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Mum shocked after her three-year-old child’s preschool sent home a note about the contents of the lunchbox she had packed that morning.

Melinda Reist who shared the note said her friend included a piece of chocolate cake in her child’s lunchbox. She never expected to receive a note telling her it was a bad choice.

When the child arrived home from school that day, mum received a note with a red frowning face image.

‘Your child has chocolate slice from the red food category today,’ the letter read.

‘Please choose healthier options for kindy.’

Ms Reist posted a picture of it on her Facebook page, and told her followers she had advised the woman to ‘put in two slices tomorrow and tell them to get lost’.

State funded schools in South Australia are subject to the Right Bite programme, which classifies foods into red, amber and green categories, shares Daily Mail.

Red foods are strongly discouraged, while green foods are heavily encouraged.

The programme encourages schools to work with parents to stop them packing ‘red’ foods for their children.

Suggestions include using newsletter notices, information sessions and canteen duty as a means of communication – as opposed to notes written in red.

Do you think school’s have a right to police our children’s lunches?

Share your comments below. 

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  • It’s nice of them to point this out but done in the wrong way. What they should do is send a newsletter to all of the children’s parents pointing out what is red, amber and green food. Say they prefer green foods then leave it up to the parents. That way parents are better informed but have the final say.

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  • Look if it’s an everyday thing yeah say something, not in a cowardly note though that’s just rude! But if it’s a once off then hell no ! A teacher or school has no right to dictate wether a treat is acceptable or not! If I ever had a note like this sent home to me I’m pretty sure that teacher would eat it the next day! I wonder if that would be considered the “red” category

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  • I’ve no issue with the no junk policy. However sometimes a school can’t see on the outside what’s in the food. I packed for example once to slices of wholemeal bread with raw chocolate spread (without sugar) and they assumed it was Nutella and I was told off because it was unhealthy. They then gave me some “healthy” suggestions like chicken nuggets, ham sandwiches, devon sandwiches, cheese bacon rolls etc. On which I replied I don’t do those foods as I consider them processed and very unhealthy :P

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  • I think there is a point where things are taken too far. I am very careful about what I feed my children, however, occasionally I will give them a little treat and as I prefer for them to eat it during the day so they have the day to burn it off it does sometimes get packed in their lunch for day care. I would not take kindly to receiving a note like this because just because I pack something as a one off for my child doesn’t mean that I don’t normally pack healthy choices or know how to feed my kids nutritious foods- it is not the choice of anyone else how I parent. It is my choice and mine alone.
    My parents had a similar thing with my primary school once where I wasn’t supposed to get Petit Miam yoghurt (how stupid considering yoghurt is fairly healthy!) and so my parents complained and I was allowed to eat it inside the principal’s office so that the other kids wouldn’t see.

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  • When my kids were in kindy and primary school they had strict policies of no junk food or foods that looked like junk which included muffins, cakes, museli bars, etc….
    Im always amazed at articles that show things like cupcakes and they they say “Great lunch box treats for the kids”…..I was just very used to the rules for my 3 kids and had no issue with them at all.

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  • What a load of bull shi.! The chocolate cake may have been a healthy one that had almond meal in it and reduced sugar etc. This is really over the top.

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  • They can make a general statement to all parents but the woman shouldn’t have been singled out. A healthy diet is important but ultimately it is the parents business what they give to their child/ren.

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  • How do they enforce this? Do they check each child’s lunch box before they eat? It’s a bit of an invasion of privacy! Who knows whether the chocolate slice was actually a healthy alternative, or if its the child’s only treat for the week! It might be more helpful for schools to just give parents suggestions for healthy lunchboxes rather than judging what they bring

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  • Can understand both the school’s and parent’s point of view. With so many children allergic to dairy, eggs, nuts, chocolate, etc. it must be a minefield to be a school teacher these days.

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  • I have children from 34 to 4 year olds and all have had to have something healthy for their snack or lunch. This is nothing new having to have something good. It is only meal of the day, it is not hard to find something that fits. I am not just saying fruit , there are vegetables, eggs and others.

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  • Did they ask what type of chocolate it was? Obviously not ! It could have been gluten free cocoa, containing fruit or vegetables, lactose free, nut free, egg free according to a child’s dietary requirements. There are some children (and adults) who are fructose intolerant. Fructose is the natural sugar in fruit. Lactose is the natural sugar in cow’s milk. Some are allergic to eggs. I know one child who is highly allergic to egg yolk. They should be more concerned if any children are allergic to ingredients in some medications. Some leech out through you skin for about 10 hours and the child/adult or their things should not be touched by anybody has taken it. Some can effect the child’s balance, behaviour and brain function.

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  • Who were they to judge, how could they tell it wasn’t a gluten free dairy free almond meal chocolate zucchini slice? Foods can be deceiving. A better way to handle it rather than singling out one parent just pop a reminder note about healthy foods in the whole classes bag

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  • It is a good practice by school, knowledge and education responsible, to encourage healthy eating. Special ly today when our busy life is all about convenience. I would encourage my child to go for healthy options so that I don’t have to worry about health options later.

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  • At my kids kinder there is a no cake, chips or junk food (naked food only) & water only policy but as he is only there for 5 hours a day i dont have a issue with it.. ( he gets treats when he gets home) My son who never eats fruit at home but will in a kinder setting it works for.. as they have fruit time where fruit or a healthy snack then sandwich time later in the day.. ( if a parent sends something unacceptable it gets sent home.. but this is clearly stated in the sign up papers for the kinder so you know what you are getting into.. )

    The school my older kids go to have a water only policy.. No other drinks are accepted.. they also state the must be fruit for brain food time but that whre it ends other than nuts free snacks..

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  • Hello. Suggest all you like .. that’s cool now … It’s like this when you pay my bills when you clean my house when you feed my children when you pay for their needs .. then you can tell me what you will pack ..because you will be paying for it not me.. if I pack chocolate slice that is because it is a reward.. no one tells me except the Doctor which I pay for what to feed my children then he only suggests this might be a good idea.. Omg if one of my grand children could only eat from the green section or the healthy section she would starve to death.. beacause she will not eat anything except spaghetti bol cucumbers nuggets grapes and ham sandwiches on white bread .. that’s her diet … Dr says she is healthy her blood works says she is fine her weight is perfect for her very tall height.

    Reply

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