Packed lunches

[Saltypopcorn11]

I know this topic has been discussed a lot but I want your view on school meals please.

I find pizzas, sausages, pasta and potatoes, fish fingers, chicken nuggets too much carb/fat focused meals… and schools tend to give them to kids.

At home for lunch we either have salads or we steam vegetables or cook lentils, chick peas or we boil chicken/rice or we cook fish and steak in the oven. We have pasta on the odd day, pizza on our “cheat day” and we don’t eat fried stuff and processed meat.

I am just worried that what schools offer is unhealthy!

On the other hand I am also worried that if my kid have let’s say baked aubergine with red peppers sprinkled with feta cheese and a slice of bread for lunch will be bullied.

I mean if she gets a packed lunch with what we normally eat while her friends have whatever school offers…

Maybe it’s not an issue at reception but could it be an issue at let’s say year 2 and above?

Thank you!

I honestly don’t think they pay attention to what’s in each other’s lunch boxes. I wouldn’t be happy with either the school or my child’s friends if it was an issue!

Stealth boast?

I don't think children will be bullied for what their lunch is. If people want to pick on her, they could use her lunch against her if they wanted too (just like they could use hairstyle, name, physical characteristics etc.) but if she's a confident popular child it won't be an issue.

For packed lunches I'd send food that I'd be confident she'll eat and that she can eat quickly, cleanly and easily without needing assistance. She may well share food with friends, or ask to go onto school dinners with her friends if all her friends are doing it, or ask for a packed lunch which matches what her peers are eating later, but you can cross that bridge when you come to it.

I'd be careful to avoid food descriptors that a very value baed in general with her and try not to be too controlling when she's eating at friends' houses or parties, as I'd worry about the risk of eating disorders.

Can't see it being an issue. The only issue I have with DS' packed lunch is "it's too boring mum, why can't I have: Jerk chicken/ avocado rice/ feta wraps/ sushi etc" apparently sandwiches, yoghurt and an apple are 'so yesterday'!

Kids have all sorts in their lunchboxes , but don't judge others who may have more carb / beige foods , my ds has a food issue and his lunchbox would be very basic
Also school dinners are very mixed now , but carbs arent all bad

clearly not an opinion based on years of lunchtime supervising

Packed lunch needs to be...

OK with minimal cooling (often just the ice pack you put in). Mine don't like cheese in summer as it "sweats" for example
Easy to eat
Appetising for the child.

Put in what your child will eat within the rules like no nuts.

I think you are underestimating the school lunches. They are much healthier than you suggest. Have you looked at the ingredients rather than the list of dishes?

In my experience lots of children bring a packed lunch (including mine) and they bring a huge variety of different things. Admittedly we do live in a very international area.

I do think that it's easier to give children a good healthy diet if you make them a packed lunch. Even if the school menu sounds healthy, what children choose and actually eat isn't necessarily well-balanced.

However, it's also important not to completely forbid any food, which will just create resentment. An occasional chocolate biscuit or pot of jelly in a child's lunch box is not a problem if their diet is overall healthy. (Also, remember that young children should not have a 'low fat' diet, and that they need proportionately more carbs than adults do, for growth).

Children do notice what each other has, but there will be a variety. Schools may have rules on packed lunches and sometimes ban foods based on allergies in the class - nuts are a common one, but have known bananas, egg and fish. Also needs to be food that can easily be eaten, without help. It seems easy to think about putting a pot of yoghurt which you have taken from a big pot, with a spoon (but the spoon is likely to get lost), they don't like knives coming in - it starts becoming easier to send a sandwich, with prepackaged items as so much goes missing particularly when younger and less faff.

Is this primary or secondary schools dinners?

DDs school do lovely lunches. They have a 3 week meal plan, do plant based every Monday, then have a meat and vege option each day with things like peri-peri chicken with roasted veg and rice, lasagna, grilled chicken breast burger with salad, sausage and mash, roast dinner, meatballs in tomato sauce with rice......then yogurt or fruit for pudding.

It's a very standard city primary school in a deprived area so I don't think they would be serving anything more varied than other primary schools are in general.

@SomePosters

Wrong. I’m a teacher in secondary with a child in yr6. He says nobody ever pays attention to his packed lunch. He has no idea what’s in other people’s either. No other parents have ever mentioned any issues. In secondary they’re only interested in eating quick and getting out.

School meals have to meet a very strict government standard based on healthy nutrition and I can say with some certainty that they are not full of fat or sugar. However, some packed lunches are so unhealthy it is beyond belief.
If you can prepare your child with a healthy packed lunch that they will eat, regardless of what other children eat, then you are more than free and welcome to do so. Everyone’s likes/dislikes/ time/ finance/ age group, etc, will all play a part in this.

If you are not providing sufficient fat and carbs then you are not providing a healthy diet. Why do you think your child might be bullied if you give them aubergine and feta cheese?

I work in a school with lots of children whose families come from many different countries across the world. There’s a huge variety of packed lunches that they bring, so the packed lunch you describe wouldn’t stand out at all at my school.

At lots of schools packed lunches and hot lunches eat separately due to space issues, so the two groups of children might not see what the other is eating.

Lots of schools will offer tasting sessions for new reception parents for school meals so it might be worth trying them and seeing what you think. You’ll be able to see the menu beforehand so you could always do a mixture of packed lunches and school lunches. They might not be as bad as you think.

Reception age daughter begging to go on packed lunches already!

Every day without fail when I ask her what was for lunch I get... fishfingers chips and beans, I didn't like the chips and I'm off beans so I ate the fish fingers. Please can I take a packed lunch?

pasta and cheese, I didn't like the cheese and the pasta was soggy so I just had the biscuit for pudding. when can I go on packed lunch?

mince and dumplings today, mince was too salty and the dumpling was soggy, please can I go on packed lunches?

blah blah takes a packed lunch. (dd has even approached said mum who said her dd was a picky eater 🙄)

why can't you just say I'm a picky eater mum!

I'm torn. school meals are free and I work shifts, it's been a godsend not having to worry about lunch for the four year old restaurant critic! but she is so adamant, should I relent?

@F05ters1 dont relent! Think how many days of lunches she has left. Tell her to suck it up.

@Saltypopcorn11 give your child what you want. No one cares - especially in primary school. If you can be arsed to make a packed lunch every day for the next six years then knock yourself out!

I envy that your children are such good eaters. Mine would not eat a salad if their lives depended on it. And as for baked aubergine with red pepper and feta…well I’m impressed.

Teaching a reception aged child about 'cheat days' sounds like a recipe for disordered eating.

I had forgotten this thread of mine!

I don’t mind preparing packed lunches for kids as long as they won’t be excluded from their peers.

I prepare mine and DH packed lunch anyway every day since 2014 (apart from covid days) and I don’t mind.

I am in the habit of cooking the night before in order to have lunch for the day after.

We never had sandwiches for lunch, apart from the health/nutrition issues, it’s very expensive to have a take away lunch every day too.