To think banning fried eggs is a step too far?

[NameChanger2026]

Whilst I agree with most of this, what’s wrong with an egg in decent oil?

Nothing wrong with a fried egg! Nothing wrong with oil! Eggs don't absorb oil so it's one of the best ways to cook them.

I thought we had moved away from the idea that a low fat diet is the healthiest?

Why can't we just feed children a diet full of unprocessed home-cooked food?

In the 70s and 80s we ate pudding every day at school and after tea at home as well and it didn't make us overweight. It was home-made so not ultra-processed. We didn't snack between meals because we had, had our sweet treat with our meal. We were only allowed sweets or crisps on Friday after school when we got our pocket money. There wasn't any processed snacks in the cupboards at home- there was fruit or bread if we were hungry after school and milk to drink.

The way many children eat at home now is completely wrong, that is the problem, not school dinners.

The school I work in supplies healthy school meals and children won't eat them! They want plain pasta, chips, sausages, chicken nuggets, etc as opposed to the vegetable lasagne, carrots and broccoli, roast dinners etc. that they are offered.
Most bring a packed lunch containing crisps, chocolate biscuits and sugary processed yoghurts instead. Their parents pack them far too much for their age- there is a fear of children being hungry these days so when children shun fruit and vegetables like young children naturally do they are not encouraged to eat them, they are replaced with things parents are confident their children will eat. These are inevitably bland, starchy and processed foods, so children never learn to like fruit and veg or foods with diverse textures and flavours so we are ending up with a generation of children with limited diets.

Not so say there is masses of work to do with the education system but the shocking stats on childhood obesity for kids in Year 6 (and adults) is condemning them to a lifetime of ill health.
So it's not a bad idea to try to make changes, is it?

Burford Buff in olive oil and butter 😅 ffs.

Tbf OP I think its kind of a moot point. Never ever known a school to do fried eggs anyway. Far too much faff and probably don't have the equipment. If anything they would be poach/baked in muffin like trays in the oven. (Or pre-made frozen omelette!)

Well it’s all rather pointless- my son eats fairly healthy and does a lot of exercise. The food in the canteen now is just limited the kids are now all just bringing packed lunches.

Schools should be teaching kids moderation. It’s like these parents who ban chocolate, first chance a kid has they’re stuffing their faces with it.

it’s just going to turn kids off thinking about healthy food. There’s no education round it.

Nothing wrong with a fried egg! Nothing wrong with oil! Eggs don't absorb oil so it's one of the best ways to cook them.
I thought we had moved away from the idea that a low fat diet is the healthiest?

It's not about fat it's about frying- and there is a difference.
Healthy fat are good. Frying changes the food a lot.

The idea is to avoid fried foods per se in school, so it's easier just to say no fried foods.

I can't see how eggs fried for mass consumption are actually very nice- they need cooking and eating straight away.

This was one of my first thoughts too. If kids don't eat the food, I imagine the parents will just switch to packed lunches instead.

Exactly.

Your brain needs fat. It is composed of fat and water. Around 25% of the brain's dry matter (fat) is cholesterol. Cholesterol is necessary for speedy brain signals and neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin to cross synapses effectively.

Fried eggs in oil are revolting that's what's wrong with them, slimy pukey little things, just thinking about them makes me wretch! 😀Scrambled is much nicer!

Wow that's bad. Were they really limited for time or something? Doesn't teach them much at all! My DD does home ec in Finland and they are taught to make everything from scratch, each week they make several different things (in groups, so part of the group does some dishes and the rest does others) then eat them together in class. For instance if they make burgers they will make the bread from scratch as well as the patties.

Nothing wrong with making changes but they need to be the right changes.

England’s brilliant PISA performance seems to indicate pretty good progress on this…

That's my experience too. He was often opting for the sandwich option (cheese or ham) rather than the cooked options.

We are now down to school lunches only on fish n chips day

Active growing children need lots of calories. These “experts” never seem to look at the bigger picture. They assume that we have an obesity problem because kids are eating dessert. Kids in the 1970s ate dessert and fried food. They weren’t obese. The problem now is that too many kids don’t do enough exercise (in or out of school), and are fed over processed rubbish. We need to get back to basics - get kids moving more and feed them a balanced diet made from proper fresh ingredients. It’s really not rocket science. Obsessing over how an egg is cooked is not the answer.

I've never seen egg on our school menu anyway apart from scrambled for a brunch type lunch (I think our menu is awful btw). I don't think any kids are getting anything more than toast as a cooked food at breakfast club?

I'm somewhat confused though as I thought most schools did most if not all of this already? Ours haven't had deep fried food for years. Always have a veg with every main. Cakes were removed a couple of years ago and it's just fruit, yoghurt, jelly most days (although I think that was more cost cutting!) are schools actually serving deep fried foods and not putting veg with their mains???

I wouldn't ban cakes or fried food.

But I do think kids ought to get used to eating big healthy vegetarian meals like curries and strews with brown rice. These are easy to scale up and also by far the cheapest way of delivering nutrition. Given they aren't allowed to serve nuts, schools ought to make wholegrains and pulses a completely normal part of meals.

That’s not just what they have done though is it so don’t sneer.

It’s about time food and nutrition was prioritised for us all and children. It’s the most important thing in the world in my opinion.

Jamie Oliver was right starting the whole campaign for better school meals years ago, but there comes a point where you bring in stuff the kids just won’t eat. Totally for fruit rather than cakes, but lentils, really, how many kids will willingly eat them and yes I know they are in with other foods not served alone. It’s finding a balance that’s important

I look at it like this, even my 14 year old son who plays football 3 times per week MMA twice per week, goes to the gym, doing food tech gcse because he’s interested in getting good nutrition as he’s very interested in health and fitness, eats a wide variety of foods, snacks on fruit and salads, loves raw carrots is refusing these new “healthily” lunches as there’s nothing he likes (he will generally try most things but he knows what he likes and doesn’t). If he wants a slice of cake or portion of chips do be it. He’s just shy of 6ft and 10 stone with no excess fat on him. I would like him to have a hot meal at lunch esp in winter.

There should be an element of choice there with education around making those choices. This whole thing is utterly ridiculous.

Get kids moving more, make our streets and parks safer so kids can be out and about, subsidise sports clubs. Limit online activity for under 18s. Legislate against UPFs. Make life more affordable so families have the time and money to invest in decent meals.

I've never seen a school that did fried eggs but it does do my nut in when people think a fried egg and a scrambled egg cooked in the same amount of butter or oil are somehow different nutritionally. Or a poached egg served on lettuce dressed in 1tbsp olive oil, for that matter.

I think- forget the feckless uneducated mums with trollies of shit- this thread on mumsnet perfectly illustrates the problem. You’re the only person to hit on this and it’s undoubtedly one of the main drivers of the problem.

banging on about kids blood sugar and 10% loss of vitamin D from frying is mental and shows how little parents feel in control of this.

where I disagree though is I think ultra processed foods in moderation have their place and aren’t going anywhere so we need to learn to live with them- with greater regulation

Indeed, some of the black-and-white thinking on the thread is bonkers. Yes frying an egg causes if to lose some nutrients, but unless you absolutely obliterate it the great majority of the good stuff is still there. And yes the oil adds a few calories, but a calorie is not some great evil to be avoided at all costs so unless you're downing pints of the stuff it's fine. I honestly think worrying about food to this extent is more harmful than eating a sub-optimal meal now and again (or even quite often). Eat a balanced diet, lots of veg, not too much sugar, drink lots of water and do lots of exercise. That's it. No need to fret about eggs.

For some kids it may be the only decent, or quite simply only, meal they get all day.

Lentils can be extremely delicious though!

Like all the pulses, their own flavour is subtle, it's what you do with them flavour wise that counts. Pulses in general are so good for fibre and protein whilst also being extremely cheap if you buy bulk and dried.

Just take a step back from the outrage and consider the bigger picture. The context.

School dinners and now breakfasts, (just like hospital food and catering in army barracks etc) are provided by service companies. To get the business they have to meet the decision makers' expectations and be cheaper than the opposition, to make money they have to provide the meals and services at below the quoted price. The net result is cheap processed food full of empty calories.

Now they are trying to regulate an issue which is baked into the(ir) cake.

I’m surprised secondary school kids can’t have a pastry, that seems a bit unnecessary.