too much??

[mummydawn07]

I just wanted to get some other opinions on this, my daughter recently started school in September and on her first day she had a packed lunch, I packed a decent amount in there because she has a good appetite and I also thought that way she has good choice and variety, so here's what I packed.. a ham sandwich made with wholemeal bread, a yogurt ( small frube ), a small box of raisins, an apple and a banana, a dairylea dunker and a babybel, and also some plain small rice cakes and a packet of mini cheddars (small pack). At the end of the day her teacher came up to me and said that I packed too much in her lunchbox which made me laugh I then explained to her why I packed quite a lot of which she said its not exactly a bad thing but it's not needed. what does everyone think? did I really just go overboard or do other parents agree with packing a variety so that you know your child won't be hungry as my kids always seem to be when they finish school everyday.

You know your daughter and her eating habits better than anyone. I know my DS doesn't eat much at lunch time, no matter what or how much we offer, but will inhale a meal like he's never eaten in his life come tea time and then graze on fruit and various snacks until bedtime.

I probably would have stopped after the apple and banana, maybe added the baby elephant. Do they have snack time in the morning/afternoon when she can have the rice cakes or mini cheddars? If they only have their designated lunch time it might be seen as a lot to eat in one sitting.

Baby elephant?! Ha, babybel. Baby elephant would definitely be a little too much for school lunch time

I would have left out the dunker, rice cakes and mini cheddars.

they do have a fruit snack in the morning, but to be fair most of her lunch was eaten and all that she had left in her lunchbox was half a pack of cheddars, the apple, a half eaten dunker and some rice cakes, all of which she scoffed as soon as she came out of school . she now has school dinners as they are free and all, but always says she is hungry when she comes out of school in the afternoon and then as soon as we get home all they want to do is graze on fruit, yogurts etc and then they eat dinner and still want more food.... I think it must be a growth spurt or something.

also I wouldn't expect it all to be eaten in one sitting my thinking was well if she doesn't want to eat one thing there's something different for her to have instead.

I think it's too much. Kids need to be taught about portion control (you say the extra is to have choice so I'm reading that that you don't expect her to eat it all) and visually opening a lunchbox with all that excess has to impact her view of what is normal for lunch. What if she starts eating it all in one sitting? That's not great either. She's only 12 right? If she got used to it she'd be well able to eat all that in one go and that could have more long term implications for her. How about totting up all those items and working out the calories. See if it's an appropriate amount for her.

my girls are well educated on how much is enough and to stop when they are full, I never force them to finish their dinner when they tell me they've had enough, and they have a healthy balanced diet and are also very active, swimming lessons, dance and football clubs etc, so I have no worry with them getting overweight, I also explained to my daughter who is nearly 5 by the way that she doesn't have to eat all of her lunch and to stop when she is full up, thinking back on it I can see that I did got a bit ott, but at the same time I just wanted to have that reassurance that she had enough choice and food so as not to come out hungry.

I'm sure you're doing a great job OP. Hopefully they will always have a good take on eating and portion control and you know them best. But there are a lot of overweight children around and this is anon on the internet so it's impossible to know which advice to give. But in general I don't think children need a buffet, just a normal lunch that is suitable for them.

Personally I think that's too much. I would cut out the choice, so Apple OR banana, dunker OR babybel, rice cakes OR mini-cheddars. I'd cut out the raisins entirely, they don't add anything nutritionally and take bloody ages to get through (lunch break is normally shared with playground time which at her age is better spent running around than eating raisins. Also, they'll probably sit in her teeth all afternoon.)

I'm not a food nazi but at 5yo it'll only be a matter of time before she starts copying others and leaves the healthy stuff in favour of the processed stuff. Also, I'd stick some carrot sticks or cucumber sticks in there instead of nutritionally empty rice cakes/cheddars. There's enough carbs in the sandwich.

My 4yo generally has a sandwich, two portions of veg, one of fruit, and something 'treaty' (usually in the form of a biscuit or a small pack of mini cheddars) in her packed lunch. Sometimes I replace the sandwich with cheese batons/ham slices, etc. We discuss what's going in there while I make it so she doesn't need choices - she's already made them. And there's very little wastage, I usually get back half an apple or a few mini cheddars.

I think that you're confusing them being hungry after school with needing more lunch. All children are hungry after school! It has generally been 3.5-4hrs since the last time they ate and they've been concentrating and learning (and in reception, running around) in that time. I'd hold some of the snacks back and have them available when they leave school instead.