"Only 1% of kids packed lunches healthy" says BBC breakfast news - surely this can't be true?

[Littleknight]

Just saw an article on BBC breakfast news that only 1% of children have healthy packed lunches. I can't believe this - surely it's more.
Come MN's lets set the record straight!

And another thing...

What this article actually says is "Only 1% of primary schoolchildren's packed lunches meet "the nutritional standards set for school meals in England", which is not the same thing as "healthy".

Message withdrawn

I remember when my daughter started school and she wanted school dinners but after 2 weeks quickly gave up and I was very pleased as all she seemed to be given was pizza, chips and chocolate pudding. We also have a ban on chocolate, sweets, crips and fizzy drinks for lunchboxes and I do adhere to it but many don't! My husband often gives our daugther a bit of chocolate but nearly every time it gets noticed by a lunch monitor and she is not allowed to eat it which I think is grossly unfair when those eating school lunches are eating chocolate pudding! The school lunch monitors say that chocolate is not allowed as some children are allergic, so it begs me to ask what sort of E numbers/flavourings are being used for the chocolate pudding if proper chocolate is not being used?

I vary lunchboxes but include

Either sandwich or roll with butter only or jam (daughter doesn't like filling in her sandwiches) or a pitta with cucumber, or a piece of crusty bread or a replacement for a bread such as a few low fat sausage rolls and some chicken satay's (horror of horrors!)

Then I add some fruit/veg - some days just strawberries or cucumber or grapes or melon and some days two or three things other days nothing - depends what's in.

Babybel or cheese string or hunk of cheddar, or breadsticks with cream cheese - whatever daughter likes at the moment, she changes her taste often!

Sometimes she gets a pepperami or some ham or a mini scotch egg instead of the cheese - again depends whats in.

Yoghurts - frubes, petit filous, mini muller's again dependant what's in

Occasionally I put in a packet of crisps, usually on a friday when cupboard stocks are llow, sometimes I put in a few jaffa cakes or a couple of jammie dodgers - again depends on how low the cupboard stocks are.

DC have:
1 cheesestring
1 Pepperami sausage (so protein, eh?)
1/2 butter sarnie (sometimes with fruit spread or sliced cucumber)
1 biscuit.

In addition, DS-5yo, the hungrier child, usually has apple juice and maybe an orange or some grapes.

They don't eat yogurt in lunchboxes, DD doesn't eat fruit in her lunch box, it may not be wonderful but it's not horrendous, is it? Lunch is the high-point of the school day, I'm inclined to indulge a bit esp. as DS hates school.

They have crisps as afterschool snack every day, mind .

an average packed lunch for my DC's is as follows:

piece of fruit
raisins
yoghurt (frube/petit filous/mini mueller corner/pro-biotic drink)
packet of crisps
peanut butter/cheese/ham sandwhich
water

I put crisps in my DC's packed lunch every day unless they have a flapjack or biscuit instead. I will not be made to feel like a bad mother becuase I do so. My children are very active (DS plays football 3 times a week and still bounces around the house like tigger. DD also plays football and never keeps still)
DD is quite a fussy eater and won't have cheese/ham/chicken/turkey/beef etc in a sandwich. This means he sometimes eats the same peanut butter sandwich every day for weeks on end. I would rather this than he ate nothing at all.

I cook a healthy hot meal every evening from scratch, including plenty of vegetables and salads. They also have a pudding most nights, but this is often fruit or yoghurt or something homebaked.

I don't want my kids to be worrying about calories and fat at their young age. I want them to enjoy a variety of food and not worry about certain foods being 'bad'.

soory DS is a fussy eater

well too much cheese, meat with salt, jam peanutbutter are all BAD (too much fat/sugar

watermelon no good, glycaemic index too high

Peanut butter is good for children (who aren't allergic). It is a great source protein which won't go off between the time it is made and the time it is eaten. I hate that we can't send nuts into school, but of course understand why. However, I will never understand the logic that says peanut butter and cheese are bad but super refined and chemical loaded pudding every day is good.

Ham sandwich on wholemeal bread, a banana, an apple, yoghurt, apple juice in my DS's packed lunch today. I'm not stupid.

I know that ham (even 'nice' ham ) = processed meat and that the apple juice and probably the yoghurt are high in fruit sugars. But my DS is fussy and likes these things and they aren't exactly evil when part of a week's worth of varied, mainly healthy foods.

I wish all these lunchbox bores would bore right off.

DD1's class were last to lunch on Friday, she's having school dinners at her request.

The only things left were coldish chips and cheese.

Even she was a bit .

It just made me laugh, reminiscent of my school dinners of yore .