1. Skip to navigation
  2. Skip to content
  3. Skip to sidebar

Topics:

School lunches

Getting kids to eat their lunch is often a challenge

By
//
Originally published in Today's Parent February 2010

iStock

“Twenty-two cookies and two little white buns. That was my favourite.” Doreen Henderson has peeked into the lunch packs of many a school-aged child and been surprised — even shocked — to find what’s there.

She’s a public health dietitian who works primarily with school-aged children for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health in Ontario.

Getting six- to eight-year-olds to eat well at school can be a challenge. “Besides what’s actually in the lunch, we’ve found other significant barriers,” says Henderson. Here are some tips to help your child get what he needs out of lunch:

Check out the lunchroom Kids this age really need to be seated at a desk or table — not on a gymnasium floor — to eat their lunch. There also needs to be good supervision and a calm but convivial atmosphere where the kids are allowed to socialize and there’s someone to help with tricky containers. There should also be a handwashing policy. And, Henderson says, kids are often so eager to get outside, they don’t want to take the time to eat, so some schools in her region are trying a “reverse lunch” where the children go outside to play and then come in to eat. “We’re finding they eat more and there’s less wasted food.”

Subscribe to Today's Parent for just $14.95* That's only $1.25 an issue!

May We Also Suggest...

What do you think?