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!

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.

Really, where exactly is this mythical land you speak of, you’re going to be a lot more specific than Europe.

I just think it's funny to complain about the food in the country you chose to move to, while demonstrating such an utter lack of backbone that you let your kids eat this food because they want it.

If this food is as damaging as you think it is, then your parenting is terrible lol.🤣

Why on earth does it concern you??

Glad for you, your children aren't ASD or ADHD or ARFID. My children eat lots of fruit and veg, but cannot cope with sauces and cannot cope with "being different". So at home they will eat a variety of lunches including avocado, eggs, houmous, salad, pasta, cous cous, quinoa, chicken, tuna, sushi, grains, most veg, most fruit... but at school, they have to cope with picking at sausage and mash because it's what their peers eat.
It's because they know the food i prepare at home is "safe" and the food they prepare at school is "safe"

My children are very normal weights and heights, and are a muscular, due to hobbies. So I think think the occasional "rubbish lunch" at school, is ok in comparison to their porridge/natural yogurt, fruit, nuts, seeds/eggs, mushrooms avocado/toast, peanut putter, banana, chia seeds, and aforementioned dinner/lunches at home.

And all three of my children are ND, and would live off of chips and crisps if i let them

I totally agree with you. I’m also not from the UK but my husband and children are so it has been a concern for me since having my boys as it’s not just about what they eat at home but what is around them all the time and they end up wanting to eat too. The diet in the U.K. is generally very high in processed and convenience foods with a very weak food culture to speak of. We have recently moved to Spain and the difference is stark. The menus at school consist of fresh fish, very little meat, lotta of legumes and vegetables and yogurt or fruit as the only pudding. Most people eat fresh foods daily with very little in the way of frozen or stuff from a packet. And kids are rarely overweight. It’s a shame the UK is so behind even with Jamie Oliver’s campaign which has made little impact, sadly.

JO's campaign was years ago now but there were parents turning up at the school gates rebelling against it to pass absolute shit through the school gates to then.

Unbelievable.

There are people who pride themselves on not drinking alcohol and who have given up smoking (for their own and their childen's health), who will be on at the school about how well their children are being taught and supported (because they love their children and want the best for them) and then continue to feed them absolute shit at home and get angry at any notion of improving that.

People talk about a lot of it being about education and people not understanding nutrition; big company advertising etc. All of which is true but when anyone tries to address this with education, rather than embracing it, people get angry.

When I was looking for a nursery for my daughter, I went to one I quire liked. A private nursery near my place of work. Perfect.

I asked them about the food they provided and they said that, when babies were being weaned, they asked parents to send in food. Fair enough. Happy with that. But by the time the children were about 10/11 months old, they just gave them mashed up versions of whatever the older children were having. So I asked for a sample menu. They didn't have one but told me that that day they were having smiley faces, spaghetti hoops and turkey drummers (or something similar). This was 18 years ago bit I don't think things have improved.

I think the horror must have been visible on my face. Is there anyone who would be feeding smiley faces, spaghetti hoops and processed meat products to a child who isn't even one?

Anyway, I found a lovely childminder who advertised 'fresh homecooked food' and went with her. She was fabulous in every way and we loved her. And she did, indeed, provide proper fresh home cooked food.

Nope, Spains child obesity rate is very similar to the UK - 12.04% vs 12.38%. It is not just the Uk! And most people I know eat fresh foods daily and cook from scratch.

@chocochick what is this weak food culture? Some people eat rubbish food, not all.

Have you never heard of fabulous British cheeses, excellent dairy products, good bread, Scottish Beef, Welsh Lamb, Norfolk Turkey, excellent pork, superb game (roll on the 12th). A wonderful tradition of cold meats and pickles. Apple orchards, blackberries, other fruit trees and a plethora of home grown veg: marrows, brassicas, beans, peas, etc. A long history of stews and roasts.

Yes all good points, not sure what that poster means ‘weak food culture’ 🙄.
Growing own veg is a huge thing around here. Where I am there are loads of allotments, yet the waitlist for one is still 5 years long as everyone wants one! My veg patch in my garden will have to do for now.

I think the thing about UK food culture is that is is such as assimilation of other food cultures and the few national dishes tend to be relatively unhealthy e.g. roasts with a stodgy or sugary pudding to follow. I don't know of any 'British' restaurants either here or overseas that do a traditional British stew.

I don't disagree that there are some brilliant local producers but what most people eat day to day does not tend to be sourced from them due to cost and convenience.

It sounds like sadly Spain is following the UK along the path of increasing prevalance of upf and less cooking from scratch.
www.oliveoiltimes.com/health-news/childhood-obesity-in-spain/108242

Yeh I think allergies might be right as I live in a country where it is 4 months and they told me that they did change to 6 months at one point but changed back again as it made no difference in reducing allergies.

I buy good quality chicken sausages from a local butcher. As well as good quality traditional Cumberland sausage. My children love fruit and veg my son can't get enough of it. Both are ND my son won't eat processed food because it gives him belly ache. He is ok with beans though. Beans on a jacket potato or onion toast is actually a healthy meal and recommended for weight loss. Schools always offer a fresh fruit alternative which my DC would choose if they didn't like the pudding being served.

Please, do you have the contacts of that childminder? Can you DM me privately?

We’re back home after our holiday, I’ve taken the kids out for lunch the kids menu (in Sweden) the options are

Chips and cheese
Margaritta pizza
Chips, meatballs and gravy
Mash, meatballs and gravy
Chicken nuggets, chips and gravy
Potato waffles with cheese

Simonjt, I quite fancy chips and cheese, or Margherita pizza, right now and it's all your :-) fault.

I think the fact we walked here there and everywhere unlike todays children who are ferried around in the car. My Children were out of a pushchair by 2 and a half and could walk a couple of miles a day. Both my sons are now in their 30s and rarely use a car, they prefer to walk, one walks 3 miles to work and back every day, the other has a mile and a half walk. Both are fit, never ill and slim, must be all that exercise.

Love your username 😊

However. Why have we gotten to a point where we can’t expect healthy food in a state institution? Especially hospitals as a PP mentioned.

I know our government now has different spending priorities but in the long-term, does it need to be a race to the bottom?

Even small changes like increasing veg/fruit/lean meat on the menu, and actually stopping spend on things like packet desserts.

Not saying every other country has school meals nailed but some manage to provide a healthier offering.