My son’s teacher banned him from eating his lunch because it looked ‘unhealthy’ – he was just left to starve instead
A MOTHER was left fuming after her three-year-old tot was banned from eating his packed lunch which the teacher reckoned was ”unhealthy”.
According to the furious parent, who took to Reddit to share story, the incident not only left her son ”confused” but also ”hungry” all day.
The mum, from Germany, had packed a meal consisting of a sliced apple, freeze-dried banana chips, a handful of nutritious sunflower seeds, as well as a croissant in a plastic wrap.
”Today my son wasn’t allowed to eat his breakfast in kindergarten, because it was deemed to be too unhealthy,” she said the post.
”He’s a picky eater and was really excited about his breakfast.
”Safe to say I went ballistic on the teacher. My poor boy was so confused and hungry when I got him.”
According to the parent, the nursery did not provide an alternative, leaving the poor tot starving until the end of the day.
The German mum said that her toddler was a ”healthy” and an ”active” little boy, and that she was in regular contact with a paediatrician about his diet.
”[His teachers] told him he can’t have something so unhealthy at kindergarten and that he can eat [the croissant] at home,” the mum explained.
”It’s all very beige and looks unappetising, but I still think it’s a relatively balanced meal for a toddler.
”It also only is breakfast – he has the whole day to eat a lot more.”
The furious mother explained she regularly struggled with feeding the little boy, as he only enjoys ”limited options” and he wasn’t allowed to consume the drink in his fruit pouch either.
”So basically everything I packed sucked,” the mum wrote.
”He had his water and a little bit of apple.”
The three-year-old ate his whole lunchbox after pick-up while totally ”confused” about why the teacher had denied it earlier.
The school requests parents to pack a ”healthy” breakfast – however, there is no list of ”forbidden” foods.
Fellow Redditors were just as outraged by the incident, racing to comments to slam the school and the ”unacceptable” behaviour.
What the NHS recommends children have for lunch:
The NHS gives a number of suggestions and guidelines on their Chnage4Life website.
- Base the lunchbox on foods like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes – wholegrain ideally – too keep kids fuller for longer
- If your child isn’t keen on wholegrain, try making sandwiches with one slice of white and one slice of wholemeal bread
- Try to keep lunchboxes interesting by using a variety of shapes like bagels, pittas and wraps
- Make food fun as lunches can be more exciting if the child has to put them together, like having foods for dipping and makes a change from sandwiches every day.
- Opt for low fat foods, like lean meats or fish.
- Cut down on the amount of spreads you put into sandwiches
- Always add a bit of salad and vegetables to the meal
- Cut down on the crisps
- Chop up some fruit or peal satsuamas and add those instead of sweets
- Cheese can be high in fat and salt so pick strong tasting ones or go for low-fat varieties
- Get the kids involved in making the lunch – they’ll be more likely to eat it if they helped make it
One person working in the childcare industry said: ”As someone who works with kids, I would sooner starve myself than let one of the kids go hungry, especially because an adult took their food without replacing it due to a subjective judgment call regarding how healthy it is.
”And a kindergarten kid is a baby, how do you starve a baby and feel okay about that?”
Another chimed in: ”She could have let him eat it, and if it was really a problem could have said something later.
”It’s a problem between the parents and the teacher, not the teacher and the kid.”
”Is the teacher a nutritionist? Beyond making sure the kid has edible food I’m not sure this is within a teacher’s purview to withhold a meal.”