Kids loosing weight in lockdown - no school lunches

[Assgone]

With all the lockdowns and other exercise related commitments people have had to stop (swimming lessons etc) I am surprised to see that my DD is looking a little trimmer round the waist line (if only I could say the same for me!). She isn’t being underfed or anything like that but it does make me wonder if when at school with the free school meals she was over eating? She was a big baby and a chunky toddler as she wasn’t quite as active due to underlying health conditions and so is probably slightly clinically overweight compared to her peers. She has always been a really good eater and at home we do try not over feed and so it does make me question why she actually eats and portion sizes at school lunch times. She isn't sat round all day but she isn't running daily marathons either, just normal playing round the house in the garden and 1 normal daily dog walk.

AIBU to think she is over fed at school?

So no school meals and... no trips to the grandparents?

I am sure you are right! I was horrified to discover that at my daughter's primary school they are offered a pudding every day with lunch (in our case it doesn't affect DD's weight as she isn't interested in most puddings).

I am having the opposite problem as my normally very active DD is eating the same amount as usual but not exercising and is definitely getting a little chunkier.

How many hours a day is she sat on her arse at school having to do work at the table?
At home she's moving around more.....

Id be quite surprised at that age as the portions are small. Are you perhaps missing a post school snack or eating breakfast latetr so lunch is later so tea is smaller?
My DS is at secondary and has also slimmed down as he isnt buying and sharing all the crap they buy on the way to school or buying donuts instead of the hot lunch.

I’m amazed that my dd also seems to have lost weight since being off school.
No idea how:
She takes a packed lunch and often brings most of it home
She walks to and from school most days up and down a hill
She has been eating usual typical meals and (Probably more) snacks at home.
Exercise is a daily walk of about an hour and a few bursts of bouncing on the trampoline

Unless she’s just had a growth spurt and has thinned out a bit?

I'm enjoying being able to treat my dc a bit during lockdown. At school they have a sugary desert which is often unnecessary imo. They also get given sweets from school birthdays at least once every few weeks, go to nanny's and get treats there, have kids birthday parties a lot of weekends or occasional cinema trips where I'll buy them sweets, have play dates where they're given treats etc etc.

After all that I keep their diet at home really healthy as I don't feel there's any wriggle room. It could be that the difference isn't just school but all those other little treats that it's easy to overlook but add up.

I know people say school meal portions are small, but when ds1 was having fsm there was bread/bread rolls in a basket at each table and not many others used to want theirs so he’d end up having 3/4 rolls/bread, then I found out the lunch ladies were letting him have seconds, sometimes even thirds if there was food left at the end which no one else wanted!! Breakfast/after school clubs are also a consideration as ours gives cereals/toast with jams etc in morning then various snack stuff after school, crumpets, toast, noodles etc!

I’ve been making mine get outside as much as poss and plenty of trampolining etc so I’m hopeful they won’t gain at least as dd1 doesn’t need to and could do with slimming down, keeping them occupied and keeping mealtimes to routine like school days seems to help and we’ve not been having much treat food as trying to keep to essentials.

We're all losing weight here. No fast food, no latte's, very little in the way of treats. And out walking and running just to get some exercise. My DS says we're going to be superhuman when we get out of this.

@MotherOfDragonite It is the same at DD school, nearly every day she has had chocolate cake for pudding or similar, she wouldn’t be having at home for lunch otherwise.

Same here op. I'm putting it down to the lack of sweets she's getting at home! She came home with a packet most days at school for birthdays, prizes etc

The daily pudding with custard type options always seem very unhealthy to me and not needed. I would never feed my children cake everyday. It’s a treat. I don’t get worked up about it but it does frustrate me a bit as we have to be much more careful at home to compensate for the meals out of the 70s with little reference to healthy eating.

My son is losing weight but he put on a lot from breakfast club where I found out he had 8 slices of eggy bread for breakfast which the leader told me saying he broke his record yesterday. I obviously had words with them about him over eating but then all this happened so don't know if they listened to me.

@Ivebeentohellanditscalledikea 8 slices! Thats crazy they let him have that many.

DD is 1 weetabix with skimmed milk.

My three are all eating like horses but have only put a bit of weight on.
They look really well
They are waiting a lot of fruit and veg and I think because we are all out in the lunchtime period for a long walk with the dog then the nice weather Ross mrs t they’ve been in the garden all the rest of the time they are working up an appetite

I don’t think my eldest eats much at school dinner time

I think we're eating a lot less because I used to feed her whether she was hungry or not. I used to make my DD eat breakfast before school and now she usually has a meal late morning/early afternoon instead so is essentially only having one meal instead of 2. I found out recently instead of fruit for her snack the school serves delicious croissants and pastries that are too hard to resist even if you're not hungry! However, I haven't seen any weight loss as she is doing a lot less exercise.

It's hard to know, maybe it is the food, but my DCs always grow like inchworms - they get a bit tubby round the waist over a couple of months and then a while later I realise all their trousers are short and they've grown out of their shoes again. Your DD could just have just grown a bit that you haven't noticed except for her getting slimmer.

DD is 1 weetabix with skimmed milk

Shows how different they are. My 6 and 4 year olds who are both around the 25th centile have 2 weetabix with full fat milk, usually followed by a bowl of berries for breakfast. They’re both always starving after school dinners so have a big snack when they get home (bagel with peanut butter or similar) then dinner and yoghurt for pudding.

I bet she has had a growth spurt. Kids seem to stretch out as they get taller.

My child's 5 and has the school meals.

She has a hot meal or jacket potato with a pudding. The hot meals are sausage and mash, spaghetti Bolognese, lasagne, roast pork, roast chicken, sausage roll and beans etc. The pudding can be anything from a fruit salad with a cookie to custard and sponge to a rice crispie cake, yoghurt or icepole.

She has light food in the evening normally. Like Tina sandwich. Ham sandwich. Fruit. Cereal. Beans on toast. Sometimes she has pasta or chicken dinner with us.

She walks a mile there and mile back to school.

She's eating the other way round now that's all. She has her hot meal at tea time. She is snacking abit more out of boredom but luckily she likes raw carrots and fruit ontop of biscuits and crisps. She's definitely not getting skinnier or fatter anyway

They burn alot of at school and I personally think her health improved when she started having more meals and less processed bread and ham etc. She's probably having double the vegetables.

@HoffiCoffi13

Thats really interesting as my DD was on the 95th centile, like you say they are all really different.

Small (child size) portions at our school.

I work in a school, there's no one being over fed on our school lunches. A very small portion or a sandwich, and then fruit and yoghurt if they want it for 'desert'. No cakes or custard or the like!

It’s more likely because she’s at home moving around a lot more. School dinner portions are tiny, my children are entitled to free schools meals but I send them in with a packaged lunch because they were coming out of school with belly aches they were so hungry

I'd swap the skimmed milk to a higher fat one (blue top ideally). Skimmed milk is for people who want to lose weight.

One of mine is losing weight, because he's not having his usual snacks etc at break times. He often skips lunch and then snacks [hmmm]
So I'm pleased about that.