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One of our very own MoM team were shocked when they were confronted about their child’s lunchbox.

Lisa shared how when she went to pick the kids up one afternoon last week they told her that they weren’t allowed to eat some of their food in their lunchbox as the teacher told them it was unhealthy.

“My kids have had a marshmallow in their lunchbox every day for pre-school for the past 2 years without any issue”, says Lisa.

“Their lunchbox yesterday had some low-sugar animal cookies – but it also had fruit, vegetables, dairy and protein. I was absolutely furious!

“I totally feel that it is my prerogative to choose what I want to give my kids in their lunchbox (besides nuts obviously).

“We subscribe to a balanced diet – which includes treats in moderation and my kids are physically active and fit.

“Are the school actually allowed to tell me what I can or can’t put in MY child’s lunchbox. Grrrr… I am seething!”

MoM’s share their experiences

Other mums have shared with us how similar things have also happened to their children.

Rhianon said, “My daughter was told she wasn’t allowed to eat her cheese until she had eaten her fruit! So basically she ended up having 1 bite of the cheese and it got wasted, pretty annoyed about that!”

Kate shared, “I got my son a lunch order once in grade prep, it was something he’d never had previously and I thought it’d be exciting for him. The teacher asked him to come up to front of the class with his lunch and took the opportunity to tell the rest of the class how unhealthy he was. I was appalled.”

Trish’s reply was actually quite heartbreaking “Apparently some kids won’t play with mine because her lunch isn’t that healthy. She eats what I give her and she has fruit, snack, sandwich and some treats. She won’t eat carrot sticks and muffins.”

Jessica shared, “I still can’t believe my daughters cauliflower and cacao chip muffins were sent back cos they weren’t approved. Because they were perceived to be sweet choc chip muffins.”

Michelle gave us a little giggle, “Yes, our kids got into trouble at Vacation Care for having a small packet of chips with their balanced lunch of sandwich and fruit. My husband went in to explain it was a treat as they are there during their school holidays, he was going to be nice about it until he saw they were advertising Fairy Floss for sale. Needless to say, I got called into the office about his outburst, but I defended him and our right to give our kids what we want.”

Do schools have a right to dictate what goes in our kids’ lunchboxes? Have you ever been attacked about your lunchbox and what did you do?

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  • My question would be does the teacher look like she eats healthy? Does she drink at all? Might have to point out to her that her choices are not really setting a good example for her students

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  • No it is not on. A complaint needs to be made against the teacher. Your child equals your business.

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  • Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with the schools these days. They will police what kids eat and at times shame them but they do nothing about bullying. They are just giving the bullies more ammunition by bringing up what the children are eating while at school.


    • Oh boy, I think getting on-top of bully learning is more important than the lunch box. My daughter got teased for having a healthy lunch box. So now I throw in 2 marshmallow or bbq shapes to balance it out.

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  • It’s really none of their business!! Unless the lunch box is full of sugar and nothing nutritious!
    Give mums a break !


    • I agree – parents have a number of issues to manage.

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  • teachers really should stick to teaching – maths english, reading writing – that is there job, not lunch box monitors – that’s our jobs to monitor what we put in and what get’s eaten. For my girls they get an assortment of stuff in their lunch boxes, healthy and treats. If I find that my girls are only eating the treats then they come out of the lunch box until sometime that they can prove to me that they eat all the things provided not just the treats – it’s the parent responsibility not teachers.

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  • My child is underweight and under size for her age(very premi) her school were made very aware of this when she started. Occasionally there is an issue but I’m very quick to intervene. Children have various dietary needs and schools have NO right to police what they are provided. I’ve heard of some schools rating lunch boxes contents on charts for all class mates to veiw. This has to stop!!

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  • Absolutely not! It is not the role of a school or educators to monitor kids lunch and eating habits. It is their role to educate on what is healthy as part of the curriculum, but they cannot judge a child’s lunch. Some families have no money, some children are lucky to have whatever it is in their lunchbox, healthy or not… they should not be shamed or made to feel inadequate or different. This has to stop. Parents do the best they can to provide food for their children. Some kids are fussy eaters and might only eat a certain food. It is a process to change a child’s tastes and eating habits, and one that I’ve no doubt is a work-in-progress with families.

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  • This has gone too far! All schools are doing buy uneducated teachers policing lunchboxes means that children will grow up with an even unhealthier relationship to food! Our local primary school tried to totally change the canteen menu to healthy alternatives – all suggestions were from the teachers and well meaning p&f council members – no professionals involved. My brother took in a letter from the sports nutritionist that my niece was seeing as a state level athlete listing why all of the “bad” things they had listed were actually fine for my niece as she required the extra sugars they were trying to ban. On of the parents on the committee actually said that the school had to remove the “treats” as her son was stealing money from her to buy them as she didn’t allow it! Maybe we are creating different problems buy trying to control everything like this!!!

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  • Society gone mad! Yes we need to crack down on the weight problem but picking on people for having one treat is ridiculous. Moderation guys!

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  • The principal of my youngest said then when he sees kids refusing to eat their lunchbox food, he will feed them !I’m not happy with that either, he has no right to give her whatever he thinks is good for her.

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  • There are so many bigger issues for schools to manage and lunch boxes should be left alone! Children need to be fed and parents do the best they can.

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  • I really don;t feel that anyone should be able to dictate what your child eats.

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  • I have heard of kids being shamed because they have packaging in their lunch boxes

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  • The muffins may have been made with gluten free flour and be suitable for a child with Coelic Disease. Wheat Allergy or Diabetes.
    The teacher has no right to complain about what a child has if it is bought from the school canteen.
    She should be taking it up with the School Principal, not the parent/s or guardian

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  • Our school discourages certain foods (like lollies), but doesn’t police the kids’ lunch boxes.

    Reply

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