to be cross that ds got a 'star' for emptying his plate at school lunch?

[arcticwind]

not for good table manners, or maybe healty choices, or trying a new food / vegetable, but just for finishing all the food on his plate.
I thought that this insistance in emptying your plate had links to childhood obesity - children need to learn the levels of how much they feel like and not be forced to finish everything on the plate.

I am very tempted to speak to his teacher AIBU?

YABU. Surely his plate wouldn't have been overloaded in the first place?

Good point, though in my experience the portion size is tiny anyway.

I don't think you are. As a child, I was always taught to finish everything on my plate. It took me a long time to break that habit and for a long time I found it difficult not to clear my plate even when I was feeling full.

YANBU. I make a point of telling my children they don't have to finish everything, but exactly that reason.

I'd only speak to the teacher if it happens more than once though

Do you think it might have been a 'sitting on your bottom long enough to empty your plate instead of constantly getting up and down like you usually do' star?

I agree with you entirely. Maybe you could ask the school to redirect their awards to something like you have mentioned. I would.

YANBU. Clearing a plate is not something I would want rewarded. MIL brought up her children with 'if you don't clear your plate you'll get no pudding'. Resulted in all children having weight issues from obesity to anorexia and bulimia.

Oh fgs. What teebee said. And even if not, so what, take a chill pill!

You could mention it. Our school switched from 'I ate all my food' stickers to 'I ate all my veg today', so they do exist.

The OP is quite right - it's a terrible habit to get into, thinking that you must eat everything put before you, and nutritionists have a lot of their work cut out breaking that bad habit.

Ime there is very little risk that anyone will become obese through finishing the size portion they get at primary school. Otoh it is equally possible to become obese by not finishing your meal, and then constantly snakcing throughout the day. I was brought up to finish the food (simply because what had gone on my plate could not be saved for the next meal, and we needed to live economically), but this has never caused any weight problems as there was rarely too much on my plate anyway. I don't tell my children not to finish what they have: I tell them not to put too much on in the first place.

I had to clear my plate and I am thin. Its not always linked to obesity if you aren't overfilling the plate in the first place.

My DS doesn't get anything after if he doesn't finish his tea. I do give some leaway if I realise that I have put too much on there though and he tells me he has a full tummy. I would never make him finish then.

Childhood obesity is all about eating tonnes of sugar/salt/fat laden food. It is nothing to do with eating everything on your plate.

I think you're being unreasonable. Most of my friends and DH's friends were brought up to finish what was on our plates and not one of us has weight issues, anorexia or bulimia.

I thought obesity was linked to eating out of meal times, wrong food and lack of exercise, not for finishing up a plate (and I don't think school portions are huge).

yanbu! our school does the same and i think it's awful

children shouldn't be pressurised to eat everything that is on their plate and they shouldn't be rewarded for doing so

it totally overrides their natural ability to tell whether they are full or not

if ds1 has had a big breakfast, then a snack at breaktime he doesn't always want all of his lunch. he shouldn't feel he has to eat it just so he can get a sticker

I wish they would give out stars for good manners instead.

I'm sorry but if a child is that full, surely they aren't going to be able to finish what is there. I also do not think that primary school portions are so big that a child would have huge difficulty finishing it. The schools can't afford to be giving out massive portions to each child.

YANBU to wish they hadn't as you don't want to foster a 'clean-your-plate' attitude in your DS, but YABU to expect others to know/understand this and act accordingly. Although it's IMO not the best approach (and I think stems from the post-war era where food was in short supply and waste was not tolerated), for a lot of people (especially those with very fussy eaters), cleaning a plate is still seen as a positive thing.

I agree with you that I would rather not use this with my DC (and I am convinced this has contributed to my lifelong struggle with food and weight), but wouldn't expect anyone else to know this automatically.

I think it's taking some schools and other organisations a bit longer to catch on with the idea that eating everything isn't always a good idea.

D

There are multiple reasons for obesity, but eating too much is the main one.

I think people forget that most adults were bought up by people who had been through the war and afteryears when food was short and a luxery. I was an occassional dinner lady and the amount of food that gets thrown away is awful.

But eating a normal school lunch isn't eating too much, unless it is a huge plate of chicken nuggets and chips or such like.

YANBU!!!!!!!!

I have this issue with my dds school. They get stickers saying CLEAN PLATE and it has a BURGER!! on it FGS!

I think in the main YANBU, as it's best to stop eating when you have had enough but in schools, the portions aren't big, and most kids will leave the veg/salad so perhaps it's a way of getting them to eat it?

It's not about the size of the school lunch (though I don't agree that all school lunches everywhere are reasonable and healthy), but about instilling the bad habit of finishing what's on your plate.

Children need to learn to stop eating when they have had enough to eat, and that is a very difficult task to learn for some children (through absolutely no fault of their own).

YANBU it is an ignorant practice and should be addressed by the school. At m DD's school there was a habit of telling te DC's to eat it all up....until I said that they werent to tell my child to eat it all up...she doesn't have to...kids know when they are full and when they are not...to push this claring plate nonsense winds me up no end!