Son not eating lunch

rollnchips

You are getting very angry with him, which just isn't justified.

Not everyone wants to eat at the set times society has dictated to us. Not being hungry at noon isn't a huge deal. You could offer him a snack when gets home from School, or at the weekends encourage more home cooking.

sooty&sweep

Hi

Have a chat with the school see if they are aware of a problem and ask them to keep an eye on him.
My son was never great with packed lunches but his problem was that he was a slow eater but wanted to go out and play with his friends.

Jen

chocdonuty

My daughters not great at eating her lunch, she has come home more than once having forgotten to eat her lunch and a lot of the time her sandwich comes back uneaten.
DD doesn't have a great appetite and often says she wants very little and so she usually has small picky things in her lunchbox so she can get variety and interesting things rather than a big sandwich to get through which by lunchtime is never as nice as when freshly made!

How about things like wraps and sandwich squares? less stodgy bread and quicker to eat. Maybe a smoothie for a drink too?

Other than that, don't make a fuss and make sure he gets a healthy snack when he finishes school, punishments for not being hungry is just bizarre frankly. I know how annoying it is to waste food but anger is not the way to deal with it.

pmlindyloo

As a retired teacher I think that this is something that the school should know about, particuarly if it is affecting his concentration.

To go 6/7 hours without food is not good for a child. I do hope that he is drinking.

What kind of drink does he have? Some drinks are particulary 'filling' and may give him that 'full up' feeling.

Since it is so close to the end of term I would be inclined to leave it until the new term/new school year.

It is probably best if you don't let your son know that you are going to speak to the teacher. Try to telephone/make an appointment without your son being aware of what you are doing.

I hope that the school will be subtle and ask the dinner ladies to keep a discrete eye on what is happening at lunch time.

Schools should be very 'hot' on healthy eating and if it is done as a whole school approach your son won't feel 'picked on'.

Mention all of your concerns to the school and see if things improve.

It may be that next year things will improve on their own so give it a while before you approach the school.

I am inclined to feel that it is most likely to do with his peers - rushing to get out to play footie/sharing food etc etc. Who knows? I was always amazed at what went on in the dining room/hall at lunch time!

I know you have asked your son what the problem is but often they won't admit to there being a problem because they don't see it as one themselves!

I think you are right to be concerned. You have done your best to find out from your son and got nowhere. Drop it for now and enlist the support of the school next term.

McKneff

Laura82 wrote: »

@Stormbreaker, he says he isn't eating it because he isn't hungry. This may be partially true. We are concerned that his concentration has gone downhill because of it

Do you not realise that its probably not the lack of lunchthat is affecting his concentration.

Its you and other people causing it. The pressure you are putting on him. No one said you were locking up in cupboards or anything like. You are angry, you are furious with him, you said so, and you are making it worse by sayings so to him. .

He could be doing it underhand and just chucking his sandwiches in the school bin, I wonder why he doesnt to be honest. Is angry attention from you better than no attention.
Do you spend playing time with him, is he jealous of the time yo spend with siblings or something.

He Is Simply Not Hungry, I said before, he can't help not being hungry.
He will be fine, just let him get on with it.

If he is eating a healthy breaksfast and dinner, he will be fine.

aliasojo

This may be irrelevant but might he have an issue eating in front of people (anyone that's not family)?

My middle lad felt like this for a while.

Perhaps it's easier to say he's not hungry to you rather than talk about anything else?

moodydonkey

McKneff wrote: »

Do you not realise that its probably not the lack of lunchthat is affecting his concentration.

Its you and other people causing it. The pressure you are putting on him. No one said you were locking up in cupboards or anything like. You are angry, you are furious with him, you said so, and you are making it worse by sayings so to him. .

He could be doing it underhand and just chucking his sandwiches in the school bin, I wonder why he doesnt to be honest. Is angry attention from you better than no attention.
Do you spend playing time with him, is he jealous of the time yo spend with siblings or something.

He Is Simply Not Hungry, I said before, he can't help not being hungry.
He will be fine, just let him get on with it.

If he is eating a healthy breaksfast and dinner, he will be fine.

Absolutely agree, he is not a baby, not starving, old enough to make a few decisions on his own. In this situation it really doesn't seem to be a big deal. Stress and worry makes you feel ill. Poor little sausage I feel for him, if you are giving him good meals which you obviously are given your concern for him then it won't hurt to let this issue slide and see how it pans out. All the best.

mountainofdebt

Of course no one has made the obvious comment - if the OP makes a big issue of this and 'punishes' the son then all the son will end up doing is throwing the food away....which in my book would be worse than him not eating it at lunch but when he gets home.

Paradigm

Does he have breakfast? Does he have dinner/tea when he gets home?

Maybe he's just not hungry, not everyone wants or needs 3 meals a day..... we're all different!

McKneff

mountainofdebt wrote: »

Of course no one has made the obvious comment - if the OP makes a big issue of this and 'punishes' the son then all the son will end up doing is throwing the food away....which in my book would be worse than him not eating it at lunch but when he gets home.

I just said that in post 28:D and I think there was anohter in an earleir post.

I did make a comment but it may have got lost in the middle of my post but--

Is angry attention better than no attention.
Are you doing any one to one play
Is he jealous of time spent with others and not him.