If you have teens, what do they take to school for packed lunch?

[Lazymorningsareover]

My almost 12yo is at secondary school now. He's always been a bit fussy when it comes to anything healthy, but I think he's reached peak junk food.

At primary they weren't allowed junk food in their lunchboxes. Now I feel under pressure to give him chocolate and crisps. If he buys dinners he buys junk food.

He will eat fruit, a bit of veg at home, but at school it always comes home uneaten.

Any ideas appreciated.

Atm he has a sandwich/wrap, baked crisps, yoghurt, carrot/cucumber sticks and a piece of fruit.

In my experience not that many teens take a packed lunch. Mine take a sandwich or a wrap and they have a refillable bottle for water.

They can buy anything else they need at school but don't bother very often.

They generally have something as soon as they come home such as beans or sardines on toast and then have a normal dinner with us.

Ds - sandwich, fruit, biscuit item
Dd - wrap/sausage roll/scotch pie, fruit, biscuit item

DC age 12. Has a slimline box with three compartments, one has some fruit, one some veg and maybe a babybel or couple of cocktail sausages, one has carbs (couscous with chopped veg/chicken, wraps, bagel with cream cheese and cucumber, pesto pasta salad) and then they can pick one ‘treat’ malt loaf, pot of popcorn, couple of biscuits. They have a really long day 7.10am to 4.45pm, plus a 2 mile walk, and manage on this. I’m resisting the siren call of crap food at the moment!

Sandwich with meat and salad in it, biscuits, carrot sticks, packet of tortilla chips or plantain chips, Tracker bar for the bus in. They need a lot of calories at that age.

My 13 year-old DS loves packed lunch and actively choses it over the canteen. I make either a large salad, which next week will be prawns, rice noodles, cucumber, carrot, spring onion, little gem and coriander with a sweet chilli dressing, black bean, avacado, sweetcorn, peppers, spring onion, tomatos and some leftover chicken with a chipotle and lime dressing, and chorizo and chickpea with roasted tomatoes, spinach and red onions with a harrisa dressing. Then I'll make soup for the other days which he takes in one of the thermos hot food flasks, this week I'm making cream of artichoke and leek and potato, DH makes his amazing baguettes for soup days so he'll take some of that buttered.

I also make a large container of fruit salad every day and he'll take a pot of that.

I have cereal bars, kitkats or similar and crisps so he can have one of those to add a bit of junk!

It sounds a bit of a faff but I just chuck it all together when I'm making dinner. DH and I will have it for lunch too. DD prefers school lunches as all her friends have it though!

Wraps, sandwiches, chopped veg/fruit and cake/biscuit. After school they have a big snack or cereal followed by dinner around 6pm. Mine quickly went off the limited secondary school food options.

Sandwich or wrap, crisps, drink and a chocolate bar. I also send an apple or banana....the fruit likes to have a trip to school and back.

My DS is similar age and prefers packed lunch over school dinner except on the 1 day a week they have sausages and chips (so he has that!).

He is adamant he must have the same sort of stuff as everyone else has so he has stuff like

Wraps/ sandwiches/ baguette/ filled rolls
Fruit- likes berries and grapes best
Cheese sticks, babybel
Mini sausages or leftover cooked chicken pieces.
Sushi
Crisps
Cake (I make banana bread or Madeira cake), biscuits, he hates flapjacks!
Yoghurt pouch (won't eat tub, not cool)

Mine have all taken packed lunches. Sandwich, fruit, yogurt and crisps/biscuit bar. Sometimes pasta salad. Occasionally they buy frying the canteen, but is expensive.

In awe of the healthy lunches you can get your teens to eat. My dd won't take sandwiches/wraps so tends to be hummus/breadsticks/Quorn sausages/Yog/crisps/cereal bar/cheese and water. Snacks in the morning are cereal bar/rice cakes/popcorn etc.

He will eat fruit, a bit of veg at home, but at school it always comes home uneaten.

Unacceptable. It’s a waste if nothing else.

The deal is he eats the small amount of veg / fruit you pack, of the junk stuff is removed (and you don’t buy!)

Oh and we went through a stage where he was not eating the packed lunch and filling up on a pain au chocolate at 1st break and a pudding from the canteen at lunch.

We can see what he buys on the online system.

I told him he had a choice, eat his packed lunch or have a more healthy canteen lunch OR id be sending him in with a packed lunch and no canteen money- his choice.

He's much better now!

Mine takes in soup in a thermos (special food one with spoon in lid) and fruit. Although I suspect he buys chocolate/ crisps on the way in sometimes!

Dd 15 has alays had packed lunch, she takes, a full sandwich, either ham or chicken and cheese. A small bag of cheezy crackers or Doritos and a bottle of water. All very boring and usually eats all, leaves the crusts.

She eats plaenty of veg and fruit at home, so no point in sending food to be thrown away.

The oldest takes a salad with feta and ham. This makes me laugh every time I make it when I think how much he hated salad as a little. Also, crisps, some dried fruit and a penguin. Also acceptable sometimes, a kiwi fruit. He will occasionally go through phases of not eating during the day (he is head boy, he has a lot of lunch time meetings) but he eats it when he gets in if that’s the case.

My other teen takes sweet corn fritters, sugar free jelly, little pit of olives & feta, a Kit Kat and crisps. Occasionally he has a cold pasta salad with chicken. Doesn’t like fruit very much. Currently has permanent braces which he has broken a lot, hence a lot of soft foods.

The 10yo takes a sandwich, so do DH & I. I tend to make them, but everyone is capable of doing their own if I’m not about.

Ime, they like it to be portable so that they can stick it in their pocket and eat on the move.

Mine used to have sandwich/wrap, some extra protein so either bits of cheese if it was a meat, fish or egg sandwich or bits of chicken if it was a cheese, fish or egg sandwich - occasionally some sausage rolls or mini sausages or mini scotch eggs if I was in a rush.

Then maybe a bag of popcorn or a cereal bar or cake bar or biscuit.

The only fruit they would eat is something that they could eat wandering about - apple/pear/banana/bag of grapes or raisins. though they didn't like it when there were bits to be binned that they couldn't just shove in their pocket.

Ham sandwiches and grapes- every single day. He never says its not enough but looks like less then everyone else on this thread. He has a bit of a tummy so don't want to add junk and he is really fussy so can't think of anything we could give him.

* The oldest takes a salad with feta and ham. This makes me laugh every time I make it when I think how much he hated salad as a little.*

Is that salad?

@Redcliff

A teenage boy having a ham sandwich and some grapes for lunch - and slightly overweight.... I would be thinking he’s buying a lot of junk on his way to or from school.

I would be thinking he’s buying a lot of junk on his way to or from school.

Maybe or maybe not. He might just be having large dinners and breakfasts and be in between growth spurts. Teen boys can have a tendency to podge up a little before a stretch.

I have two that are long lean adults but had a tummy from time to time in high school and unless they were sponging of their mates, they had no opportunity for extra buying.

@Bringringbring12 a salad with ham & feta. So a salad (tomato, cucumber, carrot, olives, lettuce) with ham & feta. Clearer?

1 has a hot flask they make pasta and sauce - she has allergies so doesn't trust the canteen.
The other makes sandwiches, fridge raiders, pepperoni, crisps and fruit. She also has canteen lunches

Sorry i was being dumb!

Chicken wrap, grapes, cereal bar and a bottle of water.