Thoughts on this nursery menu please

[nervousnancyy]

I have visited a potential nursery for my 12 month old and this is the menu. Would you say this is a very typical menu and absolutely fine? Are there substantially better food options which other nurseries tend to offer? (I know very little about nurseries etc and a family member suggested I should pay attention to the menu amongst other things).

Looks totally fine to me! I might question if the cake and banana bread has no refined sugar. My kids nursery has a no refined sugar policy, and they tend to have yoghurt for pudding or sometimes a baked fruit pudding. Not that I object to them having sugar but maybe you might

@AdriannaP

No need to be sarcastic. Children are precious and nutritious is important. It’s not excactly a coincidence that the UK has a very obesity rate among children. But somehow this seems to baffle parents who can’t explain it. School menus are pretty much the same of course.

So why don't you give us baffled UK parents a clue then and describe the school meals in your country

Looks like a bog standard menu, apart from the pie on Friday… that’s a strange one.

Looks fine to me, not very adventurous but absolutely ok.

One nursery near to us served a sausage roll with baked beans nearly every day for years.

@AdriannaP I have to say I was a bit shocked when sending my 2.5 year old to nursery for the first time that they offer cake and biscuit after each dinner (once per day)

However I realised it's all home made on site by two wonderful chefs and it's a pretty low sugar recipe. I've also seen the serving size and it's about one or two mouthfuls.

Children need a very large number of calories and they also need much more fat than an adult would (relative to their size) A 1inch square of homemade cake or biscuit really does help ensure my LO gets all the energy she needs to run around all day and learn. The rest of the menu is incredibly balanced with fresh home made food, lots of fruit and vegetables. It also for me removes any stigma with good food bad food. My LO does not go crazy when she sees cake or biscuits as this is a general part of her diet and so she often decides that her main course has filled her up and she doesn't want her cake.

OP I think the menu looks good. I'm so surprised by the new varied things my child eats in nursery modelled by all children eating the same thing at the same time. Be prepared for some new requests and new 'favourites' that you'll wonder how to replicate!

Looks good, and similar to our nursery where i know everything is made from scratch in house. If in doubt you can ask them if they are making it themselves? I saw someone post on here previously about nursery food which was mostly things like beans on toast etc, which personally i wouldn't be happy with as it was all pre made foods.

My DD is at a nursery with a chef on the staff. She's been there donkey's years, DS went there 10 years ago and she was there then, so they have home cooked meals. They have fish / veggie pasta bake, shepherd's pie things like that. I'd maybe ask whether it's cooked fresh on site or bought in pre-frozen, but fine other than that.

@AdriannaP

No need to be sarcastic. Children are precious and nutritious is important. It’s not excactly a coincidence that the UK has a very obesity rate among children. But somehow this seems to baffle parents who can’t explain it. School menus are pretty much the same of course.

Whilst I totally agree with your comments about children in the UK being overweight / obese, I don't think that the blame generally lies with school / nursery menus where the portions are generally small. It's the parents who constantly push snacks into their children from the moment they're weaned and allow their primary school age children to munch their way through huge bags of crisps / sweets / biscuits / other junk. No one seems to have a clue about what's an appropriate portion for a child anymore and most of them cannot see that their children are fat. It's very sad (I'm English by the way).

Looks fine to me. You’ll often find that even junk sounding options are healthier. For example, our nursery serves pizza sometimes but the dough and sauce are made from scratch with minimal ingredients and no added salt, so it’s very different to a processed frozen pizza.

Our nursery only serve fruit as pudding and also yoghurt a few times a week. They don’t generally offer cakes or biscuits etc, however plenty of nurseries do and again, these are usually homemade low sugar varieties in small portions.

I’m surprised some of the stuff my kid will eat at nursery - lamb curry with cous cous and okra springs to mind. He wouldn’t touch that with a barge pole at home! 🤣

@AdriannaP

No need to be sarcastic. Children are precious and nutritious is important. It’s not excactly a coincidence that the UK has a very obesity rate among children. But somehow this seems to baffle parents who can’t explain it. School menus are pretty much the same of course.

I wasn’t being sarcastic, and I’m still awaiting an answer. What is your nursery child fed in your country, and what is your country?