Lunch box inspections-Nanny state gone too far

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Am I the only one in feeling annoyed when my 4 year old comes home with a sticker for having no chocolate or crisps in her lunchbox. I am a fan of healthy eating but if I choose to send her with a packed lunch surely it is up to me what goes into it. Cant stand the thought that she will be in effect punished by not having a sticker because I have put a small chocolate in for a treat-despite the 2 or 3 items of fruit she has as well. However what is really upsetting DH and I is that at 4 she is coming out with "too much chocolate makes you fat", "have sausages got fat in them?" etc at FOUR. We eat very heathily at home and I understand that the schools have got to try to educate everyone but I feel this is the Nanny State going too far or am I just being blardy minded?

We are not inspecting, but yes, I would think it is probably the same in most schools of our 'make up'

Ok thanks for that - but it still grinds but maybe I would be less dismissive of a school that does it after talking to you. I would prefer my DC's to have school dinners but that depends on the school too!

Really don't think you can equate bringing a chocolate bar into school with bringing a knife in. A chocolate bar is unlikely to be hurting anyone else.
Imo it isn't the school's place to decide what a child has in his/her lunchbox. That decision comes from home. Perhaps I'm naive but I have also not seen this crazy behaviour that people say occurs from a sugar high. Maybe it does, I've never witnessed it. But if it does I would say it affects children susceptible to sugar and I don't think it's as common as people make out. Those children affected maybe should have there parents took to one side and advised. Contact the parents about behaviour not have blanket lunchbox inspections. When I went to school we stopped off at the shops to buy sweets and would easily have finished off a quarter before we got to school. We didn't bounce off the walls all afternoon. I think there is something more than diet going on with behaviour.
If a child has 3bars of chocolate for lunch, that's their business. My cousin existed for 3 months with a friend on a working holiday in Greece (didn't pay much) on chocolate and bread. She didn't come to much harm and wasn't arrested for any bad behaviour.
I'm all for educating children about food so that at some point in their lives they might start to put it into practice but forcing someones idea of a good diet onto children without knowing their personal situation is not a good idea.
Also, whenever it comes up teachers tend to say that their job is to teach their subject not teach manners, behaviour etc. Why is it now their job to be food police, confiscating different foods? Surely they should be teaching nutrition not enforcing it.
Lunch time is surely the child/students free time. What they eat then has nothing to do with their school time.

Perhaps children could have one day a week - Friday for example - when they are allowed to bring in sweets etc in their lunchboxes.

Schools in our area do a Friday fun day for school dinners which consist of pizza, baked beans and revolting looking breadcrumbed thingies so why not do the same for packed lunches?

Re the buzzing children, Friday pm would be the best time for this maybe?!

No, neither do I. But I was simply raising the issue that one parents view on what is OK may not actually be hlepful when looking at whole school policy

You are fortumate not have have seen the effects of a sugar high. I have, kids are almost bouncing off the walls. We alsio had a rather nasty assault that occured after a child had been chugging Red bull in large quantities. I have had to stop a child eating 10 choctate puddings on the school fiel. Does he have the right to do that? And if he does, do I have the right to make him wipe up the puke?

Making rules for one or two children is simply not the same when you are dealing with 1300

The thing Friday fun day teaches children is that fast food (McD style) is a treat. This is one of the best ways to instil comfort eating. Food should be food. Not keep the 'bad' stuff for special occasions. Mix it all in and explain the food triangle. Not save bad stuff for when it's a special day, or to cheer you up when you're down.

Those children do not have the right to do that and the parents should (and probably were) contacted accordingly. They should also have been informed of the possible cause of the behaviour. But the rest of the school should not have a blanket ban on stuff because of the idiotic behaviour of some.

But even one chocolate bar in a small child can make a difference to their behaviour imagine that in a class of 30!
I work with kis who already have behaviour problems imagine 10 sugar high kids with behaviour problems.

I think Friday fun day is trying to get across the message that fast food is ok once in a while. It's when you have it every day it's a problem.

The menu at the schools round here on a Friday say wholemeal Pizza, low-fat oven chips, chicken breast in wholemeal breadcrumbs etc ... trying to get across 'healthy junk food' - incase parents start ranting.

Oh we do tell them. But with pressure from other kids to eat crap, the message may fall on stony ground.

We had a case, many years ago now of a parent who gave her year 9 child alcohol filled chocolated to bring in for the rest of the class as a Christmas 'Treat'. Some parents have very firm views of what their 'rights' are , with little nor no grasp of their 'responsibilities'

Can you really not wait till your child gets home to give them a treat?

Nikki, snap!

I taught a boy with ADHD who was always a bit of a handful. After a 'panda pop' fueled lunch, he was totaly out of it. It was actually quite cruel to see, awful for the poor lad. And not much more fun for the rest of the class who had the effects of the behaviour to cope with.

On of the kids at my school (Severe ASD) keeps going for 3 days after a McDonalds

Blimey! Makes my problems seem minor!

The thing is, schools were criticised (rightly) for feeding kids shite. Finaly the schools get their act in gear and sort out better food on site. they get rid of coke machines, our vending machines now only sell milk and water. the food on site is good, well priced and of a good quality. And still parents want to send in kids with crap to eat because it is their 'right'

If I am honest, I'm not that aggitated if a parents sends in the odd chocie bar, but we can't police the 'odd' bar. We can't keep a list of who had a choccie bar, and when, we have 1300 kids on site at lunch time. We can't check a list and confiscated it if they had 3 bars yesterday.

And be sure, the parent who sent in the 3 chocolates and a bag of crisps will say it is thair 'right' to do so.

Given that teachers will (and have) tell (told) you that food has a significant effect on behaviour, is your right to give them a treat (which can, lets be honest here, wait till hime time) outwight my need to have a calm class?

I just think it is ridiculous that kids having chocolate in their lunchbox is more importnat to parents than having classes of calm children able to concentrate and learn.

Our school is positively wild after lunch and somethimes foer the whole day. I see kids coming in throught he school doors at the strat of a school day swiggin red bull and eating bags of sherbert!

Coke and mars bars for breakfast round with us. School now runs a breakfast club. there is no excuse.

We did have one spectacular fight after one kid drank loads of red bull. Scary stuff!

WEruna breakfast club and have a healthy canteen, also ahve a cafe and I am trying to getit to open in the evenings while we run a afterschool homework club.

I had a noramally nice class turn on me in riot fashion, when I asked the following day what had heppened they said they had all been on the field drinking some blue caffeine drink.

Did you all see that programme on a few days ago debunking the myth that high sugary foods cause children to act in an alarming manner...running about with a susposedly "sugar rush"? They proved (If only one study can do such a thing?) that it wasn't the food at all, just the entertainment and socialisation. Very interesting, although they weren't given blue energy drinks so that probably doesn't apply!

I'm shocked that some children are laughing at the contents of their peer's lunchboxes at such a young age. Someone mentioned 4 1/2 yr olds taking the mick, how odd! My daughter is 5 and we're lucky enough not to have experienced this. These children sound dreadful.

I watched that too and thought it was quite funny (I have a bil who is sugar paranoid, which seriously winds me up) however it was only two parents who were interviewed, and the counfounding factor was very high (sugary party had soothing games, whilst healthy party had a very hyper afternoon). With my two you can see the immediate sugar rush, and then the crash afterwards if they only have something high GI, but if there is a balance it doesn't make much odds (and if they don't eat they are absolutely awful). Our school (primary) has a no fizzy drinks, no sweets, no chocolate rule, and I can't see any major problem with that, as the main thing it does is make lunches more similar, and so less of an issue. I'd be quite happy if they said no crisps too. These things seem sensible to me, as they clearly aren't very healthy and can quite easily be eaten after school if required anyway. Obviously for kids with eating issues it's a different issue, and I hope that the school would be sensitive to that (they have a behavioural unit, so I'd certainly hope so!). I would find it irritating if they said cheese off the block only, but only in a minor way (I can't see any problem with babybells/cheese strings except for the expense). I am happy with the healthy message being taught - ds has a very competive streak and was very happy when he "won" the how many portions homework, and it is a good message to reinforce. I am also keen on the fruit time, and wish it covered junior school too (the school encourages it, but it's not quite the same). I work for a primary care trust and the obesity issue is scary - the rates of childhood diabetes are seriously increasing, and expected to go on doing so as there is a very strong link with obesity. Diabetes is expensive, and can be both disabling and life limiting. Dunno if I agree with the inspections thing, but I know that ds thinks the best lunch to be had is dairylea lunchables because a friend of his has that, so I'd be happy for them to be banned too!