Aoife Hearne: My child's lunchbox comes home from school unopened
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It can be frustrating when your child's school lunch comes home partially eaten. Zoë — the baby of our family — has just started Junior Infants, so I feel your pain.
There is no need to panic. From your child’s point of view, it’s understandable that eating lunch is a low priority when settling into 'big school'. His day is packed with activities, distractions and excitement. As your child gets older, lunch can provide up to a third of their daily nutritional needs. However, it is less for children in junior and senior infants as they spend around four hours a day in school.
I would encourage you to focus on the meals you are in charge of outside the school setting. Your child still has plenty of time to get all the nutrients he needs from three meals at home and some whole foods snacks throughout the day.
Health expert, Ellyn Satter, believes in a division of responsibility when providing food for children. She argues that the 'what, when and where' of food is up to the caregiver and it's the child's decision to eat it.
Your child may be just not hungry enough in school to eat anything more than he is eating. While it’s tempting to encourage our children to eat the volumes we believe they need, your child is the only one who knows how much he needs to eat. Encouraging him to eat in response to his hunger/fullness signals is one of the most important skills we can teach and reinforce in our children.
The drive to eat is hardwired in us all and is rare and difficult for children to ignore. Hunger is flexible and dynamic, so the chances are that as he gets used to the school routine, he will eat a little more while there.
- Include your child when preparing lunch and add some whole foods he enjoys eating. Yoghurts/yoghurt drinks are not as appealing when they're not chilled.
- Ensure your child can open their lunch box easily and access the food inside.
- Think about easy-to-eat finger foods, such as crackers, cheese, pineapple chunks, and raw veggies.
- Keep the portion sizes appropriate to age. Giving children too much in their lunch boxes can turn them off.
- Continue to check with him about his food preferences, as these can change over time. Also, depending on the amount of time available to eat lunch in school, there may be foods that are better choices to fit in with breaks.
- For more information, see safefood.ie
- If you have a question for dietitian Aoife Hearne please send it to parenting@examiner.ie
