if your (primary age) child has school dinners...

[Yeeyeelovesraaraa]

what do they typically have for tea?

do you just give a sandwich (since they have already eaten a cooked lunch at school)? or do they have a second hot meal?

mindutopia we eat 5-5.30 & I'm pretty certain he's hungry as he's not had anything since 12 & he usually hounds me for food from the moment we get home from school. I've never allowed him to have an after school snack though because its always been so hard to get him to eat tea & I worry it'll affect his appetite if I do.

I'm ashamed to say after years of offering a cooked tea & throwing most of it in the bin, & then being hounded for hours afterwards for food because he's hungry, and only ever allowing him fruit/yoghurt but no other alternative [which has never made one scrap of difference anyway], we have now fallen into the habit of allowing him the sandwich after school, because its easier than dealing with the fallout of saying no & then being hounded, and he actually eats more than he would if I gave him the cooked dinner. However I'm very aware he's eating the wrong types of foods (jam sandwich followed by crisps, snack biscuit) & hence probably why he's still hungry all evening.

I have often wondered if he may have sensory issues with food as the list of foods he will eat is so limited (& seems to have become even moreso recently) but have no idea how you go about finding out if that really is the case.

If I were you I'd offer a snack which is as good as a meal at home time, (so proper sarnie, veg and dips, crackers with cheese and fruit- some combo he has a chance of eating and is balanced), then shift family supper later by an hour or so, and he takes his chances re eating it or not. You'll know he's got something decent in his tummy either way, and he can hardly sit at the table refusing to eat AND complaining he's hungry (well. He probably can...)
If you are not very keen on him filling up on crisps don't keep any in the house. Easier to say no when yes is impossible!

I'm lucky enough to have a good eater, but I'm v aware this may change at any point, having been a godawful picky eater as a child myself...