School Lunch - Yay or Nay?

tuffytuffy1
tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Another thread had me questioning my decision to allow my 1st grader to eat the school lunch most days. For background, he is a pretty picky eater, but I found he was trying new things at school because he saw other kids eating those things. He will eat at school chicken parm, hummus with veggies, tuna sandwiches, chicken nuggets (obviously not ideal), beef tacos, cheese sandwiches (when he decides nothing else on the menu looks good), things like that.

I thought it was great that he was trying things outside of his comfort zone. But now I'm questioning that based on other parents posting that they always pack their child's lunch. We live in Delaware County, PA.

Does anyone here not have a problem with school lunches? Oh, and also for background information, he is 7.5 years old and extremely physically active (plays tons of team sports) and thin.

Replies

  • txaggiekelly
    txaggiekelly Posts: 4
    I'm an elementary teacher so I can weigh in on what many parents have told me about lunch time. Most of them pack lunches 4 days of the week and let them pick one meal a week to eat in the cafeteria as a treat.

    What I love about this idea is it plays into the idea of everything in moderation that we as adults have to learn as well. Eating in the cafeteria is like his "cheat meal" but instead of those words, a child can consider it as a treat.
  • momtokgo
    momtokgo Posts: 446 Member
    I have no issues with school lunches, but I live in BC Canada, and there are so many regulations on how much fat/sodium/sugar etc can be in a meal that the school makes everything from scratch. All the older kids help out a week at a time. Somedays I think I should go and get lunch there. There hasn't been a chicken nugget or hotdog pass through those doors in years

    Edited to add that although I have no issues with it, we still don't buy it often. I'm far too cheap to pay $5 a day for my kids lunch when I can make it myself, or she can come home. We live next to the school. Oh, and the lunches brought from home are also limted. No candy/pop etc.
  • jenlarz
    jenlarz Posts: 813 Member
    My kids eat school lunch most of the time. I grew up eating school lunch, so did my husband. Neither of us had extra weight until the last 5 years or so. My kids are health,the younger one being a toothpick. I do however notice that when my 8 year old has gas it is clear the room bad during the school year and not so much now that its summer.

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