Packed lunches, how much do you spend?

Lunar_Eclipse

jetta_wales wrote: »

When deciding on how much to give your young child for school and worrying if it's enough or not, look at the amount of food you have in front of you and think of yourself if you ate all that. Would you be full? If so then it's too much.

I totally agree with you ... but that's because we have girls and not boys! I have noticed that boys can eat a LOT more than girls. They are also generally much more active. The 9-11 year old boys I know eat more than the adults in their house. Three adult sized meals, an after school snack plus pre bedtime supper (3-4 weetabix plus toast) seems to be the norm. And they're skinny!

However I know that I didn't eat several items of food at lunchtime as a growing teenager (who swam competitively.) We also didn't have any snacks between meals, with the occasional exception of an apple. My packed lunches were a sandwich, carton of apple juice and a piece of fruit. I don't think it filled me up though!

I'm sure children these days are generally eating a lot more than we ever did. Perhaps that is why we have the increase in diabetes, obesity and clothes being made bigger. Clarks told me a couple of years ago that they believe this is why kids' feet are getting fatter! Apparently no-one had H width feet years ago. I found the comment quite offensive, despite having two girls with D width feet (which interestingly they struggle to cater for.)

Right, I'm hungry now, breakfast is calling.

spike7451

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

I totally agree with you ... but that's because we have girls and not boys! I have noticed that boys can eat a LOT more than girls. They are also generally much more active. The 9-11 year old boys I know eat more than the adults in their house. Three adult sized meals, an after school snack plus pre bedtime supper (3-4 weetabix plus toast) seems to be the norm. And they're skinny!

However I know that I didn't eat several items of food at lunchtime as a growing teenager (who swam competitively.) We also didn't have any snacks between meals, with the occasional exception of an apple. My packed lunches were a sandwich, carton of apple juice and a piece of fruit. I don't think it filled me up though!

I'm sure children these days are generally eating a lot more than we ever did. Perhaps that is why we have the increase in diabetes, obesity and clothes being made bigger. Clarks told me a couple of years ago that they believe this is why kids' feet are getting fatter! Apparently no-one had H width feet years ago. I found the comment quite offensive, despite having two girls with D width feet (which interestingly they struggle to cater for.)

Right, I'm hungry now, breakfast is calling.

They're eating a lot more junk food than we did! Last year I was away with the TA at an Army Cadet camp.When we took them out on excersise,we shown them how to pack a Bergen (rucksack) properly,what to put where & how to use the army issue 24hr rations.Nearly to a boy (& girl) their bergens were stuffed with pot noodles,crisps,sweets ect & when we told them they'd be eating rations,the reply was "I don't like them"...& in most cases,those who said they didn't like them had never tried them!
As to the Pot Noodles...where are you going to get the hot water from?.."Oh yeah.never thought of that" (even tho they'd boil water to cook the rations)
And the amount of food that was thrown away at mealtimes,only for the kids to go to the NAAFI & gorge themselves on crisps & microwave burgers was horryfying!

scooby088

I do packed lunches as since that git jamie oliver started his crusade the DD doesn't like any of the crap he suggested cooking, but in all packed lunches are cheaper than the school dinners. Think we pay about 8.50/9.00 per week.

Buttonmoons

I'll have this issue in Sep, DD is a fussy eater, so school dinners wont even be an option until hopefully a bit of peer pressure rubs off on her

I'd probably put half a sandwich, a banana and a frube in her lunchbox. She might get to go outside and play for 10mins :rotfl: (slowest eater in the world....with food, give her a sweet and it's gone in 0.3seconds!)

escortg3

My grandaughter is 4 and this is her packed lunch.

Jam sandwhich 1 slice of bread or pasta in a tub
A small tub of crisps/quavers/chedders about 1/3 of packet.
A small tub of fruit. Grapes/blueberrys/strawberrys/satsumas
Yoghurt drink
4 cocktail sausages
Bottle of water

Her snacks are paid for seperately and are provided by the school.

She eats everything.

cat04

DD1 is 6 (yr1) and has a packed lunch most of the time, but it's a struggle. At home she will happily eat a sandwich made with 2 slices of bread, for school I use 1 slice of bread, sometimes even cut the crusts off and I'm lucky if she nibbles anymore than an inch off the corner. She refuses to take a yogurt pot/tube/pouch even though she loves them at home. She doesn't like cheese either. I dispare of her sometimes!

She also usually takes some raisins, fruit, breadstick, sometimes those yogurt covered raisins/strawberry flakes or occasionally a cereal bar. There's not much she starts and actually finishes apart from the fruit. Luckily she's decided that she now likes 'baby tomatoes' and cucumber so she has a small container of that, and sometimes carrot sticks. I've given up worrying about her though as she never comes out of school starving.

They get given a morning snack of fresh fruit or box of raisins from school (think this is only for KS1 though) and they are encouraged to take a snack of fruit for afternoon play so I know she has 3 occasions during the day to eat. Not sure now much it all costs me, not that much really as half the time things gets carried over to the next day (non-fresh items only!). School dinners are £2.20!! They are very good though, and she eats the lot and tells me sometimes she's had seconds if there's some available - but she can't eat one small square of sandwich??!!

I would hate to think how much money I've chucked in the bin since she started school! She's not always been like this though and goes through phases.

Lunar_Eclipse

escortg3 wrote: »

My grandaughter is 4 and this is her packed lunch.

Jam sandwhich 1 slice of bread or pasta in a tub
A small tub of crisps/quavers/chedders about 1/3 of packet.
A small tub of fruit. Grapes/blueberrys/strawberrys/satsumas
Yoghurt drink
4 cocktail sausages
Bottle of water

Her snacks are paid for seperately and are provided by the school.

She eats everything.

Your granddaughter appears to have a healthy appetite and is at an impressionable age in developing good eating habits.

Do you know how much salt the sausages and crisps contain? I seem to recall 4 cocktail sausages being a full daily recommended salt intake for children at some point. If this is the case, chicken, a hard boiled egg or cheese could be healthier protein options.

Personally, I would be thinking of a jam sandwich, as opposed to a savoury one, as the treat component of her lunch and thus wouldn't also allow crisps. I'm not sure my girls have eaten jam since I pointed this out to them! :rotfl:

escortg3

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Your granddaughter appears to have a healthy appetite and is at an impressionable age in developing good eating habits.

Do you know how much salt the sausages and crisps contain? I seem to recall 4 cocktail sausages being a full daily recommended salt intake for children at some point. If this is the case, chicken, a hard boiled egg or cheese could be healthier protein options.

Personally, I would be thinking of a jam sandwich, as opposed to a savoury one, as the treat component of her lunch and thus wouldn't also allow crisps. I'm not sure my girls have eaten jam since I pointed this out to them! :rotfl:

Thanks for your points. The cocktail sausages are made at our butchers no salt added. A 1/3 rd of a pack of crisps wont hurt a 4 year old, surely they are no more unhealthy than the biscuits you gave in lunch box today. I did notice that you put sausage on your list aswell.

The only way we can get her to eat any sandwhich is by putting in Healthy choice jam.

I wouldnt put chicken in lunch box as the time it is kept out of the fridge. Scares me YUK. Eggs stink and cheese is okay but she doesnt really like it.

We are not perfect but we try our best.

Lunar_Eclipse

escortg3 wrote: »

Thanks for your points. The cocktail sausages are made at our butchers no salt added. A 1/3 rd of a pack of crisps wont hurt a 4 year old, surely they are no more unhealthy than the biscuits you gave in lunch box today. I did notice that you put sausage on your list aswell.

The only way we can get her to eat any sandwhich is by putting in Healthy choice jam.

I wouldnt put chicken in lunch box as the time it is kept out of the fridge. Scares me YUK. Eggs stink and cheese is okay but she doesnt really like it.

We are not perfect but we try our best.

That's fantastic! We're generally not keen on the taste of sausages though, otherwise I'd definitely investigate this option.

Good point about chicken, we never have any available when I'm making lunches anyway though.

(The biscuits were a treat because my eldest is in test week at school; she doesn't have something like that daily.)

BitterAndTwisted

Why would anybody believe that some cold, cooked chicken could go off and be dangerous to eat just four or five hours out of the fridge? The answer is that it won't and it can't.