You Can't Label Everyone That Easy

A report out today shows that parents are not giving kids the right food in their packed lunches at school.

40% of kids do not have any fruit or veg in their packed lunch at all. Full story here
for anyone who may be interested : Childrens Packed Lunches Lack Fruit and Veg

I raise my hands to this.

I am guilty as charged regarding Matthew.

He takes a ham and french mustard roll/pitta bread, a small packet of cheese crackers/crisps and a mini chocolate bar. His lunchbag comes home empty.

I've given fruit and pieces of carrots, cucumber, celery etc. All for them to be returned to me. The school have a strict policy that leftover lunch and packaging should return home and not be binned so parents get an idea of what the kids are eating which as annoying as it was at first, I now see and understand why they do it and I really appreciate it.

In comparison - on his pre-school days James takes a ham and cucumber roll, a packet of strawberry fruit flakes and a raspberry yogurt. His box always returns empty.

The kids are really different in their tastes and what they will eat. James has more of a sweet tooth than the other two boys and given the choice Matthew would live on a diet of burgers and chips, chocolate and fizzy drinks. Where as James would opt for roast dinners with piles and piles of vegetables, yogurts, bananas and fruit squash. Liam is another kettle of fish entirely - he will eat absolutely anything and everything.

I also think that age is a contributing factor and that boys especially get more anti fruit and veg as they grow older. It's one of those girl things and it's not cool.


Despite this, my kids all have a healthy range of homecooked foods containing a range of vegetables. We eat healthy but it doesn't mean we won't have chips once a week. We just make sure that if the kids have chips, we make sure there is a large portion of peas, sweetcorn or beans.

Other meals include chilli con carne with extra onions, beans and peppers. Homemade bolognaise, roasts. Stews and casseroles go down very well in winter and I love my one pot meals so they will be getting a lot more fresh veg as the winter months draw closer. I don't even have to hide veg, my kids have healthy meals and they enjoy the different flavours and textures. *the only veg they wont eat - any of them - is parsnips which comes as a surprise since they are so sweet but they think they are potatoes in a stew.*

Whilst there probably are a number of kids where their packed lunch truly resembles their home diets, Matthews certainly doesn't.

And whilst his lunch may be higher in sugar and fats than some other kids, he is incredibly active.  We don't drive to school (even when I pass my test we will continue to walk to school daily)  this means he walks over 40 minutes a day just getting to school and back. His playtime consists of football and adventure games with his friends. He now does football after school on a Tuesday and whilst we are in the good weather he will play outside running around and playing football for an hour after school every day. Weekends we are always on the go so I have no worries about Matthews packed lunch.

James eats better and healthier but for how much longer? Things change as kids reach school age and I think James will be an equally active child.

I get sick of being told what to do as a parent, I know what I should give Matthew in his packed lunch but when I know he brings it home then I'd rather he got fed and had some nourishment and something giving him energy rather than him eat next to nothing and want to snack as soon as he gets home.

So whilst I know Matthew isn't eating the right things at school, he is eating! And he eats well at home. We barely have anything processed - more so since I've started home baking and the kids love things being properly cooked and fresh and they can help out too.

I don't think these reports look into things enough. In an ideal world Matthew would take fruit to school and eat it (fruit would also be a lot cheaper - 9 individually packed chocolate biscuits cost the same as 3 apples here in the UK, with 3 kids you do the maths!!!) In an ideal world, more parents would turn their backs on the easy options, processed foods, takeaways. ready meals but these things exist. They are for convenience and they do become a treat or a short cut for us all occassionally. It's when it's regular that I think it becomes a problem. And this is not reflected in a lunch box at all.

Of  those 60% that do have fruit and veg in a lunchbox, how much of it gets eaten?

Of those 60% that do have fruits and veg in a lunchbox. how many of these are the most nutritious meal that these kids will have that day?

More research is needed as it only tells half a story.