Does starting school turn children into fussy eaters?

[dreamylady]

..or is it a developmental stage?
Our previously adventurous DD (5) who would eat pretty much anything put in front of her has begun to get more and more choosy about what she will and won't eat, with a tendency towards bland or sugary flavoured food. It's not too bad at this stage but I'm concerned in case it's getting progressively worse and her diet is becoming much less nutritious than it was. She's growing so fast it seems a really important time for her diet.
I have a feeling they're not very closely monitored at lunchtime and that the meals are often wheat based (pasta, pastry, pizza) and probably quite bland.
Its so frustrating as she used to eat lots of great homecooked food (usually leftovers from mine and DPs tea the night before)and now she often just wants plain pasta or baked beans. She won't even eat potatoes ffs!
Some days she'll eat fish fingers, other days not - so maybe its partly a control thing. But other stuff she's definately gone off.
Has anyone else noticed this when DC's started school or is it just coincidence?

I don't know about school meals but my DD(7) used to eat three pieces of fruit and a sandwich during her school day with the odd treat.

Now in grade 2 the treats are much more in demand as the other kids have lots of chips, choc etc in their lunch boxes.

So unfortunately I do give her a bit more rubbish now, but she has grown a bit more and still has two pieces of fruit and a sandwich which is good but the increased demand for junk is definately there.

HTH.

Apparently children have many more tastebuds than adults which is why they prefer more bland foods and often dislike vegies as the taste is much stronger for them.

school has broadened what my dd will eat i.e. she never used to eat lasagne or pizza and will eat it now as it was on the menu at school

It changed my daughter too - for the better. She was bascially on a 'white' diet - rice cakes, bananas and porrage, but going to school with her peers made her more adventurous.

is a packed lunch an option to let this issue sort itself out?

Same here - dd1 is much more adventurous with food since starting school. She eats curry now!

maybe it just evens them all out! DD used to eat curry but won't now. Maybe she never really liked all that stuff but didn't realise there was an option not to