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Sugar snacks at school

12 replies

Antisugarmum · 13/01/2011 22:18

Greetings!
Our independent school feeds reception children cakes as before going home snack at about 2:30 p.m. justifying it by girls 'being soggy after lunch'. If they didn't give them cakes for dessert they won't be soggy in the first place.

In the morning they give them fruit snack to promote learning. I tried to ask them to stop giving kids cakes to no avail. We asked the headmistress and some other head of junior school in writing and asked the teacher not to give our girl sugar snack, but still she reports coming home that she had a chocolate cake or a flapjack or a chocolate buiscuit, before going home.

Any advice how to stop them do it.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
PixieOnaLeaf · 13/01/2011 22:47

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SlightlyTubbyHali · 13/01/2011 22:50

I would have thought that if you contact the school in writing and ask them to provide something else for your DD or send her in with an alternative, they ought to respect that.

But tbh I can think of much worse things than a 5 year old having a flapjack.

And what is "being soggy"?

Antisugarmum · 14/01/2011 11:16

Thank you ladies, for support!
I like when school gives fruit for snack, not cakes.
All I want is to keep kids blood sugar on even keel so they don't have ups and downs in mood and energy, not all children affected in the same way, though.

Only if you have adrenal fatique (which we have in the family) then sugar is a bitch. Plus trash infection is feeding on sugar. Ladies, intead of using Canisten, should limit buiscuit consumption, same for girls/kids.

Yes, it seems like things are changing at school, after couple of months. School nurse seems to be the answer. Have to ask GP for a letter to put it on school record. For a while it felt like hitting a wall.

OP posts:
nightcat · 14/01/2011 11:34

My ds school offers fruit at breaks, I am with you on this ASmum, my ds is a teen now and gf and I think the kitchen has expanded their knowledge and range for everyone since we had to provide a list of gf foods - when they realised that no special food is needed.

Maybe suggest that they offer fruit as well as sweets and if you have any med advice from dr about your dd that would help justify it?

Actually, even my ds previous school had banned sugary drinks and vending machine sweets when they started doing more nutritious foods, I recall a seminar when they talked how sugar gives them high and then they flag big way, that's why they changed.

dikkertjedap · 14/01/2011 14:16

American Society of Paediatricians says that children need a sugary snack as their energy levels actually get too low (same as many adults really). However, you are the parent, so I expect if you really do not want it,then at least they should not give it to your dc (but your dc might feel a bit peeved though).

Antisugarmum · 14/01/2011 21:30

Thank you, Night Cat and Dikkertjedap, I think sugar education should be a must for all children and adults. I'd like to know which school offered that ftastic seminar and vending mashine bann, not that our school has a vending mashine, but every supermarket is filled with sweets right into childrens faces.
There are many myths and misconceptions, there are also a website I once found that says sugar is good for you written by a Doctor (it claimed so)!

Childrens'sugar level(same as adults, time intervals is the diffrence) gets too low mostly in two case scenarios, (1)when they go round for long time witout a healthy slow release sugar meal/snack.(Ultimately all the food is sugar - glucose;the difference is the speed with wich it released into the blood stream). And (2)when chidlren/adults just ate a high sugarsnack and their blood sugar drops down after a great amount of insulin was send into the bloodstream to fight that high level of sugar. That only creates a craving of another sugar portion to fix that low sugar in the blood. Finally it's a rollercoaster.

So to prevent this children (and actually adults, too) need to snack often on healthy slow eneregy releasing snacks (nuts,yes,only those who allergic don't need to eat nuts, seeds, apples, some other fruit, vegies and other staff like coldpressed oat-fruit bars, milk, yougurts, even pieces of cold meat, not processed meats), not high Glucemic Index snacks like buiscuits, chocolates, cakes, flapjacks, sweets and energy drinks/sodas and juices and smoothies, that have no nutitional value at all.

I don't know what American Society of Pediatritians motivation is but most of the good stuff about sugar is paid by sugar industry, like the main stream doctors are by pharmaceuticals.
Children need good nutrition with good protein/carb ratio that provides steady supply of glucose into the bloodstream.

OP posts:
nightcat · 15/01/2011 11:27

ASM, the initiative was called School Food Trust and when I looked it up it turns out my ds school was running a pilot project.

www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/schools

Antisugarmum · 15/01/2011 23:26

Thank you, Nightcat! It helps to know you are not alone. I'll try to get it into our school somehow.
Look, what I found at the link!
www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/the-standards/the-food-based-standards/food-other-than-lunch

thank you

OP posts:
FunnysInTheGarden · 15/01/2011 23:30

don't know about sugar, but you do need to improve your spelling/typing OP

Blu · 15/01/2011 23:35

Fruit is chock full of pure sugar!

Antisugarmum · 16/01/2011 01:00

Sorry about spelling, no excuse for that, will try to do better.
Fruit if eaten on it's own on empty stomach is the best thing for one's health. Sugar in fruit is all food for good gut backteria, because it gets there in unbrocken cell structure, whereas juice and smoothies brake the cells and then it's pure sugar into blood stream right from the tongue.
Sorry, I won't be on this topic anymore for a while. Thank you all for your kind responces.

OP posts:
nightcat · 16/01/2011 14:13

ASM, glad it's useful, also, have you seen this? (there is one of those for secondary schools too):

study

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