Why school food policies are failing some children, and what we can do about it.
Every morning, Australian parents pack a lunchbox and brace for what the school might say about it. For families of children with feeding differences, selective eaters, neurodivergent kids, and children with sensory or medical needs, school food policies built for the average child can turn eating into a daily barrier. This piece names something that rarely gets named: how one-size-fits-all rules, lunchbox comments and "good food, bad food" messaging quietly undermine the feeding relationship, and why that matters when neurodivergent people are so overrepresented in eating disorder statistics. It also covers what good looks like, a classroom where food is treated as neutral, and what parents can actually do, including the reasonable adjustments schools are legally required to make under the Disability Discrimination Act. Your child has a right to eat at school without shame. Advocating for that isn't being difficult.