is breakfast cereal an adequate school lunch?

[Oneborneverydecade]

DD is in year 3. She's a fussy eater and it seemed like a good idea. School have said it's not adequate. I appreciate breakfast cereal is often quite high in sugar but the only sandwich fillings she will eat are sweet.
There's no SEN and yes I accept full responsibility for having a fussy child. It would be great if she wasn't, and actually she's getting better but mostly at teatime, but I needed a solution for right now

Probably not...but I'm not a mum so never experienced a fussy child! Could you not swap it to a cereal bar and a piece of fruit instead of a bowl of cereal?

Not adequate as in you didn't give enough, which is easily solved, or that it was inappropriate.

Some cereals such as Krave aren't good health wise but you could put hot porridge with nuts and dried fruit into a Food Thermos for her perhaps. That's certainly healthy.

Cereal is all the rage at younger DCs' school with lots of them taking a little pot of dry Cheerios or mini-Weetabix instead of crisps or crackers.

I have a very 'fussy' child (ARFID) and I sympathise. Its not always down to parenting either so don't be so hard on yourself, some children just have food issues.

What sort of foods does she like? That might help with some packed lunch suggestions.

It depends on the cereal but it wouldn’t be something would do as there so many other options, wraps, mini pitta pizzas, pasta, soup, breadsticks with cheese cubes just off the top of my head.

Soup and porridge aren't allowed by all schools, I have four DC across three schools and all three have a no hot food policy.

No, it's not adequate. I wouldn't be pandering to the fussiness at this stage tbh. Send her with a small packed lunch and she can choose to eat it or not .

Was it a small pot of dried cereal?

Seems fine to me.

But I'd put in some cheese, fruit/veg etc so it's there if she decides to eat it.

Or ask school if they have someone to support her. Either they are happy to help or have to accept right now that's what she'll eat!

I wouldn't be pandering to the fussiness at this stage tbh. Send her with a small packed lunch and she can choose to eat it or not

Pretty much the worst thing you can do to a food refuser and almost guaranteed to firmly entrench any anxieties relating to food. You have to take a gradual approach to widening the diet of a restrictive eater.

Depends on what they had for breakfast. If they had a substantial breakfast then maybe as really you're just reversing the meal order but if it's cereal followed by cereal for lunch then no.

What about the fruit ryvitas they taste and have the consistency of cereal and you could break them up.

It might ok alongside other things?

Is there any kind of bread or filling that she will eat? What about pasta in a little pot, even if it’s only with something like cheese.

Healthy schools also recommend something containing fat and calcium like yoghurt, cheese, even custard pots (although appreciate that’s more sugar).

Would she go for some veggie sticks cut up to make it all more nutritious? Possibly with some hummus alongside?

I don’t mean she has to have all of those things but some suggestions!

My son was also allowed to take in an oat bar, which for us was one of those ones aimed at toddlers.

That is not a suitable lunch, I'm with the school on this.

Depends. What cereal was it?

Mine have school dinners usually - which might be the easiest thing if the school make stricter rules for packed lunches than they do for themselves - but had to do packed lunches for fussy ds in lockdown times (yr1).

What else does she eat? What does she eat for dinner? Can you not just adapt that?

Did she have just a portion of cereal? Did you send milk in too? Did she have any other food with her?

And what did she have for breakfast? If she had sausages, tomato, baked beans etc for breakfast a bowl of muesli with milk should be enough for lunch . But if she had a slice of toast with jam for breakfast a bowl of cocopops isn't going to be enough at lunchtime.

Depends on what she has fir breakfast really.

If she has something healthy and filling for breakfast and you can get a half decent dinner down id be telling school to do one.

If shes going to school on air and sugar then consuming more air and sugar fir lunch and its affecting her concentration and behaviour on school you probably need to arrange a call/meeting to discuss

It really depends on the rest of the lunch to be honest.
Will she eat crackers? Might be a good option with some veg sticks/ hummus/ and a cereal bar?

She won't eat cheese unless melted e.g. cheese toasties. No raw vegetables. She will eat apples and satsumas. I don't think she'd eat soup, I'll check. Porridge yes but it would have to be properly hot.
We could sent her with a cereal bar and an apple but surely that's less substantial?
Thank you for all the replies so far

When DH had to attend lectures by the dietician on healthy (low fat) eating (following a heart attack), the dietician said the only cereals she could possibly recommend were Shredded Wheat and Weetabix; but really cereal has no nutritional value at all.

DD is also under a dietician, and the dietician suggested scrambled eggs on toast or peanut butter on toast for breakfast, rather than cereal, which tends to be high in sugar.

I would think muesli with no added sugar is ok, and natural yogurt. If it is a cereal with sugar added, it is definitely not ok as it will not sustain her for the afternoon. She can't have sugar highs and lows and then be expected to concentrate on school work. How about savoury party food like a sausage, cherry tomatoes, breadsticks and cheese cubes. Could she mix her own muesli? Or cold toast with hummous, or pasta? A few Cheerios as part of the lunch is ok. Maybe her favourite cereal could be the reward the following day or at the end of the week, if she eats her healthy lunch.

No cereal isn’t a suitable lunch. Lots of healthy lunch options, surely she’ll eat some of them!

Cereal for breakfast too if I'm honest. She could have toast too. We've never eaten cooked breakfasts through the week but could I guess