To not know what exactly passes as a healthy lunch for a 5 year old?

[DragginBallsEEEE]

Just reading another thread and opinions are mixed on whether OPs lunch is ok or too much which has made me question my own DDs lunch. I will say that I grew up quite poor and getting groceries was the highlight of my week and as such I am now an adult who is overweight so definitely don't have the best relationship with food and my children are larger than their peers. I don't deny them food and they do snack on things like fruit and yogurt or sliced meats but do limit their junk food and presently don't buy anything other than wotsits/quavers and fibre one bars as junk.

DD is 5 and on the heavy side. On a typical day for school lunch I will give her:

Either a ham thin OR cold pasta with ham chopped through it.
A banana or handful of grapes.
A cheesestring
A small yogurt/frube or custard pot.
A bottle of water or on the odd occasion apple juice.

I thought this was perfectly fine but after seeing replies on the other thread I am wondering if I should change what I give her. She eats the whole lot most days. She doesn't eat salad or veg which is frustrating but will eat fruit.

So AIBU to be worried about what I am giving her or does it sound ok? What do your lower primary aged children have?

Why is too much protein a day a problem?

Mine have chicken sandwiches, cake bar, crisps, yoghurt and a fruit shoot every single day. They both do sport and are very actuve. My ds is actually underweight and dd is tall and thin with not an ounce of fat on her. It's all relative. What's right for some isn't right for others. I also work in a primary school so going by these comments I should know better.

It doesn’t seem a lot to me, my DS (4) has school dinners every day so pasta, jacket potato, roast, curry etc with vegetable sides & at least twice a week pudding involves custard.

DS aged 4 has cold toast ( white bread ) crisps, banana, raisins , orange juice and biscuit/yogurt.

He's fine.

If your DD is carry a bit extra it is not from that lunch. And don't cut it down to a sandwich and a small block of cheese, she will be starving !

To be honest lunch is just one meal of the day. I don't think you can look at one meal in isolation, you need to look at what you're feeding them in a typical week really

And both DD's have school dinners and so proper puddings every day. They eat way more than DS

Read through these and feel some people are a bit over the top. Nokidshere - i agree with you.
At 5, in my house -

1.5 round bread or a small wrap, butter and tuna sweetcorn mayo /cheese or ham,
Small tub greek yoghurt with small dollop of jam otherwise they would not eat.
Two small biscuits, ocassionally maybe one week for a treat was a small kids bag of cookies instead.
Chopped fruit, various variety
Sometimes a few sticks of cucumber. Not always.
Healthy, fit, active and not an ounce of fat.

Porridge /toast or rice crispies in morning.

Home cooked dinner. Generally whatever adults have in smaller portion.

Ocassional snack.

Sometimes fussy, sometimes not.

OP
Clearly you are aware, your child is exercising, and we are all built different. Even kids. I would not stress too much. Introduce some small changes and keep active.

You can't change it all overnight. And you don't need to.

Re chicken nuggets - try making your own goujons - just chicken strips dipped in flour, egg then bread crumbs. Spray of oil. Bake in oven. Any kids i have made them for love them.

Sounds a little on the large side for lunch, but if she eats it all presumably she is hungry. Custard pots can be very calorific, so if you’re concerned perhaps stick to yoghurt and make sure it’s not one of the ones that’s totally packed with sugar.

It sounds fine to me.

But since she's slightly overweight, I would probably take out the cheese string or yogurt. Or replace one with a few raisins/small bit of fruit.

You have to do what is right for your child.
You probably DO know.

Eg: Most of the replies seem very little to me. I have 2 ds's who eat huge amounts, and play football, so all this 'give less' rules don't apply!

Why is ham no healthy?

My DD would have eaten similar at that age. Is ham, yogurt, custard, whatever perfect or ideal, no, but it's normal food and you know she will eat it. If you want to improve it you could give the banana and the grapes and drop the cheese string or yogurt but I don't think it's a big deal tbh.

I’m always agog at the whole my child has a lettuce leaf followed by dust.

Op at the age of 3 upwards all 4 of my children were have devoured that lunch and still been hungry! Your child’s lunch is fine op. Outside of school, Less carbs more protein and fruit/veg. Ham is FINE! Even better if you can roast a joint and carve it to use in sandwiches through the week but OMG processed ham is not going the sandwich filling equivalent to crack. Some of the responses to this thread are ridiculous.

Move more, eat less.

Get her turkey instead of ham
Proper cheese instead of string cheese
Perhaps apple instead of banana

Don't see a reason for yogurt or custard. Isn't it full of sugar?

Treats imo should be for the weekend, not everyday.

Keep trying with veggies. Make snacks often, cut up some carrots, cucumbers and bell peppers and leave them out ready to eat.

Also it's good you're being proactive about your daughter's weight.

My best friend was overweight and it gradually turned into morbid obesity and by 17 she was >125 kg (about 20 stone).

Luckily she lost all of the excess weight in her 20s, but she needed a stomach surgery for the big amount of loose skin.

Make sure she stays away from nuggets and fast food in general.

Keep trying with the veggies

My son has a very similar lunch to yours everyday:
-pasta with ham or chicken (he won’t eat bread in any form)

• yoghurt pouch

-apple

• carrot
• homemade biscuit/piece of flapjack

Believe me, his is one of the healthier lunch boxes at school where pepperonis/pre packaged snacks reign supreme!
I know it’s time consuming but could you consider home made sweets/treats? They tend to be much healthier.

Otherwise though I that that lunch box sounds pretty balanced

Perhaps apple instead of banana

Eh?

To me it dosen't sound outrageous (seems like a whole load of differeing opinions on here) like PP have said maybe look for lower sugar yoghurt or cut out the cheese string as its so processed. I used to have an ED during my teens /early 20s and have recovered now but try to be relaxed about what my children eat. My DD would eat sweet stuff all day long given half the chance and will eat very little vegetables despite trying for the last 12 years!! DS prefers carrots to chocolate! My DS who eats more healthily out of the 2 of them was classed as overweight when he was 5. We didn't drastically change what he ate, but tried to be more active. I think a lot was puppy fat. Now he is 9 and very lean and loves sport.

For all the people who say their DCs eat more - I have 2 slim DSs and one much bigger and they really don't eat hugely differently, but there are differences in metabolism even at this age. Some kids can have school meals with puddings and big dinners and endless snacks and are skinny, some are like my Ds2, who would be huge if he did that. It's tricky as a parent to balance between encouraging a healthy weight but also not wanting to restrict and distort your child's natural appetite.

Like others say, I'd look at her whole day. Something I notice with my heavier DC is that he has a big appetite, so while other kids might have a bigger lunch, or more snacks etc but then only pick at their supper, he will eat a big breakfast AND a big lunch AND morning and afternoon snacks AND lick his plate clean and ask for seconds at dinner, and that adds up. I also find that if he's out and busy he doesn't actually think of a snack in the morning, but at home he's apparently starving by 9.30. Perhaps it's about checking where she eats and what makes her hungry. Let her fill up on veggies and protein, and keep carbs wholemeal, snacks fruit or vegetable based (or a boiled egg is popular at my house and filling!) and let her have unlimited junk at parties but don't keep it in the house - and after all that if she is heavier, then maybe that's just her build, like some kids are very skinny, and fighting that won't be healthy for her anyway.

I do agree that meals other than lunch are more likely to be the problem and as I've mentioned we are changing those too but just wanted some feedback on the lunch section. Breakfast is typical eggs or cereal. She's not really into bread unless it's a thin and she does like wholemeal aswell as white when she does eat bread. It's most likely the snacking through the day that I need to cut out as even if it's ham/cheese/bananas/grapes/crackers etc they all hold calories which she obviously doesn't need. And more exercise is definitely needed as she's a very content child who will happily sit at home playing dolls etc and has to be asked if she wants to go to the park instead of it being her idea.

More exercise less calories. I know it's simple but also so hard when she's a good kid who likes her food and I feel like I'm punishing her when I say no.

I have been teaching 5 year olds for nearly 15 years. I’m in Ireland so no school lunches .
The vast vast majority of children have ham/ cheese sandwich / yoghurt / couple of pieces of fruit or crackers. The very small minority will have vegetables or hummus or very fancy lunches. This is a wealthy area with very few overweight children.
Our school like all in the area do not alllow crisps chocolate etc

Have you ever heard of the Satter method? You set the menu and timings, she chooses how much and what she eats. It is a good way to take struggles out of food for fussy eaters as well as heavier kids, and help them recognise their natural appetite. It doesn't mean she'll end up slim, as there is a natural variation in body types, but is good at helping with a relaxed relationship for you both with her food. There's lots more online too.

My DS is 3.5 and has to take a packed lunch to pre-school. He had a cheese or ham sandwich made with whole meal bread, a banana, 5 sliced grapes and a small Yeo valley fromage Frais.
I suspect it would be terrible by mumsnet standards but I keep out chocolate and crisps so I think it could be worse! Your dds lunch looks fine

It sounds fine - what's the rest of her diet like?