Bl**dy government/schools healthy eating, thou-shalt-rear-thy-children-on-lettuce-leaves-alo directives

[frogs]

So there I am, clearing out ds's schoolbag of half a term's accumulated detritus of squashed bits of homework and out-of-date party invites when I find a snotty little note:

'Dear Parent/Carer
As part of our bid to gain Healthy Schools status we have been checking children's lunchboxes to support families in helping their children eat healthily. Earlier this term you were given a list of foods that should not be brought into school, and we ask you to respect these guidelines when preparing your child's lunch.
Thank you
Headteacher'

The list includes, predictably enough, sweets, chocolate bars, biscuits(!), crisps, any drinks that aren't water or plain fruit juice and pretty much anything else containing sugar or fat. No playtime snacks are allowed apart from fruit.

Ds has been ill, on and off, since before Christmas with mysterious viruses that give him temperatures. He's always on the skinny side, but currently looks like gulag boy. Every rib and every vertebra is visible, he's deathly pale and he has little hollows under his cheekbones.

How, fergodsake, am I supposed to get enough calories into this child when the govt and schools are hellbent on persuading us we should be feeding them nothing but carrot sticks and apples? He has a healthy diet, eats lots of fruit and veg (when he eats at all, that is), we have nonsugary breakfast cereals, wholemeal bread, freshly-cooked suppers, no fizzy drinks and very few sweets. What is bl**dy well wrong with putting a packet of crisps and a penguin biscuit into the lunchbox of a very active, naturally skinny child who clearly needs to be fattened up a bit? Yes, I know there's a national obesity crisis, blah blah, but not in my family there isn't. And not in his class either, from what I can see -- all his friends look like twiglets on legs as well.

I'm not looking for advice really, just sounding off. Think I will include a note to his form teacher on Monday saying that if they want to discuss the contents of ds's lunchbox they can telephone me in person. I just really hate this idea they're giving the kids that there are healthy foods and unhealthy foods, and that everything containing fat and sugar is automatically bad for you.

All this makes me cross too.

I home educate so what happens to my children? Does the govenment want to knock on my door every day and see what I'm feeding mine?!

Children are sent to school to gain an education not to be told what they can or cant eat. Whats it got to do with anyone.

There's a small number of people who send their children to school with unhealthy food but there's no harm in a chocolate biscuit or crisps. I do cook every day and my children only eat organic but they also eat cake and chocolate.

I had childhood anorexia and am currently undergoing treatment again. Children should be playing and unaware of the stress of diet/fats & calories it shouldn't be put on them it will cause problems.

dont take it personally

lol Annabel

I have full-fat read this thread............

i dont do crisps I must say (only cos they take dd1 too long to eat when she could be eating fattening stuff like peanut butter sandwiches)

but I do squidy homemade choc brownies - loaded with fat and sugar

Last week I would have agreed with you frogs.

This weeks (well Thursday night last week) DS3 was diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes. The main thrust of dietary advice has been the healthy diet - protein, carbs and 5 fruit/veg per day.

He has been advies to ignore people who tell him what he can and ca't eat. He will be told he can't have a chocolate biscuit but he as to respond that they shouldn't be eating it either!

A sugary biscuit won't do much to sustain energuy or weight gain. It will be a quick sugar ruch and not much else. A higher carbohydrate snack with less sugar will be more beneficial. There is nothing much nutricious about a penguin biscuit.

Remember though that I am in the land of the recently converted because it is crucial to DS3's health. Up until last week my thoughts were the same

You can get extra calories into children without giving them crisps and penguins.

But I suspect this has already been said on this thread, I've only read the first few posts.

I think the school are doing a good thing.

sorry to hear that mears

yes, sorry mears. How old is your ds?

I have high BP and slightly raised cholesterol - and am super thin. The BHF advised a higher intake of carbs and low fat is the healthy way to go (for me). Frogs how old is your ds?

Depending upon diet, sugary foods can often actually reduce weight, but in a very unhealthy way.
Sugar depresses the appetite (no suprise there), so if you allowa child to snack on a sweet before the meal, he may well not finish it. Although the sweet may have a lump of calories, it won't be as many as the meal.
That's not a weight loss tip of course, given the absence of so many nutrients.

I have high blood pressure too Mercy, do you mind me asking how high yours is? Mine was 165/102 last time I had it checked. I am trying to get it down with diet/exercise.

GS, I think mine was 150/100 the last time I had a reading (November - just after a smear test, with the 2 kids waiting outside )

And that's with medication - albeit on a low dosage. I should be due for another check up in May/June, blood test and all.

Diet is imperative imo. lostinfrance's dh recently reduced his cholesterol by around 50% in 6 months.

He is 16 years old Mercy.

More ideas for high fat / high calorie foods for skinny children:

hummus as a dip or in a wrap / sandwich

beans have a useful amount of fat and also of course protein and fibre

dried fruit is dense in calories and has plenty of health benefits, although can cause concerns re: teeth

avocado is a fab healthy fat

coconut is a saturated fat so best in smaller quantities, but many children like it and it is good in curries

vegetables roasted in olive oil, mash made with olive oil

salad with dressings made with olive oil

all healthy and nutritious ways of getting calories into children

(Greeny I agree with you re: nuts but wouldn't recommmend nuts as a packed lunch because of other children's allergies - best kept for home)

Thanks Mercy, so quite similar then. I am supposed to be on Ramipril but I am quite lax about taking it, would really be much happier controlling it with diet etc. Luckily I like vegetables

beans are low in fat franny

agree with all the other stuff - I give dd1 a very healthy calorie packed supper and breakfast so I don't stress about her having a penguin at lunchtime

Greensleeves - I would take the medication meantime and work on increasing exercise and losing wight. BP of /102 is pretty high.

Have just seen this and agree with Mears' advice. And she should know.

Liking vegetables ain't enough - reduce the home-made puds at least. Delicious though your recipes sound!

I am taking Lisinopril (5mg). GS, there is no immediate danger but you really shouldn't stop/start your medication.

Diet , exercise and reducing STRESS are all important.

Oh, I think some beans have a good amount of fat in, Enid, chickpeas for instance IIRC? I wouldn't say they are a high fat food but a useful source of fat as I said

I'm not grossly overweight and I don't eat the puds I make, I make them for the kids/dh.

Thanks for the advice though.

Sure I've mentioned this before Frogs. DD2 (4.5yo) is genetically small but she is also very skinny. The HV recently advised that we go back to a 1950s diet for her i.e. protein, fruit and vegetables ("meat and two veg"), not too much carbohydrate and plenty of high-fat puddings. Jam roly-poly and custard anyone? It goes against the grain, but her view was that for an underweight child with a small stomach "every spoonful must count" and that means calorie dense food. She erred more towards fat than sugar.

I've started to give the DDs a cooked breakfast in the morning - scrambled eggs, homemade pancakes, sausages and tomatoes - and that's very effective, plus I feel remarkably Cath Kidston in my flowery apron knocking out pancakes for a family breakfast. Fortunately when DD2 starts school in September, she will be having a compulsory hot lunch and, like most things in the DDs' school, that will be right out of the Fifties!

Oh and Greensleeves is right. I found very quickly that what works for a super-skinny four year old is not the thing at all for a medium build 43 year old!

DS's school is pursuing the healthy School thing, too - and although Ds really hates 'wet' fruit or veg, he was strongly encouraged to eat a slice of watermelon on Monday as a healthy fruit initiative of some kind. He was sick on the table....

I am pleased that schools are taking a pro-active stance in creating an environment where health eating is the norm, but it does have it's car crash moments.

Respect, Issymum, wrt cooked breakfast! [impressed emoticon]

I don't think I'll be going quite that far -- my morning routine has quite enough variables in it already! But porridge with extra cream for the skinny one has been added to the menu recently, and I'm about to teach them how to make carbonara sauce for their pasta.

But will be sticking to the carrot sticks for mylself...

frogs - I don't think they're allowed to tell you what you can and can't put in - I think the school has got the wrong end of the stick. They are supposed to be encouraging healthy eating in the environment of the school - not tell you what you can and can't bring.

But the gov are getting stricter on school dinners which the school can influence.

The kids they're worried about are the ones that are obese in danger of diabetes etc. There are some enormous kids at my ds's school - they just eat buckets of crap and don't do any exercise.

Problem is - when they grow up they end up costing the NHS a fortune if they can't even walk, work, get weil, contribute.

DS came home with a form thing that we have to fill in each week, detailing one new vegetable that he has tried at home during that week.

Having scratched our heads neither DH nor I can think of anything that he hasn't already tried

We may very well have to resort to having to investigate some ethnic grocers shops as a source of unusual items - another blardy thing to fit into our already crowded weekends