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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think it’s a bit unreasonable that children have to have fruit for school snack.

282 replies

MyLittleLove1 · 03/11/2025 07:27

DD’s school have sent a reminder that parents must send their children to school with a fruit snack for morning break. They will not be allowed to have anything else. This is to encourage healthy eating. I do understand this, but my daughter has breakfast at 7 as she is starving when she wakes up, and feel that a piece of fruit isn’t really that substantial for a snack. She would normally have fruit and a snack like some malt loaf. I feel a little against this also because there is so much to having a healthy diet. Many foods are healthy and make a great, filling snack. Why are we being policed on this? Or am I BU?

OP posts:
ThejoyofNC · 04/11/2025 12:53

Kirbert2 · 04/11/2025 11:32

As I said, alternatives should be allowed.

I don't think it would be fair for certain children to be allowed to eat different snacks in front of all the others who can only have fruit.

The way I see it is at break time, you can have some fruit if you want it. If you don't want it, don't have it.

luckylavender · 04/11/2025 13:41

When I was young we didn’t snack

godmum56 · 04/11/2025 13:48

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 04/11/2025 10:13

My child’s school started doing this because of allergies. We had children bringing in cereal bars with nuts and countless other things around children with very serious allergies and snack food isn’t monitored as rigorously as lunch food. It’s just easier to say fruit or vegetable snacks only.

but people can be allergic to fruit and/or veg

Kirbert2 · 04/11/2025 15:50

ThejoyofNC · 04/11/2025 12:53

I don't think it would be fair for certain children to be allowed to eat different snacks in front of all the others who can only have fruit.

The way I see it is at break time, you can have some fruit if you want it. If you don't want it, don't have it.

Not wanting it is very different to having a limited diet due to autism or another medical reason where eating fruit isn't possible.

I'd say it isn't fair to make some children go without.

Lifestooshort71 · 04/11/2025 16:35

@ThejoyofNC
The way I see it is at break time, you can have some fruit if you want it. If you don't want it, don't have it.
⬆️This, 100%.
(And what is it with snacks and snack cupboards? When did it become a thing to eat between meals?)

RedToothBrush · 04/11/2025 17:30

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 04/11/2025 10:13

My child’s school started doing this because of allergies. We had children bringing in cereal bars with nuts and countless other things around children with very serious allergies and snack food isn’t monitored as rigorously as lunch food. It’s just easier to say fruit or vegetable snacks only.

The thing about the current focus on the twelve main allergens is that people have then pulled themselves into this false idea that they are the ONLY allergens.

It thing that pisses me off even more than this is people who have an allergy or a child with an allergy who are then utterly dismissive of the concept of anyone who doesn't have one of the twelve.

These are the people who should be most tuned into how serious it can be.

I do not get the nut ban in schools - outright bans are discouraged by allergy charities - they advocate for management of allergies because they know that kids have to learn to cope from an early age.

My son has a fruit allergy. It's not on The List. He's come out in hives from contact around school on several occasions even after school had been told.

The last time he ate it he was a gnat whisker from A&E as he was wheezing and his lips and mouth swelled up.

I have struggled to get school to take it seriously. The GP won't do fuck all because apparently it's being managed (DS really probably should have an EpiPen at this point).

Nut allergy people really should be more clued up than most and it's frustrating as hell when they go 'ban this but make them have fruit' which has a range of allergies which are more common than people realise.

This aside the whole 'bad food, good food' shite isn't encouraged because that leads to eating disorders and you have SEN kids who are particularly sensitive to foods (and more likely to have allergies strangely even) who get forgotten in this because of ignorance. DS was first flagged as SEN because of food issues.

We had so many issues with DS and food... Until a friend who has a really restricted diet said that as a child his parents put pressure on him over food and he thinks that's partly what contributed to him being so picky. He also said as he's got older and not had that pressure he has relaxed a bit (he really pretty much eats chicken and pizza and that's it). It was about this idea of 'safe food' and not safe food.

We backed off DS after this because we were shit out of other ideas. We just let him have access to other things and made a habit of sharing food between us if we wanted. He then started to say he liked the look of something and could he try. It was a complete nightmare up to this point.

Plus the normalisation of snacking, whether it be 'healthy' or not, isn't in itself healthy. It doesn't allow kids to learn to get hungry. There's just a constant availability of food on demand. Schools really shouldn't be managing kids who have an absence of food at home precisely because it impacts negatively on other kids too. Breakfast clubs rather than snacks should be the way it is handled.

Honestly EVERYTHING about food in primary schools is fucked in the head and poorly thought out. It just follows the latest trend rather than actually giving the subject a scientific / educated approach.

JaelsTentpeg · 04/11/2025 17:48

Might you get away with sliced apples and cheese? Nice chunk of protein and could be subtle with it.

Tbh I'm on the fence. DS is an adult now and still reminds me of sadly eating carrots and hummus whilst everyone else got dairylea dunkers. I do feel guilty about that.

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