I grew up in the 70's too and my mother cooked from scratch. If we had sausages they were from a butcher and may have been better quality. We didn't have supermarkets until the late 70's and never ate ready meals or much in the way of processed foods. Chocolate was a very occasional treat (Easter, Christmas, birthday!). We didn't overeat, there was much less obesity and we didn't feel deprived! I agree with OP the pressure on parents to feed their kids fast food rubbish and overly fatty, processed junk is enormous. No idea what the answer is apart from sticking to your principles and keeping your kids healthy. One day I hope they'll thank you! 👍👍

Most schools have jacket potatoes. But they don't have kitchens to can't make these things.

Low sugar juices? What do you mean by that? What juices aren't sweet? Maybe they are just used to water?

Personally I would find it a bit weird a family giving DC some special 'low sugar juice' rather than water or perhaps milk.

Salmon? That's amazing. I think the only fish my DC's Primary had was fish fingers and the Secondary has battered white fish on a Friday!

The obese adults of today are those who grew up in the 70s and 80s....I've always heard it said the 70s was when all the processed food started.