Packed lunches- good or bad?? (Packed Lunches)

Member Name: mummy2twogirls

Product:	Packed Lunches
Date:	25/10/08 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Knowing what you are eating at lunche time

Disadvantages: none

I approve very much of the idea of packed lunches, for both adults and children.They are a cheap alternative to buying canteen food/ ready made sandwiches etc.
If we look at packed lunches from a childrens point of view first and explore how they have changed over the years......
When i was at school my mum 90% of the time gave me a packed lunch for two reasons,1- Having 4 children at a school age it was alot cheaper than paying school meal prices everyday, and 2- She was very weary of our diets and liked to keep an eye on what we ate. We where given things like ham/cheese/tuna sandwiches, a pack of crisps, piece of fruit, a small chocolate bar etc. I remember at lunch time opening up the box and seeing what i had that day, back then the concept of having chocolate, and crisps wasn't really that a big deal, the only rules where no sweets and no fizzy drinks.
Packed lunches nowadays in schools are a very risky business! Because now of the growing obesity rates in children schools are a lot more stricter as to what children can eat whilst being at school, sweets, chocolate, biscuits, fizzy drinks and anything that resembles having a little bit of fat is a no no! Things like white bread are also frowned upon as schools are trying to encourage children to eat more healthy and do recommend to parents to give their child a healthy balanced lunch, with things like fruit, raw vegetables, wholemeal bread, yogurts, low fat cheese etc.
And although yes i do agree with what schools are trying to achieve, i do think it can be hard on parents because not every child will eat healthy food.
Endless leaflets and campaigns guiding parents on what to give their children have worked, but not in all cases, schools are only responsible for what a child eats at lunch time, and yes could eat a healthy meal then but who's knows what the child eats before ad after school, this is where the problem lies and why obesity rates are rising, it's up to the parent at the end of the day to make sure their child eat's the right food.
Packed lunches like i previously mentioned are a great idea and are a cost effective way to save money, buying what you need at the beginning of the week can help you save loads.
Packed lunches in adults and older children ( secondary school age) again is the easy option and simple option, when i was at secondary school, there was always a selection of chips, pie's sausage rolls and a other wide array of fatty foods on offer, in proportion 90% of the food was unhealthy and 10% was healthy, seeing this choice i decided to stick with packed lunches so i knew what i was eating, but so many kid's got sucked into process of buying these fatty foods everyday, and it has only been in the last 2-3 years that the standard of healthy food has rose in secondary schools, but more still has to be done

Summary: I know i prefered packed lunches over soggy chips??