Child not eating school dinner

notanewuser

moomoomama27 wrote: »

You have two options, send a packed lunch or persevere with the dinners.
I work in a school, and we do monitor what the children eat, and would mention to the parents if we were worried about their child not eating everything, however we WILL NOT force feed a child, we may gently encourage, but that's it! Also it's very hard to give a written report on each child, especially when there's at most 1 member of staff in the dinner hall (the rest covered by dinner ladies/men) to watch up to a class of 31/32!

While I think the idea of a free meal for KS1 in Englnad is a good idea, I do think that this should be exercised with caution, if a child really is very fussy, then for the sake f a few £ to make a lunch they will eat, then that would be the better option. Not having a meal at school, whether it be hot/cold, greatly impacts a childs ability to learn and partake in activities. The word FREE should, IMHO, not come into a decision about something as important as nutrition.

Does nutrition come into school dinners? I get the feeling it's all about the calories, to be honest!

Some snapshots from our oh so healthy menus:

Week 1:

Burger in a bap, chips, peas/beans, lemon sponge.
Homemade pizza, salad, potatoes, Fruit cocktail

Week 2:
Minced beef pie, veg, potatoes, decorated jelly
Cheese wheel, potato waffles, baked beans, citrus cake

Week 3:
Fishfingers, chips, peas/beans, toffee apple pudding and custard
Pizza, salad, rice/mashed potato/pasta twists, arctic roll

It's an absolute joke!

"Schools are ideal places to encourage healthier eating and good choices in food for the pupils, which should assist in the prevention of childhood obesity and other health complications.

All catering staff are fully trained in food safety and in nutrition and healthy eating. They encourage students to select a healthy choice menu, meal options and a range of “Fun Days”

Actively working in partnership with Healthy Schools, Health Promotion, Dieticians and colleagues from the British Dental Association, one of our aims is to actively encourage the take up of the Eat 5 fruit and vegetable campaign."

moomoomama27

notanewuser wrote: »

Does nutrition come into school dinners? I get the feeling it's all about the calories, to be honest!

Some snapshots from our oh so healthy menus:

Week 1:

Burger in a bap, chips, peas/beans, lemon sponge.
Homemade pizza, salad, potatoes, Fruit cocktail

Week 2:
Minced beef pie, veg, potatoes, decorated jelly
Cheese wheel, potato waffles, baked beans, citrus cake

Week 3:
Fishfingers, chips, peas/beans, toffee apple pudding and custard
Pizza, salad, rice/mashed potato/pasta twists, arctic roll

It's an absolute joke!

"Schools are ideal places to encourage healthier eating and good choices in food for the pupils, which should assist in the prevention of childhood obesity and other health complications.

All catering staff are fully trained in food safety and in nutrition and healthy eating. They encourage students to select a healthy choice menu, meal options and a range of “Fun Days”

Actively working in partnership with Healthy Schools, Health Promotion, Dieticians and colleagues from the British Dental Association, one of our aims is to actively encourage the take up of the Eat 5 fruit and vegetable campaign."

Wow that menu is appalling. Thankfully the menu that our school has is very nutritious, and balanced. We changed catering companies about 5 years ago, and thankfully went from the turkey twister type menu, to more home cooked food. Roasts twice a week, lasagne, cottage pie and a mild curry forms our weekly menu, with a fish or pasta fish available as an alternative to the menu. No chips or heavily sugar laden puddings either, mainly fruits, rice puddings etc so on the whole quite good.

notanewuser

moomoomama27 wrote: »

Wow that menu is appalling. Thankfully the menu that our school has is very nutritious, and balanced. We changed catering companies about 5 years ago, and thankfully went from the turkey twister type menu, to more home cooked food. Roasts twice a week, lasagne, cottage pie and a mild curry forms our weekly menu, with a fish or pasta fish available as an alternative to the menu. No chips or heavily sugar laden puddings either, mainly fruits, rice puddings etc so on the whole quite good.

The food is cooked on site, and is supposedly "very good". There are things like roasts (hence the gravy issue), lasagne and curry on the menu too, but in the main the foods are very very carb heavy. Given free choice DD would choose chips (obviously) but not waffles, or mash. She'd probably go for rice, would want double salad or veg and I have no idea what she'd choose for "protein" - she's used to proper chicken, steak, 98% sausages etc.

She'd order fish fingers chips and peas from a pub children's menu, but a maximum of once a week. The school will happily give it to her practically daily! And getting her to eat gravy is more important than giving them healthy food?

embob74

thanks for all the answers.
I'm not worried about the cost of packed lunches and would happily make them each day but I was hoping that seeing his peers eat a hot lunch would make him want to do the same.

I appreciate the teachers are busy and it's difficult to monitor 30+ children but all I want is a simple "yes" or "no" to the question of whether he is actually eating his lunch or even attempting it. I didn't think that was too much to ask for particularly as the school promised lunchtimes would be monitored and any issues raised with the parents.

maman

I haven't counted the responses exactly but it would seem the majority of responses are to stick it out with school meals.


Putting genuine health issues aside, amongst those who disagree there seems to be an awful lot of pandering to fussy eaters. If you take the issue beyond food then it amounts to children realising how they can be in control. Schools really can't go down that road. Their core purpose is education not catering.


Why has no one come up with the option of children going home for lunch?

notanewuser

maman wrote: »

I haven't counted the responses exactly but it would seem the majority of responses are to stick it out with school meals.


Putting genuine health issues aside, amongst those who disagree there seems to be an awful lot of pandering to fussy eaters. If you take the issue beyond food then it amounts to children realising how they can be in control. Schools really can't go down that road. Their core purpose is education not catering.


Why has no one come up with the option of children going home for lunch?

Probably because most families don't have anyone at home at lunchtime (and at DD's school most children are bussed in).

It's not pandering when what the school are doing is potentially harmful!

(My daughter is not going to be branded fussy for not liking gravy or tomato ketchup, or for preferring broccoli to stodgy mash. I've just sent the menu to a nutritionist friend and she is horrified by it.)

System

My mum never pandered to my fussy eating as a kid, i was pretty much forced to eat what was in front of me whether i liked it or not. Among the times that stick in my mind were when i was about 5 and didn't liked corned beef beacause the jelly bits made me gag, but had to sit there and eat the damn sandwich, and after crying ended up ebing sent to bed hungry. Another time i was made to eat a caserole that had mushrooms in, i don't just dislike mushrooms, i'm actually phobic of them. I refused and was sent to sit in the hall on my own until i ate it. In the end i couldn't and as punishment wasn't allowed to go to the school disco. Ironically my brothers and sisters got away with being really fussy and were allowed to eat whatever they wanted! (Though my 2 sisters will now eat anything, my brother is fussier than me)

And i hate to say it but as an adult i'm still fussy. Some stuff i have tried but i really can't deal with certain textures that i seem more aware of than other people.

long story short, forcing kids doesn't always help

seven-day-weekend

notanewuser wrote: »

Did you mean that to sound so sinister?

We're talking about a little boy, not a teenager!

No. I just meant if he refuses his food and then is starving hungry, he'll eat it next time.

notanewuser

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

No. I just meant if he refuses his food and then is starving hungry, he'll eat it next time.

Are you sure about that?! :rotfl:

(That's actually no better!)

seven-day-weekend

You really are trying to put something on my remarks that is not there.

If I was starving hungry because I'd missed a meal, I'd make sure I ate the next time. I suppose they might chose to go hungry, in which case they won't starve, they will eat at home.

I was just trying to reassure the OP, that they probably would eat it given time but that even if they don't eat their lunch it is no big deal, they won't starve.

Now I will not explain myself again.