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Is a Marmite sandwich and an apple good enough for a child’s lunch? (www.rnz.co.nz)

submitted 5 days ago by Dave to c/politics

51 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's suggestion of a Marmite sandwich and an apple for lunch wouldn't keep a child full or feed their brain sufficiently, according to local health and education experts.

"If you're just doing a Marmite sandwich and an apple, you're probably not meeting the protein requirements [which depend on age and gender]," paediatric dietician Jenny Douglas explained to RNZ.

"Ideally it would be a Marmite and cheese sandwich at least," she said, noting that the high salt content of Marmite, which could shape one's palate, giving a child a taste for salty snacks like pies and chips early on.

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[–] deadbeef79000 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Our typical school lunch boxes are filled with options from:

ham and cheese sandwich
luncheon sandwhich
ham and cheese and tomato tortilla wrap

And

apple
sliced kiwifruit
banana
some repulsive fruit stick things
salami of some kind

And

chips, crisps or similar (mini bag)
freshly cooked pikelets
less freshly made mini muffins
mini cup cake

Occasionally leftover dinner in a fat thermos.

I'm forgetting some things as it's usually spouse-unit-01's task in the morning to prepare these.

[–] Dave 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Thanks for the ideas!

Yesterday I put two marmite sandwiches and a banana in one of the kid's lunch boxes and it came home with one sandwich and a banana... so maybe your kids eat more than mine, or maybe that's a sign my lunches aren't up to scratch.

[–] liv 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I wonder if your kids are trading or something?

I grew up in an era where most of us had two sandwiches and if ever I got anything too exotic for my tastes (like, luncheon sausage) I would try to exchange it for a marmite or a peanut butter.

[–] Dave 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I can't remember what age I started not taking lunch to school, but it was before high school. Before that, yeah, two sandwiches. I never got little packets of chips or things like that as a kid, not sure when that got more common.

I wonder if your kids are trading or something?

For sure. I see empty chip packets come home in their lunch boxes that I never put there. Sometimes a muesli bar wrapper or roll up wrapper. Not sure what they are trading, fruit and sandwiches doesn't seem exciting enough to entice the other kid,

[–] liv 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Idk, anything for novelty? If another kid gets chips or roll ups a lot they might want a marmite sandwich?

Yeah chips weren't the norm at my primary either. Sandwiches, fruit, those mini packets of cinderella raisins. The technology of lunch has moved at a clipping pace by the sounds of some of the recipes in here.

[–] Dave 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Idk, anything for novelty? If another kid gets chips or roll ups a lot they might want a marmite sandwich?

Yeah true. I refuse to buy those little bags of chips that contain more plastic bag mass than chips.

those mini packets of cinderella raisins

Ooh I forgot about those! The dentist told me not to give the kids dried fruit haha.

[–] liv 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Microplastic and saturated fats, lunch of champions. /s

I guess dried fruit is way more sugary than fruit fruit?

[–] Dave 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The explanation was that yes dried fruit (all fruit) has a lot of sugar, and dried fruit in particular sticks to your teeth. They said adults tend to pick at this with their tongue and clean it off their teeth but kids don't and it just sits there.

[–] liv 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Makes sense. I would think that would exclude those sticky roll up things too.

[–] Dave 1 points 21 hours ago

Yeah I presume so. My kids aren't a fan of them anyway. I think they aren't as sugary as they used to be.

[–] deadbeef79000 2 points 4 days ago

We've found little rhyme not reason for what comes home or not ;-)