'This is ridiculous': Parents outraged after preschool sends home VERY strict nutritional guidelines to follow for their children's packed lunches
- A mother has reached out to others on Facebook about her daughter's preschool
- The school has issued a very strict nutritional guide for children's lunches
- It reads that there should be less than 20g fat, 15g sugar and 600mg of sodium
- A number of commenters on social media where quick to label it 'ridiculous'
- Does your kid's school have strict guidelines? Email FemailAU@mailonline.com
A health-conscious mother from Australia has taken to the internet for help after her daughter's preschool sent home a note with very strict nutritional guidelines to follow for packed lunches.
The woman shared a snap of the guidelines on Facebook which showed a detailed macro breakdown for parents to use when packing lunches - including protein levels, fat and sugar requirements.
While the mother wasn't completely against the idea of guidelines, she was unsure what to do as the 'healthy' meals she had been packing didn't meet them.
A health-conscious mother has taken to the internet for help after her daughter's preschool sent home a note with very strict nutritional guidelines for lunches (pictured)
While the mother wasn't completely against the idea of guidelines, she was unsure what to do as the 'healthy' meals she had been packing didn't meet them (stock image)
'This is the guideline for my daughters preschool on what we can and cannot pack,' she wrote in a Facebook group.
'Just wondering if anyone can suggest some things that might be suitable that I can look into for school food? I always thought I packed a fairly healthy lunchbox but it seems I may have been wrong.'
The mother said she had been packing her child a sandwich or a wrap for lunch with yoghurt, fruit and some pretzels.
For morning tea she would pack her biscuits with cheese.
'The Jatz have too much salt. Pretzels obviously do have too much salt even popcorn has too much salt. And the yoghurt I was using (haven't checked others) has too much sugar,' she wrote.
'I was shocked that sultanas have almost too much sugar.'
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'I had to do this when my daughter was in preschool. We had the exact same guidelines,' one mother helpfully pointed out
Many women in the group labelled the chart as 'ridiculous' as it demanded food with less than 20 grams of fat, less than 15 grams of sugar, less than 600 milligrams of sodium and less than five grams of saturated fat per 100 grams.
'No one can tell you what you can and can't feed your kids apart from a qualified professional,' one wrote.
'The only people that should be giving you info like this is a dietitian, doctor, paediatrician that you are SEEING because they are concerned. Omg! My kids eat well so I don't have a need to be defensive but this is just ridiculous,' another added.
'The world is going mad! Sorry but what you pack seems fine. It's not like you're sending chocolate and only chocolate. It's just getting ridiculous,' a mum said.
Others said it was a good way to help parents feed their kids a balanced diet.
But other women said it was more of a way to help those parents who were struggling to feed their kids a balanced diet
'I would pack a sandwich, pretzel (kids) salt free popcorn, fruit, rice crackers, custard, cheese and pikelets,' she said based off this guide
'I had to do this when my daughter was in preschool. We had the exact same guidelines,' one mother pointed out.
'That’s actually a good guide that the school has provided, we should be aiming to minimise the food we eat that falls outside of those parameters,' another wrote.
'I think this is great to help educate and encourage people to look at the back of packets.
'My Mum would buy things for my daughter to eat thinking they were healthy without realising they were full of sugar or sodium.'
