My ravenous child is only allowed fruit at snack time. I am furious.

[Avocadoes]

My 4 year old DD started Reception class last week. She seems very happy but also very hungry. She is not a great breakfast eater, no matter how hard I try, so at home she used to get a mid morning plate of toast to boost her energy. At school her mid morning snack must be fruit and nothing else. Is that normal?

On her first day I sent her in with sliced apple and raisens. She ate them all, ate all her lunch, but still came home at 3.30pm starving. She then consumed two slices of toast and ate three large plates of spag bol at dinner time.

The next day I put dry cereal (Raisen Wheats) in her snack box to give her some carbs. She came home and told me the teacher had told her she wasn't allowed to eat it. She was very embarrassed about this.

When I dropped her off on the third day I asked the teacher what I could give her to fill her up mid morning. The teacher said it had to be fresh fruit or veg.

AIBU to think a growing child should be allowed a proper energy boost mid morning? I am not suggesting chocolate or crisps, but a health bar, or crackers, or dry cereal should surely be allowed.

I wasn't suggesting supplements for your child just sympathising

I know sorry it wasn't a snappy reply,it's just the way I speak

girliefriend - DD get milk, and she takes a large water bottle of juice, all the children take one and they are allowed to drink when they are thirty through the day. DD often doesn't drink much at school though.

In the interests of Ye Olden Days private education habits: when I was at primary school (60s) we had milk or nothing.

When I was at secondary school (70s) we had apples in summer, and fruit buns in winter. The latter, of course, were far more popular than the apples - but there was NO choice in either case. Though we were always free not to eat them

Children were much healthier too Elibean, parents didn't worry about them being hungry for a couple of hours, they would just think 'it gives them a good appetite for lunch'!
When I was at primary school packed lunches were not a choice, we either had a school dinner or went home and there was milk, if you wanted it, at morning break.
It is a shame we can't get back to it!

Hmm, maybe. I liked the buns, tolerated the apples, but milk at primary school was so disgusting (to me, I loathe milk) I never drank it - I'll always remember that smell of warm, slightly sour milk, ugh

I never drank it either, warm in the summer, frozen in the winter. It put me off for life. I managed to get from breakfast to lunch without anything, I never gave it a thought.

Not read the thread but there is no way I could survive from breakfast til lunch on a piece of fruit so don't see why a child should either.

I think it's nonsense that they can't have healthy carbs.

If she just can't though I would try a banana and raisins, quite filling!

yes, bananas, get a huge one that should fill her up !

Of course you could cumbria-people don't die if they go without food for a few hours!!!

It has never occurred to me to have a mid morning snack, or to give my kids a mid morning snack. We have breakfast, dinner, tea and supper. That is all.

And has no-one yet thought about the people living on benefits who can't even afford fruit?

im on benefits, healthy start vouchers are a lifesaver for buying fruit, veg and milk and the fact they get fruit at school helps even more. when i was at school we had nothing till lunch they just had water fountains for if you wanted a drink, they were either frozen up in winter or queue was so long in summer you rarely got any and we all survived!

That is why schools give free fruit auntiefash. Anyway having a carrot has got to be cheaper than crisps etc! I don't do snacks, if you never have them your stomach doesn't expect them.

I do think there is a difference between schools providing snacks, and schools which ask parents to bring in snacks. If its school, then I'd just say thank you very much for whatver they provide. If its parents, then more argument for allowing some flexibility, I'd think.

I certainly wouldn't expect dd's school to provide cheese or carbs along with fruit/veg (and dd would eat even less of her packed lunch if they did!).

Give your DD a big banana and some raisins for snacktime. That will keep her going until lunch.

FWIW, I find that DD's appetite is always much bigger during term time - she's on her second term now.

When did children start needing a snack at break time? I never had one throughout my primary school education.

I think my mother got it right if we said we were hungry she offered a rich tea biscuit, if we were only hungry for a chocolate biscuit then we were not hungry! If the DC is hungry they will eat the fruit.

I had to chuckle with the poster that said she didnt have snacks just 4 meals a day.. that to me is 1 more than I do. but then I snack but to me that would = the poster does snack just in a scheduled time.

For those of you whom goes on about "I coped fine at school" well I went to a school that had a cantine that opened every break so you could if you wanted get a sandwich at 11 and you could get one at 1 or 2 it was normal to accept everyone gets hungry at different times (I went to school in Denmark)

I dont get this idea that it isnt like that for British children. my youngest is not big on breakfast and becaue of that her teacher encourages her to have a double portion of fruit or breadsticks at their early am break. she then eats her lunch but rarely gets a snack/fruit in pm in their school as she is full. thats her pattern it works good and because her teacher is willing to learn about each of her kids it works. I know her best friend eats a huge breakfast and doesnt want a midmorning snack but happily munches an apple after lunch..

to the OP Sadly I think you will fight aloosing battle here. I dispair at what my kids are told about food in their school - bad food and good food - err no no such thing.. I have learnt to pick my battles and I generally win the ones I do go up towards/against but they are few and far in between theese days

so a fruit winder is the same as an apple?

what about chocolate orange

Lamorna bully for you.

You continually have let us all know you can go from 7am until 1pm on nothing, fan bloody tastic for you. Unfortunately not all people are the same. We all have different bodies and metabolisms.

We have a family history of very low blood pressure. I get ill if my blood sugar dips too low my dd is the same,you don't-lucky you.

In dps family they have incredibly high metabolism and the males have to eat a lot to keep weight on. They're all very skinny.

My ddad gets ibs if his stomach is empty for too long.He is on medication for it which he has to take if he goes too long before meals.

We are all different,the human body varies greatly. Going for 6 hours without food doesn't suit all bodies. When I was teaching I wouldn't have dreamed of going all morning on a mango slice,I'd have been wobbly as hell.

This poor snack situation has been a bug bear with many of the parents at our school for a while. There is no obesity problems at our school,we live in the country and most of the kids lead very active lives. The school is sporty,in summer they do PE or swimming most days.A lot of the kids need more.

Harking back to the 70s is pointless,they tried teaching kids to read without phonics as I recall back then. There are plenty of things in my school days I'm glad don't happen in my dc's school. Interestingly I had a forces childhood and moved school every 2 years.I can't remember one that insisted on fruit only.We had milk and I always took crackers in.

"Going for 6 hours without food doesn't suit all bodies."

Gosh, 1pm is late for dinnertime - I haven't come across many schools with a dinner as late as that. Lots of posters have suggested taking things for dcs to eat on the way to school/at childminder's, etc - 9 to 12/1 o'clock isn't 6 hours.

Ours is a big school(2 form entry). The little ones eat first so the older they get the later they eat,then they queue up etc .Now it's my dc who are saying they eat this late and are starving by the time it's their turn but I might just check. I have no bug bear with the school about this though,dinner time runs like clockwork,very ordered etc.They know best how to organise it and I totally support their healthy lunch bags etc -they just need to lighten up with the mid morning snack situation. Fruit and veg are not the only healthy snack food.

Really looking forward to when they're in Y6!!!!!