To think that free breakfast at school is a bad idea due to the quality?

[Mushypeass]

Firstly, I fully agree with the principle of free breakfast for all pupils. My reservation comes from the quality of food that is often served up in UK school canteens. Obviously a poor quality breakfast is better than no breakfast at all but AIBU that it could encourage children to eat even more UPFs? For example, children who have may had a relatively healthy breakfast at home may now opt eat UPFs at school with their pals instead.

Seocondly, why is the food so poor in so many schools? How can other countries manage to provide their youth with nutritious and healthy meals but we can’t?

Most breakfast cereals (even the sugary ones) are fortified with vitamins and minerals including iron. Iron is key in prevention of anaemia, particularly in teenage girls who have higher iron requirements and are more likely to be deficient. Iron from breakfast cereal (non-haem iron as opposed to the haem iron found in animal proteins) is more easily absorbed if vitamin c is consumed alongside it e.g fruit or fruit juice (max 150ml portion because of free sugar content). Higher fibre cereals are a better choice because they keep kids fuller for longer, minimising unhealthy snacking, and help prevent constipation which is a common problem in kids. Milk provides calcium which is key because children's bones are growing and to ensure they reach peak bone mass which happens late teens / early 20's. In a nutshell, a bowl of higher fibre fortified cereal with milk and fruit or a small glass of orange juice will provide children with a lot of good nutrition relevant to their needs. It is simple and cheap to provide. Interestingly porridge (unless ready break type) is not usually fortified so doesn't provide vitamins, iron etc like other cereals. An issue to consider with breakfast clubs is that they aren't usually attended by the children who really need them but more by children of working parents who need childcare in the mornings.

Eating dreaded processed carbs won’t cause diabetes. It’s over consumption and poor education on food. Plus some people will always eat to excess.

The Germans are closely following us with obesity and upf

I went to primary school in the 50s in a poor inner city area. In winter our free milk was heated up and mixed with Cadbury s cocoa or chocolate powder, can't remember which. It meant at break time poor kids had milk, nutritious, and a hot drink to warm them. I remember it fondly and think Cadbury's were great to do it.

I totally agree with all this.

Mental health issues are strongly linked to the brain. Dementia is not a mental health issue, but a broad term for brain disease which causes a decline in cognitive function.

If something we eat affect our brain function, we really ought to be thinking twice before feeding it to our children.

There is also the problem of will children eat it. I used to volunteer at GCs school and one Christmas I was serving Christmas lunch. I could have cried when most of the food ended up in the bin. Turkey, veg, stuffing, beautiful roast potatoes and the majority thrown away. It was heartbreaking.

As unbelievable as it might be for you, when you have £70 - £100 a week or less for everything - food, travel, clothes, gas and electric, entertainment, emergencies - £1.75 is a lot of money. Also my kids would get through a loaf of bread in 3 days. It’s not a week’s worth of breakfast.

It isnt the money for most. It is living a chaotic lifestyle and not feeling that feeding your child is a priority. The benefits system tops up low salaries.

some parents do not get out of bed in the morning to make sure their children are up, washed, dressed and fed. Just like they don't ever hear their children read.

Some parents do not know how to parent or simply just do not want to do it.

the poorest children’s clothes almost always smell of cigarette smoke. Priorities are not parenting.

free breakfast attempts to cover the actual issue, which is the culture.

Nope they are not. People thought it was about brain chemicals which was debunked many moons ago. The people who create the DSM-V have admitted there are no biological markers in the brain. The age old theory of it being a brain issue is false. These things were created historically to control and oppress groups and those who were needed to be silenced and that has continued. The whole field is built on stigma. Look at what we have - diagnosis that you are mentally ill for being bereaved, being beaten by your husband, being raped or being black. Absolutely nothing in there is to do with brain issues. All are normal reactions.

Those who eat UHPF on a daily are usually those who have limited time to cook fresh often run ragged with work, home, clubs etc - so they are overwhelmed with life so cut corners. Being overwhelmed is normal.

Also those who eat UHPD on a daily are often poor. Being poor is a trauma not knowing if you can clothe your kids or not knowing if you have enough money for electricity or heating.

Look at what is behind those UHPF choices and that is the cause going on.

Dementia is a decline in cognitive function I agree and nothing to do with emotions and feelings. People with dementia can struggle emotionally because of the trauma of having this and the impact it has. It is not a given though.

Completely agree with thinking before feeding things to kids which could impact brain function. Mental health is not an issue with brain function though. It is a normal function. Suffering a trauma and responding to it is your brain functioning normally. It is not abnormal and calling people abnormal for that is wrong.

If you think that feeding my children nutritious food is ‘holier than thou’ and something to be sneered at or in any way a bad thing, honestly I’m happy to accept that.

i find it worrying that you are saying that giving children healthy food is giving them a restricted diet, of course it’s not! The key is variation, they have mainly healthy , varied meals but will also have snacks, but no, I’d never substitute a meal (breakfast)with choc cereal. I doubt they’ve ever had choc cereal, but if they wanted it, it’d be offered as a snack (instead of cake or chocolate).

what’s interesting is seeing what they choose to eat when they have a choice….ir in a hotel buffet, where they can have what they want.

they still don’t choose the choc cereal.

they actively choose healthy food because that’s what their palate is accustomed to…. Fresh fruit, eggs on toast, etc…and of course a pancake with banana.

I’ve just asked my 15 year old what she would choose for breakfast if she could have annything and she says curry😂, and if not that, Coconut yoghurt with mango, pineapple and granola. Or avo on sourdough with chopped tomatoes and chilli oil.

im proud of that and thankfully doesn’t show any signs of her going ‘haywire’ just yet!

and actually they don’t like chocolate. There is a whole table in the kitchen with Easter eggs on which is a free for all and the only person eating them is DP.

what’s ‘faddy ‘about nutritious food?

You really do have to micromanage children
I have seen the results with my own eyes of not doing so
Cousins born six months apart and I was called intensive for a micro manager and a control freak
But mine are doing a lot better in life, just generally.
If you look at beautiful adults with good skin and good teeth, it’s all diet related from a very early age.
It’s the making the right decisions when you’re not in the room because it’s ingrained into them that they wouldn’t do anything else

Surely they're not serving a full fry up? Isn't it just toast, cereal and fruit? Maybe yoghurt at a push?

I'm not sure why all children need free breakfasts either. Shouldn't it be people on low incomes only? The rest should pay a small fee, like a pound or something.

I think its more due to genetics I'm in my 30s never had a filling i have great teeth never had an issue with my skin. Yet I was brought up on cereal

It was to get kids into school earlier for a range of reasons:

Some kids do not have breakfast and not just those low income families.
Helps parents get to work earlier.
Helps kids who struggle to get into school on time.
Helps kids with emotional needs have a soft start to the school day increasing the chances they attend as attendance is a huge issue.

I agree with this its the amount parents now seem to think their kids need hourly snacks. We never had snacks growing up we had our 3 meals.

I guess in that case it's fair enough. If it does get the bums on seats at a decent time. And helps out working parents. Or those on low incomes. Thank you for explaining.

Well I've got 4 adults children. All brought up the same but one had horrendous acne. He had a healthy diet, was meticulous with skin care, I got sick of judgemental people who think their own limited experience makes them an expert.

So acne is a recognised medical condition.
In no way shape or form comparative with the comment that I’m just made.
If he had rotten teeth that would be an entirely on you.

So why did you mention their good skin then?

People can have bad skin without having acne.
Eczema is exasperated by diet for example.

Surely that's a safe guarding issue ?
My son gets his breakfast every morning at school too not because I don't provide it but becsuse he's severely autistic and won't eat anything untill he has been up a couple of hours ,he goes to a special school and they are fully aware of this and the other kids also get breskfast if they want it,but that's vastly different to me just not feeding him

@Fetaface I think we’ll have to agree to disagree regarding mental health links to the brain. It’s a field I work closely with.

Brain structure, chemistry and function are strongly linked to mental health. No two brains are the same. We all have different brain make up, this is why we react differently to different situations, including trauma.

Some people’s brain chemicals make them more susceptible to depression and anxiety. It’s not something we can control and that is why mental health issues are classed as an illness.

By a bad diet or by a food they react to?

I was going to ask the same. My kids had shreddies or special K with either brown toast or a bagel with marmite or peanut butter. Thought that was a perfectly normal breakfast