How do parents feel about the measures to make school dinners more healthy?
I am of the view that any changes made to improve the health of our children (and therefore our future nation) are positive and should be embarked upon at any cost.
I reacted with total shock when I read a news article today about 2 mothers at a british school who are taking orders over the school fence for burgers and fish and chips, and then delivering them to kids in school. Apparently this is a protest at the new healthier menu.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18092006/344/bu…
I have given my 4 children packed lunches for years to try and encourage healthier eating, prior to the school dinner improvements.
I hadn’t ever considered that some parents would hold another view.
I think they’re bonkers, and infringing upon the rights of other parents to feed their children healthily. Their only right is to choose the diet of their own children.
What do you think?
I’d like to find out and then email the results to the school suffering the protest.
For psstthok.
Are you a parent? I’m interested to know.
Firstly, children are ‘locked’ within their schools until they reach 6th form. This is common practice and for the safety of children. When we send our children to school we want to know where they are.
Secondly, the lunch timetable was altered, but after looking further, it appears that it wasn’t shortened. Thus, the kids had the same amount of time as before to collect and eat their lunch.
And last but not least, even if the parents had felt that their children ‘were starving’ as you suggested, they only have to right to provide junk food to their own children.
If they were that worried perhaps they should have gotten off their backsides (or out of their beds) and prepared a packed school lunch before their children went to school.
Sorry, but the carpool theory doesn’t work on this one. They were providing food for several other children and not just to each others children.
Nevertheless, thankyou for your answer.
What they did was wrong on many levels
1) Undermining their children’s health
2)Undermining other people children’s health
3)Undermining the school ( these same parents will blame schools for not doing enough if their children become delinquent
_
4)If as has been suggested they are taking money from other peoples children for food then they are operating as a food supplier ( profit or not makes no difference) then they are subject to health and safety and hygiene laws which clearly they are breaking and could and should be prosecuted
and finally
If they have time to go to the school take orders go to the takeaway and deliver it back they have time to make a decent packed lunch and give it to their own kids.
They are lazy ignorant and frankly criminally negligent.
December 17 2009 04:47 pm | healthy eating articles
December 17th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
I agree. I think the problem is that most people dont want the added expense and I doubt the govt will subsidise it
References :
December 17th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I encourage healthy eating for my children. I have Type II diabetes, inherited from my mother…so my children have a high chance of developing it later in life. I don’t give my children junk food…if they get it, it’s sugar free, or low carb. Nutritian comes from the parents. You can’t feed your kids mac and cheese and hot dogs every day.
References :
December 17th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
I bag my children’s lunches. I do not trust what the schools are feeding them. I think all soda machines need to be taken out of the cafeterias. Although I was a cafeteria child. And I turned out OK, (as far as I know).
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I have a young son and will certainly be sending him to school with lunches I have made unless Jamie Oliver really does work his magic. I caught the tail end of his show last night and what he achieving in London is fantastic – I sincerely wish him the best with it all. I find it astonishing that any adult would think it was just and right to serve kids fast food over the school fence! My first question would be to the school allowing it to happen – what next? allowing children to chat to anybody over the school fence!?
I am 100% behind the programme to bring healthier food into our childrens schools and I also think that the 2 women who took it upon themselves to ‘poison’ other peoples children should be severley punished!
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 12:19 am
i think every parent has the right to decide what their child should eat, but certainly NOT other children.
Schools should be more responcible about the foods they feed kids, we’re paying for it after all.
honestly though, considering that schools only provide one meal five days a week, the real problem lies at home.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 12:29 am
I think healthy school dinners is a great idea. I feel for all of those parents whose children go to that school because they are trying to encourage a healthier appitite for their children but it is just getting out of hand. Those people handing out the burgers should be fined!!!! No wonder there is so many obese kids in the UK, becuase of people like them.
You can definately put my name down.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 12:57 am
My step mom worked for the school all her life. And they always had to follow the government recipes. Some of these things are given to the goverment to pay taxes or fines. The government uses them. Our lunches at school during grade and Jr high were always well balanced. In high school you could choose lunch or salad or junk foods. I think this led to some people over eating.
I am more worried about the candy and soda machines in the schools now. The schools are advocating eating and drinking garbage between meals. This I do not like. They say they will make changes, but just not when.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I have packed a reasonably healthy lunch for my kid. He buys milk at school to make it easier.
Turkey sandwich is his favorite.
yougurt, apple sauce, fish crackers, fig cookies, jello.
He carries fruit/yogurt (yogos) snacks for munchies, or a fruit roll up. I would hope the schools don’t give into the fat lovers who are trying to make our kids fat with all this junk. I think California & Arnie are doing a great job & hope it spreads!
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Here in the US..they don’t serve dinner at school but the school lunches leave something to be desired. Here are some of the things on my daughters lunch menu:
Pepperoni Pizza
Cheeseburger
Mac and cheese
None of these are made with whole grains and the cheese is processed. It’s all bad fats and processed food. It’s almost embarrassing!
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 2:03 am
I have 2 children in grade school 8 & 10. I try to pack thier lunches because, I really do not like the school lunches. I do let them buy thier lunch if there is something they really like or if they prefer a hot meal. They are not allowed to heat anything in the cafertiria. I would be totally P’D off if I found out that some one was selling my child lunch like those 2 mothers. What right do they have to do such a thing. I belong to the PTA, and have since my youngest started school, many parents have tried to get the school system to change to healthier lunches. We live in CA and the school boards here consider a well balance healthy meal, any thing that consistes of the 4 major food groups. They have gotten better since my oldest started school, but I doubt very much that they will ever be as healthy as what I would feed them at home. But above all else I would hate to think that a stranger was selling my child food, over a fence that I knew nothing about. I would think that this would be against the law.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 2:24 am
I think you are right. This was just a protest. And a very silly one! Did these mothers think they are going to be ‘cool mum dudes’? Probably they are mums who had their kids when they were 14, 15 or 16 years old so obviously they never even matured enough to have kids. This is a very teenage-like reaction to an issue that perhaps wasn’t the best of ideas and they are showing a type of behaviour to their kids that they can protest or rebel against everything. This will however only slap these women in the face later on in the coming years when these kids start to think on their own and they will protest against everything that their mothers say or want them to do. Perhaps these women should go back to school themselves and be put on strict regimes of education on health issues, parenting, decency, social skills and maybe some literacy skills.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 2:39 am
It is a good idea that children are given the choice for healthy options and this should be encouraged. My only concern is that it is now becoming mandatory with headteachers banning crisps etc from lunchboxes. People dont like to be dictated to and we are fast becoming a nanny state. If you tolerate what is being done on such an issue as school meals then what will be next. The whole key to leading a healthy lifestyle is through education and allowing children to make an educated CHOICE. You can eat burgers and chips and be healthy it is all in the balance of living a healthy lifestyle. next they will be banning tv’s and playstations and only allowing excercise for fun.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 3:13 am
Use more veg. and fruits trust me I worked at a daycare!
References :
Walmart food section ale 1!
December 18th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Your link is broken, but let me have a go anyway:
1.There have been huge campaigns to improve eating habits in the UK for a few years esp in schools.
2. Believe it or not, when they want to scare us about the obesity problem they come out with really trite rubish like "Are we the New Americans" (some, not all).
3. School meals are normally subsidied, if not fully funded, but it’s not compulsory for the kids to eat them.
4. Approximately 50% of kids eat the school stuff, the rest go out into the town and buy junk (chips,burgers,coke,chocolate – heart attack material)
Now:
The horror-school you saw
a)forbade the kids to leave the school at lunchtime (locked the gates) the school food was then the kids’ only option
b)changed the daily timetable in such a way that on certain days some of the kids didn’t have enough time to get from class A, queue for food, eat it, and then be in class B in time). They skipped a lot of meals
Those Mothers were faced with the choice of letting their children starve at school, or giving them what they could through the bars of the school, like feeding animals in the zoo.
The parents should’ve spoken to the school, you may say? Sure, could’ve taken months to get those people around a table.
Expedition Technique? Lets get shots of this dreadful situation on every major TV news channel during Prime Time.
Now they’re around the table.
THE MOTHERS WERE HEROINES.
(welcome to democracy by cable and satellite)
References :
I’ve just seen a coupla "poison your own kids if you must, but doing to others is unforgivable" posts).
The mothers were taking turns – you guys never heard of a "car-pool"
December 18th, 2009 at 4:47 am
Oooh ahrr, I blogged about this yesterday on 360 – I was horrified at these parents attitude and total disregard of other parents rights. You have my total support..
If parents want to feed their own children they have the right, I did not think that anyone would deliberately choose to feed their children unhealthy food regularly unless they "could not afford" to do otherwise.
Beans on toast is healthy (esp. low sugar and low salt beans but even value beans are good) jacket potatoes and beans are good, chips and beans is the less healthy version , surely, suitable only for a "so called" treat,
References :
http://uk.360.yahoo.com/my_profile-fzHAth81fqpescdyBRZg9nZum9B5lI.ub1Ew1qWR
December 18th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I do not have children, but I am still outraged.
If they want to kill their children, that is disgusting and sad, but they have the legal right to do so. However, it is very disturbing that they buy stuff for other kids too.
The parents should have control (or at least knowledge) of what their young kids are eating and doing.
What if the child has a medical problem and cannot eat a certain type of food, and these people still buy it (often kids do not comprehend why they are not allowed to eat or do something).
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 5:02 am
I completely agree with all the changes that have come into place. I am a mother to a 6 month old baby, and am encouraging fruit and veg in his diet. He has tried things like chocolate but i do not want it to become a big part of his diet. I’m not going to be one of those parents who put a complete ban on sweets, crisps etc but I am not going to give them to him with every meal or for a snack.
I am completely with Jamie Oliver and respect the way he has gone about this subject. He has put his heart and sole into it.
With regards to the parents at that school, I think it is disgusting that they are encouraging this unhealthy diet, I would go mad if I found out that they were buying junk for my kids!
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Im behind healthy eating, i mean one would be a dick to say "oh no, i like my kids to eat garbage and i hope theyre fat and unhealthy all their lives" But the schools may only provide the healthy option, not dictate to parents. As far as Jamie Oliver goes, I beleive what he’s doing isnt entirely altruistic and it certainly hasnt hurt his carrer. He called parents who put crisps in their kids lunches assholes? That a bit much. We dont all pull in a million quid a year and can afford to put honey-drizzled asparagus tips in our kids lunches. He doesnt live in reality. For the scores of normal parents, for whom money and cost IS an issue and hates but knows that in some cases, most cases, a bag of crisps costs less than an apple. For parents of multiple kids as well, time is an issue. I have four kids and dont work. My husband gets paid jack-crap to work his ass off 13 hours a day to support us and to do so honestly, without scammin benefits as so many low-income families feel pressed to do these days. At the end of each week my personal wealth is nil, until the wages make it into our bank account. As we’re not eligible despite living below the poverty-line, for free school meals, it would cost 44.00 quid a week to provide them ourselves. Im sure Mr Oliver spends that on olive oil in a week, but to us its a real amount of money. So I budget……….and when you get to tescos, whats on sale?????? Crisps, "juice drinks", processed cheese snacks, and other junk food. So when last year I sent my kids to school with a bag of crisps(which i think you’ll find are safe in moderation!) only to be told that they had been confiscated and replaced with nothing, I was pissed off to say the least. I dont condone what those women did as such, but i can see why they did it.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 6:22 am
its a great idea! i left school about 5 years ago, and the state of school dinners are discraseful! not only are there a lack of healthy options, there is also a lack of meat free options. as i was a vegitarian until the age of 18, i found it very hard to find food that i could eat….my choice was between fish and chips or a chip roll.
although healthier food may be hard to enforce on some children, if they do not like it they can bring their own lunch or buy something from a local shop. all children shouldnt have bad health or go hungry because of those who have a poor diet!
there are so many kids out their who eat complete and utter rubbish…when i was young my mum would let me have 1 chocolate bar a week, and would give me an apple to eat at break-time at school. she would buy a bottle of fizzy juice about 1ce a month, and when it was gone it was gone. she is against microwave meals….there are alot of healthy meals that are quick to cook for busy parents….tuna pasta takes 15 mins, reheating homemade soup about 10 mins ect.
AAAAAARG im enraged now…..how can people let their kids eat such rubbish?
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Hi, it`s madness isn`t it! Parents think they are doing the right thing by feeding their children food that is over processed and over priced, due to having some cartoon etc character on it. Real food is cheaper, more filling and so much better for anyone, but why not give our children the best food to help them grow strong etc. My children are learning this, and they still have the odd packet of crisps etc, but now we bake our own cakes etc and eat a lot of fruit, much cheaper to the people complaining about price!
Their school is now not allowing any children to leave at lunch time, and vending machines only have dried fruit, nuts and similar. There are chips still, but only on some days and with a meal….how can this be wrong ? Some parents are just ignorant!
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 7:24 am
changes were made to the school lunches in hertfordshire over a year ago. the children are provided with healthy, appetising meals but unfortunately a large percentage of them do not recognise any of the foods. because we don’t cook turkey drummers, turkey twizzlers or other similar rubbish the children don’t like it. we provide fresh cooked pies, chicken wraps, veggie pasta bakes, salmon nuggets and other, really delicious, meals.lots of children don’t recognise vegetables such as broccoli or cauliflower and the only fruits they know are apples. i am a school cook and every time we have a new intake of children i know that we will go through the same thing again. we struggle to get the children to taste anything new, and i refuse to put baked beans on the menu every day just because its something the children recognise
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 7:40 am
i find it discusting that they thought that they were doing a good deed. these children need to learn to eat healthy and to look up to good role models not people who have taken it into their own hands to destroy someone elses child and their health. i would go mad if i found out that my children were being given the opportunity to eat as much unhealthy food as possible by people who dont care what they eat
References :
young mother of two
December 18th, 2009 at 7:51 am
you are absolutely correct, some parents havent got a clue. i guess there kids are the ones falling asleep in the classroom because of the chocolate bar they had for breakfast.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Our children should have the choice, with MORE of a healthy option, but I think they’re taking it too far, when they are trying to tell parents, what they should be putting in their lunchboxes. I DON’T agree with what the mothers did, but how far will it go? Parents should have the last say, but what do our youngsters think of the new menus?
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 8:56 am
What they did was wrong on many levels
1) Undermining their children’s health
2)Undermining other people children’s health
3)Undermining the school ( these same parents will blame schools for not doing enough if their children become delinquent
_
4)If as has been suggested they are taking money from other peoples children for food then they are operating as a food supplier ( profit or not makes no difference) then they are subject to health and safety and hygiene laws which clearly they are breaking and could and should be prosecuted
and finally
If they have time to go to the school take orders go to the takeaway and deliver it back they have time to make a decent packed lunch and give it to their own kids.
They are lazy ignorant and frankly criminally negligent.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 9:16 am
There are bigger issues here. My son’s school have embarked upon this lock down at lunch time routine too. Fine if they truly want to stop the kids just buying chips but the reality is they wanted to force them to buy school dinners. It has backfired and the schools are losing out because these kids take lunch boxes instead and many who did have school dinners have now stopped. Most kids say the new healthy food is inedible. Also If it is all about health then why is it that at my son’s school those who buy school dinners get to use the dining hall. Those who take lunch boxes have no allocated place and all classrooms are taped off, the dining room is not big enough now all the kids are in school for lunch. My son takes a healthy lunchbox every day but has to sit outside on cold steps or wander around the school yard with his friends eating their lunch. Those who stay dinners have to wait in long queues and this takes up most of the 30 mins lunch break so they have to eat too quickly or leave it. Not healthy at all I say.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Most of us parents want healthier foods in our school
When children are small it’s so much easier to control their junk food but when they are older it’s so much more difficult even though children are getting educated about the importance of eating a balanced diet it’s difficult as they are surrounded and bombarded with junk and process foods plus a lot of parents have been brought up themselves on convenience and processed foods and haven’t really cooked from scratch
This is something that needs encouragement ,education and support without making parents feel lectured
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 9:53 am
as much as the school tries to serve healthy lunches, the family is the place it should start. no chips, and junk. one healthy meal a day will not prevent overweight kids. how about mandatory physical education, no soda machines etc.
References :
December 18th, 2009 at 10:22 am
my children aren’t old enough for school yet but when they reach school age i would like to see them enjoying a healthy nutritious diet like the one that they are enjoying now. anyone who thinks that burgers and chips is good for their children is only damaging their children there are a lot of health issue to do with obesity through eating junk food all the time. i personally would hate for my children to suffer with any of these issues. most parents try to do the best for their children which includes giving them a good diet whether they are at home or in school even preschools are tring to introduce healthy eating
References :
mum of three