Son not eating lunch

snailmail

Gosh! Some very heated comments here! Don't feel bad OP, I'd be worried if I had a child that didn't eat at school too. It's a long time to go without food, and as you've said it's not because he doesn't like what you've given him. I can understand your worry and frustration.

Maybe he isn't hungry, but he is still a child and should be eating his lunch. I used to hate the lunch hall at primary school; the smell of the food, the dirty tables if you weren't first in, you name it, I hated it lol!


Can you maybe get those mini fruit packs instead of giving him full pieces of fruit? Even now sometimes I just cannot be bothered to eat oranges or apples if they're whole. If they're in a small packet all cut up and ready he might be able to graze on them or just eat a few bites? You could even get him to help you make a fruit salad if the idea of buying cut up fruit in a bag makes you wince (it does me lol!)

a fruitsalad always looks nicer that just whole fruit to me! (i am food phobic even now, where somethings are concerned! bits in food freak me out!)

hopefully over the summer he'll forget about not being hungry at lunch time and when he goes back he'll start eating and you'll wonder just what you were worried for!

let us know how you get on

kitschkitty

While the OP’s frustration is understandable, being annoyed enough to punish a child for not eating something is never the right approach, and punishing them for hiding the food is understandable but totally counter productive.

It’s also interesting that the OP thinks that 3 meals a day is the only healthy option for her son, and that she should monitor and possibly cut down his food intake at breakfast.
People are all different and that does include children too. For most children food fads, unusual eating patterns etc, will come and go at some point, and will not do them any harm in the short or long term. Of course parents need to be aware of the situation so they can keep an eye out for any eating disorders, or other issues affecting their child’s eating.

In this case the OP has said her child has no other problems or issues (with food, eating or his weight), so I think they need to step away from their rigid idea of what constitutes healthy eating and try out an alternative that may better suit their child e.g

If the child like to eat breakfast give them a hearty breakfast that will last them through the school day as much as possible, and if the child doesn’t like taking the time to eat at lunch and doesn’t feel hungry would he consider drinking a “smoothie” at lunch that would contain oats, and banana, and maybe even yoghurt too, thus containing slow release carbs, fresh fruit, and dairy. Then he can have a fresh sarnie or other food when he gets in and is actually hungry.

Routine is good for children but trying to force them to eat rarely ends well.

gocurlygirl

coin_operated_girl wrote: »

I've not read all the replies here, but the first thing that sprung to mind when I read this post was that he sounds like how I used to be. I never ate lunch at school, not because I wasn't hungry (like I would say to my parents) but because I had an issue with eating in front of people. Not sure why, guess I just felt like people were watching me- no idea what started it. I basically didn't eat lunch at school for about 5 years. One thing which helped me was to have food that was 'bite-sized', so that I could sneakily pop the food in my mouth when I felt like no one was looking.

ETA: I didn't have an issue with eating at meal times in front of my family or if I stayed round a friends house etc, the problem seemed to solely be at school.

this was something that I had thought of-kids at school can be so unkind to easch other and this can put someone off

Laura82_2

barbiedoll wrote: »

In a couple of years, you won't be able to feed him fast enough, it doesn't sound like he has any serious issues with food, so take a deep breath, let it go for the next couple of days and get talking over the holidays.
Good luck!

Thankyou for your support. I' put a note in his school diary so hopefully they'll keep an eye on him today. You're right in that he doesn't have issues with food as there's no problem at all at home. We'll see how things pan out over the holidays and start over in September.

Laura82_2

snailmail wrote: »

Gosh! Some very heated comments here! Don't feel bad OP, I'd be worried if I had a child that didn't eat at school too. It's a long time to go without food, and as you've said it's not because he doesn't like what you've given him. I can understand your worry and frustration.


Can you maybe get those mini fruit packs instead of giving him full pieces of fruit? Even now sometimes I just cannot be bothered to eat oranges or apples if they're whole. If they're in a small packet all cut up and ready he might be able to graze on them or just eat a few bites? You could even get him to help you make a fruit salad if the idea of buying cut up fruit in a bag makes you wince (it does me lol!)

The strange thing is that he really likes fruit!! It's the only bit of his lunch he now eats every day! He even asks for fruit after his evening meal! Thankyou for your comments, the fruit salad is defo worth a try

mrcow

Perhaps it's because fruit tastes okay after 4 hours in a lunchbox.

My son really likes cheese, but refuses to eat cheese sandwiches that have been in a lunchbox as the cheese warms up and "turns" a bit. For school, he gets jam or a spread as it doesn't go soggy or rubbery.

At home though, cheese and tomato is his favourite.

aliasojo

mrcow wrote: »

For school, he gets jam .......

:eek: :eek::eek:

*points the big foam finger at the bad parent*

Tut tut, how could you?!

:D


To anyone who doesn't know me...I'm kidding!

EricGeek

How old is your son?

peachyprice

She posted earlier that he's 10

onlyroz

Haven't read all responses but I would suggest approaching the school to find out what he does at lunchtime? Maybe he is unhappy with the seating arrangement, or all his friends have school dinners. Or perhaps he's just too busy playing to have time for lunch.