To think a leftover happy meal isn’t the worst packed lunch you could have?

[Tulipdreams]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/teachers-share-students-worst-packed-36878989.amp

Hear me out first. Of course the article is pretty terrible, children being sent into school with only packets of biscuits for lunch, stories of children having no milk for their cereal and bringing in energy drinks.

But one example was a child took a leftover happy meal to school. Aibu to think that this isn’t the worst thing you could have?

No I have never sent my child into school with a cold takeaway for their lunch, and it would be concerning if it was happening all the time. But I would eat leftover McDonald’s if I hadn’t eaten it the night before. It’s probably no worse than taking a ham sandwich and a packet of crisps (which would be deemed as acceptable).

When I was a child most kids took meat paste sandwiches and a wagon wheel and that was a completely normal lunch.

I can well believe it!

It was telling, I thought, that you talked specifically about protein and then the chips were brought up. Because there's actually no getting round the protein argument.

No it’s because cold congealing fat is disgusting to eat! It’s not about the nutrition - yes as a one off it won’t hurt, but it’s sending the child in with something grim to eat for lunch. Would YOU eat a cold happy meal!?

I'm 18 weeks pregnant now but Def went through a stage a few months back of driving to maccies, ordering a cheeseburger, then deciding I felt too sick to eat it. Would quite happily eat it cold a few hours later. Some people might find it disgusting, I thought it tasted quite nice.

You do also need to factor in, if you're putting yourself in the child's place and deciding how you'd feel, that the child may very well prefer this to something prepared by the parent instead.

I seriously doubt any child wants a cold, plasticky half eaten hamburger for lunch the day after they've eaten it. Or some cold nuggets or chips. It's one step up from eating out of the bin.

I'm just remembering a conversation I had with a lovely elderly lady of about 80yo. She told me that she'd always heard about McDonalds and finally had got round the week before to trying it.
She said the burger was good enough, but the fries were "fine, but she hadn't enough appetite to eat many when hot", she'd put them in the fridge and eaten them cold for lunch with salad.
She thought that way they were so delicious that she'd gone back to buy more fries to eat with salad the next day. She was even wondering if she could freeze some...

Now my brain was saying firmly "yuck" but she was the sort of lady who shopped at M&S and cooked from scratch, so I presume she did really like them that way. I did decline some when she offered me though.

So you can't necessarily tell what someone else thinks is great.

'Half eaten hamburger' is a new addition. The article doesn't specify that it was half eaten.

But it's not like you've ever even met most children, much less quizzed them about their tastes, so your willingness to make such a massive punt is neither here nor there really. I mean, there's kids in primary school with ARFID. At the more typical end of the scale, children as a cohort seem pretty fond of ham, a foodstuff for which there aren't enough criticisms in the world. There's no accounting for taste.

There's multiple adults on this thread who've talked about liking cold takeaways, and none of them mentioned this preference only arriving in adulthood. You can't possibly think you're the arbiter of children's food tastes.

My child is home educated and occasionally he has a happy meal. If he doesn’t finish it I will offer it the next day and he usually eats it. Personally ant stand that food but once in a while it’s not unhealthy. Shame schools can’t tell between an occasional treat/waste saving and actually repertory unhealthy lunches

@Everybodys

But it's not like you've ever even met most children, much less quizzed them about their tastes, so your willingness to make such a massive punt is neither here nor there really. I mean, there's kids in primary school with ARFID. At the more typical end of the scale, children as a cohort seem pretty fond of ham, a foodstuff for which there aren't enough criticisms in the world. There's no accounting for taste.

It seems a bit of a stretch, on a parenting board, to assume that a poster will "never have met children"!

You've missed a word. I wrote 'never even met most children'.

My teen sometimes eats leftover cold McDonald’s chicken selects for breakfast straight out of the fridge
You see similar breaded chicken in a lot of supermarket sandwiches ( but it’s usually called katsu!)
Concept is the same though.

As long as it’s occasionally, I can’t see the problem.

Haha. That’s probably my mother… she reheats chips from takeaways too

Hard agree

Do you eat maccies? I mean the fries and burgers are nasty when they get delivered late/cold (yes I love me some gherkined burgers) and they’ve not been cooked that long prior but who fridges those meals? It’s absolutely eat or bin stuff and like others said if they can afford a happy meal they can afford a loaf and packet of cold meat. Smacks of lack of care more than anything.

I understand what you are saying but in this case it was neglect. I live in a very deprived area and its not uncommon unfortunately.