Parenting

There’s NO excuse for sending your kids to school with cold McDonald’s – you’re just setting them up to be obese


MOST kids love McDonald’s – but would you class it as a nutritious school lunch?

That’s the debate sparked by the news parents in Lancashire are giving their kids cold burgers, chips and McNuggets to microwave as a packed lunch.

Vicki Psarias, 39, from Windsor, is mum to Oliver, nine, and Xander, seven

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Vicki Psarias, 39, from Windsor, is mum to Oliver, nine, and Xander, seven Credit: Honest Mum
She's reacting to the news parents have been sending their kids to school with cold McDonald's meals to microwave

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She’s reacting to the news parents have been sending their kids to school with cold McDonald’s meals to microwave

Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online, two mums argued a cold Happy Meal was “better than nothing” and said they felt no shame over the practice.

But now mum-of-two and former teacher Vicki Psarias, 39, from Windsor, insists there is no excuse for a fast food school lunch – and says it’s cheaper to shop at the supermarket.

Vicki, founder of Honest Mum and author of MUMBOSS, who has kids Oliver, nine, and Xander, seven, with husband Peter, 39, says…

I was shocked to read the news that parents in Lancashire are sending their kids to school with a cold McDonald’s Happy Meal for lunch.

Vicki says there's no excuse for giving kids a fast food lunch

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Vicki says there’s no excuse for giving kids a fast food lunchCredit: Honest Mum

There’s nothing happy about that. What are they thinking?

There’s no excuse for not providing your children with a healthy, nutritious and tasty lunch.

It’s your duty as a parent to feed your children and teach them about healthy eating. It’s your responsibility. 

I understand how it can happen – mums are busy are pulled in every direction with not enough support, so inevitably want to cut corners.

I don’t want to come across as blaming mums, we all want to cut corners, but McDonald’s for lunch isn’t the answer.

Buying healthy options and managing time better is key.

There’s no excuse for not providing your children with a healthy, nutritious and tasty lunch

Vicki Psarias39

I understand costs add up when you have children, I have two myself, but it’s cheaper to pack a nutritious lunch for your kids than it is to spend a fiver on nuggets and chips.

Why not make a sandwich, adding a yoghurt, piece of fruit and a healthy oat based cookie/bar?

Healthy lunches can be carrots, cucumber and hummus, cheese sticks, boiled eggs, tracker bars/ breakfast biscuits, pitta pizzas, which take six minutes to make, yoghurt pots – there are loads of options.

I’m not against McDonald’s, my children enjoy a Happy Meal as a treat as much as the next kid.

But I wouldn’t dream of sending them off to school with cold fast food to be microwaved for lunch.

How is that going to fuel the brain and given them consistent energy for a day of learning and sport?

She's also shown some examples of healthy lunches parents can make instead

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She’s also shown some examples of healthy lunches parents can make insteadCredit: Honest Mum

This ridiculousness is exactly why we have an obesity crisis in this country – with one in three kids now leaving primary school overweight or obese.

I saw it myself first-hand when I used to teach in London.

This ridiculousness is exactly why we have an obesity crisis in this country

Vicki Psarias39

Students would be fuelled on fast food at lunch and return back to class, lacking in concentration and energy, unable to learn effectively. 

That post-KFC slump led to bad moods, aggression, lack of concentration and interest – it was a marked difference to pre-lunch behaviour.

And there’s only so much parents can do about this, fast food restaurants close to schools, colleges and unis have a lot to answer for.

She and husband Peter are keen to teach their kids about healthy eating

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She and husband Peter are keen to teach their kids about healthy eatingCredit: Honest Mum

Weight gain is now responsible for 120,000 cases of childhood asthma and 650,000 cases of fatty liver disease.

Parents up and down the country need to do something, and quick.

My children enjoy a Happy Meal but I wouldn’t dream of sending them off to school with cold fast food for lunch

Vicky Psarias39

Order a food shop you’ve budgeted for online for Heaven’s sale (there are so many low price options, or head to Aldi or Lidl) and take five minutes to make a packed lunch for your kids.

Better still, have them take some responsibility and make it themselves.

If time is short, paying £2 for a school dinner is far cheaper than the Maccy D’s your kids are eating. It really is a matter of life and death.

Vicki says a pasta salad, made from dinner leftovers, is actually much cheaper than a Happy Meal

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Vicki says a pasta salad, made from dinner leftovers, is actually much cheaper than a Happy MealCredit: Honest Mum

My sons both take packed lunches to school, and we plan the box the night before.

I even add dinner leftovers, like veggie burgers and pasta salad, to make it more cost-efficient.

If they’re taking a sandwich in, my boys make it themselves in the morning before breakfast.

It only takes 10 minutes, the time and money you spend ordering a Happy Meal doesn’t compare to a fresh, healthy lunchbox.

In more parenting news, this woman refuses to buy her kids ANY Christmas presents – even though she can afford to.





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