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

"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."

That's all my dc had for whole of primary. Still, better than not eating anything for us.

Some of the lunches I've seen with my p1's this term are... fried eggy bread and chicken nuggets (cold) fried egg and chips (cold) Mcchicken sandwich, obviously from the day before as came in in the morning when McDonald's only serve breakfast. Some just come with a bag of packaged carbs such as brioche and croissants. We don't bat an eyelid at the ones that come with cereal if that's all they'll eat. Personally though if not give it twice a day so vary breakfast

I'm a big fan of JimJams choc spread. No nuts and way less sugar than Nutella. I think what your DD eats for tea is amazing and I wouldn't actually describe her as fussy on that basis. I personally loathe sandwiches and always have so I think just send her with some little bits of things you think she'll eat. Maybe try oatcakes? Similar in the mouth to cereal but look better.

I think its a bit odd, u surely want her to grow out of this fussy phase and have been amazed and the power of peer pressure to solve fussiness in my kids. I used sweet reason and bribery and left the rest to peer pressure at school

@hamstersarse

You're getting carbohydrates and sugar confused. Cocopops have 17g sugar per 100g. Still high but not QUITE so dramatic. Haribo have 47g.

Can kids take peanut butter sandwiches? I would say cereal - rice Krispies, normal cheerios or Weetabix - are better than eating a bloody chocolate spread sandwich! I would never give my DD a chocolate spread sandwich, ever! She loves peanut butter though.

What's all this talk of brioche too? I see so many kids eating brioche and it's madness. Sugary white bread??? FFS.

Sorry OP, I can totally sympathise with a fussy eater, my brother was one. He's fine now! Dippy things, breadsticks, rice cakes, crackers maybe?

My daughter isn't big on lunch, would happily eat cereal and occasionally does if we have a busy afternoon and I need a fuss free lunch quickly. I don't think it's the end of the world but as others said, I wouldn't give cereal if that's what breakfast was. Breakfast would have to be eggs and toast, peanut butter or cheese on toast. Needs to be high in protein, low in sugar. Does she eat seeded bread? Much better than white.

No

@Gancanny

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.

I just wanted to second this. I earlier said that I send my DS to school with dry cereal as I'd rather he ate this than nothing. A few years ago I found he was storing uneaten lunches in a compartment of his school bag, many, many uneaten sandwiches scrunched up small in tin foil. I didn't regularly check his bag as he's secondary school (although I still feel awful to this day that he was hiding food and I didn't know). I still don't know why he didn't throw them out. My point is that I wouldn't want my kid to be hungry if he can eat cereal that will fill him up along with healthier foods such as fruit and veg as long as they're getting a balanced diet on the whole at home.

I don't know why school says breakfast cereals aren't good enough. Surely better than getting hungry?

I would have thought so. I can't see how jam sandwiches are any better tbh. If she is eating a healthy dinner then cereal is fine.

If shes ok with hot food, can she have school dinners.

[quote jomaIone]@hamstersarse

You're getting carbohydrates and sugar confused. Cocopops have 17g sugar per 100g. Still high but not QUITE so dramatic. Haribo have 47g.

Can kids take peanut butter sandwiches? I would say cereal - rice Krispies, normal cheerios or Weetabix - are better than eating a bloody chocolate spread sandwich! I would never give my DD a chocolate spread sandwich, ever! She loves peanut butter though.

What's all this talk of brioche too? I see so many kids eating brioche and it's madness. Sugary white bread??? FFS.

Sorry OP, I can totally sympathise with a fussy eater, my brother was one. He's fine now! Dippy things, breadsticks, rice cakes, crackers maybe?

My daughter isn't big on lunch, would happily eat cereal and occasionally does if we have a busy afternoon and I need a fuss free lunch quickly. I don't think it's the end of the world but as others said, I wouldn't give cereal if that's what breakfast was. Breakfast would have to be eggs and toast, peanut butter or cheese on toast. Needs to be high in protein, low in sugar. Does she eat seeded bread? Much better than white. [/quote]
I’m not confused at all. Carbohydrate and sugar are treated exactly the same by the body. The coco pops will have the same effect as the haribo 🤷‍♀️

Bread and jam is 'bonkers'?!

I really do sympathise, and empathise! My child's school they are not allowed sweet anything, especially chocolate. So no chocolate spread. I sent a slice of birthday cake and some small biscuits on her birthday and got told off. We were doing better with cooked lunch for a while, as she'll eat more hot foods, but they aren't catering anymore due to covid. Mostly she gets lunch she doesn't like, the eats on the way home. It's illogical.

I mean, it's illogical because they say they can't have chocolate etc. Because it disrupts their learning, but being hungry is worse surely?

She will eat cooked breakfast so I make cooked breakfast now. Just shove some bacon and potato waffles under the grill, scramble some eggs or fry up some mushrooms, it doesn't have to be anything crazy. We do breakfast muffins sometimes too

My four year old Was quite fussy, I used to send him in with a mix of things, so cheese cubes, chopped fruit, mixed nuts, chopped up wrap, dry Cheerios, carrot sticks etc.

Is there a different, healthier variety of foods she would eat?

My DS spent the whole of last school year having a bowl of cereal for lunch at school - I’d send in a box of bran flakes/weetabix and 4 pints of milk each week and they made it for him daily. Before that, he would literally eat nothing all day, no matter what I put in his lunch box. He’d also have cereal for breakfast, and a ridiculously limited (though reasonably balanced) dinner.
This year, they can’t cater for special diets, so I send a range of beige foods and he’ll occasionally eat a biscuit or a piece of cheese for lunch, and that’s literally it. He comes home really proud of himself for having actually eaten something. I suspect he has ARFID but haven’t been able to get an actual diagnosis yet.
So obviously, I’d say cereal to me sounds fine for lunch if there’s no alternative! But, I would add that the dinners she eats do not sound like those of a very fussy child at all, and sounds very much like what she’d get if she had school dinners!

@daisychain1620 I used to hide my school packed lunch sandwiches too, in a massive carrier bag under my older sisters bed! No idea why I didn't throw them away at school. I barely ate lunch all secondary school, and I'm still really iffy about sandwiches! However I do eat a healthy and varied diet now. I just wanted to say don't feel bad for not realising and it's great that you've sorted out something he will eat - I'm not sure my mum would have been so supportive

@myhousekey thank you for your kind words, I really do still cringe at me missing this. All is good now though lol. Isn't it strange the things kids, including us in our childhood, do?
OP good luck with finding something that works for you

Honey sandwich could be an option as a naturally occurring sugar? (clutching at straws a bit) chocolate spread wrap with a smudge of philly cheese, sounds rank but is actually quite nice sort of Cheesecakey, over time reduce the amount of choc spread and increase the soft cheese. Nice pot of the fruit she likes and maybe some naked popcorn etc.

Would she eat overnight oats, you could chop up the fruits that she will eat in with it.

If she eats all those meals for tea

And that’s not a fussy child

Why don’t you give her hot schools dinners - or is it a cost thing ?

Last year, I put food in DD’s lunch that both of us knew she was unlikely to eat. I chose filler that was shelf stable and packaged so it wouldn’t go bad being totes back and forth uneaten. That way she could eat the small lunch she actually wanted. She said it was silly. But I explained we had to make it look like she had a bigger lunch, plus, if she was actually extra hungry, I wanted her to have something available. She eats better meals the rest of the day, but finds lunch at school especially difficult.

Terrace58, that is so silly that you had to do that. Sometimes I think school policing of what children eat for lunch is nonsense. Sure they should if the parents seems lacking in understanding nutrition or neglectful, but most of the case, it isn't.

I didn't have difficulty with school much, except for one year that the teacher suggested he should have better contents. I told her he eats quite well at home, his diet was monitored by dietitian(due to multiple allergies and chronic illness) and I wasn't worried about what he eats for lunch. She wasn't impressed, but I couldn't careless.

@JemIsMyNameNooneElseIsTheSame

Bread and jam is 'bonkers'?!

Yes - bonkers as a main meal every day when compared to just bread and butter. The jam adds nothing but sugar.

If a child will eat bread and butter, adding a sweet filling is daft - it provides no nutrition and is literally full of sugar.

CrunchyNutNC, why is it daft, if just adding something sweet make a child eat something?
My ds's dietitian said, add anything, pour sauce/syrups, so he eats them.She even suggested adding chocolate/strawberry powder to the milk, so he actually drinks them.
I think all the people talking about sugar etc doesn't really understand the difficulty we face, as parents of fussy eaters with many reasons. Lucky you.

I'd second the hot flask. We have foogo by thermos. They're brilliant. It's great for using up leftovers.