'Spoiled': Parents in heated debate over mum's generous school lunch box

A mum's generous school lunch boxes sparked a furious debate online. Photo / 123rf

A fierce debate has broken out over a mum's generous school lunch boxes.

The lunches sparked arguments in an Australian community Facebook group. Some said she was spending too much on food, and others said parents needed to feed their children more.

The mum makes two sets of lunches for her older and younger kids, aged 6, 9, 11 and 15. The younger kids get veggie sticks, sandwiches, fruit salads, little lamingtons, chocolate biscuits, Nutella and a snack like a Lunchable, or a Rollup.

The big kids also get veggie sticks, fruit salad, sandwiches and Nutella, as well as a packet of Grain Waves, pretzels, a Cake Bar, salami and twiggy sticks and Tiny Teddies.

The parents argued over these four stacked lunch boxes. Some said they were too generous while others said other parents needed to give their kids more food. Photo / Facebook

The mum said her kids usually ate it all or would finish what was left when they got home from school.

She said the lunch boxes cost $4 a day, per box, per child — or $80 a week.

"We have no food restrictions at school, they encourage nuts/eggs etc as healthy eating. If there were children who were allergic I would immediately stop sending those types of food," she said.

But parents quickly started saying they "couldn't imagine" serving that amount to their kids each day, some even calling the kids "spoiled".

"My son takes one packet food, one piece of fruit, two drinks and a bottle of water," one person wrote.

"That is so much food."

"That looks great but your food bill must be through the roof! I couldn't imagine my kids eating that much or it fitting into our budget of $150 for three teens, one 11-year-old, two adults, two cats and two birds," another woman said.

But some thought the lunches were done well, and commended the mum.

"What a great job mumma, very cheap really and done in a very smart way," one person commented.

"Your kids will never feel deprived, will never feel like they need to binge and won't have weight issues."

"Wish you were available to make my lunches every day," another said.