Best Articles Ever

What do you do when your kids don’t eat their lunch at school? You aren’t there to make sure they eat enough, and they come home from school starving and want to eat a meal. If this only happens occasionally, it might just be that your child didn’t feel well during lunch or didn’t have much of an appetite. But if this happens more often than not, it’s time to take a look at the reasons why.

Check out your school lunch schedule and talk to your child about the foods that are on the menu. See if there are specific meals that they don’t like. Highlight these days and allow your child to take their own lunch. Or you might choose to eliminate school lunch completely and pack a lunch each day. If your child leaves their uneaten food in their lunchbox, you can see what they ate and what they didn’t.

Talk with your child and find out why they didn’t eat lunch at school that day. Maybe they want more time with their friends at recess and didn’t take the time to eat. There could be other factors that play into their lunchtime. Try to find out the reasons and you can start working on a solution.

Paying attention to the menu at school can help your child know ahead of time what is available for lunch. Talk to them about eating a certain amount of their food. You might make a rule that they can’t have the dessert until they have had three bites of their vegetable and eaten half of the main food item. You can’t be there to enforce the rules, but if your child still comes home hungry you can make them accountable for their decision by not giving them a snack.

Back to school means back to school lunch as well. What are your kids going to eat? It’s the school lunch vs. home lunch debate. Here are the some things to consider when decided which option you would like.

School lunch is easier for the hectic mom or dad, or anyone who doesn’t have the time in the morning to pack a lunch. School lunches usually have two choices each day so that your kids can pick what they would prefer. They are well-balanced and include juice and milk. Typically, the lunch ladies make sure that each kid gets the main food item. This means your child won’t fill up on cookies for the day. Some schools monitor what the kids eat as well. You can check with your school to see what the rules are. School lunches can be more expensive than bringing something from home, but the time saved in the morning can be worth it.

Packing a lunch allows you to have more control over what your kids eat. You can pack the foods you know they like. You can still send money to buy milk or juice, or provide the drinks as well. You know that your children will be getting the nutrition that they need for the day.

A third alternative would be to buy school lunch for your kids but pack a lunch on the days that your kids don’t want to eat school lunch. It makes home lunch a fun alternative and it gives them a choice when they don’t like what the school lunch is that day.

Whatever you decide will be a good decision. There is no right or wrong on this choice, it’s just a matter of personal preference.