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

Would she eat tuna sandwiches?

I don't blame your daughter having issues with cold food that was once hot .
I do not get all of this "I would give cold pizza slices" . Why ? That, to me, is gross . Cold pizza would be left in my lunchbox if I was a DC still.
I do realise it is not gross to everyone but it is to me . I can eat cold chicken legs though or a nice chicken and mayo sandwich etc

Some of the advice from DS dietician is:

• don't get into a battle at mealtimes. Put the food down, eat the meal, clear up

• no begging, pleading, bribing, cajoling, or persuading to eat or to eat just a couple more bites

• serve meals family style where possible with dishes on the table so everyone can serve themselves

• the main meal of the day should have two courses, for example a main and a basic dessert such as fruit or yoghurt, and both courses are offered with no conditions attached. Even if none of the dinner is eaten, the fruit/yoghurt is still offered as it's one entire meal

• never use food as a reward or a punishment, never make food conditional

• every meal should have 2-3 'safe' foods alongside any new foods so that there are never no suitable foods and there is always something there that can be eaten

• if nothing/very little is eaten then try and stretch to the next mealtime but if the next meal is far away (e.g., overnight from dinner until breakfast) or the child seems very hungry then around an hour after the rejected meal offer a basic snack such as toast, cheese and crackers, veggie sticks, etc.

• aim for 1-2 cups of milk a day, either in food or as a drink, and a good multi-vitamin to cover any deficits

My dc took choco spread(nut free) or jam sandwich every day for school lunch. He is very fussy and also has many allergies so it was tricky. I decided as long as he eat something during the day, that's better than nothing. He eats well at home.
I don't know why school says breakfast cereals aren't good enough. Surely better than getting hungry?
I would speak to school and come up with some sort of agreement, while working on her diet. Does she eats fruit/veg? Some cheese?
If she can take sweet sandwich + some fruit and cheese, I think it's good enough.

If she prefers hot food then go through the school dinner menu with her and let her pick days when she will have a hot dinner. Surely this is the sensible option if the only cold things she will eat are high sugar foods. If the concern is that she wants her food hot, then speak to school and see if you can arrange for her to get her food first.

Cereal is fine, so long as it's not an obviously sweet one. Milk in a thermos. Apple or satsuma. Job done.

I sympathise, my DS is now a teen and still doesn't like sandwiches or wraps (tbh neither am I). I still send him to school with a tub of dried cereal as his 'main' part of his lunch and I've been doing it for a while. Weetabix minis are the fav at the moment. I would rather him eat this than nothing which happens if I send him with bread, wraps, or anything I've tried. He eats well and healthy at dinner and has a good breakfast so he'll not starve!

Coco Pops have 84g of sugar per 100g

They have a lot of sugar but not quite that much, around 63g per 100g however a serving size is 30g.

Your values for Haribo are overstated too.

Massive cooked breakfast, send a small packed lunch of tasty but healthy things that needs little prep. If she doesn't eat much of it, her breakfast should sustain her.

Hot food in a thermos. My DS has one that is designed for food rather than drinks. Pasta, chilli etc can go in.

2 of my 3 children are fussy eaters. The older one has got much better but I used to put a butter croissant in his lunch box!

My youngest is 3, and takes a packed lunch to nursery. The only sandwich he will eat is jam 😬 he also gets a couple of cocktail sausages, some carrot, an apple and a yoghurt.

I had gestational diabetes, and had to see a dietician frequently and her position was that no one should be eating cereal (as in processed ones, not oatmeal/porridge) as anything other than an occasional treat. She pretty much saw it and biscuits as the same thing. So I would probably try to avoid giving cereal twice in one day, but I'm lucky in that my kids eat most stuff so ultimately go with whatever gets it through the day and her fed!
I heat up some food for my daughter in the morning and put it in a Thermos cup, so it's still nice and warm at lunch. Works for pasta/rice dishes nicely, or I give her soup sometimes. When I'm making a Bolognese or whatever I'll make a couple of small extra individual portions and freeze them, and then reheat in the microwave and decant into the thermos before she goes to school. It is a bit of a faff, so I don't do it every day.

Would she have crackers?

What about savoury muffins, make them together and freeze them.

DS often leaves the lunch offered at his nursery... He's only there till 3 atm so not that worried. What we do is cup of full milk, hot porridge and piece of fruit for breakfast. After nursery, he then gets a savoury high protein snack of toasted cheese or peanut butter or cheese spread on toast. Then dinner as normal at 6 with plenty of vegetables. Because he eats plenty of nutritional food at other times, I don't worry about the nursery lunch. In fact, I'm happy that he's being offered (and rejecting!) a range of new foods without me having to bother preparing them ! Occasionally he's hungry enough that he'll give something a go.

Could you make it a game with your DD? Send some new food options a few times a week with a tick box "comments" form so she can let you which ones she likes best? That might encourage her to at least try things.

I'd like to say thank you for all of your responses, I've shared with my DH and will reread after the kids are in bed.
We haven't really tried to get her to eat more variety at lunchtime, mostly because she was making progress at teatime, but we will make this the focus.
I'll definitely be buying a food thermos

I think swapping breakfast and lunch sounds good. She could have quesadillas or cheese on toast with veg for breakfast or whatever other savoury food she likes and cereal for lunch with some fruit.

Yep, I was going to say how about eggs for breakfast then the cereal at lunch with a couple of bits like fruit/ yoghurt would be ok
It's not easy- my son is now on packed lunch because the only hot food is hot sandwich based with cheese- he hates cheese and wont eat ham and they can't gurantee he'd get the hot option, so I'm making a pack up, but he eats the sweet stuff first like his fruit and yoghurt and was "too full for my wrap"today

The problem is that sugar (in its many forms) sets up a craving & a taste for more sugar. And doesn't satisfy hunger, but causes a spike in blood sugar & does all sorts of not-great things for the body.

It's pretty addictive. Unless you mean by breakfast cereal, proper muesli with raw oats & no added sugar. But I doubt it ...

All the so-called 'healthy' cereals eg Cornflakes or Weetabix are chock full of sugar and/or salt. Have a look at the packaging next time you're considering buying some. It's shocking!

Surely, if she gets hungry enough, she'll eat what you give her?

Surely, if she gets hungry enough, she'll eat what you give her?

You'd think so but unfortunately there really are children who will starve themselves rather than eat unacceptable foods.

Tea is the usual; curry, cottage pie, fish pie, sausages, tacos, chilli, crispy chicken, roast chicken...

Honestly if she eats all that for tea then I wouldn't worry too much about lunch she can make up for it when she gets home!

As the parent of a child with major food refusal I'd be delighted if they'd eat a boring cereal lunch but any of those meals listed above at dinner!

My son is so fussy he does not eat anything all day at school. Doesn't take lunch. Refused to eat it for years. Hates packed lunch and school dinners as hes fussy (they not on atm anyway). Hates bread. He comes home starved and has an early dinner.

So basically I should have added i think cereal is fine! Anything they will eat would be fine with me. wish mine ate cereal!

@ItalianHat

The problem is that sugar (in its many forms) sets up a craving & a taste for more sugar. And doesn't satisfy hunger, but causes a spike in blood sugar & does all sorts of not-great things for the body.

It's pretty addictive. Unless you mean by breakfast cereal, proper muesli with raw oats & no added sugar. But I doubt it ...

All the so-called 'healthy' cereals eg Cornflakes or Weetabix are chock full of sugar and/or salt. Have a look at the packaging next time you're considering buying some. It's shocking!

Surely, if she gets hungry enough, she'll eat what you give her?

This. I'd be relaxed about bread and butter in extremis, but adding sugar (to what is already processed carbs) in the form of jam or chocolate spread is bonkers.

My son has sensory processing disorder and loves proteins (mainly chicken) but not so keen on carbs. He also has a thing with food temperature, has to be hot or cold never warming! I’ve got mini ice packs that I put in next to the stuff he wants cold like fruit and a food flask that keeps stuff hot. He has cottage pie / casserole / soup / noodles / couscous with chicken in his food flask. Often has a bit of crusty bread to go with it. Then fruit and a pudding like a cookie or cake. Lots of the dinners your dd likes would work well in a food flask. I got a thermos one that is for food so it has a wider mouth, it comes with a fold up spoon in the lid, keeps everything hot.