Two main meals per day?

[Fattyfattymummum]

In what will possibly be the least controversial thread of 2020...

ATM our family is basically eating two main meals per day. DC (aged 2 and 5) both have hot meals at lunchtime with childminder/at school, and almost always have meat or fish with a carb and veg, as well as a pudding, and another snack (fruit and biscuits) at 4pm. DH feeds himself well at home. Then in the evening I cook another 'proper' meal.

Is it a bad idea to reduce the weekday evening meal to something lighter to avoid eating two heavy meals? Thinking of meals such as veg soup, cheese on toast, scrambled eggs with spinach etc followed by yoghurt/ fruit. Probably mostly veggie to avoid two helpings of meat in one day.

I can't figure out if this is a healthy idea or a horrible one! So over to the wise folk of Mumsnet...

Why is it a horrible idea?it's no different to having soup and a sandwich for lunch and a hot meal for dinner.

Personally I wouldn't. I think that the meals at school aren't made with the idea in mind that a child won't need a main meal at home in the evening.
Maybe if you're concerned make their portions smaller and see if they satiate them?

It's fine. Those light meals you describe are perfectly nutritious.

Presumably this has gone on for a while? What do you think of the DCs weight/size vs other kids or whatever averages you can find online?

If no issue, why stop?

School dinners aren’t really that big. As long as it’s two reasonably balanced meals, I’d say you’re fine as you are. My kids are always starving after school.

I think that's fine. Maybe compromise 50/50 between a 'normal' evening meal and a more snacky one?

My DS has hot school dinners and most evenings he then has a light tea - sandwich, toastie, beans on toast. Sometimes fishfingers or pasta/macaroni cheese but more often that not he asks for a sandwich. I do seem to be in the minority compared to his school friends who all seem to eat a second hot dinner but he doesn’t complain about being hungry and he’s a healthy weight so I don’t see a problem with it.

I think the meals you mention (soup, cheese on toast etc) sound fine.
However, when people on here have mentioned previously that they had a cooked lunch so had just a snack for dinner I always think I’d still be hungry for my evening meal in that situation unless it was a late weekend lunch.
I normally have the night befores leftovers heated up for my lunch and still want a proper dinner in the evening.

Meh. On the days the kids have a roast dinner at school for lunch (one set day per week), I do them a sandwich/soup evening meal and then dh and I have something more substantial after they've gone to bed.

When would you get your main meal? And when you say your DH eats well is it a main meal? My DD has a hot meal at nursery so only has a light dinner but I still cook a main meal for me and DH

Its perfectly acceptable to have something like scrambled eggs or soup for dinner.

However do you need to do this? Do you have concerns about your DCs weight? Are they too full for dinner? When would you have your main meal?

A hot meal doesnt necessarily have more calories than a lunch type meal, something like veg curry is probably better for you than cheese on toast, so its not something I would do unless I didnt want to cook. Theres nothing wrong with having 2 hot meals either

"I think that the meals at school aren't made with the idea in mind that a child won't need a main meal at home in the evening."

Wasn't that originally the point of them though?

Perhaps do a mixture of both in the evenings. Sometimes a jacket potato/egg on toast and sometimes a normal dinner. I think two main meals is fine, a healthy cooked dinner is probably more nutritious than a sandwich and bag of crisps which is what lots of people have for lunch.

How are we defining 'main meals'?

Something like cheese on toast and a yogurt probably has more calories than fish, potato/rice and veg for example? Which is the 'main' meal?

Given as my lunches are almost always leftover dinner, by your definition, I eat 2 'main' meals every day. But there's no significant difference between them in size or calorific/nutritional content. And they're all healthier and lower calorie than typical lunch choices like a sandwich with cake or crisps.

Cross posted with a couple of others, which is good, because normally, people can't seem to get their head round the concept of having more than one hot meal a day, or that the temperature that food is served at has no bearing on its calorie or nutritional content, or how light, heavy or filling it is.

You don't know how much they are eating at school/childminder so I wouldn't do a lighter meal unless you're concerned about their weight. (Eggs or soups can be filling meals)

My kids came home from school ravenous so I suspect they didn't eat much on some days and found portions too small on others.

School meals are generally rubbish and rarely eaten.

I would never rely on a school lunch as a good nutritious meal.
My kids always came back ravenous at 3.30.

I don’t think school dinners are filling if I’m being honest. My DC have packed lunches now and never leave school hungry but when they had school dinners they were honestly ravenous when they left school. They had a Christmas dinner at school a couple of weeks ago and the same thing happened, absolutely starving. No idea what the portions are like but I don’t think it’s sufficient.

I have a 4 and 6yo. They would be starving if they only had a light supper despite their hot lunch at school. We do have soup and bread or Spanish omelette etc once a week, but I wouldn't do it every day. Our dinners are mostly vegetarian though, and I would prefer if DCs ate less (crap) meat at school but hopefully they will choose that themselves as they get older. I find they don't get enough veg at school, and it would be hard to increase it by much with a lighter meal as they aren't keen on salads.
DH and I tend to have a lighter lunch so it works out well. If DCs start chunking on the weight I will re-evaluate, but it hasn't happened yet so they must be getting the right amount of calories.

What you are doing is fine.

School meals are TINY, and they don't eat half of them. It always amazes me when people say oh my kids eat a hot meal at school so I don't give them a main meal at home.

School meals might be hot, but the portion sizes can be ridiculously tiny.

School meals are not a heavy meal, the portions are tiny. Dc come out ravenous (and not surprised I work in a school and see the portions) you can't use it to replace a proper evening meal. A sandwich would be more filling.

You know your children best.

It depends how hungry they are. My son eats like a horse at breakfast and lunch time but sometimes barely touches his evening meal. I've really cut down the portions I give him in the evening as it's such a waste and I don't want it to be a conflict. If he does clear his plate then there's often some leftover, or he has fruit.

I grew up eating 3 proper meals a day, it was norm in my country. Rice/bread/toast with ham/egg/fish whatever + salad and soup for breakfast.
School lunch. And dinner again mostly rice/meat/fish/vegs/soup.
I hardly ate any snacks in between/afterwards.
I still think it's quite norm in my country. Not many obesity in general population.

@Inpersuitofhappiness

Personally I wouldn't. I think that the meals at school aren't made with the idea in mind that a child won't need a main meal at home in the evening. Maybe if you're concerned make their portions smaller and see if they satiate them?

^this. A friend does school lunches. They are tiny. Mine always needed a big meal at home in the evening. Another friend always gave her DC a sandwich as he’d had a hot meal in school and then moaned he was greedy and was always asking for biscuits or a snack later! Our lunch lady friend had to tell her about school portion sizes.