Mom was 'lunch shamed' for packing Oreos as a snack

A preschooler was denied her snack at school. Her offense? She brought Oreos.

Her mother was furious — not just that her child went hungry during school hours, but at the principle: she believes choosing food for her own child is her decision, not the school's. She was also stung by the letter the school sent home, which implied she had chosen convenience over health.

Obesity is a real epidemic, and changing food habits is the only lasting way to fight it. But does that mean every snack should be policed? Is shaming parents the way to build better habits?

Sometimes parents don't have time to pack a perfect lunch — what then? The "lunch shaming" debate pits two reasonable concerns against each other: a school's interest in children's health, and a parent's right to feed her child as she sees fit. Denying a hungry preschooler her snack sits uncomfortably on either side of that line.

Below: real letters sent by US schools chiding parents over packed lunches and snacks.

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Based on reporting by ABC News, April 2015.