AIBU to think the teachers were unprofessional about my son's lunch?

[SonnyHoney]

My 16-year-old son went on a biology trip today. He's currently doing A levels. He took a portion of fried mince (seasoned) and rice that he made yesterday with him. It was a fairly large portion. He is underweight and has been bulking by eating lots of protein and carbohydrates.

He said that both of his biology teachers put him on the spot for a good few minutes about his lunch choice. They were laying into him about how he needs more fibre in his diet and they didn't pick on anyone elses food. He is actually quite a shy lad, and he finds it hard to stick up for himself against adults.

I told him he needs to stick up for himself, and he said it was very hard to stick up to his biology teachers. Which I do understand as mentioned he is a 16 year old lad, and they are two women in their late 30s. He says that one of these teachers in particular is always picking on him. Other people in the class have noticed it as well, supposedly.

Am I being unreasonable to think its highly unprofessional for 2 teachers in their 30s to put a shy lad on the spot in front of all his peers and make him feel uncomfortable about his food choices for several minutes.

I've been a scout leader, and I'm now a guide leader and I'd never treat a teen like this.

I’m sure OP and her son are aware of what a balanced diet looks like.

I'm a teacher and you're right, it is. But these teachers didn't help themselves by going on and on about one student's one-off lunch and seeming to extrapolate from it that he never eats any other type of food and might well get cancer. As a teacher, taking sixth formers on a school trip should be one of the most pleasant aspects of the job but, taking this at face value, which we might as well, these teachers didn't take the opportunity to relax a bit with the students and get to know them, they turned it into a lecture, at least for this boy. I took some A level students on an overnight trip to London once and it upset me that they smoked (they went out of the way to do it), but beyond one comment to that effect I didn't go on about it because what would be the point? I do think commenting on people's food is one of the rudest things you can do.

Of course it was rude, and anyone saying otherwise is being really disingenuous. You can bet your life that if a colleague at work had commented on their packed lunch in this way they would find it totally inappropriate.

Just because your son is technically a minor, it doesn’t give any adult the right to hone in on one meal and use it to make disparaging comments about their diet, an extrapolation which is as stupid as it is bad-mannered.

Unsolicited comments to teenagers about what they are eating, needs to be done very carefully. I think these teachers stepped out of line. I can’t stand preachy lectures about what people are eating, especially when it’s based on one snapshot of a meal.