To agree with the new guidance in Scotland to ban cake at nursery?

[AmericanMummmy]

The new guidelines from the Scottish government are effective today (1st August) - among other food restrictions, cake should not be brought into nursery to celebrate a child’s birthday (or any other reason). The goal is to fight childhood obesity and promote healthy eating.

I’m totally in favour of this and don’t understand the backlash! Everything I read on this topic is about parents and staff thinking it’s a huge overstep and sapping all the fun out of life, like kids need cake to be happy. If parents want to feed their child cake outside of nursery, that’s completely their choice, but why does it need to be at nursery too? I allow my 3 year old to have sweet treats on occasion (such as birthday parties or holidays/weekend activities), but it drives me nuts when he’s being offered cake at nursery (several times a month), and it’s always at pickup right before dinner time. They give him lollies on most days too from what he tells me, it’s just too much sugar!

Am I the only one who agrees with this guidance? Are there not other ways we can teach children to celebrate that don’t involve ultra processed sugary treats? No judgement to how people parent - and I love sugary treats myself- but I want to teach moderation and show that there are plenty of other ways to celebrate.

I don’t understand either if you don’t want your child having cake or sweets, you can’t just tell them no. Parenting does require sticking by your own guns…relying on schools and nurseries to say no for you shouldn’t be necessary

No it isn't - it normally has sugar in too. Nurseries can still serve fruit and natural yoghurt together. Our nursery never gave flavoured yoghurt in the first place, so there's no change there.

No it really isn't. Most fruit yoghurts have loads of sugar and/or sweeteners in them, and often all kinds of other crap.

Kids are not fat because they have cake occasionally at nursery. They are fat because they are consistently fed rubbish food and are likely also quite inactive. That being said, the nursery is limited in their reach so I guess they are just trying to do what little they can.

Just nursery? Just birthday cake? Weird, bizarre and an utterly pointless piss in the ocean imo.

I was surprised when we moved to Scotland that the school didn’t police at all snacks or lunches brought into school. In comparison at our school in England you weren’t allowed to bring snacks in, the school provided fruit or carrots which were put out in big boxes in the playground for morning break. Lunchboxes were checked ad hoc. I thought my kids were telling porkies when we moved back here and they said ‘oh so and so had a chocolate bar…a bag of sweets.’ But it was true. And I see the wrappers blowing around in the playground at pick up.

so I think the Scottish govt has to start somewhere. I think there are already proper guidelines on if they’re cooking puddings in school how much sugar to use etc.

Your the one who doesn't want your child to eat cake if they then get upset becsuse you don't want them to have well that's your issue.

My initial reaction to this was that it’s the sort of rule made up by fun sucking jobsworths, but actually I think there’s some sense behind it.

Whatever parents opinions are on this, it is an undeniable fact that childhood obesity is far too high so something has to be done. If children are being offered treats and cake from parents who want to send them into nursery more than once or twice a month, then it’s too much. I can remember there being a couple of times when my dc were at school that I have to avoid giving them treats I’d have liked to because they had already had cake and a packet of haribo.

Children can celebrate and acknowledge a classmates birthday without cake being involved. If parents want a big fancy centrepiece for the pictures, they can make something out of a watermelon.

I agree with you. It’s a start and might be the only time that children are being taught to eat healthy food.

They can still sing happy birthday and do all of the fun things, you don’t need a cake at nursery to feel special.

Out of interest, what are the primary and secondary (or equivalent) schools like for food in Scotland?

Does anyone have a link to the wider guidance? It sounds like this situation is more complex than cake just being banned.

No they are not feeding other children other parents can just say no.

Primary are okay but not brilliant - they have free school meals for everyone from primary 1 to 5, so the kids are all getting the same. But the menus are a bit samey and a bit more 'kid food' than the nursery ones, and they're not so strict about nutrition. Secondary is an utter shit show as they just let the kids off school grounds to go and buy junk food every lunchtime.

hub.careinspectorate.com/media/6013/setting-the-table.pdf

Yes, just nursery because this is guidance issued by the Care Inspectorate which is responsible for nurseries. No, not just birthday cake - that is just a side effect of the comprehensive new guidance which is, on the whole, very good.

Ok then let them serve fruit and natural yoghurt. I would've thought they'd do that anyway. And the puddings wouldn't be highly sugared either. So a tiny bit of cake, or one small individual cake a couple of times a month shouldn't be outlawed.

Banning pudding every day yes, for the occasional birthday, too far.

The guidance goes well beyond birthday cake - as you can see from the excerpt (once it makes it through the image checker) it's pretty prescriptive. I agree something needs to be done about childhood obesity, I'm just not sure this is the best strategy.

My daughter hasn't ever had cake from/at nursery, so this seems a bit of an overreach? People share things for their kids birthdays- Hello Panda biscuits, party rings or something similar to take home. Sometimes little party bags with a few chewy sweets and some bubbles. That cake is considered a big enough problem to legislate is strange!

I agree.
Dear God - what a joyless society we are becoming. What happened to the philosophy of everything in moderation?

Ate they allowed to offer fruit and veg along side this?

Oh nose, willnae someone think of the weans eating a slice of cake a whole THREE times a month??

The lollies I would say are far more of an issue.

And I suppose the adults who came up with this guidance are all nibbling away on their bi-annual rice cake, are they?

Soulless ghouls.

Don't you get your free hours?

Children aren't fat because they have a piece of birthday cake, there's far more too it than that - in my experience they only get a tiny piece anyway

DD's nursery didn't allow cake. Instead they invited parents to provide fruit and they would make an amazing fruit 'cake' from it.