Sugary pudding after school lunch everyday - acceptable?

[choceyes]

I think I might be more of a health freak than the average person, so I am wondering whether my concerns are justified.

DS who just started reception has had 2 school meals so far and apparently there is cake and custard or similar every day. School didn't have a copy of the menu for the next few weeks, but the last 2 days have been mince, mashed potato and broccoli and fish fingers, beans and potato wedges. Don't know if these are made on site or (quality of fish fingers can vary greatly I think) nobody seems to know. In fact very little information given as to the quality of food.
School meal is £2.25.

Am wondering whether to go the packed lunch route. I like DS having school dinners as I'd like him to enjoy different kinds of food, but with the school not even forthcoming with a menu I don't know what the heck they are feeding him! I'm certainly not happy with cake or biscuits everyday - I don't deny him things like this, but not everyday coupled with a substandard main meal.

Any thoughts?

But children on FSM still need order forms, they may be entitled to meals automatically, however ( certainly in my school) they still have menu choices to make.

Our school menu is provided by a large catering company (they do all the primaries in our LA and several others). There are 3 choices of first course and 3 choices of puddings each day. There is always fresh fruit as a pudding choice. We have a good cook at our school and the main courses are generally very nice and the vegetables nice and crunchy. But the cakes are revolting. Most of our children choose the fruit.

Absolutely fine, if they aren't then totally hypocritical about what goes in packed lunch.

DCs need sugar, what the hell do you think fuels the brain!

I have tasted my dcs school dinners because once a year we're invited to.

The cakes pudding portions are small, and often (but not always) involve fruit -which might be lemon, or apple or whatever. However, they definitely are sugary! Generally mine come out hungrier in the afternoon on school lunch days than packed lunch days. Anyway, I digress.

Sugar feeds the brain....really? First time I've heard sugar referred to as a brain booster!

I don't know how the FSM meals work but there's been no meal choices for the paying children so I doubt there is just the one choice for everybody, although halal and veggie choices are separate.

what I meant by the FSM comment was that if you are getting a free lunch then you are not going to be considering the alternative of a packed lunch maybe being healthier and weighing up the pros and cons of it, so the menu for the school lunch becomes somewhat irrelevant hence not many parents asking to see the menu. No way do I suggest that those with fsm care less about their diet. There are some truely shocking packed lunches out there.

Why not? Many of our pupils who are entitled to FSM choose to bring packed lunches.

Oh ok. Like I said I don't know much about how the fsm system works so I was making not very good assumptions!

Carbohydrates (sugar is the simplest form) are also important for the correct working of our brain, heart and nervous, digestive and immune systems.

From what I have seen in packed lunches over the years, I would say that 90%+ of school hot meals are healthier, cake or no cake, certainly in terms of what the children actually eat...

It is worth checking how packed lunches are supervised - in some schools the hot meal children are more closely supervised and have to eat most of their meal, while the packed lunch children get less supervision and there is no emphasis on eating e.g. sandwiches before puddings! (Also, less emphasis on finishing - would I rather teach a child who had eaten hot dinner including a cake pudding, or a child who has refused to eat anything very much at all out of their packed lunch because they wanted to get out to play??)

I am not saying that you will send in jam sandwiches, crisps, a cereal bar etc etc (and those are the 'thin end' of the unhealthy wedge) but hot dinners HAVE to meet nutritional standards and that includes sugar and salt.

A decent amount of energy-rich food is necessary for very physically active children. The amount of sugar in a small portion of school pudding will form a very small portion of their energy requirements unless they are genuine couch potatoes.

Nobody needs refined sugar mrz. There are plenty of carb sources that are far healthier.

Thanks for that info teacherwith3kids that's interesting to know. DS' s teacher did say that they are encouraged to eat their veg.

Still think the school should be more forthcoming aboutthe quality of the lunches.

Did I say refined sugar choceyes? as people have mentioned cakes etc are sweetened with natural sugars often by adding fruit ...

Schools often have little control over the meals provided ...perhaps you need to find out who the contractors are.

I work with children and we are advised from nutritionists to serve either fruit or dairy based puddings
If the children have fruit at breaks they make be doing dairy for puddings - custard ice cream rice pudding etc?

A TA I met recently didn't have a problem with the school dinners. Her issue was having to frisk the lunch boxes daily while the school lunch people ate cake!

It does annoy me too - not only juice with the meal, but a sugary pudding too. But DD enjoys them, and it gets me out of making a packed lunch. If she had any sort of weight issues, I would be insisting on a packed lunch though.

Having done some emergency cover shifts as a midday supervisor I can honestly say I feel bad for insisting DS3 had a school dinner every day for most of the last two years. The meals look unappetising - the veggies look either soggy or dried out etc, the 'gammon steak' had the texture of shoe leather. I do care about what he eats and he likes to make healthy choices for food - yesterday his lunchbox contained a wrap stuffed with chicken, cucumber and red pepper; strawberries and grapes; a fruit yoghurt and a small cake. The midday supervisors do encourage them to eat their sandwiches or similar before their pudding and try to ensure they eat plenty. There is a ban on sweets/chocolate and fizzy drinks and they prefer anything sugary to be small. I would say the average packed lunch is probably similar to the cooked meals but there are a lot that contain nothing but high fat and high sugar items.

Our provider has a 2 week rotating menu, here's a sample week

Monday ?Spaghetti Bolognaise (made with Organic Beef and Organic Carrots, Tomatoes and Onions)
?Quorn in a Tomato and Fresh Basil Sauce served with Spaghetti
?Banana Bread (made with organic flour) served with Custard
?Fruit Salad

Tuesday ?Roast Chicken served with Roast Potatoes, Seasonal Local Vegetables and Gravy
?Vegetable and Organic Lentil Hotpot served with Organic Potatoes, Seasonal Local Vegetables and Gravy
?Healthy Strawberry Cheesecake
?Fruit Salad

Wednesday ?Indian Theme Day ? Chicken Korma served with Yellow Rice and Naan Bread
?Indian Theme Day ? Chickpeas and Butternut Squash Korma served with Yellow Rice and Naan Bread
?Indian Theme Day ? Caramel Apple Pudding
?Fruit Salad

Thursday ?Lincolnshire Beefburgers in a Floured Roll served with Baked Beans and Diced Tomato and Cucumber
?Veggie Burgers in a Floured Roll served with Baked Beans and Diced Tomato and Cucumber
?Gooey Fairtrade Orange and Lemon Sponge Pudding
?Fruit Salad

Friday ?Cheesy Tuna and Salmon Pasta Bake (made with Organic Milk) served with an Mixed Orange and Organic Carrot Salad
?Vegetable and Cheese Pizza (handmade with organic flour) served with an Orange and Organic Carrot Mixed Salad
?Chunky Funky Fruit Jelly
?Fruit Salad

Their website says
"?At least 15% of our ingredients are organic or Marine Stewardship Council certified
?Over 50% of our ingredients are locally sourced
?We use organic meat, dairy products and eggs as much as possible
?All of our pork is from outdoor reared pigs, produced near Newark
?Our meals contain no undesirable food additives or hydrogenated fats
?All of our meat meets UK welfare standards and our eggs are from free range hens
?Our meals contain NO GM ingredients
?No fish is served from the Marine Conservation Society 'fish to avoid' list

They're pretty good!!

What if on Indian day a kid doesn't like curry, rice etc

Surely there should be something different

Example menu from my LEA

MONDAY
Homemade Mince Pie
Boiled Potatoes
Savoy Cabbage
Carrots
Jacket Potato with Roast Ham Coleslaw/Salad
Macaroni Cheese Crusty Bread Mixed Vegetables
Eves Pudding with Custard
Fresh Fruit/Yoghurts

TUESDAY
Italian Chicken
Boiled Rice
Sweetcorn
Peas
Roast Turkey Baguette
Salad Selection
Vegetable
Sweet and Sour with Noodles
Sweetcorn
Jam Roly Poly and Custard
Fresh Fruit/Yoghurts

WEDNESDAY
Roast Turkey with Gravy Oven Roasted Potatoes, Carrots
Broccoli
Penne Pasta with Tuna and Cheese
Crusty Bread
Salad Selection
Homemade Margarita Pizza
Half Baked Potato
Salad Selection
Ginger Sponge with Custard
Fresh Fruit/Yoghurts

THURSDAY
Meatballs and Pasta
Roast Parsnips
Mixed Vegetables
Cheese and Tomato Quiche
Jacket potato
Salad Selection
Jacket Potato with Baked Beans
Salad Selection
Raspberry Buns and Milk
Fresh Fruit/Yoghurts

FRIDAY
Salmon Fillet Bites
Chipped Potatoes
Baked Beans or Peas
Pasta with Spicy Chicken
Crusty Bread
Peas
Cheese and onion Pastry
Chipped Potatoes
Garden Peas
Baked Beans
St. Clements
Iced Sponge
Fresh Fruit/Yoghurts

and from
westsussex.mealselector.co.uk/images/file/MenuV3June2013.pdf

I make sure I cook a more filling dinner Mumof3. At my dc school they have a 3 week rolling menu. It tends to be :

Monday - some sort of chicken dish
Tuesday - Pasta of some sort or Rice
Wednesday - Roast
Thursday - International day - meals from around the world.
Friday - Fish or pizza and chips.

They have cake/pie most day but they are made with wholemeal flour.

I think that there is one day (normally involves rice) which my dc don't like so as per above re cooking dinner.

I posted to soon. We are one of the few schools in my area who still have a kitchen. Our menu is made up by kitchen staff and headteacher. We also have a number of FSM (nearly 50%) so one of the most important about our meals are that they are as healthy as possible.

That sounds amazing spanieleyes if that where the menu at DS' s school I would have no problem at all.

Ours has lots of sugary puds I am horrified to see last week it was a freshly cream cake s devonshire split with jam!