A mum has questioned school policy after staff shamed her teenage daughter for having 'too much' food in her lunchbox.
Taking to Mumsnet, forum user LemonDrizzleDisco asked fellow parents if she was being unreasonable to think that the comments about her child's meal were unfair.
'DDs secondary school has started checking all the packed lunches at registration. I know lots of secondary school students but sweets and chocolate etc on the way to school but surely at that age it's their choice,' she wrote.
Explaining that her daughter had been 'told off' for having too much food, she described what the packed lunch actually consisted of: 'Peanut butter sandwich with brown bread, a small banana, strawberries, a few grapes, and less than a handful of raisins and dried coconut flakes.'
In a following comment, she added: 'She also got told off for having a few pieces of sliced up avocado because it's "unhealthy".
'The canteen serves things like sausages and mash, cake and custard, sandwiches and doughnuts etc. Aibu to think this is unfair?'
Other mothers were quick to send supportive comments to LemonDrizzleDisco's post, with one writing: 'Nope and I'd be discussing this with the firm tutor asap. The last thing teenage girls need is encouragement of competitive non-eating!'
'I would have an issue with someone teaching my child that avocado is unhealthy,' another agreed.
'Does the person who told off your daughter have any relevant qualifications?' a third wondered. 'I bet they don't. That lunch sounds perfectly healthy and it's dangerous to plant nutritional misinformation in the minds of teenage girls. Don't they have anything better to do??'
LemonDrizzleDisco later explained that her daughter is 'no where near' overweight and follows a vegan diet, meaning that the school offer 'nothing that she can eat' and therefore making the issue even more difficult to navigate.
'I will speak to the form tutor and see what was said but it's not like my dd to make this up,' she wrote. 'We got a letter before half term to say there will be lunch checks to promote healthy eating.'
She also said that she would be sending her daughter to school with a letter retaliating against the comments, which would read: 'Unless you are able to provide the nutritional information of school dinners or an alternative to avocado for LittleLemon who is vegan, I will not be changing what she has for lunch.
'I would appreciate if you do not make comments on LittleLemons healthy lunch because telling a teenage girl that she has 'too much' lunch is far from healthy.'
