Why does my kid come home from school with a full lunch?
Children often get too distracted during the school day to finish their packed lunches, eating only their snacks and leaving the rest untouched. This leaves them coming home absolutely starving and forces parents to constantly figure out how to get them to actually eat at school.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Schools implementing assigned seats for lunch to minimize distractionsDid this help you?
- 2Packing foods that are quick to eatDid this help you?
- 3Pack a healthy lunch and let the child be hungry if they choose not to eat.Did this help you?
- 4Pack less snacks so the child does not fill up on snacks instead of lunch.Did this help you?
- 5Shift focus to providing a big breakfast and a large dinner after school.Did this help you?
- 6Use a bento box with small compartments for snack-like healthy foods.Did this help you?
- 7Get the child involved in making their own lunch or picking out food at the grocery store.Did this help you?
- 8Sending a lunch box with a hot compartmentDid this help you?
- 9Going through the school lunch menu weekly to discuss and agree on food optionsDid this help you?
- 10Sending preferred comfort foods or snacks to get the child out of the not eating phaseDid this help you?
- 11Trying deconstructed or charcuterie-style packed lunches with different components like crackers, cucumbers, peppers, and fruitDid this help you?
- 12Letting children pack whatever they want for lunch and serving fruits and vegetables at home instead as after-school snacks or during dinner.Did this help you?
- 13Buying lunch at school so the child chooses what to eatDid this help you?
- 14Packing applesauce or fruit/vegetable pouches with unbroken sealsDid this help you?
- 15Using single-serve packages of cheese crackers, protein bars, or dried fruitDid this help you?
- 16Packing meat snack sticks or seaweed strips in sealable containersDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My 6 year old has been coming home with a full lunch box. He eats most of his snacks but won't touch his lunch.”source ↗
“My kiddo (6yo) is going through a phase of not always wanting to eat his lunch at school.”source ↗
“What does bug me is the food he's wasting. I'm looking for some non-perishable food ideas that could make a semi-healthy lunch but will keep in his lunch box if he decides not to eat lunch for a day or two.”source ↗
“My child has been attending nursery (preschool) since she was 2.5, and our main difficulties have always been around mealtimes during the school day.”source ↗
“She has always struggled with food at nursery and would not eat the meals they provided at all.”source ↗
“She has now started Reception at a mainstream primary school and we are having the same issue again. She is not touching her food.”source ↗
“She will happily agree to what she is going to eat, but when it actually comes to lunchtime, she just doesn’t eat it.”source ↗
“I don’t want to keep sending in different foods that she then refuses, but equally I’m worried about her barely eating during the school day.”source ↗
“My son eats a huge breakfast, comes home absolutely starving, and somehow half of his lunch is still sitting in the lunchbox.”source ↗
“At this point I’m starting to think I’m packing lunches for decoration.”source ↗
“My middle schoolers will no longer pack any fruits or vegetables unless i'm standing right next to them when they pack their lunches in the morning”source ↗
“Every sunday, I laboriously cut different vegetables up for them to have options During the week, which is expensive when they don't eat them.”source ↗
“If I forced them to pack veggies and fruit, im worriedthey'll just throw them away.”source ↗