Nutrition lessons at school - kids not responding well

[cakedup]

DS (year 5) has been learning about healthy eating, nutrition etc at school.

However, he started to get a bit obsessed over reading fat content on packets of food and started worrying that he might get fat. (DS has NEVER been overweight in the slightest, he is naturally very lean). The teacher apparently pointed out that he had too much fat in his diet when DS disclosed the fact that he is allowed coco-pops at weekends (he has toast with honey during the week and I let him have coco-pops at weekends only as a treat). As a vegan (DS is a vegetarian) I feel I'm adequately informed about nutrition and although DS is a fussy eater, he gets a balanced diet overall with his 5-a-day every day.

I've spoken to 3 other parents about this and they've all had similar reactions from their kids; worrying about getting/eating fat, constantly reading labels etc.

I'm obviously unhappy with this as healthy eating is supposed to be a positive reinforcement. However, before I take this further, I just wanted to check with mumsnetters if these kinds of reactions are quite standard from kids learning about nutrition at school? i.e. do most kids worry about this sort of thing at first or am I right in thinking that there is something wrong in the way the message is being delivered?

DS (6) (also naturally lean and quite sporty) has had a similar reaction, but less extreme. He can be quite sancamonious, but will eat pizza and ice cream along with his grapes and nuts.

We've had this, it does drive me nuts. I hate all the 'healthy eating' propaganda that comes from school. Nicely balanced with the regular cake/ice cream sales, birthday sweets etc.

I think it passes quite quickly though. primary school kids are mostly influenced by what happens at home and you can redress the balance.

What's also annoying, as I've tried to point out to DS, is that it's not as simple as he thinks (i.e. some fats are healthy, some foods are low fat but high in sugar so just as bad)

Cocoa pops are high in fat? If anything, surely they are high in sugar...a bit like, ohh, bread and honey, maybe.

I'm not criticising. Just pointing out that the teacher's knowledge of this subject is not necessarily accurate. Frustrating. Primary teachers for the most part do an awesome job, but they are expected to be experts in everything. Ridiculous.

I completely blew my dc's Y5 'nutrition' lessons out of the water because I was on a low-carb-high-fat diet for most of that year. They saw my weight go from obese to normal, my fitness improve, my skin improve, my mood improve, my general health improve, while at the same time I broke all the rules they were being taught at school. The best misinformation neutralising I could have done.

Cocoa pops are high in fat? If anything, surely they are high in sugar...a bit like, ohh, bread and honey, maybe.

I'm not criticising. Just pointing out that the teacher's knowledge of this subject is not necessarily accurate. Frustrating. Primary teachers for the most part do an awesome job, but they are expected to be experts in everything. Ridiculous.

I completely blew my dc's Y5 'nutrition' lessons out of the water because I was on a low-carb-high-fat diet for most of that year. They saw my weight go from obese to normal, my fitness improve, my skin improve, my mood improve, my general health improve, while at the same time I broke all the rules they were being taught at school. The best misinformation neutralising I could have done.

We have had similar with our eldest two. The youngest just doesn't listen, which is a mixed blessing. And not just "healthy eating" but also stranger danger (DS for a while wouldn't accept party bags from other parents because it was sweets from a stranger), being out without a parent (DD1 is still nervous about walking three doors down the road to her friend's house in case the police catch her without an adult) and my current massive headache "cyberbullying" which now means the eldest two won't skype my overseas relatives in case strange people learn their names and start harrassing them. I wish schools and teachers were allowed to stick to academics and leave personal values alone. We all have different ideas of what is appropriate in our home cultures - school and I diverge on many issues.

I agree with all of you! A few years back it was advocating a high fibre low fat diet ( similar to an adult trying to loose weight ) for ks1 kids. Road safety has also caused problems as the kids didn't like crossing roads away from actual crossings , of which there is just 1 in the village, for what felt like ages following a video and talk encouraging them to use road crossings. Not really practical in a village!

both mine - only yr1 and yr2 now - have both had similar types of reactions to healthy eating stuff. Mummy I can't eat this that and the other it is bad for me. er no actually you need a bit of everything in a normal daily diet where you are doing lots of running around plus you are both as skinny as rakes and healthy. and a biscuit will not hurt a child.

Hmm. Either it's like water off a duck's back to my two dss, or it's taught differently at their school. They were quite happy to tell me all about different food groups and pyramids, but also quite happy that at the top of the pyramid they were allowed to eat sweets...

Yes mine came home from reception all worried upset and preaching about high sugar / fat foods.

Tzibeleh exactly, the information being given is very basic and ds is understanding it in terms of eating fat means you'll get fat.

Yes, if it was down to me, I would rather ds eat wholemeal bread every day, but he loves coco-pops and I don't mind him having it at the weekends at all. What I don't think is healthy is introducing these guilty bad feelings towards food, and denying oneself treats. DS' teacher was boasting how he eats 3 eggs for breakfast every morning - I mean what 9 year old is going to want to eat 3 eggs every morning?

Thanks for your responses, it's helpful to see. DS is a bit of a worrier, and DS' teacher is a bit of a knob, so I wasn't sure if it was down to these two things or if the response was normal. DS' teacher has come out with some absurd stuff lately about other things which I will be complaining about, I was just wondering whether to include this but think I will leave it out now.

Cocoa pops would only be an issue if they were an every day food, but as a small part of a healthy, varied diet...? Moderation in all things.

We had this with our DD in year 1. She has food issues so I was very worried when she started making lists of " bad" foods. I wrote a note to her teacher about it and he actually read sections of it out to the class and reinforced that we need a balanced diet more than anything so no food is inherently " bad" or " good"
Mght be with a chat with the teacher?

That was very good of your teacher Hoppinggreen, I'm glad that worked out alright. Unfortunately, a few of us parents including myself, are not on good terms with the teacher and already in the process of making a complaint about other things he has said. So, not really in a position to have a chat with him about this.