Hauled into school because dd had no breakfast

[takeastand]

Got called into school as dd(13) felt unwell and it transpired she hadn't eaten. I don't encourage her to eat breakfast although I don't stop her - she rarely gets up early enough to eat it during the week. I honestly thought the school would be sensible about this but what an absolute waste of everyone's time. I thought once I explained that she wasn't neglected or malnourished we could go on our way. Instead a load of hand wringing, unsubstantiated and unscientific bollocks about how important breakfast is and how clearly this is the reason dd felt light headed, even though she hasn't eaten breakfast before school the entire five weeks and this is the first day she has felt unwell.

For context - she is overweight. I'm not going to force another 300-400 calories that she doesn't desire or need at the only point of the day that she doesn't seem to be starving hungry! I make her a cup of tea each morning, she drinks plenty of water. Her house is first for lunch so she eats at 12ish!

It's half term next week and I'm not sure whether I should say anything to the school tomorrow or just let it lie.

Sb74 my mother was neglectful for many years then - as I refused full stop to have anything but coffee throughout secondary school. Mum knew but didn’t force feed me

Actually, I'm sure I read there is research that teenagers live a different time-scheme of their body clock from adults and that first thing in the morning they do not properly wake up. I think it said they are still in sleep mode till after 9a.m. or later. I think it was on the TV. It was a proper piece of research.

I had a long bus journey to school in my teens. I used to take my coffee and toast on the bus but fall asleep on the bus anyway.

Eating breakfast is not marketing???!! Children should eat before 12pm. I don’t know all the facts but the girl being overweight but it all points to these bad eating habits. Theres plenty of evidence to show breakfast is important. Even if it’s 9.30/10am. I don’t believe the dd doesn’t feel hungry until 12pm and the fact she felt faint and I’ll shows her blood sugars were too low so she must have felt hungry for a good couple of hours or so to get to that stage. She should be given a snack for mid-morning at least. The fact this girl felt ill shows she does need breakfast in some form. The OP should take note not have a go at the school for highlighting it. In fact she should thank the school for letting her know instead of believing her 13 year old child can get by on fresh air and a cup of tea for 3 or four hours after 9 hours or so starvation whilst sleeping.

The fact this girl felt ill shows she does need breakfast in some form

It shows nothing of the sort, it merely shows that she felt ill. There is no proven link to it being anything to do with breakfast particularly as this is not a new habit.

It shows she felt ill. It could be any number of things that might need investigating. Teenage girls can also have fainting episodes due to hormonal fluctuations, again, nothing to do with not eating a slice of highly processed red meat and a glass of sugary juice.

As a previous poster said, this thread is going round in circles...

@cauliflowerbalti - you constantly mention your dietary preferences. Are you a 13 year old girl?

My two haven't eaten breakfast for years. Yes they were sometimes ill but I'm pretty certain the two things weren't connected. As teenagers they have "breakfast" at around 1pm when they emerge from their rooms!! Or if it's a school day they have something at lunchtime.

I've never eaten breakfast since I was about 11!

It's far too early for me especially when at school and I don't think my school were ever worried.

Sorry i think YABU, I could never eat breakfast as a teenager and I’m sure she’s not the only kid in her class that does this so I see where your coming from but not eating breakfast is more likely to make you put on weight than loose it. Try a compromise, Bananna, dried fruit/ nuts, smoothie or yogurt drink abit later, maybe on the way to school, good luck x

Sb74 you’ve certainly digested the propaganda by the breakfast marketing, next you’ll be quoting from the milk marketing board.

Well it may be going around in circles- but not sure where you expect it gp? The facts are staring you right in the face. She doesn’t eat and she feels faint. Not rocket science. Maybe lots of people can go happily without breakfast but it’s been pointed out to the OP that her daughter felt ill due to not eating. So rather than arguing against it why not just trying actually ensuring she eats by mid-morning and see if she still feels ill to rule it out? Not eating is not good. We need food to function. Those not eating properly may get by until lunchtime but I doubt they would flourish on any cognitive thinking tests without the energy needed to function. It’s not good to mess your body around and it can lead to type 2 diabetes.

I ate breakfast in the morning as a child because weetabix was put in front of me, but by the age of about 10 I stopped and I've never been a morning breakfast person. I eat when I feel the hunger arriving and not before.

If most secondary school had teenagers put their hands up if they'd eaten breakfast that morning my guess is that a lot of hands wouldn't go up.

I’ve worked a lot with the NHS and diabetes specialists so I know what I’m saying is right. This attitude is why we have such a big problem with diabetes in this country. People do not eat properly. But you keep kidding yourselves.

YANBU. I was 13 in the 90s and my school never would have done that. I never used to eat before school as a teen and only really started eating anything at breakfast when I was 18 onwards. The school are overreacting IMHO.

@Sb74 The fact that people eat carb-heavy cereals is just one of the reasons that " is sky-rocketing. Sorry but you are woefully ill-informed (probably by the same NHS diabetes consultant who advised my T2D dad to eat pasta, rice and potatoes to manage his blood sugar 🙄

My " should read "diabetes and obesity"

Floofloof - sorry I have an 'attitude' to simply suggest we should encourage - please notice I said 'encourage' a 13 year old child to eat something before leaving for school each morning.

You obviously don't know what's important breakfast is the most important 2nd to meal a day for your body you need to go back to school and relearn your subjects the thing most people aren't intelligent enough to know themselves what's Important yet they bring kids themselves. What a waste of off spring. Get your kids to have breakfast and learn the importance yourselves the school know better than you do. As they are more educated them you it seems. Talk about responsible parenting.

I personally think that breakfast is important especially if trying to lose weight. It does kick start metabolism and it is good to eat little and often rather than put your body into “starvation” mode - where it then hangs onto the fat, simply put, but there has been a lot of research. Maybe just find out if she would take a banana to eat on the way or something? Also, is it not actually quite nice that the teachers have cared enough to highlight it with you? If they think that she’s skipping meals etc because she’s unhappy with her weight - they do have a duty of care and when teachers come under fire so much for so much these days - I would find it great that they are thinking about her welfare and well-being.

YANBU. I haven't eaten breakfast since being maybe 10. It makes me feel really ill to eat before about 12. Usually actually, I eat nothing til about 5pm.

I loved the comment earlier that went something along the lines of, “I naturally gravitate towards food about 11am”. Yes, that may very well be and so do I. The whole point is, teens in school will invariably find that they are actually in the midst of a lesson or exam at this hour when they might “gravitate” towards food. And when they do gravitate to the school snack shop, what do they find? Crisps, sugary drinks and other such crap.

It’s all very well floating round at home and eating when you want. I often don’t eat breakfast when this is the case. However, this morning I had Pilates and a run so I made sure I ate something beforehand to get the most out of the sessions. I tend to get lunch in a cafe over the rosd after Pilates and I know exactly what I’m like - if I’ve had breakfast, I’ll have a soup and roll, if not I’m in a far more craving frame of mind and so I’ll will add a large carrot cake on as well. This is what teens are doing at school if they don’t eat breakfast. School is not mooching round (hopefully) and kids needs fuel in some form if at all possible. Not only for their benefit, for the teachers benefit as well. Who wants moody girls in and out of sick bay because they don’t eat?

But excellent pastoral care is appreciated. It’s one of the things I love about a school. It’s not all about the curriculum or homework or exam results. Those things are good to know but I also want to know about clubs and activities offered by the school. And quality of the education available plays a important role in helping me make a decision. Same goes for school trips and menu options. Student behaviour during lessons is also something that matters to me.

Firstly I’m not ill-informed at all but thank you. Some advice for diabetics,in the past, by dieticians wasn’t correct but they have started to change that. Porridge is the best breakfast. Look, think what you like, it’s no skin off my nose. The point is the dd cannot cope with not eating before lunch. So something needs to change. Simple. OP should take note.

breakfast doesnt make you obese,yer maw does ffs.away n tantrum self righteous unsympathetic ness bout that

@Aspichick Eating little and often is the worst thing you can do. It guarantees long periods of raised insulin levels, which (to put simply) prevents fat burning. Obesity is not a caloric imbalance, it's a hormonal one. See Dr. Jason Fung's work for more detail.

Good grief, this has to be a contender for the "most crap written on one thread" award.