to complain about the new healthy eating policy at dc's school

[FranSanDisco]

Dc's attend the local state primary and on the whole it is a good a school. On Thursday they brought home a letter on a new healthy eating plan affecting packed lunches and snacks. I have no problem with the food they suggest for packed lunches but snacks include only : fruit, raisins and veg. No bread sticks, bread and butter or cheese which they were allowed before. Also, they intend to pre-designate certain pupils to open the lunch packs (Yr 5) and inspect them. Those failing the good food test will get a leaflet inserted and be followed up by letters/meetings for further failures - is this a little OTT or do I need a chill pill? I am really bothered by this interference and the fact that raisins aren't actually healthy for teeth so how can they ban bread sticks and cheese but OK the dried fruit. If you were me would you drop them a line?

But maybe the child won't eat a healthy lunch.What is the point of wasting money onsending stuff which the child won't touch.At least he will have got energy and hydration (which are the 2 most immediate requirements) fro a jam butty and bottle of pop.

biddysmama - so you have seen the same kid take in a jam butty and a bottle of panda pop 5 times or are you just assuming that the kid takes the same lunch every day??

and if they do....

Whose business is that??

Yours - NO
The schools - NO
Social Welfare - NO
The parents - YES

My uncle lived for four years on custard and cheese! (no word of a lie!) and the doctor told gran, he is eating what his body requires. He has never been obese, and has always been perfectly healthy! I on the other hand, cannot eat fruit. One piece will give me the s for a week.
Every child is different. Sugar and fat have a place in a healthy balanced diet, and I was taught that children should not be fed low cal low fat food.

I'll provide ahealthy lunch but I'm not going to stress myself over a sodding bread stick. If I have that in the house it will go in the lunch. Bring on the meetings, there's nothing they can do about it.

I think it is going totally over the top. If another pupil was inspecting my DS's pack lunch I'd be furious. It is a step too far.

Dried fruit isn't particularly healthy. They can stick to the teeth and rot them. Bananas are now a key source of rotten teeth in kids.

I think the majority of people know what healthy food is. We don't need to be patronised by the school about we can/can't put in our DCs lunch box. It's our choice not for a yr 5 pupil to tell us.

I sometimes give my DCs a packet of sweets and tell them they can't eat them all because it would be too much sugar. They understand this and have learnt that you don't need to finish a bag of sweets. I think this is a good discipline to teach kids because it gives them an understanding of portion sizes and teaches them at a young age not too over eat. There is more to a healthy diet than just telling kids to eat fruit and veg.

Jam butty and panda pop are quite healthy here. Still none of my business.

Would it be cynical to think that a large part of all this is for the school to be able to tick a "healthy eating policy" box for ofsted?

All smacks a bit of 1984 to me. Teaching chidren to be grasses.

lot of kids would be horrified at other people opening their lunch... seems like bizarre idea to be honest - have no problem wtih encouraging healthy eating but having the lunch detectives open and investigate seems mad!

Journey - can you please explian why banans are a key source of rotten teeth?

The school I work at is like this - banning healthy seeming snacks/bread and we have had LOADS of complaints from parents. Also they still serve the same rubbish (chips, fatty sugar filled (bloody lovely)puds etc) on hot dinners so all the poor kids on sandwiches get their food taken away but get to watch friends fill up on treats.

I would contact school and ask for clarification on what is included/ excluded as it seems a bit extreme and say you don't want a strange child in your DC lunch box - not exactly hygenic!!

YANBU this type of 1984 type interference really worries me. Children aren't supposed to have a low fat high fibre diet like adults their nutritional needs are completely differetn and cheese is fine.

I had cheese, chocolate cake etc as a child as snacks because I needed the calories. my Mum struggled to keep me at a healthy weight due to having such a fast metabolism, I was extremely skinny and chronically underweight.

It's up to me how I feed my child, not the school. Yet another example of school just getting it wrong time and time again.