Teachers share examples of unsuitable packed lunches children bring to school in the UK, including energy drinks, cold fast food and alcohol – with some pupils making their own meals
Teachers have shared the worst packed lunches pupils have brought in – and the contents are hard to swallow.
One primary school pupil brought in a pork pie and a can of shandy. He made the lunch himself because “that’s all there was in the fridge” he told the teacher in Halifax, West Yorks.
Another was sent in 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 questioned the mother of a pupil with a can of Red Bull and was told: “He’d had a late night on his Xbox and seemed like he needed a pick-me-up.”
A member of staff at a school in Birmingham was sent to school 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 boy had grabbed a can of dark fruits cider thinking 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. Unfit or inappropriate items can be seized and returned to parents at the end of the school day – in their place, children receive a free school meal.
The NHS’s Change4Life healthy eating initiative recommends that parents packing lunches should include a nutritious sandwich or wrap, a piece of fruit, a treat such as jelly or malt loaf, and a bottle of water or sugar-free beverage.
Parents are also advised to swap out crisps, chocolate, and biscuits for homemade plain popcorn, plain rice cakes, or fruited teacakes.
