Less pupils eating school dinners

[speedymama]

Fewer pupils eat school dinners since the healthier meals campaign started, according to this news report here .

I thought these comments were quite telling:

Irene Carroll, national chairman of the Local Authority Caterers Association, said a key problem was that children were not being given healthy food by their parents.

Mrs Carroll added that another issue affecting school dinner take up was shorter lunch breaks which give pupils no time to eat full meals.

"Lunch time periods now are so short," she said.

"Ideally we would look to give them a plated meal and pudding. But they have got 30 minutes and in many cases they've got 25 minutes.

"And the only child getting 25 minutes to eat is the first one in the queue."

When my DTS start school, I would like them to have school meals. If the meals have improved, why do so many children have packed lunches - doesn't that just make more work for the parents?

I think that a lot of parents assume that their children won't eat 'healthy' school dinners, and I'm sure that there are a lot of parents who still don't consider school dinners healthy enough.

One of the reasons I insisted that ds1 should have school dinners is that he is a fussy eater, and I felt he was more likely to try new things if there was no other option available, no-one to beg or negotiate with and of course peer pressure around in the shape of the rest of his clas seating the same meal. And it's worked. Also, were he to have pack lunches he would almost certainly want cheese and cucumber sandwiches for the rest of his school career - at least with hot dinners he gets some variety.

It certainly is a problem that lunch periods are now so short, but I'm not sure that it makes much difference whether they have pack or hot meals, as it takes them time to sort through their pack lunches, unwrap, compare, complain etc.

Thank the LORD you redeemed your grammar error in the first line of your post, SM, else there would have been harrumphing and knowing-it-all a plenty

Why are lunch periods so short? What happened to the 1 hour lunch break we had when I was at school? I didn't realise school had changed, most schools in UK are from 9am to 3:30pm or not?

What is wrong with the bloody English?

They moan that kids aren't eating properly and then they give them 5 minutes to wolf down lunch like little savages so that there's no time to have any table manners or proper appreciation of food.

I know that sounds poncey, but FGS.

Oh yes and thank god for the fewer, speedy.

Some of the children interviews drive me mad. "I prefer chocolate and crisps" says one of the teenage girls. Argh! Tough would be my answer.

Lengthen the school day back to what it was, and give them all 1 hour for lunch.

Have compulsary school meals or packed lunch, and don't allow children out of school for lunch until the are sixth form age.

And don't give in to them!

DD has just started school. All children have to stay for a school meal. This is a two course meal. Main meal is a cooked on site meal, the only option is veggie or not (letter sent in advance to tell staff this). Children sit in family groups (children of different ages), with one teacher to each table. They get a small portion first but can ask for seconds. They all get offered dessert - either what is on the menu or alternatively fruit. If they don't eat dinner, there is nothing else. Not suprisingly the children all eat their meals - as they don't want to be hungry,. The meals offered, throughout the 3 week menu (on their website for parents to see) provide a well balanced diet. Theonly additional food they get during the day is a mid morning snack. This is sent in by parents and it must be a healthy snack, preferably fruit or veg, with no crisps, sweets or chocolate allowed.

My dd is 13 and in yr9 at secondary, they now start at 8.30 and finish at 2.40, lunch has been cut down to 35/40 minutes. So, in a large school, it's not really long enough to queue up, buy and consume a hot meal. the infant school I work at however, lunch is 12 til 1, and in an average class of approx 30 there are about 12 a day who have hot meals. The children are really fussy with the food and are constantly saying they don't like ANYTHING. Another thing which I think may increase the decline in uptake is that we now only have two choices each day. One veggie, and one meat, the children have to choose in the morning at registration what they want to eat. They are then given a coloured band by dinnerlady (representing what they have chosen) and they give this to servery staff who give them their choice. I think it can be difficuly for lo's to choos somehting without seeing it first.

SW, when I saw the title, I groaned and started searching for my tin hat!

I must now apologise for my atrocious spelling and grammar, will cold hands do for an excuse?

DS1 rarely ate school lunch last year. he wanted to do all the sport. It didn't help that he's on so many blimming teams and would have to go to training through some lunchtimes and house matches etc. I tell you, I topped up his meal card with my last £20 fully expecting to top it up again properly the next week.... it lasted 2 terms!!!!!!!!!!!

Agree with caligula. I think we veer from one extreme to the other and forget that eating is about pleasure and socialising both as well as nutrition.

I can't believe it, start at 8:30 to 2:40, why on earth have they changed times? I'm trying to get back to the UK to my old trusted system for the kids sake and now it sounds like they are going in the German way. My 2 dc don't even get an official lunch break and go from 8:20 to 14:10 (in Berlin).

Dd1's school doesn't even serve food, we have no choice but to send in a packed lunch. I would love her to have a different cooked meal each day and eat with her friends. I am so about it - there is a kitchen there but it belongs to the village hall (we are in a village and the buildings double-up) - I am yet to hear why it can't be used although I gather cost has everything to do with it.

School hours are 8.50 - 3.15.

DD's school (private) hours, for PP1, are 8:30 till 3:25. Goes to 3:30 for PP2 and PP3, and then 3:45 for P1-P4.

They have 15 minutes mid morning break. They have an hour or so for lunch.

"start at 8:30 to 2:40"

Wow, why are school hours so short and what kind of hours do teachers work in general? (thinking maybe it is time for a career change)

speedymama - teachers still work the same number of contact hours, just with shorter breaks themselves. They will then work outside of those contact hours as well.

There should be no choice. One main meal and one pudding. If they don't like it they don't eat. Doesn't have to be 'poncey' food but a balanced meal with some fresh veg. Choice is for adults who either know a bit more about what's good for them and are prepared to act on it, or who don't and are prepared to take the consquences of a crap diet. Children shouldn't have a choice. Do we give kids a choice about going to the dentist or getting their jabs (either way - I know many people don't agree with them). Eating is as important.

When I were a lass....we ate at tables of 10 of mixed ages in a huge dining room. We said grace first, the main meal was dished up by a prefect at the head of the table but we helped ourselves to veg etc. We were taught to pass the dishes to each other. We learnt to make conversation (once past the scared mouse first year stage ) and most importantly everyone ate everything beccause we were hungry and there wasn't anything else. Once a tuck shop opened up in school there was a lot more food left on the plates - tuck shop closed down pdq. I don't think lunch lasted more than 30 mins. I'm sure there were kids who didn't like the food sometimes but I don't remember many full plates at the end of the meal. Food intolerances (such as there were in the 70s) were catered for as were religious diets. But likes and dislikes weren't.

I let my kids have a certain amount of 'junk' but it's limited and controlled by me. What they are allowed is limited by what else they've eaten an how much, and if the school is going to give my children the choice of chips or rice I'm afraid that, even knowing what they do about what's good for them and what isn't, they would choose the chips 9 times out of 10. Market forces in society offers too many choices to everyone incl kids, I don't think that school should be a continuation of that.

Sorry I had to go to work. The hours at dd's school were changed last year, apparently it was because many of the girls do after school clubs and in the winter it is quite dark when they walk home. Another reason suggested was because the school makes more money from lettings after school. But I have recently been informed it is because the kids in general are so appallingly bad at concentrating they make the most of the morning hours and only have two lessons post lunchtime!

I can't wait to get dd1 to junior school as her infants doen't do school meals.She is really fussy to feed and I hope the no choice will make her try more !

At my school the kids get about 30 mins fro eating lunch , most a re finished in that time(they do get longer if they really need it but usually only 1 or 2 after that.)
The staff get 30 mins too (should be 45 but thats a sore point!and we do prep in that time too before anyone comments on staff lunch times!)

My dd1 is in reception and she loves her school meals and usually comes home with a sticker to say she has eaten the lot.she even eats the meat dishes which we dont really have at home ,and there is the veggie option as back up for her.Whenever she sees Jamie oliver on telly she says "look mom it's Jamie,he sorts the dinners"lol.

Shewhoneverdusts, could it possibly be thqt their appalling concentration might be something to do with what they were eating for lunch...?

fwere
PHEw peopel spotted it

Yet again have only read the OP but in my very limited survey of the 'new' school dinners the opnion is they might be healthier but they still taste crap.

PrettyCandles, I totally agree with you re the concentration thing, but it's not just the dinners is it? The packed lunches are quite often far worse, but that's another minefield altogether! They need to do away with tuck shops and vending machines, stop the kids leaving school at lunchtime and only offer healthier alternatives on the dinner menu. Then you only have the packed lunches to worry about and other than policing the food (which I don't agree with) there's nothing you can do to change what is put in a lunchbox.