Banned School Lunches

deisemum

When I used to do school collections most days you'd see pupils going home with yogurt spilt down their jumpers.

TequilaMockingBird

I wish they were encouraged to wash their hands before eating. Can you just imagine the germs! I wouldn't eat anything if I had spent a morning around 20/30 kids without washing my hands. Ewwww...

the dee

Crea wrote: »

Can understand the yogurt given that lunches aren't kept in the fridge and over 4 hours in a warm classroom might make them turn.

My mum used to put my yoghurt in the freezer the night before. Then when lunch time came around it would still be nice and cold

Khannie

oh well wrote: »

He lives on litterly 3 or 4 different things for the last few years. If he was to follow the school policy he'd starve from 8am to 3pm - surely even junk would be better than nothing in this case.

Hunger is good sauce.

seamus wrote: »

Children who eat carb and fat-rich foods are more likely to be sluggish than their peers. Children who eat foods high in sugars are likely to be hyperactive and have difficulty concentrating. Both types of child will have trouble learning, thus having an effect on the ability to teach and affecting the education that the other children get.

Exactly. Who the hell would want to teach 30 sugar'd up lunatics? Not me I tell ya. No harm in eating healthily.

seamus wrote: »

So you can't dispensate for home-made pizza versus normal pizza (as mentioned above), because kids don't understand the difference. All they see is one kid getting preferential treatment - they don't care that it's healthy, all they see is "pizza".

Agree with this too. Home made pizza is probably a well balanced meal but it would be very difficult to differentiate the two to a child.

FakeRedHead

seamus wrote: »

It's firmly my opinion that the bulk (> 90%) of children diagnosed with "behavioural disorders" or the overdiagnosed ADHD have poor diet as one of the root causes of their "problem".

Making up nonsense statistics based on your own 'opinion' and prejudice against children with additional needs isn't acceptable.

Do you have no idea of the methods and criteria involved in diagnosing those with ADHD and other disabilities?

TequilaMockingBird

FakeRedHead wrote: »

Making up nonsense statistics based on your own 'opinion' and prejudice against children with additional needs isn't acceptable.

Do you have no idea of the methods and criteria involved in diagnosing those with ADHD and other disabilities?

I agree. If only it was just down to diet. Wishful thinking.

Nevyn

Diet can play a part even when a child has add or adhd or is on the autism specturm but
it is not the cause or the cure.

seamus

FakeRedHead wrote: »

Do you have no idea of the methods and criteria involved in diagnosing those with ADHD and other disabilities?

Yes. Method: Pay doctors tonnes of money to promote your behavioural drug. Criteria: Any child described as "troublesome"

I'm not saying there are no genuine cases, but the bulk are taking the easy way out IMO.

Nevyn

In the usa but not here seamus and I am speaking as a parent who has had her child through that very process here in the last 9 months.

TequilaMockingBird

seamus wrote: »

Yes. Method: Pay doctors tonnes of money to promote your behavioural drug. Criteria: Any child described as "troublesome"

I'm not saying there are no genuine cases, but the bulk are taking the easy way out IMO.

Very few children with these conditions would be taking drugs.

IMO your opinion is very wrong.

Talk to a few parents about how easy "the easy way out is".

Femelade

My daughter is an extremely fussy eater...so lunch is always a big problem..
The kids in her school are only bring in "something nice" on fridays..
She doesnt eat any fruit or veg...believe me, i have tried..
Her lunch usually consists of a tuna sandwich (No mayo) and a bottle of water / mi wadi and a cereal bar..i used to give her yoghurts but she said its takes her too long to eat it and she never gets to finish it on her first break (she's a slow eater) so she has to leave it sitting there until the next break by which time it is horrible. the only other thing she will eat in a sandwich is that horrible billy roll stuff, or else she just has a buttered toasted bagel.

Khannie

Femmy wrote: »

She doesnt eat any fruit or veg...believe me, i have tried..

:eek:

Honestly my advice is to try harder. I know parenting is a very subjective art but the damage a diet without fruit or veg will do to the human body (slowly and over time) is not worth considering.

Without knowing what you've already tried... Maybe things like smoothie, or pizza with veg on it or corn on the cob or something like that. "Fun foods" kinda thing. I'm sure there are plenty of tips available on the internet for getting healthy food into them.

Possibly worth a thread on its own.

seamus

It's not the place for it, so I won't continue on this line.

I don't recall there ever being "banned" foods when I was in school. I guess back then teachers were expected to take on a wider role of carer/cleaner/teacher than these days. Schools probably focus themselves more as a business now too, so if it's cleaner (and therefore cheaper) to ban messy foods.

Femelade

Khannie wrote: »

:eek:

Honestly my advice is to try harder. I know parenting is a very subjective art but the damage a diet without fruit or veg will do to the human body (slowly and over time) is not worth considering.

Without knowing what you've already tried... QUOTE]

Like you said, you dont know what i've tried, so how can you say for me to "try harder"...
i've tried plenty..and i have loads of books for healthy eating for kids..

Nevyn

I have told my two that as their body grows and changes so does their tougue and that is why I will get them to try again things they didn't like before.

It also helps if they see me eating fruit and veg and enjoying it.

Femelade

i eat fruit and veg infront of her alot and i often try and get her to try it, i have recently gotten her to like beans..so i'm hopefull about other foods , if i keep at it..

TequilaMockingBird

Update on Cool Dudes: Today was Cabbage and Orange.

For kids who are fussy eaters, raw cabbage probably isn't the best thing to offer. Raw Turnip yesterday. I wouldn't eat either of those raw myself! Maybe they are keeping the best till last - peppers, tomatos etc. I'm half expecting raw potato tomorrow!

Great scheme though

lizzyd66

I had to deliver some Parent Association stuff to class rooms last week right after lunch - the stink in most of the class rooms was unreal, so I can understand why smelly/messy food is banned . I think there is a big issue in not having a dedicated dining hall (in my friend in the UK school they have really clever fold away tables and benches all in one that they use at lunch time in the PE hall). Another issue seems to be the amount of time the kids get to eat. I think it is 5 min little break, 10 min big break (may be less). By the time they get their stuff out and have a chat the time is gone! They are only supervised by kids in older classes so there is no one encouraging them to eat /get on with their lunch. Some days my dd comes home having eaten none of her lunch.

We had the Food Dudes programme last year - very good, my dd now eats peppers and cucumber as a result of it and tried everything. My only quibble was that the food arrived pre packaged - individually wrapped in plastic. The teachers said there was a lot of waste. I am disappointed that it isn't an ongoing programme as my ds is now in JI and has "missed" the programme. In playgroup the teacher used to cut up a banana or apple and each kid would have one slice if they wanted. I thought that was a great idea. Often I send dd in with an apple but she only takes one bite where as if there was a plate of fruit on the table she would probably eat more. We were at a party in a playcentre recently and they put out a fruit platter first and lots of the kids dug in (with a few proclaiming loudly that they didn't like fruit - my ds included!). Might suggest it to ds JI teacher - maybe see if I bought a bag of fruit would she try it for a week. I know her quite well (my dd was her pet two years ago and now ds is the thorn in her side) so she might be receptive to it.

Khannie

Femmy wrote: »

Like you said, you dont know what i've tried, so how can you say for me to "try harder"...
i've tried plenty..and i have loads of books for healthy eating for kids..

Sorry....should have said "keep trying".

parsi

seamus wrote: »

I

It's firmly my opinion that the bulk (> 90%) of children diagnosed with "behavioural disorders" or the overdiagnosed ADHD have poor diet as one of the root causes of their "problem".

It is my opinion that your opinion is Tosh.
It would be so much easier if diet was the root cause. Really great.

There weren't banned foods back in the days of old because all we had was sandwiches with some form of paste or other and God knows Calvita didn't make any mess.

DublinWriter

Femmy wrote: »

She doesnt eat any fruit or veg...believe me, i have tried..Her lunch usually consists of a tuna sandwich (No mayo) and a bottle of water / mi wadi and a cereal bar

Careful with those cereal bars. They are packed with salt and sugar.

As for fruit, have you tried stuff like tangerines, kiwi-fruits and pineapples?

seamus

parsi wrote: »

There weren't banned foods back in the days of old because all we had was sandwiches with some form of paste or other and God knows Calvita didn't make any mess.

Depends on how old you are
There was certainly more variety than sandwiches and cheese when I was in primary school.

TequilaMockingBird

I'm of an age where I could walk home from school for lunch (I know, WALK, ALONE ). Banana sandwiches and a cup of tea was the fave!

Update on Kool Dudes: Apple and Turnip. (Whats with the turnip...?)

noby

sueme wrote: »

Update on Kool Dudes: Apple and Turnip. (Whats with the turnip...?)

And why not turnip? As I recall, every day they tasted a fruit and a vegetable. The point is to get them to taste stuff that they may not usually eat. I guess they are more likely to try things when they see their classmates trying them.

TequilaMockingBird

noby wrote: »

And why not turnip? As I recall, every day they tasted a fruit and a vegetable. The point is to get them to taste stuff that they may not usually eat. I guess they are more likely to try things when they see their classmates trying them.

That is the point, but RAW turnip... yech! Boiled for an hour, loads of salt and pepper and a lump of Kerrygold maybe..

Its a school trip to the Garda Barracks today, so hopefully they'll all grow up to be well-nourished law abiding citizens!

Ayla

Thaedydal wrote: »

In the usa but not here seamus and I am speaking as a parent who has had her child through that very process here in the last 9 months.

Oh, Thaedydal...you so often make requests for citations and evidence to back up statements, and yet here you are making a completely prejudicial statement yourself.

Do you have hard evidence & proof that it's "that way" in the USA? I know everyone *thinks* they know (based on what the media spews) how the American medical profession works, but what's your proof?

Sorry, just had to call you on your hypocracy

Nevyn

Start a new thread on that topic please Ayla.

Ayla

On topic, if the schools want to dictate what kids can and cannot eat, why don't they start some form of school organized lunch program that the kids can purchase each day? That would eliminate all the regulations and enforcement issues - kids come to school with €1, buy a lunch the school decides is the best for their physical, mental and emotional well-being, as well as clean for the eating environment. Done.

It's almost unfair to require parents to provide a lunch for the kids all the while putting all sorts of restrictions and rules on what can and cannot be consumed.

Nevyn

A lot of schools do not have the staff or the facilities to do that

TequilaMockingBird

Funds, its always the same..

Interesting link here http://www.oceanfm.ie/onair/sligoleitrimnews.php?articleid=000002739

When I was at school in London, 300 years ago , we were given school lunches in a canteen, and they were the most unhealthy meals possible. I'm sure it wouldn't be the same now, but aside from the inconvienience, I prefer to know what my daughter is eating when shes not with me.