to think this isn't ok at breakfast club?

[makeitpink]

My children both go to breakfast club Monday to Friday and are there by 8am so that I can get to work on time. They have breakfast there so that they don't have to get up so early at home. I happened to stay a little longer dropping them off yesterday and saw what they are given for 'breakfast' it was 1 piece of (heavily) buttered (Marg) toast and a carton of fruit juice.

AIBU to think this isn't a)enough b)very healthy??? I am prepared to be told that if I don't like it I should give them breakfast at home which is what I'm going to do now but still!! This is supposed to give children a good start to their day no? Also they charge for breakfast so I would expect cereal, yogurt maybe the odd piece of fruit?!

My son's breakfast club is £3.50 for an hours Childcare and includes fruit, yogurt, cereal, toast, beans, eggs and juice and raisins (which aren't great for teeth first thing) but they always have a table out so children can choose for themselves. I'm in London too so does seem cheap. It might be worth mentioning as some parents might not realise this is what their children are getting to see them through until lunch.

My boys are quite fussy with food, DS2 more so, but both eat porridge made from just plain oats and full fat milk (DS1 puts honey on it, DS2 won't eat honey but likes it plain) - there are only about 20 things DS2 will eat and porridge is one of them...

However there are only about 5 foods I have ever discovered that DD won't eat and sods law dictates that porridge is one of them...

For that reason it would be nice if the kids had a choice of at least 2 options :o but porridge could certainly be one - easy to make, not the most nutritious thing in the world but better than white processed toast and marg, and probably cheaper if you use actual oats - the milk costs more than the oats.

Aeroflot - sorry, x-post. DS is 12.

Not at all; mine get a choice of something on toast (eggs or beans) or cereal. Mine are offered juice and hot chocolate which the children obviously enjoy, but obviously they could do without them.

*Fucking hell! How in god's name do children eat so much? DS can barely manage a small piece of toast and you've all got kids who eat toast, cereal and fruit!

Portion control?*

It depends what they are eating.For instance our kids can have as much fruit as they like but have a tight limit on things like crisps.

I pay £3.00 for 8.00-8.40. They offer juice, toast and cereal. No fruit, but my son wouldn't eat it anyway. He does drink the fruit juice though.

Also, my son will barely eat breakfast so a slice or toast or a small bowl of cereal to me is normal.

Milk that's not very much for a 12 year old, it really isen't. My dd 9 eats 2 pieces of toast, and she is tall and skinny with ribs sticking out. My thin 4 year old eats a piece of toast.

Some of these are really expensive. I'm in Wales and it's free. Who knows how long for...

Shangri free?! We're in the midlands and it is £6.50 for breakfast and £13.5 afterschool. Our childcare costs are going to be the same when he goes to school as they have been since he got his funded hours.

Aeroflot - you might think it's not, but he just doesn't "do" breakfast. He just doesn't. He's not restricted - he could have half a dozen pieces of toast and yoghurt if he likes. He doesn't like milk, doesn't like cereal very much. He goes to a friends house before school and is offered something there which he declines.

He's in the lunch hall hitting the wraps at break time though.

A 12 year old who can only barely manage a slice of toast for breakfast is presumably not a breakfast person but eating more at other times of day than the children who eat a hearty breakfast are... or has a very slow metabolism indeed or is very sedentary I suppose... I did assume milk was talking about a child of 5 or 6 with her "can barely manage a slice of toast" comment and the implicit assumption that any child not struggling to finish a single slice of toast like hers, must be elephantine...

Get up earlier and give them a good breakfast at home. It amazes me that so many people expect school to feed their children. You're paying for childcare as well as the food. Make some sacrifices for your children.

Ours is £6.50 a day. There's toast, cereal and juice. 7.45 to 8.40.

I'm just outside London. 300 metres down the road in London it's £1 a day!

Fruit juice is expensive, especially in cartons and not particularly healthy - are these DCs cleaning their teeth afterwards - I would be surprised if they are.

Porridge is dirt cheap and a much better breakfast than toast and margarine, which the OP says is slathered on. It wouldn't be any more expensive to use butter and put a normal amount on. Eggs and beans cost next to nothing and are nutritionally much better too.

Cross post then Milk what on earth was your hollier than thou sanctimonious "portion control?" dig about then?

Sounds fine to me. At home some days ds will have toast & fruit juice. Other days cereal & milk.

Schwab - it was the toast AND cereal AND fruit that made me think it sounded a lot. And yes, portion control does worry me - it may not be obvious now, but it could build up and become a problem later in life.

Kytti lots of people (adults and children) just can't bring themselves to eat, or to eat much, for an hour or two after waking up though.

My kids are all up really early by UK standards (5.45am for DD, 6am for DS1 and 2, DD's school day starts at 7:30am about 12 miles from home and she catches the bus...) and do eat breakfast before 6:30am so I'm not being defensive - but DH can't eat within about 2 hours of getting up or he feels sick all morning. He is up at 6am and doesn't eat anything til about 11am through choice.

People are wired differently as to when they eat their biggest meal IME. Getting up earlier won't help the kids who can't face breakfast first thing.

I would expect toast, fruit and cereal on offer at least. Milk to drink.

If it is only toast I would pack something extra.

Schwab - ummm... the children having toast AND cereal AND fruit for breakfast and still hitting the wraps at break time. A lot do it because their friends do, whether they're hungry or not. OK, not at primary school but secondary school it's quite likely.

YANBU, it's not a great breakfast.

However, these clubs are heavily subsidised and I wouldn't be surprised if they had a very limited food budget after paying for wages for at least two staff members.

Milk in what way are you worried about portion control? Is it because your DS is eating a lot at break time? I am confused now. I do not think the fact your DS isn't a breakfast person means other children should also not eat much breakfast - it is better generally to eat a big breakfast, a reasonable lunch and less in the afternoon and evening (though not practical for a lot of people with work and school etc. and not the way everyone's body/ appetite is wired)

Milk, somebody who eats a very hearty breakfast is far less likely to snack later: it is supposed to be very healthy to make breakfast your main meal of the day, as that is when you are going to burn most calories.

Nobody in my family has ever been able to manage it; in fact, dd can't eat breakfast at all. But for those who can make breakfast a big meal, it is probably better to have a very substantial breakfast. Snide remarks about portion control are not relevant simply because some of us eat more later in the day.

Besides, an active 12yo should be burning a lot of calories, not slumping in a chair like a 50yo office worker. If they don't eat enough, they probably won't want to be as active as they should be either.

What we should be teaching people is that you have to revise your portion size as your grow older: a 15yo should be eating more than a 30yo (unless the 30yo is very active), the 50yo should be eating far less than the 30yo, and by the time you hit 80 you have to think carefully about how to cram enough nutrients into your small portions.

Our breakfast club offers cereal, toast (jammy or not jammy), fruit, and yoghurt. They have a choice of fruit juice or water to drink. It's free.