Re hot school meal and evening meal?

[rabbitheadlights]

After reading a few threads about evening meals just lately where posted say that if DC's have a hot school meal then they generally do a snack type dinner such as crackers cheese and veg sticks or pot noodles etc.

AIBU to think this is the few and not the many?

My kids all of them healthy weights would be calling child line and declaring starvation if I didn't give them a "proper" cooked meal every night!! By proper I probably mean more substantial I certainly don't cook from scratch every day but I know I could never get away with the above

you have no idea how much kids have actually eaten

Well, if they can communicate, you could ask them. What's the obsession with providing a full meal? Surely it should be regulated by their appetite and nutrition rather than just slapping a huge dinner in front of them and getting them to finish their plate. No wonder a lot of kids are fat.

In reply to one poster above: by "cooked diner", I don't mean things like a roast, a caesar salad works just as well.

Of course it's really important to feed your child, that's one of your main job as a parent. No issue with giving them a bowl of cereals one night, but it's not right to make it a habit. (and that's not a great example, proper cereals not laden with sugar are not that unhealthy)

I do think they eat so much junk food outside that they do need healthy and balanced meals at home. Mine get invited to so many parties, bring back sweets from schools, have teas at friends where they are served junk food, pop in McDonalds with friends. It's all ok, because they eat well at home, so on balance they are fairly healthy.

It's not just fuel, it's also about eating together as a family. My family all eat our main meal in the evening when everyone's home from work/school.

floribunda18
you misunderstand completely. A cooked diner, or hot diner doesn't mean massive portions.

A bowl of home-made soup and a yogurt is a cooked diner in my books, I wouldn't call that a snack. My kids certainly wouldn't

I cook from scratch nearly all the time but most of my meals require very little effort, often taking less than half an hour and/or using fewer than five ingredients.

Sorry that was for another thread.

I agree, soup is a great evening meal, but there was a whole thread once on how soup is not a meal.

One of our friends used to give her DS a tiny snack for tea if he had had a school lunch. Another friend worked at the school and repeatedly told her how tiny the meals were but she still insisted he only have one ‘full’ meal a day.
My DC would wolf down an after school snack, tea and supper after a school lunch.

All this 'my kid would be starving!', 'my kid would be obese!' Being batted back and forth; surely it just depends entirely on the child, their age, their metabolism, their size and quality of school dinner, their quantity of exercise etc what works for one child wouldn't work for another. You do you.

@floribunda I haven't seen anyone post that they make their child "finish their plate" not once that is a very old fashioned attitude. My children are told to eat what they can ... However if they choose to leave food on the main dish they wouldn't then get dessert

I have to do a hot meal in the evening, especially since DS discovered 'salad bar' at school. In other words, pick at a snall pile of grated cheese, sweetcorn etc quickly to maximise playtime. even if he has the main meal I do, though. They burn so many calories. If I have a big lunch I find it kick starts my metabolism and I want an even bigger dinner!

Sorry Corry post @floribunda

Always a full dinner after a hot lunch at school. They’re not big portions so dd would be starving if I just gave her a sandwich at dinner time

@littleduckeggblue got to admit I do love a good crisp butty usually snaffled in secret when alone do as to avoid judgments from dp and dcs

The vast majority of school dinners are crap, they may appear fantastic on the menu but the reality is cheap ingredients that are overcooked and kept warm. I would not be relying on them to meet 1/3 of my child's daily nutritional needs.
To everyone saying if they send a child with a packed lunch they will give them a proper dinner. There are probably more calories in an average packed lunch than in a hot school dinner so why not just give snack type tea every night?

No opinion on dinner choices but just wanted to say beware: most schools don't have the budget for enough staff to actually check how much your child has eaten, especially in ks2 in state schools. None of the 3 schools I've worked in checked properly. When I taught I used to go into the dining hall and check that my class all had a drink, but I've never known any other teacher do this, and there was normally 0- 2 dinner ladies to supervise over 100 kids eating at a time (others would be serving up). 0 was the most common option for ks2. So if you don't pack them a water bottle, they probably forget to pour themselves a drink and it is pretty easy for kids to get away with not eating much so they can go out to play early. Your kids might not be having the full meal you imagine at lunch time.

Both my DC have cooked lunches at school and cooked dinners at home and have since they started school.

DD is a normal weight, DS is off the bottom of the percentile chart despite getting home earlier and snacking before dinner. I think the problem is that he does so much sport that he uses up more calories than he takes in!

"It's insane to me to not cook a proper meal because they had a hot option at lunch"

I think "insane" is a bit of an overreaction! Also why does a meal have to be hot to be considered "proper"? As long as it contains protein, carbohydrates, vegetables etc then why does it matter whether it's cooked or cold?

I have a slight problem here as DD1 has hollow legs but DD2 needs less food. M

At the moment it works ok as DD1 is at school and DD2 at half day nursery so I do large cooked tea and small lunch for DD2 - DD1 gets two large meals and DD2 gets one small one large. But what do I do in September when DD2 starts school....?

Yes I know I could give DD2 smaller portions but she’s not daft and will notice!

Primary school lunch portions are tiny. Really tiny. Really really tiny!!! I cringe a bit when I see people give there kids a ‘light tea’ . A jacket potato and cheese for example is half a very small potato and a tablespoon of cheese. They might be hot but they are not substantial.

surely it just depends entirely on the child

again, why do you believe that cooked diner = enormous plates?

It's probably a lot healthier for kids to eat sitting down at the table, eating properly cooked food in small portions, than grab snacks and eat through the afternoon mindlessly.

For some people, "having pizza" means having a pizza each. For others, it means having 2 slices and a salad. The category of food tells you nothing about the portion size.

If you ask my kids what they want for tea they would declare a picnic every single night. I never used it as I don't think cold food is substantial (I know that's irrational),but these days I just go with it as I've started paying for school dinners.

When I was a child and received school dinners, I was very seldom given an evening meal at home, as I'd "already had my dinner." I remember always being hungry, especially as the adults cooked and ate in front of me. It seemed and still seems cruel when I think of it.

Having worked in loads of schools I can confirm portion sizes are tiny.

Private, state, cooked on site or bought in, never ever do they get a decent sized meal

Our school meals are half the size I thought they were. Saw them last week for the first time. My Y1 child is ravenous straight from school and eats a full cooked dinner every night around 5.30 all through YR and Y1.

I’ve skipped to the end but I’m hoping there’s been a load of school staff say how minuscule primary dinners are