Healthy School Lunches

[wishspirit]

I am torn on this subject.

After watching generation XXL on channel 4, I do see the need to put some restrictions in place in schools, since they aren't getting that balance at home. Yet it isn't a schools job to parent, it is to teach. Also a parent should know how active their child is. A child who is constantly running around and into lots of sports needs a higher calorie diet than one who is more into tv and computer games. So it is highly dependant on the individual.

When I was growing up, no food was off limits. I didn't even have to clear my plate to get desert (not that any was every particularly organised, but a small bowl of ice cream was ok, but most of the time I never had any), my mom understands just not wanting to eat something, but again this was very rare. As kids both my sister and I loved vegetables, and never had issues. My family all sat down together and all ate the same thing from a very young age. My parents also accepted that we didn't like certain foods, and that was ok. I have never liked cheese, but I try it every year or so just to make sure.

I think this gave us a very balanced view of food, there are no 'good' or 'bad' foods. This means I feel I am able to make better food choices now. Sure I still love crisps and chocolate, but I eat when i'm hungry, and stop when i'm full.

 

[Cyrano]

Like Nat we prefer our three to have pack lunch in order that we see the healthy food that they get. I equally don't buy that school lunches are always the healthiest choice.
We have found this harder as eldest DD's friends all go into town or to vans for rubbish. At secondary it is not cool to have a pack lunch
Thankfully grannie lives nearby so we have limited the choice to pack lunch or grannies. Grannies home made soup wins every time

We also have our main meal as a family at supper time. This is always made with fresh produce and not pre-made

Bug bear of mine is that we don't sign up for the fruit scheme. Not because we fill the kids with junk as some would imagine. But rather cutting grapes/apples in a central point some miles away, then putting them in plastic vac pack bags is less appetising than the real thing. Plus it saves the fruit in the bags being thrown in the bucket when they get home from school. They would much rather grab fruit from the bowl or fridge

 

[joolz1910]

What is the fruit scheme?

I had the opposite to Wishspirit - my parents would not accept that I did not like meat. Every Sunday lunch was a battle field. I would be made to sit at the table until I had eaten some chicken - sometimes for an hour. I could not stomach it and it would make me retch. My mum thought I would be ill if I did not have some meat in my diet - ironic really. I still don't eat meat.

 

[PoppyAnna]

What is the fruit scheme?

My DD's school is part of the free fruit scheme. It means that she get a piece of fruit or veg at morning break time and we don't have to take in snacks for break time.
I guess it's a replacement of the milk scheme when I was younger

 

[natalielongstaff]

Matt's school participates in the free fruit scheme as well, he still has some for his lunch tho

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

DD gets free fruit every day at her pre-school aswell as milk.

 

[Cyrano]

My DD's school is part of the free fruit scheme. It means that she get a piece of fruit or veg at morning break time and we don't have to take in snacks for break time.

Sounds similar to here. From memory think it is free for P1 and P2, there after there is a nominal fee. The price had nothing to do with our dislike of the scheme. Perhaps if the council used local suppliers I might have supported it. Or better still let the school provide whole fruit or chop in the kitchen

 

[PoppyAnna]

Sounds similar to here. From memory think it is free for P1 and P2, there after there is a nominal fee. The price had nothing to do with our dislike of the scheme. Perhaps if the council used local suppliers I might have supported it. Or better still let the school provide whole fruit or chop in the kitchen

Ours is whole fruit that the children prepare (if needed), I know this as DD came home with a net bag of satsumas and a bag of apples at christmas as the school had so much left over

 

[disneyangel]

Sounds similar to here. From memory think it is free for P1 and P2, there after there is a nominal fee. The price had nothing to do with our dislike of the scheme. Perhaps if the council used local suppliers I might have supported it. Or better still let the school provide whole fruit or chop in the kitchen

Our school do it in the school with volunteer parents so it is very fresh and costs 20p for fruit and 25p for juice/smoothie.

P1 and P2 get it free three times a week at West Lothian schools

 

[Cyrano]

Our school do it in the school with volunteer parents so it is very fresh and costs 20p for fruit and 25p for juice/smoothie.

P1 and P2 get it free three times a week at West Lothian schools

I think our council gets them from a centralised location which vacpacs the chopped fruit. Hardly environmentally friendly

 

[wishspirit]

Ours is whole fruit that the children prepare (if needed), I know this as DD came home with a net bag of satsumas and a bag of apples at christmas as the school had so much left over

Ahhhh, that solves a mystery! I work at a playscheme for kids with special needs which takes place in a local primary school. When we came to do set up day for the christmas scheme, the caretaker gave us whole boxes of fruit and a fridge full of milk!

We wondered how they had so much left over, but if its part of a scheme, it makes a lot more sense!!

 

[Lizzybear]

I used to do day to day supply and every school i've worked at has had (whole) fruit and cartons of milk (fluoridated and not) provided free for nursery and reception children (not sure about older children as I haven't worked much with the over fives) Merseyside is classed as deprived for most purposes though so we do get some pilot schemes that not everywhere else does. Where I work now has a nursery class and we get loads of their leftover fruit in the daycare.
I think part of the problem with healthy school lunches is that some people (including a fair few in authority positions, worryingly!) don't seem informed as to what constitutes healthy eating for children. It's not the same as for adults, particularly for young children who are growing rapidly and need proportionately more fat and carbohydrate in their diet. Also, I think portion sizes given to children are often too large and then they're expected to 'clean their plates'

 

[hildasmuriel]

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealt...iveADay/FiveADayGeneralInformation/DH_4002149

All (state) English schools receive fruit for their 4 to 6 year olds. They don't actually check if a child has reached aged 7; they just provide enough fruit for all children in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One.