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?

I think people are making a point of having their daily exercise / walk / whatever.

I'm loving it as my DS has Autism he thinks he has to follow the instruction to the letter so I'm getting him out each day, eg today he did 10 miles on his bike. (( Lucky to have a cycle path opposite my house )) other days he's doing the 5 mile challenge which we'd encouraged before hand (( 5 miles of fast walking )) he's definitely looking trimmer round his middle.

Combo of school dinners being shite and a growth spurt?

Foodwise lunch has been either home made or a tin of soup , the odd pot noodle or a.cheese and tomato sandwich on wholemeal bread.

Breakfast is the normal porridge with fruit or poached eggs on toast.

Dinner the normal stuff, yesterday it was turkey curry with noodles, roast etc..tonight we're having home made turkey burgers with chips and salad, tomorrow it's bean chilli with brown rice and salad.

His diet has always been pretty good although he's overweight partly because of his medication (( risperidome which is an anti psychotic and known for causing weight gain )) so pretty sure it's down to getting out each day. Which is also having a positive influence on his mood

My eldest too are like sticks. I'm more worried that they getting increasingly pasty looking. One is almost white as paper now. It's hard getting g them to go out in the sun. My kids have always been extremely thin, but even at 5,8 weighing 8 stone and a 26" waist NHS BMI calculator says my 16 year old son would need to weight under 6 and half stone to be underweight. I guess kids can be very thin and still healthy

I've noticed that my DS13, has lost weight, since the schools closed. He isn't eating all the crap this they get in the snack machines, and probably getting more daily exercise, thanks to Joe Wicks, and our daily dog walk

Try their school website, ours has a menu and it gives you the suppliers recipes (below) so you may be able to see what she is getting on an average day.

www.ashlynsorganics.co.uk/

I think a lot of kids are doing more 'normal' exercise and less structured exercise.

Structured exercise like dancing/swimming/football etc, for an hour a day can often mean a lot of standing about and listening to the teacher and then there's the time spent getting dressed/undressed.

Unstructured exercise like walking/trampolining/running around the park/skipping, would probably burn a lot more calories.

It’s also more likely that you’re giving her more vegetables and fruit at home than she would get at school. Just because portions are supposedly small doesn’t mean they’re low in calories. That’s been the problem with school lunches for a long time. A lot of it is heavily processed junk food with little to no nutrition whatsoever.

Sure it may be a “small” portion of lasagna but it would be full of empty calories, carbs and fats along with whatever side dish and dessert they serve with hardly any green or fresh vegetables. That “small” portion could still be in the 500 – 700 calorie mark versus what you’re feeding her at home would be 350 calories including more real vegetables that don’t turn into excess weight.

My 11 year old is looking a little thinner which has really surprised me. I thought he was doing less exercise and eating more during lock down so am really surprised.

School dinners are tiny! I'm enjoying fattening my kids up at the moment. Like whippets they are. They're having breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, tea and supper. The moods are sooo much better! Less shouting, door slamming, less flopping about. Less mithering for sugary snacks too. If I could I would get them to eat like this all the time, but they barely eat at school.

@JingsMahBucket you have a very valid point.

other eating habits haven't changed, other than no trips to Grandparents

Don't underestimate how much rubbish grandparents feed their grandkids! My son will happily tell me how many biscuits, bits of cake, chocolate etc he has when at his grandparents!

My year 1 child has slimmed down as well, although they are eating well at home, including daily cake from the baking we've been doing. I'm putting it down to the before school bagel they dish out for free, after school club which is a nightmare for sugary rubbish or awful processed food like hotdogs from jars and lastly, my DH isn't able to take them to cafes anymore!

After school club in particular was getting ridiculous, they let them eat so much of things like flapjack that they didn't want their dinner. We had words at the point and it got better.

They came up as overweight on the reception check and had been on the 95th centile for weight since babyhood. Now out of the overweight zone for bmi centiles. I'm delighted as it had really worried me.

And no, I haven't mentioned any of this to them as I am the adult and it is my responsibility to do the worrying for them!

I’ve visited school lunches twice with my kids school and both times was shocked to see how large the portions were. So my kids have packed lunches at school as two of them have no off switch when it comes to eating.

Also my kids’ school is always sending sweets home and eating cake for some reason or other. They’re meant to be a ‘healthy school’. It drives me potty!

Schools don’t normally send sweets home. Parents give their children sweets to give out at school on their birthdays- another thing for staff to fit in!

School lunches are portion controlled and are small. They don’t have extra portions.

In our school the children are allowed seconds . Some children eat a lot more than others . Does she know when she’s full ?

My 7 year old has grown out of his trousers he looks trim because he has stretched up

I work as a supply teacher and I can confirm school lunches are really small, also most children are too busy talking rather than eating. Ton's of waste.

My children have put weight on I think. No more walking to school, no swimming , no football or kickboxing. They are constantly hungry (bored) which doesn't help. The 1 walk a day isn't enough.

Growth spurt combined with no flapjacks, pasta, slice of cake and custard every day? The last time I considered risking a school meal (staff) at my last place, the stuff they doled out in order to impress, as they'd just taken over the catering contract consisted of a tiny portion of vegetable slop stew/casserole/bolonese (Christ know what it was supposed to be, it didn't taste of anything) and a good half pound slab of flapjack to provide ballast. And the 'good' catering at my current one consists of doughnuts, Danish pastries and sponge cake with custard with the occasional jacket potato or sandwich for the 'picky' (ie, not sugar obsessed) eaters.

my children average 8 hours outside of school exercise so i was concerned

they are looking trimmer

no grandparents is the answer for mine

@crimsonlake It really does vary between schools! My DD's last school had tiny portions and she came home starving. Her current school has bigger portions and she needs less than a quarter of the after school snack she used to have!

Also, both schools have offered puddings (irrelevant to us as she doesn't eat them).