Children are being sent to school with packed lunches featuring shandy cans, Red Bull and leftover Happy Meals.
Some children are even making their own packed lunches because their parents won't.
This is according to a story by The Mirror in which teachers have revealed their worst experiences of packed lunches.
Many children are not receiving the balanced diet they should be.
Shandy, old Happy Meals and energy drinks
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 pupil 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.”
Unhealthy or unsuitable items can be confiscated and handed to parents at the end of class – instead children get a free school meal worth around £2.20.
The NHS’s Change4Life healthy eating campaign advises parents making packed lunches to include a healthy sandwich or wrap, a piece of fruit, a treat like a jelly or malt loaf and a bottle of water or sugar-free drink.
And they are advised to replace crisps, chocolate and biscuits with homemade plain popcorn, plain rice cake, or fruited teacakes.
