Clean plate award

[AlwaysNeverOnTime]

DD has school lunches on Fridays only. Yesterday she came home with a sticker that said 'clean plate award'. I asked her what it was and she said you get the sticker if you eat everything on your plate. I then asked her if you got one if you eat most of it, but she says no. Only if you eat everything, which us why she's never had one before.

This really annoyed me as my DD was really pleased she had got the sticker and said she's going to try and clean her plate next week too. Now I do think kids should be encouraged to try new foods ect but I don't think children should be trying to eat more just to clean their plate.

DH thinks I'm completely over reacting but I've always had issues with food and am trying to teach my DCs to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.

Should I speak to the school about this or just leave it? Is this a thing they do in all schools?

I can't believe that schools actually do this to be honest.

pudding must be low fat and sugar free as per statutory requirements

This is a bugbear of mine. Our school offers a fruit choice and a yoghurt choice (which is of course unlikely to be sugar free) but there is always a choice that looks like it's packed with sugar and not necessarily low fat.

This week:
Mon - muffin
Tues - flapjack
Weds - Fresh fruit sponge and custard
Thurs - Jelly and ice cream
Fri - Cookie and milkshake

So while it's possible they are making no-added-sugar low fat versions of those (cheese and carrot muffin, or NAS banana muffin), I really doubt they are.

We also have a breakfast bar and the cereal choices are Frosties, Coco pops, cornflakes or Rice Krispies. I choose cornflakes for DS as I'm there but older children are allowed to have breakfast on their own.

So I'm not very happy about this! DH has diabetes (and our DC are adopted but independently of us also have a genetic risk of diabetes, and DS is at the 75th centile for weight for his age).

At my DCs' nursery, where DD still is, they used to have a choice of a cooked pudding (like the ones above) or fruit, but they have changed it now so that in a four week rotation they have two days a week (which change) with a sweetened pudding. Two of those choices over the four weeks are fruit yoghurt or fromage frais, and two are rice pudding or banana and custard, with only one being a cooked sweetened sponge and custard.

Also at the nursery, you are able to choose for the children (we used to have to choose every day, but now we just give broad indications - e.g. vegetarian, no pork products etc. - so I gave the broad indication that the DCs should have fruit for pudding). But clearly that's not possible at school.

It's not a 'pile your plate as high as you can and eat it all' award

At dd's school they get a small first portion and get the sticker for finishing that. They can have seconds and/or dessert if they want but the first portion is not going to make them fat.

Having seen the portion size it doesn't worry me at all. outside school we don't force them to finish but we do encourage them to take only what they will eat and have a balanced diet.

There are no "seconds" offered in my school ...just a single very small portion

What puddings are offered at your school mrz?

Always fresh fruit and/or yoghurt sometimes sugar/fat/taste free cake (very occasionally with sugar /taste free custard )

I hate this at my dc's school. The portions may be tiny but it is encouraging the principle that is the problem. Linking an empty plate to a reward.

What about when they go to Nando's or Pizza Hut or wherever else? Now a clean plate is seen as a link to good behaviour.

This really really bothers me. I was very overweight as a child and only got a normal BMI in my twenties that I work hard to maintain. I am determined my kids won't go the same way and they know my feelings about a clean plate not necessarily being a good thing.

I think you're slightly over reacting. These types of stickers will be aimed at the children who really need to eat more, who play with their food or who throw or away to go and play. No one is forcing them to eat, that I've seen at school and came down quick on it for my class. They don't get punished for throwing food away, so why not simply real to your child and tell her, she doesn't need to eat it all, not to worry if she doesn't get a sticker, the world won't end. Compensate with some other type of reward system at home for her if stickers are that important.

I agree with others, going by the quantity of food served at my school, it would be impossible to be over fed. I get cross with my kids in my class when they put their trays away and then get more bread. If they are still hungry they should get seconds or have more fruit.

Our school do this, and I don't like it. DD1 has the appetite of an adult, but DD2 eats like a sparrow. They both love getting stickers, and would both eat past full to get one. That's a really unhealthy attitude to teach children, whether it's likely to happen often or not, it's still conditioning them to believe that clearing their plate is a good thing, regardless of appetite.

I've stressed to them that if they are full, they should stop eating, and if they miss out on a sticker for it, I will give them 2 when they get home.

Op - your DD has one school meal a week,

How you feed your DD for the other 20 meals a week, is going to have a much greater influence on your daughter and her attitudes towards food. I would choose your battles with the School.

BocaDeTrucha
"These types of stickers will be aimed at the children who really need to eat
more"
That's not so for all schools. DD1 will devour a good sized meal in minutes, she eats very well, and will try almost anything. She still gets stickers for cleaning her plate.

We have clean plate award it encourages the children to eat alll the veg etc I think. Our portions are a good size at our school and I like to know my ds has a decent hot meal whilst at school. I don't see a problem. I see it as a positive

I agree with whoever said school dinners are a small proportion of your children's meals.

Can you not teach your child that school has different rules because of ... and then they know the reasons and can choose what to do?

I guess this means that the children not told learn about eating until full though.

I do think you can have issues about food though that then make you too rigid the other way which can still mean children grow up with unhealthy attitudes to food.

I hate this too. They do this at my kids school as well. I have complained in the past and nothing happened for more than a week. Instead we've discussed at home why this is not a great idea and they really don't have to clean their plates and why. How to only eat until their full. I think I've only seen one sticker this term so it doesn't seem to motivate them anyway. I'm a nutritionist so we are always discussing this sort of thing and they hardly ever clear there plates at home.
Have been to my kids school for lunch and will be again soon. The amount of waste is shocking, so I can totally understand why they do it. Also understand that they do it to get the kids to get enough fuel in while they are chatting and want to get back out to play. Maybe it could be a "reduce food waste" sticker instead or "I ate my veg"?

I can't decide how I feel about this- but I just want to add something else to the discussion. Children on FSM. A lot of parents rely on their child having had their main meal at school. If they don't eat it, and don't tell their parents they haven't eaten it, they may not get enough to eat over the day.

I thought every child get free school meal in ks1? And by ks2, children are mature enough to realise they get hungry if they don't eat school lunch if you can't eat enough at home?

sometimes sugar/fat/taste free cake (very occasionally with sugar /taste free custard )
I will have to investigate the composition of the puddings before getting on my high horse but they are available every day (and DS eats them every day) and do include chocolate.

But children won't starve themselves. They just won't. I really don't get the compulsion to make children eat. They'll eat if they're hungry, they won't starve.

"But children won't starve themselves."

I agree. But a child on FSM whose parents think has had a substantial lunch so only gets a snacky dinner might well not be getting a healthy amount of food over a day, even if they arn't hungry.

Both of my child would rather play than eat. Ds lost weight and we had to ensure he was eating a certain amount each day. His teacher kept a close eye on him to make sure he ate enough. Now he is older he doesn't need that supervision

At dd's school it is only reception and some year 1s who get the clear plate stickers

But if they end up hungry Bertrand, surely they'll eat more the next day?

They might not end up hungry. They will fill up on whatever their parents can afford- toast and jam, probably. And the parents will think it'/ OK because they've had a good meal at school.

"and DS eats them every day) and do include chocolate." I think the guidelines says no chocolate (might be confectionary) but our cook uses cocoa powder

"But if they end up hungry Bertrand, surely they'll eat more the next day?" And if there isn't anything to eat? We certainly have children arrive at school hungry who are still hungry after eating all their school lunch

I can understand that some children arrive at school hungry is to do with poverty, but if the child is still hungry after meal doesn't mean they are starved normally, does it? It's just dinner portion is too small for the particular child, nothing to do with they have deprived background?