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?

Processed meat is in the same category as tobacco but the risk is much much lower

That's true, but it is dose dependent, and daily ham will raise the risk of certain cancers

Your child's lunch seems to be the norm for most kids, but it isn't healthy (and its not your fault because knowledge on a diet is lacking in the UK). Almost everything you are feeding her is full of sugar which isn't going to help her long term regarding overall health and weight. She will also form an addiction to sugar (and probably already has), and that could be why she refuses other food groups. I would stop with the processed dairy--cheese should not come in the form of a string. The yoghurt is full of sugar (switch to full fat plain greek and put fresh berries on top). Bananas are great for a treat but are full of sugar. Kids don't need juice so stick with the water.

Check out Dictator Lunches on Instagram for ideas on what to put in a packed lunch. You don't have to go to the extremes that she does on Instagram in making the lunches Instagram beautiful, but I really believe in her idea of not feeding children 'kids food' and exposing them to different foods over again so that they become comfortable with them.

You said that she doesn't like veg, but I would explain gently how vegetables can taste really good and how they make our bodies feel good and strong. Don't force it but keep exposing her to these food groups over and over again, so she becomes comfortable with them.

For instance, add chopped up swiss chard, kale and spinach to her pasta. Put a small salad with berries and goats cheese in her lunch, use salmon or chicken instead of ham, give her couscous and hummus with shaved almonds. The bonus is that this can be made for the whole family for lunch and then everyone is eating a varied healthy diet.

Spend some time doing research and do away with the idea that kids need to eat "kids food." You are doing a good job already but use this as an opportunity to improve diet overall and eat new and exciting foods.

@Stealth I haven’t seen all your posts on this thread but please tell me that was sarcasm?!

My last statement was fact. I am occasionally known to be sarcastic but that wasn't it

You are actually comparing ham with tobacco?

Plutonium ham?
Omg, I'm probably not supposed to find this funny but I really, really am.

Seems ok to me, not sure my son would eat all of it but he’d eat most.

He’s very skinny. He made his own lunch today (with my help) which was:

Cheese and ham sandwich on white bread
One stick of celery
2 strawberry’s
5 grapes
6 slices of cucumber
A pack of Pom bears
A mini yoghurt.

He didn’t eat all of it, about 3/4 the sandwich, all the fruit and vege, all the crisp, half the yoghurt.

I always offer that much, he never clears his plate, but he never leaves an excessive amount either.

Exactly what @rosewater said. I think it's a very UK thing.

Growing up in Denmark I never had treats or sugary things in my lunch, it wasn't a thing? (We also don't eat lunch with crisps lol)

Treats were for Friday night when a Disney program was on.

If the child was of average weight and somewhat active then it wouldn't be as much of an issue, but clearly OP wanted some help and these are things to consider.

Her lunch seems pretty typical but I do agree with pp on ham. Many MNetters kids seem to have it on a daily basis. I really think children should be having real, nutritious food, processed stuff in moderation is fine but for some children it seems to be constant. Why not real cheese instead of string cheese, why not Greek yogurt instead of a kids yogurt, I just don’t get why highly processed crap is considered to be ‘kid friendly’ but adults eat normal, nutritious food.

Take it slowly with the vegetables but keep trying.

The argument of ‘my kid eats x, y, z sugary stuff a day and is fine’ doesn’t make sense. Obesity isn’t the only negative impact of a poor diet, plus they may only be fine for now.

However, I eat a pretty varied diet and don’t consider myself fussy but...

add chopped up swiss chard, kale and spinach to her pasta. Put a small salad with berries and goats cheese in her lunch, use salmon or chicken instead of ham, give her couscous and hummus with shaved almonds. The bonus is that this can be made for the whole family for lunch and then everyone is eating a varied healthy diet

If someone put Swiss chard or kale in my pasta and goats cheese or shaved almonds on my lunch I’d tell them where to shove it.

Ps I wouldn’t take advice from me though! For supper, I normally would do weetabix, or porridge, or toast.

Today he had four chocolate fingers, a philadelphia wrap (from the packet - palm oil included) and a cup of strawberry milk.

I don’t monitor food. We eat what we want, when we Want.

All very fit, and heathy.

You are actually comparing ham with tobacco?

Well, it's the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer that's doing the comparison, if you'd follow the link I posted. They are both group 1 carcinogens.

Omg, I'm probably not supposed to find this funny but I really, really am.

Nowt funny about bum cancer.

Crikey, feeling terrified reading this thread. I’m not saying my diet has always been perfect, but pretty sure if a ham sandwich was as bad as some people are saying then everyone I ever met at school would be dead by now......

(Lunch was almost always either a ham or cheese sandwich, except on very rare occasions when it was jam. And that was what every other kid was eating too)

Not dead @crazychemist but you have to admit that the UK has an obesity problem.

I think it's a fine lunch but id probably vary it a bit

So ham some days, chicken or tuna or cheese other days. Vary the fruit so she's not having the same fruit everyday. If it's pasta can you add a type of veg in with it? Like peas or sweet corn maybe?

Cheese string is fine, cheese is a processed food really anyway and cheese strings are easy to pack.

Yoghurt is fine but I'd just try to check the sugar content. Go for a lower sugar yoghurt, or plain with a smidge of honey.

I'd also add some crudite style veg so some carrot sticks, or tomatoes or cucumber. She might not eat it to start with but I think with persistence she might start.

It sounds like you are on the right track! She's only 5 and doesn't need to lose weight as such just not gain it as she grows. I think her problem is maybe exercise so I'd try and get her to do some exercise everyday. Take her to the park, go swimming even just stick some music on and have a little dance in the living room. Get her moving a bit more.

Some children are fidgeters and just wriggle and run around and move all the time. And some children are calm sitters who just sit and play, and obviously one is moving a lot more than the other. So if she is the second try and get her moving a bit more throughout the day.

Sounds similar to what I put on DD’s lunch box!! Doesn’t sound too bad at all

DD usually has a sandwich, usually ham or marmite, a yoghurt, some cheese and some fruit. Occasionally I add a biscuit or a few crisps in a pot if she’s in for a full day at Pre school and is going to be extra hungry. (She wakes up at 5-6am and has breakfast early so she will be starving by lunch)

Some of the children at DD’s pre school (I drop her off at lunch time so she see the children eating). They have amazing lunch boxes full of fruit, veg etc!

As long as you aren’t feeding them up on crisps, chocolate and biscuit in their lunch box, try not to worry.

Other people have said that the cheese and yoghurt is unnecessary? Surely dairy is important in a lunch?? My dd loves cheese and yoghurt, she doesn’t drink milk so it’s her only source of calcium.

My mum used to pack me off with 3 bloody chocolate bars (penguins, kit Kat type of things, 4 half sandwiches (4 pieces of bread), crisps etc. I am overweight now and I do blame my mum for it. She let us eat what we want, fed us up, cooked unhealthy meals.

I try and set a better example to DC. Their diets aren’t perfect. Particularly DS who is extremely fussy but he goes school dinners at school as he prefers them to a packed lunch. Neither are skinny and are a little bigger than their peers but as long as they are eating a well balanced diet, I try not to worry.

The ham/tobacco thing has honestly made our night!

@Ihave me too!

It isn't suggesting ham is anywhere near as dangerous as tobacco. But that the evidence it causes cancer is as strong.

My - borderline underweight due to a health condition - 5 year old gets:

• sandwhich (1 slice if bread, folded,with butter, grated cheese, sometimes ham or salami)
• big fromage fraise pot (he’s underweight!)
• portion of fruit
• carrot
• small tubberware container with cold pasta and cheese (grated)

he’s underweight as there are weeks when he can barely eat anything, he looses a lot of weight. his - healthy - brother gets plain yoghurt and less cheese, no salami and very little ham. for my 5 year old, he needs to gain weight, so if he eats it, he gets it.

My 2 year old will typically eat:

Organic quinoa salad with a dash of avocado
Organic qumquat puree muddled with kale carpaccio
Organic homemade lentil and seaweed slivers as an occasional treat
freshly plucked goji berries with a hint of aromatic mint
Squid bonbons
Mountain water from the foothills of the Himalayas

What do you think...too much junk?

Far far too much sugar.
No nutrition in the seaweed thins. You might as well be giving him Mcdonalds fries.

And he should only drink tap water. Himalayas mountain water is full of nasties.

Sounds fine to me.
My dd has similar and she's tall but slim.

I recommend you don't include Pom Bears or mention squash. Your guts will be garters, as I discovered earlier today. 😆

So bananas are a treat now are they.