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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

do school dinners leave kids hungry?

55 replies

knittinginknots · 23/03/2011 21:34

Our school dinners have strange names and small portions (2 ounces of meat per child). Kids come home hungry because they didn't like the strange concoction, or there wasn't enough left when it was their turn, or the portions were too small. Has anyone else had these problems and how did they resolve them

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notnowbernard · 23/03/2011 21:35

packed lunch

onepieceoflollipop · 23/03/2011 21:41

if dd (7) has a strange concoction it is because she has made "strange" choices. for example, today was roast beef and she had sweetcorn with it which was one of the veg choices. There was probably another choice, cabbage or carrots, but she prefers sweetcorn. (or if it had been baked beans she would have chosen that)

She also has quite random things that she tries off the salad trolley but I think it is healthy that she is allowed to get on with it and make the choices. :)

I don't think the portions are small, I expect that there are guidelines/recommended portion sizes that they need to follow? Portion sizes must vary considerable from family to family so what one child thinks is massive another child will describe as too small.

Also with fussier children, if they reject say the potatoes and vegetables and have fruit for pudding then 2oz meat or equivalent won't fill them up.

Never heard of there not being enough, occasionally dd will say that a certain choice had run out but there is never not enough left.

Hulababy · 23/03/2011 21:42

Not at DD's school. She has compulsary school dinners (prep school), freshly cooked daily on site. They can ask for a small or large portion and can often have seconds. There is also bread and butter on the table.

I work in a state infant school. The LEA seem to all have the same menu. I assume it is an external company who provides them. They are not huge portions but not overly small either. The children don't appear to be hungry afterwards.

collision · 23/03/2011 21:42

I had a meeting with HT, cook and her manager and got it sorted!

StewieGriffinsMom · 23/03/2011 21:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SecretNutellaFix · 23/03/2011 21:49

2oz of meat per serving is what an actual serving size should be for children under about 11 years.

Bear in mind that the catering service have certain sizes that they have to work to, and this is guided by the age of the "target" group.

LynetteScavo · 23/03/2011 21:51

They leave my DC much more full than if they had a packed lunch.

NettoSuperstar · 23/03/2011 21:51

DD enjoys school lunches.

Admittedly, she mainly has a jacket potato with tuna, but she likes that!
She likes the chicken curry too and any fish dish.
They have a salad bar, plus a couple of cooked veg each day.

DD tends to have none, which I do nag her about!

She finds it enough to fill her, but is eager to go out to play, not sit and eat, but she has enough, and enjoys it, and even though she doesn't bother with the veg, it's not total crap.
I'm happy with the meals.
We're a low income family, so we're entitled to free school meals.

PatriciaHolm · 23/03/2011 22:06

My DCs love theirs, but then we don't have strange concoctions! Roast chicken today. What exactly do you mean by strange concoction?

lemonmousse · 23/03/2011 22:10

In County Durham ALL Primary School children are entitled to free school meals (2 year pilot scheme - ends July) so I am reluctant to let DD2 have packed lunch even though she complains about the school dinners. I do think that's down to her pickiness rather than the quality of the food though - although I think the portion sizes are OK for younger children they could do with being a bit bigger for the older ones.

yousankmybattleship · 23/03/2011 22:16

Mine love their school meals. They are a set meal each day so they couldn't have a strange mix. There are lots of vegetables and they have fresh baked bread and salad on the table. There's no way they'd have so much or such a healthy balance with a packed lunch. I do wtill find they are are hungry when they get home though - just because they are on the go all day.

pointydog · 23/03/2011 22:21

Portion sizes can be absolutely pitiful. Speak to the school about it in the first instance. Things will only change if parents complain.

megapixels · 23/03/2011 23:34

Mine has school lunches and though they are freshly prepared on site, delicious, healthy blah blah blah she comes home absolutely ravenous. I just think of it as a snack she's had at school and give her whatever lunch I cooked earlier in the day and she has dinner a few hours later too.

NettoSuperstar · 23/03/2011 23:56

I let DD have packed lunch for a half term.
She'd begged to.
She still came home starving, and was bored very quickly with my lunches.
Lots came home uneaten, but it wasn't nice as it wasn't dairylea, or monster munch, or other brand names.
I can't afford those, and I wouldn't give DD them daily anyway.

We went back to the lunches which I don't pay for, I made it clear that it's them or nothing, and she's never complained since!

We do have treat food at home, but mainly home made, and there's no peer pressure here in my home either.

Pinkcushion · 24/03/2011 06:38

Think sometimes my kids feel the food isn't up to scratch. They have learned to aviod mash - no butter or salt, so practically tasteless. Chocolate cake - contains no choclate. Fruit is hard and unripe. Chips are burnt. The list goes on.
My kids eat very well at home, all my food is cooked from scratch - school dinners make them appreciate my cooking and has made them less fussy. They eat a huge breakfast and a huge dinner, so lunch isn't such a big deal.

There seems to be an obsession with lowering obesity levels in children, so portion size is controlled but school dinners are not the cause - it's parents and their inability to say no to chocolate, crisps and rubbish!

gorionine · 24/03/2011 06:52

I am lunchtime assistant and I can tell you that the only way to go hungry on a school dinner (here anyway) is to not eat it. If they finish their plate, there is very little chance they will go hungry. School dinners are IME -very short- rather well balanced and do look appetising but I have only tasted the vegetarian version of the Christmas meal we all have together though, but it was nice enough. Saying that, I give my own Dcs a packed lunch because I used to do it before being a dinner lady and it works for me and my them.

How's the school doing on second servings? Here they can have a second servong so long as they are patient enough to wait for every one to have had their first.

Parents if you could only see the amount of your Dcs who have just 1 bite of food and chuck the rest in the bin because "I am not hungry!" (translate "I want to go out and play with my friends!") they might understand better why their Dcs are starving at the end of the day. We do stongly encourage them to eat more but cannot force them to finish their plate.

curtaincall · 24/03/2011 10:34

My ds came home with one boiled potato inside him all day. He doesn't eat pork, and the alternative is about the one thing he hates. Other days, he says they can't have second helpings and comes home hungry. We spoke to his teacher who said he could have a piece of bread or fruit if he was still hungry.

I understand what gorionine says about kids chucking food away but maybe allowances could be made for those with genuinely big appetites?

CheeseMeisterGeneral · 24/03/2011 10:59

On the rare occasions my DC have school dinners she comes home ravenous. Have questioned her about what she had and l have come to the conclusion its because the children have to go up again to be served a pudding. DD is too interested in getting out to the playground with her friends and will never bother with the pud.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 24/03/2011 11:02

dd is not a fussy eater by a million miles but she says that the school dinners look horrible - the pasta bake is just 'mush' for instance. I have to say that what I have seen of them I agree - been offered them on occasions when I help and I always turn them down in favour of a packed lunch.

HouseTooSmall · 24/03/2011 11:24

my ds is a fussy eater. He has school dinner twice a week and will try to avoid all veg except cucumber. So roast dinner and...cucumber etc. I know lunch time assistants try to get him to be more adventuress!

BlooCowWonders · 24/03/2011 11:35

My dc have school dinners, and I see on a regular basis what and how much they eat.

I think that the school quantities are just right here (Herts). The problem for ds is that he eats at 12.05 (everything, usually) then plays football for the next 45 minutes, so is always hungry by home time. So I never meet the dc without a drink and snack, anything to get us home!

Bramshott · 24/03/2011 11:39

DD loves her school dinners. She still comes home hungry though (whether she's had school dinners or packed lunch) because they eat so early at 12.00! She is fuller on school dinners days I reckon.

cloudpuff · 24/03/2011 11:41

My dd gets free meals as the school is on the two year pilot thing, last Mothers day parents could go and eat lunch with the children. As soon as I saw the food I knew why my dd is always hungry when she gets in and she is not a fussy eater.
Tiny wafer thin slice of beef (if thats what you want to call it) three peices of carrot (raw), one tiny cube of roast potatoe, spoonfull of mash and a broccolli stalk (not the flower) and a quater of a slice of bread. Dessert was a sliver of some kind of cake. I like my dd to take her time when eating so was a bit shocked to see the dinner nannies rushing all the children to hurry and go out and play. It was really like a zoo and quite depressing.
I want to put dd on packed lunch but she likes the meals so i just make sure she has plenty to eat at home. But she has devoleped some funny tastes in food since starting school ie raw carrot on her dinner, broccli stalks and unpeeled kiwi.

Madsometimes · 24/03/2011 11:42

The portions are fine for the younger children, but rather small for years 5/6. My Y6 dd is as tall as most adults, extremely thin, but often says that the portions are too small.

MrsDaffodill · 24/03/2011 11:42

Talked to the school to explain that DS had a large appetite despite looking tiny. Have never had trouble since.

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