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.

dd1's school have a reasonable appraoch to this, but then they are sane all round, really (SN schol, very small, care about the individual more than silly rules)

they are also dealing with severe food issues in all the pupils (it's an ASD school).

so, I send in food for dd1 fo rthe day - 2 snacks, and lunch.

in reality, I send in her meal (varies, naturally), and a tupperware box of fruit, veg, dried fruit, rice cakes, nut/seed bar etc - again, it varies so that dd1 cannot set up a strict routine with ehr food.

at snack time, she gets to choose form the box what she wants to eat. it could be anyhting, and as much as she wants (I am sure they try to ensure she has soemtihng left for after lunch and afternoon snack, but htis is somehting else they are working on with her - if you eat it all now, there is nothign for later!)

it works well for her and the other pupils, and as I said before, they all have severe food issues.

Why do we need training to only allow fruit at playtime?

All you fruit disapprovers - when would you like your children to eat fruit then?

The face was for the word I suspect I invented, btw.

I am a nanny working with babies and preschoolers and it's not just at school that this obsession with food exists. I have worked with parents who wanted me to stick to the South Beach Diet for their 1 year olds, "just in case" they got fat!!!!!

I've done consulting work with parents who wonder why their 4 year olds are losing weight, and are fussy eaters. Well, it's not hard to put two and two together when you see that the only food they are fed is baked chicken breast, carrot sticks and cucumber.

Granted, this was mainly in the USA where it's ironic that soooooo many people are obese, when "healthy" eating is now a national obsession in parents of babies and toddlers. It drove me a little insane.

Children need fat and carbs and fruit and veg and protein. Everything in moderation. They do not need to be put on mini-me versions of the South Beach diet FFS. It's really refreshing to see some common sense here.

One of the many problems primary teachers have is that we are supposed to be experts in everything, mostly without training.
Whenever there is a perceived, identified need or weakness in society, the default, knee-jerk reaction by many in government is
'Oh, put it into the curriculum'
So yes, healthy eating. Linked with K&U of all dietary restrictions and differences required or expected by SN, cultures, faiths and the rest. And fair trade, air miles...
Then you field all the parental inputs, positive and negative.
Somewhere along the line, you are also attempting to do reading ritin and rifmatik.
Too much.

'Is it any wonder children quickly become disillusioned with school when they are faced with this kind of nonsense?

I would be utterly amazed if this left them disillusioned! Mine have never been remotely bothered, they see the break as time to play, not to eat. I don't think anyone is talking about obsessional diets wrinklyraisin, just that a child can manage a very short school day on a piece of fruit and lunch! They always used to do it on milk and lunch.They are now allowed a snack and people get fussy over the sort of snack.I think it might have been better not to allow them in the first place.

I don't see why they need crisps either but banning crisps will cause an outcry in the same way!

Fruit is digested very quickly by the body, if ypu want to eat fruit it should be before you eat anything else, otherwise it ferments at a very different rate to everything else and can cause gas unpleasant gastro intestinal side effects.

SGM, I hope with the peanut butter you are feeding your children, you are also encouraging them to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards.
We have 6 peanut-allergic children in school, being grabbed by someone with peanut butter on their paws would trigger an anaphylactic shock reaction in most of them.
Epipens at the ready.

"Its not about fruit not being healthy. its about children being taught that bread and pasta are bad for you because they are carbs."

Whaaaaat? When was that mentioned? Playtime is an opportunity to eat fruit, and that's that. No one teaches that you can't have carbs because they are bad - or they shouldn't.

Healthy eating is on the Science curriculum in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 - a balanced and varied diet is taught, no 'carbs are bad', just the opposite. I honestly believe no teacher/school would say that.

How about an enormous bowl of porridge or gruel?
That would be healthy.
I could get my cauldron out in class.

We use the phrase 'Treat food' for junk Feenie.

My lot do have a huge bowl of porridge for breakfast in winter

That's why we have a wash hands before eating, wash hands after eating and No Food Sharing rule in school.
Not perfect, but a gesture in the right direction.
All the materials available to teach healthy eating in schools contain fats and carbs as essential choices in a healthy diet.
Basic food wheel/food pyramid stuff.

So fruit digests too quickly, and is also idigestible by some??

The silly theories on here are unbelievable. Fruit is a healthy part of any diet. Nobody is suggesting that kids live on fruit alone, or eat a totally fat free diet. just that they are only allowed fruit at playtime, not any old thing.

A balance breakfast and lunch on either side of the fruit snack should be enough to keep your little one alive until home time surely??

Am I the only one who thinks that fruit and veg for break is good? The fruit and veg time has encouraged my kids to try unfamiliar fruit and vegetables thanks to seeing their friends eating it. It also helps them hit their 5 a day target sometimes - bonus!!
I don't thought that all kids came out of school hungry?

Is our school the only one who doesn't teach kids that carbs are bad? My oldest is in y5 and has only ever commented on wholegrain bread/pasta/rice being better than White and therefore wanting to switch which is fine by me.

If the government actually wants to pursue this policy, they need to invest millions in training programs so that staff understand that children need fat in their diets and carbs are necessary.

I remember being shouted down by parents on this very forum for suggesting that under fives need a higher fat intake than older children and adults. So perhaps parents need training too [tongue in cheek smiley]

Our children don't bring snacks to school they all have access to the free fruit and veg and milk.
We do lots of activities which involve preparing food which they eat afterwards (and probably wouldn't pass the gov healthy eating police) but it is all pat of finding a balance.

I was shocked when I asked my class to design a healthy cereal and many thought zero calories was good but that has come from home not from what they are taught in school.

"Feenie, there are lots threads on here by parents confused as to why their children are being taught that 'fat' is bad for them and that carbs aren't 'good' for them."

But not this thread, so I'm not sure why you brought it up - surely it's confusing the issue? Those posters should take it up with the individual schools - the curriculum clearly states that should be taught about the need for a varied diet.

"Its why I became chair of the PTA" Good for you - we can't get anyone to do it at our place. Not sure how fundraising would help here though?

I mean with this issue.