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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think pupils shouldn't have to go without food for 5 hours!!!

111 replies

karise · 08/12/2008 09:22

Just dropped DD off at school. They have a school trip today & we were told to take everything back home with us except their lunchbox & waterbottle!
AIBU to think that it is important for 4 & 5 year olds to be allowed to take a snack if they aren't due back to school for lunch until 1pm?
I just thank God there are no diabetic's in DD's class

OP posts:
piscesmoon · 08/12/2008 16:04

I think that a DC can manage without a snack on one particular day in the year to save carrying it around all morning. They may be hungry when they get back for lunch, but I would be amazed if anyone has fainted through hunger! (I am sure that anyone with a medical problem would be catered for).

morningpaper · 08/12/2008 16:07

I honestly can't survive more than a couple of hours without eating SOMETHING, I go slightly crazed and can't concentrate...

And I stuff myself with Guardianista regulation muesli with yoghurt everyday for breakfast

morningpaper · 08/12/2008 16:09

lol I have just sat down with tea and tiny sandwiches/cakes with my DC... we are going to have dinner in 2 hours!?!?! We do this every day. We are nibblers.

piscesmoon · 08/12/2008 16:14

I would be hugely fat if I snacked between meals!

chocolatedot · 08/12/2008 16:20

Sorry Elliot, didn't mean to offend. Was just passing a general comment in relation to the many people on here who have said they are ravenous 2 hours after breakfast. Didn't mean any more than that.

mrsgboring · 08/12/2008 16:22

Travel sickness is made worse by having an empty stomach (just like morning sickness) as there's nothing to soak up excess acid.

ThingOne · 08/12/2008 16:25

We're designed to eat five or six small meals a day rather than three big ones. Nothing unhealthy in it all, nor does it mean you overeat, or are snacking the whole time. Healthy snacks are good for you and are not related to obesity.

IllegallyBrunette · 08/12/2008 16:26

I actually feel sick if I don't eat something every few hours.

I have breakfast at 7 and then always have to have something at 10/11.

christywhisty · 08/12/2008 16:28

My DC's never had a snack in KS1 either, they weren't allowed to have them,I think the free fruit came in after they started juniors

Mercy · 08/12/2008 16:34

I suppose it depends on what your idea of a snack is too.

For me it can be a banana, a piece of toast or pitta bread, a biscuit, a muesli bar etc.

I don't really go for the Starbucks type huge, creamy, syrupy coffee and a double chocolate muffin.

That would make me feel sick tbh

morningpaper · 08/12/2008 16:35

I can't get into a car unless I have just eaten a BIG meal or I start throwing up

Am a TOTAL wuss basically

Mercy · 08/12/2008 16:41

MP, a couple of years ago I had to have fasting blood test.

Dh had to come with me in case there was a long wait (which there was). I was almost delerious by the time I was seen and it took me most of the rest of the day to feel normal.

LIZS · 08/12/2008 16:44

Maybe they'll give them a snack/drink. Do they always get a snack in schooltime and eat before 1pm ?

KbearingGiftsWeTraverseAfar · 08/12/2008 16:51

my Yr 1 DS has fruit and milk in the mornings (I pay for the milk not the fruit) - it has always been the case that kids have milk at school (until Thatcher the Milk Snatcher that is), since I was at school 400 years ago. DD is in Yr 5 and is permitted to take water (proven to aid concentration) and fruit for breaktime.

It's not encouraging obesity, it's encouraging healthy eating habits (ie don't starve yourself then eat 47 jaffa cakes), keep your sugar levels up and you will concentrate better and feel better.

Works for me.

piscesmoon · 08/12/2008 17:14

I would rather have them all on the coach with empty stomachs.

nooka · 08/12/2008 17:18

I wouldn't like to be the teachers/helpers on that trip. I think they will have a bus of very grumpy children. Different metabolisms work in different ways, but my children are not very hungry at breakfast time, and even if I get an egg and toast into them they will still need topping up at 10ish if they have an active morning, and lasting through until 1pm (especially when school lunch is usually at 12) would lead to lots of complaints.

I can see why the school wants not to have snacks on the way, but I think they should have forewarned parents at the very least.

Oh and just to agree with LJB, spreading your calorific intake across six meals instead of three is a more healthy approach, and something that works very effectively if you are trying to lose weight. Low GI is all very well, but I too find pretty much regardless of what I eat at breakfast I will be hungry about 2 1/2 hours later, unless it's white bread or sugary cereal in which case it's about 30mins later (which is why I don't generally eat refined foods if I can help it). Also fainting, getting very ratty, becoming nauseous, getting very cold can all be caused by running out of energy, which is the problem more than getting hungry.

nooka · 08/12/2008 17:20

If I'm low on energy (and esp if I think need a pee) I get very very car sick. I don't usually throw up, but it may take me a couple of hours to feel OK again afterwards. ds (thin as a rake and eats like a horse) has the same problem.

blueshoes · 08/12/2008 17:30

Different metabolisms, different eating styles. Both my dcs were snackers, even from birth. Little and often was their feeding pattern. To this day, they are snackers and get very irritable if hungry.

I cannot go for 2-3 hours without feeling hungry. I cannot concentrate. The busier I am, the less likely am I to feel it. But I do feel it. I am a complete snacker. I also eat 3 set meals.

My dcs are slim as whippets. I am too - though past my whippet days!

cory · 08/12/2008 18:10

Admitting that a mid-morning healthy snack and drink of water may be quite good for you- why do children have to have what they are used to every single day? What harm will it do them if one day is different? If they do actually get to experience what it is like to be hungry? I would have thought it is a learning experience.

I too have a mid-morning snack on most days, but I wouldn't want to be so dependent on it that I couldn't cope without it. Nor do I want my children to be unable to cope with a deviation from their usual schedule, not once they are past toddlerhood.

Original poster
karise · 08/12/2008 18:38

Just found out they weren't allowed to take their water bottles either- I'm not a happy bunny!

OP posts:
constancereader · 08/12/2008 18:47

Were they given a drink though?

I am amazed by those on this thread who think that if it works for their child it must work for every child. We all have different needs. My dh has to eat every three hours, I can happily fast till the evening.

Mercy · 08/12/2008 18:53

Cory, I think it's the forewarned aspect as nooka said.

I know that if I'm not going to be able to eat at 10.30 then I will have more for breakfast than usual.

A child can't make that decision.

Original poster
karise · 08/12/2008 18:56

Apparently not a drink today

OP posts:
wheresthehamster · 08/12/2008 18:58

Have you had this confirmed from the school?

If so, seems pretty draconian.

piscesmoon · 08/12/2008 19:08

For goodness sake this is a one off day in the school calendar! Your DC will survive! Many DCs in the World never get a square meal or even clean water.