Teachers have told of some of the most heartbreaking school lunches they have seen. Pupils have brought foods including a day-old McDonald's happy meal so it didn't "go to waste".
Many youngsters have helped themselves to their lunchtime meal as their parents failed to do it for them. But it has meant some have brought inappropriate food and drink into school.
These include one boy who brough a pork pie and a can of shandy into his primary school. He told the teacher in Halifax, West Yorkshire that he made it himself but it was "all there was in the fridge".
Staff in primary schools keep an eye on what the youngsters bring in. And many have found their planned lunchtime meal did not meet the standards, reports the Mirror.
And it is not only down to youngsters getting it wrong or having little choice on what to bring. Others have been sent in with meals most people would not consider.
One child was sent to school with a can of Red Bull and a bag of Monster Munch corn snacks. A teacher in Leeds said a child arrived with a packet of ginger biscuits explaining mum had been “too tired” to go to the shops.
She also quizzed the mother of a pupil with a can of Red Bull. She was told: “He’d had a late night on his Xbox and seemed like he needed a pick-me-up.”
One child at a school in Birmingham arrived with a Happy Meal box with a cold McDonald’s burger and fries. Their gran explained it had been bought the day before but the pupil hadn’t wanted it so it was a “shame for it go to waste.”
In Manchester a teacher found an eight-year-old lad had grabbed a can of dark fruits cider. He had thought it was a soft drink.
A child with no packed lunch or cash for a meal said he’d had cereal with water on it for breakfast because “mum needed the milk for her coffee.” The teacher – one of dozens sharing stories on Facebook – said: “I’m not ashamed to say I cried when he told me that.”
Staff in primary schools monitor packed lunches. Unhealthy or unsuitable items can be confiscated and handed to parents at the end of class – instead children get a free school meal worth around £2.20.
The NHS’s Change4Life healthy eating campaign advises parents making packed lunches to include a healthy sandwich or wrap, a piece of fruit, a treat like a jelly or malt loaf and a bottle of water or sugar-free drink. And they are advised to replace crisps, chocolate and biscuits with homemade plain popcorn, plain rice cake, or fruited teacakes.
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