Mumsnet Consultation Panel: opinions requested on School Food Policy

[rustybear]

The junior school I work at is currently creating a new food policy, and we're asking parents their views particularly on issues such as whether sweets/and/or cakes should be sold at charity sales, PTA events etc and whether children should be allowed to bring in sweets etc to distribute on their birthday. (We already ban all nuts & allow only 'healthy' snacks at playtime. We have a resource for ASD children, and are able to make separate arrangements for SN children if necessary.)
I thought that mumsnet views would be interesting and helpful.....

My personal view (as both the Mum on NT and SN boys) is that cakes / sweets etc are fine and have a place as occasional treats at fetes etc, because we need to equip our children to be nutritionally aware long term not just whilst we hold the reins. I have no problems whatsoever with occasional sweets / treats for the boys (or me! LOL).

With Sam, I leace a stash of nice-but-acceptable treats with the Teachers for birthdays etc when the others take in treats.

Sweets/cakes at charity sales, PTA events, school discos etc - YES

Bringing in small choc bar or sweet on birthdays - YES

Banning them would be just OTT imo.

what gdg said.

I really think that if you take these things too far they can backfire. cakes and choc occasionally is fine. In fact I'd allow small ones as a snack on one day of the week too

Agree with gdg.

Actually as SP says, we have "treat Friday" for snacks when biscuits and choc aer acceptable (as some were bringing them every day) and quite a lot still bring a banana or an apple so that's great.

Agree with everyeon else - banning things just makes people want them more!

As long as kids are taught that they have their place in a healty balanced diet and the 'perils' of eating too many it can only be a good thing.

Also depends on what childen have in school dinners. If they have sweet puddings at lunch time it is a bit odd to ban cakes on special occasions

Agree with most by banning things we make them more attractive.
I think this is all getting a bit out of hand.
My children don't eat any more "rubbish" than i did when young,in fact probably less,i used to take sweets in my lunch box! (yes i've still got all my teeth )
We're in danger of creating a v. miserable society if we take everything away from our kids, they will just rebel more.
Just concentrate on health education, there will always be the few that don't care and you won't change that.

Think children should be exposed to the 'everything in moderation' idea. Would be really sad if children never got the chance to bake little cakes for school fetes or to buy them. My dd sees cakes and sweets as a small part of her diet - she knows we don't eat too many because they have sugar in which isn't good for her teeth.

Blimey- a MN food thread that agrees!!

get out the bunting ladies, it finally happened LOL!

I agree that it is going to far to ban them completely. At the moment the DSs' school is going through a big healthy eating drive, as they have just installed a new kitchen and got new caterers, who are doing a fab job.

DS1 still has packed lunches because of his intolerances, but he is being told he can't bring crisps, which I think is a bit much since the school lunches have chips or fried potatoes on Fridays. Can't they have a crisps on Fridays policy? He's also said he can't have cakes, but since the school lunches serve a hot pudding every day, that seems mighty unfair to me.

That was obviously supposed to be 'too' far.

Anyway, Who ever heard of a school fete without cakes!!!!
What would gran say?

Our school,as in most now i think, gives fruit to key stage 1 kids at break. The kids love it, and in key stage 2 they are given awards for the class bringing in the most fruit for break time per week.
Much better to encourage the good things than ban the bad i think.

(singersgirl, DS's school also disapproves of crisps, Sam has a dairy gluten and salicylate free diet. Now, unless they want to do the shopping which is frankly an interesting enterprise, they can blinkin well let him have what he gets- and that is crisps)

Wasn't aware that crisps were against the law... Until they are banned in the shops we will continue to buy them. It's only if you have them multiple times a day that you need to worry and then surely the people who should be worrying are the parents not the food police aka schools! Sorry rant over

"whether sweets/and/or cakes should be sold at charity sales" Yes, I think they should.

"whether children should be allowed to bring in sweets etc to distribute on their birthday" Yes, I think they should.

Agree.

Thanks for all your replies - bumping for the after school crowd.
I suspect I may already have got more replies than from our own parents!

PeachyClair, at least DS1 is only low salicylate and he has dairy. But that causes enough problems for the school's policy, because he can't take fruit every day, and he doesn't like celery (don't blame him on that) - I have to put in roasted chickpeas and stuff.

Cakes and sweets at school fairs etc - yes.

In school for birthdays? I would say small cakes, yes, but not actually sweets, lollies etc.

I think cakes fine for fetes and sweets for birthday.r

What about alcohol?

At fetes.

OOh yes as long as it isn't Liebfrau or Mateus.

Alcohol - well not for the children....

Although we delved into the school archives recently and found they used to serve beer to the 8yos.

Apparently a concerned parent/grandfather was reassured at the time that the child would be awash before he was intoxicated!!