Does Your School Require That You Eat Your Lunch?

I don't agree with that AT ALL. Hello, childhood obesity! It's me the lunch lady, I have a new crop of kids for you.

No-one should be forced to eat something when they're not hungry for it.

And no, my kids' school does not require this.

I've never heard of a school doing that how weird. I'm really strict with my daughter but I wouldn't like her to go to a school where they would tell her how much she HAS to eat. I know a lot of parents feel like a "happy plate" is a good thing but I think it just helps contribute to obesity when you force a kid to eat after they're full. So to actually tell them they can't go to recess where they can get needed exercise is upsetting after making them eat more then they wanted! Good question :]

I would talk to the school, I am a firm believer that the fasted way to create food issues in children is to make food an issue. I would be angry if they forced my child to eat things they do not like or want to eat.

Sounds ridiculous. I teach at three different school in my county and have worked at two others within this county. I have also taught in two other counties in TN and two counties in SC. Never heard of this before! Check to see if its a county wide rule. I'm willing to bet it's not. Then you can push the subject more easily as you have the backing of the county rules. Some things are left to the discretion of principals or teachers. It may be an individual teachers rule- much easier to fight than principal or county rules.
All in all, it is your child and your rules as long as they don't interfear with eduction. Telling a child how much or what to eat is not a schools job. One of my girls has an allergy to anything cow, not just the sugars in the milk. She's allergic to the proteins so it affects even cooked food. No one better punish her for not eating something at school!

A lot of food at our elementary school goes in the trash.

As a substitute teacher, I often have lunch duty. Our lunchroom has an ice cream machine, if parents say ok and send $$, the children can get ice cream. That said, the only "rule" we folllow is if someone wants ice cream, they must have eaten most of the meal, not just a couple of bites. I usually say something like this when a child requests ice cream "Would your mom let you get ice cream if you only ate this much? " Most of the time, they go back and finish the meal.

I would not like the RULE for everyone to eat everything. Some kids might not be starving, might not like something. I am one who does not force someone to eat everything on the plate. I encourage healthy eating and I think discipline for not cleaning a plate is setting someone up for issues later.

Our school does not do that, and I am glad they don't. Of course, I would like my kids to eat more of their fruits/veggies at school, and I HATE to think of all the food they waste. But, I think it is important that children learn to listen to their bodies and stop eating when they are full. Different children require different amounts of food, and I think forcing a child to eat beyond hunger is just teaching them unhealthy habits. Considering the growing rate of childhood obesity, I think the school needs to reconsider their policies on this. I would prefer that our school allow children to decline certain foods at the time of serving. Even though I don't think my son would ever have a veggie on his tray, at least it wouldn't be tossed in the trash at the end of lunch.

No our school does not do that. I would be highly irritated if they did. My 3rd grader is a vegetarian. She would not touch the hot dog. She would eat everything else, probably, but the decision on how what and how much she eats is up to her. Our school does offer smaller portions (whole or half of a hot dog), and ask the kids what side dishes they would like on their plates so there is less waste. It is a rare kid that would like every entree and every side dish from every school hot lunch. We also have a fruit and veggie bar, so here again, they have more of their own choice, and portion control. I wonder if that is really a school policy or some very controlling cafeteria staff. I get that there is a lot of waste, but there are better ways to reduce if it is a waste concern than micromanaging the number of bites of food elementary aged children eat.

I have never heard of that. It is wrong on so many levels. Does your school really do that?

My son is in public school in Lewisville TX and they do not require that he eat most or really any of his meal, most of the time he complains that by the time he's out of the lunch line he has less than 5 minutes to eat so usually the teachers are making him throw his food away even though he isn't done eating.

I went to catholic school as a kid and I remember the nuns standing by the garbage cans inspecting plates and the lectures about starving children in Africa. These women were missionaries so most of them knew about the starving children in Africa personally, so I ate everything regardless of if I liked it or not.

Our school does not do that. I think the kids are old enough to sit and eat if they are hungry. A lot of food goes in the trash though. Very wasteful.

They really do that?!? That is wrong in my mind, and will have to check with schools when my kids start.

No and if they did I'd be down out the school! Forcing a child to eat leads to eating issues.

Why not just send lunch with your child since you know what he/she likes.. that solves the problem completely.

I remember when I was in elementary school and they said I had to take a bite of my coleslaw. I did, but I threw up and to this day cannot eat coleslaw. Very bad rule!

Wow, some schools actually still have that policy? That used to be the policy when I was in grade school (we're talking over 35 years ago). Since I was a picky eater and didn't usually like what they served for hot meal, I took my own lunch. Usually. But occasionally mom wouldn't have anything to eat, and I always hoped it would be on the days when there was something "good" to eat. There was a certain amount of food you had to eat--so much from each group--before you were allowed to leave the cafeteria. If you didn't, you sat next to the lunch room adult who was monitoring the "throwing away of food" until you ate enough to satisfy her.

At our school when the kids go through the lunch line they choose what they want to take. If they don't like something they don't have to take it. The kids are responsible for how much they eat. No one is watching over them to see what/how much they are eating.

That is crazy. I can understand them wanting the kids to eat the food and not throw it away but that's ridiculous.

In my kid's school they have to raise their hand and be recognized by the lunchroom helper before they can leave, but the only thing they really do is make sure the kids have actually eaten at least some of their food, not how much or what.

My kids no longer take school lunch though. I went and had lunch with my kindergartener last week and I realized why the kids throw their food away. It's disgusting. Lunch was mini corndogs (not nutritious at all) which should be impossible to ruin... dump dogs on tray and bake. It was like they had been dumped on the tray, left to thaw for a few hours and then baked, so the dogs inside were dry and shriveled and the breading was soggy.
The steamed mixed veggies were so overcooked that when I took a bite it was almost like I was eating whipped potatoes. Just mush. The fruit choice was green grapes, that looked like they had been thrown on the floor repeatedly there was so much brown, and oranges that while appropriately small, had brown peels and were mushy to hold.

If they have a problem with kids throwing out their food, maybe the school staff and administration should be forced to eat everything offered, cooked just like it is for the kids, regardless of how gross it is or whether or not they actually want it.

I'd start sending home lunches with only the things she wants to eat. To deal with the short lunch times (my kids can't be the only ones that take an hour at dinner!) make the portions smaller than normal.
I make my kids a sandwich with one piece of bread, rather than two. I send one slice of pizza or one serving of mac&cheese or one tamale. I cut up a whole orange and split it between the two kids. I measure out chip and cracker servings according to the package and if it looks like it will take more than a couple minutes to eat I give less.
That way they have time to eat the food they bring and there's not so much it gets thrown out.

Nope, and I wish they had a better system for seeing that the kids ate something. (K) gets free breakfast and lunch and hardly ever goes to eat, she got sick a few times last year due to being starved. She got so hungry she puked and another time she kept falling asleep and had no energy. The Principle told me it wasn't there job to make the kids eat, at their age they should know they were hungry and eat. She continued to say if I wanted to make sure she ate I could come to meal time and handle it.

K eats a pb&j when she eats.

You should really check with your child's school about this "policy". I have never heard of this, but I suppose it is possible, especially if the school is on a food program. It may also just be the teacher's policy, in an attempt to make sure that the children get the proper amount of nutrition.

Good luck!

UMMM NO there would be so many concerns brought up if that happened.I disagree if this is happening to your children at their school why because that is wrong to make a child to eat it's 1 thing that there is too much chatter going to that delayed them to eat their meal then it's another if the child doesn't like what they were offered.The minutes loss of recess should be the only punishment if they were misbehaving at lunch time or any other time but not a form of punishment or check marks for their lunch.That is ridiculous....

My kids have always brought their own lunch, so I don't know if they did something that ridiculous or not. If they did, I'd have the superintendent and the board of ed on the phone immediately.

I remember when I was in school they told me I couldn't leave the table until I drank my milk. I DO NOT drink milk. I sat there until the end of the day. My mom gave them %^&** . They didn't ever try that again.

My kids aren't required to even get all parts of the meal at lunch time. For example if the meal is mac n cheese, little smokies, steamed vegetables, orange slices, and a cinnamon roll, I know my kids always skip the vegetables, sometimes skip the orange slices, and only get the mac n cheese and cinnamon roll. How's that for a healthy lunch??

They usually prefer home lunch and pick their own fruit and veggie to go with a sandwich and a small treat, so I'm ok that they eat a less healthy school lunch about once a week.

Really? If this is being done as an effort at promoting nutrition- why are they serving hot dogs? The calorie:fat ratio in those things is awful and the amount of preservatives is just as bad if not worse. OK. So the kids get the protein value. Is that really worth the trade off in fat and cholesterol?

If this is being done as part of teaching, what in my family is called the "no thank you portion", what if your child is allergic to a particular ingredient and knows to avoid it? What if your child's religion does not allow them to eat certain meats but they can eat all of the other items.

I firmly believe that recess is absolutely necessary as it allows kids to get social interaction in various situations, not to mention Vitamin D, but do not believe this is the way to "dish" it out. Are they trying to actually teach something here, encourage obesity, or just be pushy because they can? Is the school really paying somebody to go around and count bites of food? Seems absurd.

I'd be more than peeved if someone told my daughter she had to eat x amounts of x main dish if she didn't want it. It's up to me and my hubby to parent our child, not a lunch lady that may or may not be qualified to make the judgment call about what individual kids may eat.

I think you should check on this school "policy". It's possible that somebody is trying to enforce a "guideline" and call it a "policy" to intimidate the kids.

No. I work in the nutrition dept at an elementary school and we do not make the kids eat anything they don't want.And I know my 3 kids are not made to and have never been.We our in Independence Missouri.Our menus changed to a healthier menu and some kids don't like some of the things we serve.We changed to lots of fresh fruits and veggies,turkey hot dogs,all of our breads and pastas our whole grain,and we have fat free milk,reduced fat,reduced sugar,etc.We encourage them to try it but do not force or discipline.I think it is wrong and I would complain.Most likely they have good intentions,but you can not force a child to eat something,that doesn't encourage healthy eating habits.

Hi,

We also live in SF and my kids go to Cleveland. I have not heard of them doing this at all. My kids eat the school lunch when they choose to for that day or we do a home lunch if they don't like what is being served. But even when they do eat a school lunch they only eat the items they like. I often ask them what they ate that day and will hear answers like "the peaches, the dinner roll and the milk" and so that means they didn't eat the main entree. I would definately call the principal and ask about their policy. it might just be a food nazi lunch lady doing what she thinks is right. You definately want to make sure they aren't doing this going forward. I actually feel like the school lunches are pretty gross but they kids like some of them so i continue to let them choose which days they eat it. I also make sure my kids get a really good breakfast and so many days my kids will eat both cereal and eggs or pancakes and sausage or oatmean and toast or sometimes even three items. My husband cooks breakfast at our house every morning and since i know my kids are getting filled up in the morning i don't worry too much about what they do or don't eat at lunch. I would definately address this with the school.

good luck!

Thankfully my sons' school don't do this. With my youngest newest allergy issues the school has been wonderful about helping my son still enjoy his lunch.
I don't know any schools in my local area that would do this without a huge uproar from the parents.
If this is going on I suggest you talk to some of the other parents to find out if they are experiencing the same issue. Also talk to the principal and whoever is in charge at the cafeteria to get their side of the story.

Yes, my child's school does that. In fact if I include a snack, they enforce that he eats the main course first or sandwich before that. It's good and it's bad, because if my child is full he may not want anymore, but also knowing him, if left up to him, he eats chips all day. I try to include foods he will definitely eat all - I don't know about elementary school and the food served at the school, but at that age, the kids should be able to eat what they like, provided what they serve is healthy

That is just WEIRD!!!! I thought the push these days were not to make kids eat something if they didn't want to.

I think when my kids were small they had to eat two items on their plate or some of each. The reason was to make sure they were able to make it through the afternoon with some nurishment because some kids have a habit of skipping eating when they want to go play and then complain about being hungry while doing their school work. We required them eating some dinner at home before going to play, so many bites of each. We do the same with our grandchildren. Eat enough that we don't worry about them skipping the good meal for snacks later.

hmmm-guess with all the homeless hungry kids in the world these days-i dont think its asking to much for a child to eat.so i guess maybe this is a new thing to make sure no child goes hungry.so your daughters doing the right thing by bringing her own lunch.

pretty weird.
however, it almost certainly came about in response to a bunch of parents complaining that the schools were being too lax and they wanted some oversight to assure them that their little angel was getting sufficiently balanced protein vs carbs and not ordering ice cream without eating his broccoli patty.
poor schools. they really can't win.
khairete
S.

Sounds like a wonderful Idea to me. I can remember as a child tossing all of my food aside from the dessert to get outside and play at recess. The faster you ate the more recess you got. What child wouldn't do that?

My school doesn't appear to do that. Really gets under my skin. My son sure he will toss it all for recess but he's a normal weight and eats great at home. Now my daughter is a whole other story. She is tiny. Nothing resembling a belly even. At home if we don't cater to her she doesn't eat. Doctor says just cater to her for now she'll grow out of it and encourage her to take bites of new things.

Anyways, I want my kids to eat. So I would have no problem with that rule. Recess is not important. Doesn't do anything besides allow them to expend energy so it's easier to teach them or them behave better for the teacher however you wish to look at it. Give them longer gym classes where they are supervised and learning good exercise for all I care but we need nutrition. So I feel lunch is far more important. I'm sure my kids disagree.

So if your child doesn't eat the hot dog wrap up send cold lunch. Then she and you won't have to worry about the bite rule. I watch the menu closely and at least 75% of the time I send cold lunch. I control their nutrition and I know they will eat what I send.

But good for your daughter for having enough problem solving skills to bring her own. Speaks well of her!

I've never heard of that. That's crazy!