AIBU to think school dinners are too much (food wise)?

[DragonPies]

There's always something like fish & chips, pie & mash, etc. and then a desert!

DD then has a dinner (around 6pm) and I feel like it's way too much. She's even getting a bit chubby.

I appreciate that I can stop school dinners (which I will be doing) but they shouldn't be giving kids stuff that could make them put on weight, surely?

Apologies if someone has already mentioned this, but isn't there an element of "if this is the only meal a child gets in a day, this should be enough food to get them through". Because, sadly, for some children, it often will be.

'But expat, surely you know kids dissolve in the rain shock grin'

Oh, I no! LOL. No such thing as waterproofs and wellies. Hell, my kids have better gear than I do in some respects, especially because I don't cycle.

Taking into account school holidays, fewer than 20% of a child's meals are eaten at school.

Food is one of those things that generally follows the 80/20 rule, as in it's what you eat most, ie 80% of the time, that makes the biggest difference to, in this case, your weight. The occasional bad thing in a diet that is good overall is not going to make a child gain weight.

Therefore the OP needs to be looking at the 80%+ of meals that her DD is eating while not at school.

OP - is there no choice at the school?

At my infants we have 4 or 5 choices a day ;

• the standard option (usually meat or fish based)
• vegetarian option
• halal option (often similar to the standard option)
• jacket potato with cheese, beans or tuna
• sandwich option (this is sometimes hot, sometimes cold, could be panini, wrap etc)

All are in the three week menu and children choose each morning which meal they want.

And there is always at least two options for dessert, sometimes three:

• standard option (usually hit with custard or ice cream, low fat/sugar in my experience and can be quite bland as a result)
• fruit pot
• yogurt

feed her less at home

This ^^^^^

For some children the school dinner is the main (or even only) meal they get all day. You can regulate what you feed her in the house. Just give her a light meal at tea-time.

She has fruit & fibre for breakfast.

What are some other good ones? Unfortunately, there's not enough time to cook.

'fruit & fibre' the cereal.

You could always give her smaller portions at dinner time. If I eat well in the day, I normally eat less or skip dinner

I can't see how any child will put on weight having school dinner, having worked in a school kitchen/dinning room.

You talk about her having pie and mash for dinner it's more likely her pie is a serving spoon of pie filling then a 2inch square of pastry, an ice cream scoop of mash and a couple of dessert spoon of veg. The cake is about the size of a fairy cake.

The cakes/pies at school have to be made using wholemeal flour and less sugar. So cakes tend to be a made with fruit included.

I'm aware public schools/boarding schools are different. She has reported it.
The point is, I agree with the OP. Food can be awful.

Sandwiches are not healthy or a 'light' option. They have more calories/fat/carbs/less nutrition than a 'cooked meal'.

I agree OP and think stop these lunches.
People also are too defensive about 'fat' or 'overweight' the op knows her own daughter.

OP I've started popping some frozen fruit/berries in the fridge at night and me and DD just add greek yog in the am.

Easy and quick and healthy. (I hate breakfast, but it goes down easily)

Weetabix, shredded wheat and plain porridge are the lowest 0 sugar cereals. Can add chopped fruit to make it nice. I think a 30g serving is standard which is actually tiny.

Wholemeal toast with marmite/cream cheese is nice and more filling.

Maybe she's really enjoying the dinners and is having seconds?

Fruit and fibre isn't a great choice to be honest, what portion size are you giving? A 40g portion of fruit and fiber has 9.6grams of sugar a lot of sugar to start the day with

2 weetabix biscuits have only 1.7grams of sugar so miles better

A quick google shows that fruit and fibre contains 11% of an adults RDA of sugar in a 40g serving (and that's before any added sugar)

There is no such thing as a normal meal - having a big meal from 6pm onwards would not be normal for lots of people - the earlier you eat a large meal, the more likely the calories would be consumed by the days exercise (breathing all the way to sport)

You'd be surprised at how many children come to school hungry.

Its not obvious to other children or parents, indeed its not always obvious to teachers.

Suggest she eats less/have a smaller evening meal.

CP

'Food can be awful.'

And therein lies the path to whacked out, disordered eating. Whatever happened to moderation and using your common sense when it comes to what you eat and drink and anything else in life?

I bought these microwave egg cookers. DD does her own soft-boiled egg now and makes toast soldiers and a cup of milky tea. Or beans on toast. Some protein to keep her going.

dd has a huge bowl of porridge and at the moment it is quaker so simple golden syrup flavour, probably huge amount of sugar

she is still not chubby or getting chubby

I think one bowl of fruit and fibre, an average school lunch and a small portion of cooked tea, with fruit and veg snacks would not be enough to put on weight in the averagely active 9 year old

The NHS sugar smart app is good. It's surprising how much sugar is in lots of cereals.

We have weetabix, porridge, shredded wheat, crumpets, bagels, wholemeal toast, eggs on toast, blueberry pancakes with Greek yoghurt.

Here come the sugar police! The only problem is they still haven't forgotten the last band wagon, carbs, so now you're not supposed to eat sugar, carbs or fat.

An omelette takes no time at all to make and eat if cereal isn't filling enough.

If having cereal, watch portion sizes - the recommended portions are tiny and almost everyone has more than recommended - sometimes 2 or 3 times as much.

'Food can be awful' expat you have deliberately misunderstood my context and you know it or are rather dim.

What is she eating the other 16 of 21 meals?
At DS' school there are healthier options. DS is very fussy and tends to have a roast most days with only chips available on a Friday with pizza and fruit for pudding.

An omlette takes forever and then you have a dirty pan on top of that. Cooking takes more time. Get a microwave egg cooker thingy.

I disagree. An omelette takes literally 2 minutes to cook if that and I never wash my omelette pan, just wipe it out and spray some oil in each morning.