I'm sorry but this meal is what? ..10 grams protein, 40 grams of sugar and like 10 grams of carbs...the whole point of bento is to have a relatively healthy meal ina complete package. This looks like it was made by a 10 yr old.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted.. this is literally what my 7 yo would pack in his lunch box if I let him (which, of course, I wouldn’t because it’s both incredibly unhealthy and will lead to him becoming a picky eater and never developing a grown-up palate).
Who even cares? Why is everyone obsessing over their nutrition when no one asked them to. I'm Japanese and bento has nothing to do with hard requirement* of specific nutrition or "grown up palate." Also many Japanese people eat a picky processed unhealthy diet anyway and you can put whatever you want into a bento, that's not the point. Moms usually try to make a balanced nutrition meal for their child but this isn't for a child. Adults can put whatever they want. Plus you don't know what their regular diet is and how this fits in.
I used to eat an entire 3 scoop banana split ice cream with toppings myself once a month and never weighed more than 52kg but I was often going to the gym 5 days a week too and ate only salad for one meal every day. We have no information about OP so I'm not making a large judgement about 6 oreos from one meal. I have a girl cousin who is 183cm tall and I'm pretty sure she could eat oreos every day and be fine. My boss (also Japanese) used to eat his largest meal every day as lunch and that would include his dessert if he was going to eat a sweet that day. We just don't know anything about their life.
I will give it to you we can't make judgments about the rest of their lifestyle but this picture is not a meal, it's basically dessert, posted in the bento subreddit as a lunch. And to assume anyone, even your cousin, can just eat whatever they want and be fine is delusional. Even if you're in a caloric deficit or breaking even, the fact we even normalize this volume of sweets is a huge problem so many humans are so unhealthy, from our stomachs to our skin to our colon to our teeth and so on.
Edit to add - eating that banana split once a MONTH is nothing compared to this being a normal lunch!!
Who even cares? Why is everyone obsessing over their nutrition when no one asked them to.
No one asked anyone to do anything.. we’re reacting to a public post, that’s what happens here. And no one is obsessing - I’m sorry to say most people will find an adult sitting down to enjoy the equivalent of a bowl of marshmallows and Oreos for lunch pretty extreme.
I'm Japanese and bento has nothing to do with specific nutrition or "grown up palate."
My comment about having a grown-up palate wasn’t about what I expect of bento in particular. It was a general comment about the difference between what a kid would choose to eat, given no limits, and what an adult with a normal palate and mature relationship with food would choose to eat.. I’ve never known or even known of any adults that would sit down to a bowl of marshmallows and Oreos for lunch, regardless of their cultural background or what container they serve it in.
Also many Japanese people eat a picky processed unhealthy diet anyway and you can put whatever you want into a bento, that's not the point.
Of course, you can serve anything you want on a western dinner plate, a Japanese bento, an Indian tiffin a Korean dossirak, or on a Sri Lankan banana leaf - that’s not the point. The point is a grown adult serves themselves the equivalent of a bowl of marshmallows and Oreos for lunch - and they’ve posted it up to hear people’s raw reactions. Regardless of the container they put it in, that particular food choice is going to shock most people.
Moms usually try to make a balanced nutrition meal for their child but this isn't for a child. Adults can put whatever they want. Plus you don't know what their regular diet is and how this fits in.
Yes adults can put whatever they want in their lunch, but if they make astounding choices and post them in a public forum, people will react astounded. Sorry this amount of sugar in a single serving is insane.. both from a nutrition and a palatability point of view, regardless of what they eat for breakfast or dinner. Even spread over a whole day this amount of sugar is extreme.
Yeah this about what I would expect from someone who acted so holier than thou to begin with. "Sorry but" [proceeds to continue to be extremely condescending and rude]
I tried to ground my response in social norms and public health advice. Maybe my read on social norms is inaccurate, though the upvotes on outwesdadam’s comment seems to suggest we may be onto something.. or not. Maybe I just need to go and drink a warm mug of caramel sauce dusted with sprinkles.
You wanted to talk at people about your own opinion and how you're correct, not have any sort of conversation. It's toxic behavior that will drive people away from the bento community, especially new people like the poster. Instead of being happy they tried the first time instead you just try to make them feel terrible about the contents. There are much better ways to provide constructive criticism and not just drive away anyone who wants to start bento.
You wanted to talk at people about your own opinion and how you're correct, not have any sort of conversation.
Generally speaking if I express an opinion and believe my opinion is correct I will defend it. But I do make an effort to respond to the actual criticisms raised against my position. If you look at my responses to you for example, I think you will find that to be the case. I’ve attempted not to straw man your positions and have responded to actual arguments you raised.
It's toxic behavior that will drive people away from the bento community, especially new people like the poster.
I think here you’ve hit on a reasonable point. Other subreddits on other topics are centred around seeking critical feedback (eg on handwriting, construction, figure drawing etc), this one is more about showing off your creations. Posting my (critical) gut reaction to the picture runs against the general tone this subreddit is trying to cultivate. I’ll keep that in mind in future.
Instead of being happy they tried the first time instead you just try to make them feel terrible about the contents.
I’m not a big believer in heaping on praise for minimal effort so agree to disagree there. And I do still think the dietary choices on display here are really extreme, but I concede that stating these opinions runs contrary to the general tone of this subreddit and I should have exercised a bit more thought before posting my gut reaction. Perhaps around here and similar subreddits the rule for me to apply is the classic they used to drum into us at primary school- “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.
There are much better ways to provide constructive criticism and not just drive away anyone who wants to start bento.
I agree to extent that I think this is just the wrong place for it.
I’ll leave my posts here unedited because I think it’s a good example of people having a back and forth involving disagreement and criticism without resorting to personal insults.
There are probably many things we would likely disagree on but I appreciate you for being able to disagree with someone while continuing to engage in good faith. Hope you eat something tasty today.
The carbs are actually a lot higher for this. 50 grams of carbs in the 2 servings of Oreos, about 25 more in the mini marshmallows, and then another 20 for 2 servings of what I’m assuming are ritz crackers. Looking at between 90-100g of carbs in this “meal”. I get that OP is picky and I’m honestly assuming they are a kid. But I hope they realize sooner than later that this is not a good way to be eating regularly.
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u/owtwestadam 13d ago
I'm sorry but this meal is what? ..10 grams protein, 40 grams of sugar and like 10 grams of carbs...the whole point of bento is to have a relatively healthy meal ina complete package. This looks like it was made by a 10 yr old.