School dinners - tiny portion sizes

[QueenStarlight]

Can anyone advise what to do? My son and daughter attend different primary schools. Both say that they are hungry at dinner time after their dinners and that they only get a toddler size portion.

They have good breakfasts. A huge bowl of porridge or Weetabix (4 biscuits each) followed by yoghurt with lots of nuts and then a piece of fruit. Dinner is fairly late-ish but they get a snack when they get in from school.

Both are of athletic build.

I have never asked if they have enough, they both independently moan about it. I have spoken to the office of my daughter's school who have confirmed she finishes everything on her plate. I know my ds does as he always has.

I could send them in with an additional packed lunch but that kids of defeats the objective of school dinners (1 I pay for, 1 I don't).

Both offices have said there is bread, but this appears to be rationed also according to my children (as other kids who get it then don't eat their dinner).

I have no idea what to do next.

That's interesting Brandnew - I would be perfectly happy if they were providing the sort of food you describe.

I sympathise on the huge breakfast front, OP. I have a skinny 10 year old dd who has always eaten massive breakfasts. She would eat a large bowl of cereal and 3 or 4 slices of toast and peanut butter every morning if I let her. She has packed lunches though, in which I try and compensate for the carby breakfast with plenty of protein and veg.

We haven't been able to serve frozen yoghurt for around a decade.

Puddings are usually unhealthy but filling. For example this week I have served crumble and custard, chocolate crunch and custard, fruit salad or jelly (a big serving spoon full of jelly), cake and custard and tomorrow will be shortbread and custard. Fruit and yoghurts are available if they don't want the pudding.

I would be having words with someone it's obvious the cooks can't cook at your dc school ubik.

I agree with brandnew if there is a problem with the portion sizes this needs to be sorted out. If the problem is that your dc are unusually hungry they would probably be allowed a larger portion of at least some of the food, but if all the portions are too small then this could be sorted out too. The school can complain about this and force the meal provider to give a correct sized portion for all children.
One thing that can happen is kids leaving a large part of the meal if they don't like it. Often midday meals supervisors wouldn't make them eat it so they would not get a full meal.

Does the younger one not get a snack in the morning. My year 2 child gets fruit and milk, and year six child has access to the fruit stall. They also can have seconds and sometimes thirds at lunch, and usually an unhealthy pudding! I wonder if its worth having a look at what other schools offer and having a constructive discussion with the school. We pay for snack and fruit stall, so it may be the school would be interested in the fund raising benefits. The pupils run the fruit stall so also offers good experience for them.

Oh and schools don't make a profit on school dinners, schools don't provide the dinner the council do or company's like Eden. Schools that run a profit (like mine) bump up the schools that run a deficit. Small schools always run a deficit as the price is set across the board and supplies, cooks, kitchen assistants and equipment cost money.

The reason they want a high intake is to do with who pays for the meals.

In my school there is sometimes a problem with running out of the favourite meal options so that there is a temptation to reduce portion sizes to avoid this. Of course this should not really be done as the portions get too small, however this is a problem when the system doesn't allow ordering in advance as ours doesn't. We only know overall numbers, not what meal options will be chosen, so one option could run out.

But again parents need to complain about this and the school can go to the meal provider and ask what is going wrong and get it sorted out.

Yes I will write to Cordia and the school. I've heard the headteacher is concerned about the meals.

Our school uses food bought in and heated in the ovens. It feeds up to 700 children in an hour so it's a huge undertaking.

I'm not asking for a Jamie Oliver food revolution. Just enough chips

There's no way my children could eat 4 weetabix even on a growth spurt let alone the extra yoghurt.

I am only posting this in the thought of helpfulness... My DC really are skinny, proper skinny, no clothes fit them, wear slim fit M&S uniform still pulled in. My DC are skinny with muscles bulging. Their rib cage show. DS is actually hollow around the groin, has 52cm hips and bum measurement age 5. Swim once a week, gym once a week. So the skinny athletic build you mention.

They eat to their appetite, sometimes clear their plates sometimes don't.

This is DD 7, one of the wobbly sorts mentioned above. Eats frequently. She has breakfast (porridge, shreddies, weetabix or similar) a mini wholewheat pitta / cheese at 1st break then school dinner then hot dinner at home by 5.00. No snacks other than the fruit bowl.

I think you need to be absolutely sure they are getting a proper portion and not run out at the end of the Q
Speak to cook?
Send in a oat or whole meal type snack for 1st play and bring dinner forward a touch when you can.

I don't want to add another your kids eat too much comment so thought a skinny kid pic and description of food may give perspective.

I would say that pic is of a normal weight child . My daughter looks like that and I wouldn't call
Her skinny. I think she is the right size . She has just started year 7 ask a lot of the children in her year are very overweight . I think as a nation we habe lost sight of what a normal weight is .

My dd is a big eater but stick thin. 11, 5'7 and only grew out of age 7 shorts late this summer. But we never had a problem with school dinners. Her school just seemed to be quite happy topping them up with more carbs and veg, and if there were leftover 'mains' would offer seconds. So it's certainly worth asking.

Do they have a salad and baked potato bar? Our school always has baked potatoes, salad and bread for anyone who doesn't want a full meal.
Would they maybe let them have the school dinner plus a potato? That would be filling and maybe keep them going a bit longer. Or can they have the pudding and then have fruit and yoghurt if still hungry?
I would be worried that if they are complaining they are that hungry then they won't be able to concentrate in the afternoon classes.
I would speak to the school about it, either ring or make an appointment to go in.

I would stop the large breakfasts though as that's just going to give them an even bigger appetite and probably isn't helping. I can see what you were aiming for though trying to pre fill them.

If they can't allow them more food at lunchtime can you send a sandwich for break? Or even an eggy muffin with ham/chicken in. Anything with added protein to keep them feeling fuller.

Why would they allow certain children more food at lunchtimes? . All the other children will have similar nutritional needs, and some element of portion control will have been worked into the cooking process.
Why should op's kids be the only ones to do an Oliver Twist?

If this thread was about a child with a bird like appetite being forced to eat a 'normal' school dinner portion, there would be an uproar.
But if a parent is concerned because her children go hungry, it seems the parent is at fault and the children are greedy little fuckers .
Schools should have adequate portions for the bird like eaters as well as those children who would very much like a second helping.

But if a parent is concerned because her children go hungry, it seems the parent is at fault and the children are greedy little fuckers

in fairness the amounts given were ridiculously excessive and I think.it was only natural that people asked questions.

school should not be running out of food nor should portions be so tiny a mouse would still be hungry. so clearly there is alot of work to be done with regards to alerting school/caterers etc

flogging since when do all dc have similar nutritional needs? I'm pretty confident if some of Dds shorter and imo not very active friends had ate/ did eat like her on a daily basis they'd be morbidly obese. And if dd ate like them instead of being stick thin and healthy, after a short time she'd be seriously underweight and hospitalised. Much like if I traded diets with some other adults.

Hell, school probably started offering my dd more based on the fact from her appearance she looks like she's never been fed

It's a school lunch, lurked. It's not supposed to cover your child's entire dietary intake for the day... Those who eat twice as much as the average person should be eating bigger breakfasts / evening meals, not expecting twice as much from a catered school lunch.
Presumably if everyone demanded seconds the costs would go up for everybody?
Who wants to pay double because a tiny minority want two portions? Give them a packed lunch, ffs!

I'm wondering if it's a volume issue rather than an issue of insufficient calories? If your children are used to eating a high volume of relatively low calorie foods to fill them up, is there a chance that the calorie-dense smaller portions at school are giving them the necessary energy but are leaving them feeling physically empty?
Is it the feeling of fullness they are missing, rather than actual hunger? Maybe try the egg suggestion from upthread at breakfast time for a couple of weeks, and then see if they feel a bit better after eating lunch once their stomachs aren't used to so much volume?

I would presume a school offsets the ones eating more from the ones eating less, whether that be bird like appetite or kids who only eat junk. And besides the reason thin/ slim people stay that way is through eating only what they need there and then, so encouraging them to eat more than they'd naturally choose at breakfast isn't a good thing to teach them.

Also I have no reason to believe kids who do need more can't also be those who really need that free school hot meal, defeats the purpose if their parents have to spend a fortune topping it up.

Thinking back to my school lunches in the 70s - food cooked on premises, usually a protein, carb and two veg: ''greens' and carrots.

You would get a pudding and custard. I was never all that hungry at 3.30 pick up time. Never had snacks in playground/after school.

It's a sad state of affairs when children are getting inadequate portions of crap food.

It might be also worth encouraging them to drink a lot more - sometimes people are actually thirsty when they think they are hungry, and also it might help with the volume issue, if they are really eating enough but just feel empty. And really encouraging more protein/fats and fewer carbs at breakfast and breaktimes, to get used to eating less - might take a couple of weeks to adjust. Being hungry by the time school finishes isn't so bad - they can have a snack after school, and it's OK to be hungry for a while. But feeling starving all afternoon isn't great. Lots of water might be good though.

Heis your daughter in a lovely, normal, healthy weight. She is not however, skinny. The fact that she takes slim fit clothes just goes to show how maladjusted our expectations of childhood body shapes has become.

When I was a child in the 70s, the skinny kids were the ones whose knees and elbows stood out from their limbs. I was never a skinny kids, and was never even a normal sized kid. Today my 'plump' size would probably be seen as normal sad to say.