My daughter is 11 in sept, was 4 weeks early and only weighed 4lbs. She is very thin and top it off she has adhd.
My daughter unless it's a lunch order doesn't eat lunch and im sure she isn't the only one. If the kids are supposed to eat lunch in their class before play how is it day after day kids are going all day with no food. This pisses me off as her teachers tell me she misbehaves but SHE'S NOT BLOODY EATING!!!!!SO PISSED OFF.
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10 Replies
They can't force her to eat!
I understand your frustration but as said above, the teachers cannot force children to eat. They can encourage them to eat at designated eating times, there's not really more they can do on their part.
Maybe you need to look at what you're packing for her, are things taking too long to eat? Does she like what you're packing? Perhaps get her involved in packing and shopping for lunch supplies and talk to her about how important it is to eat her lunch.
Maybe compromise too, for example give her lots of options to eat and tell her she doesn't need to eat it all but you'd like her to try at least one slice of fruit (I find my kids are more inclined to eat fruit if it's sliced up small), one treat food and 1 sandwich triangle. You could try a reward chart too, after a certain amount of days of eating a certain amouyof food she could get a small treat.
I just realised I read this wrong I though she was 4 not almost 11! Some of the suggestions I offered are probably a bit babyish for a pre- teen but what still remains the same is that you need to address these issues with your daughter not the teachers.
What are your daughters eating habits like at home?
Could you perhaps do replica foods of what she likes to order from tuckshop ? Eg: sausage rolls, pizza scrolls?
Could you get her to help prepare her lunch boxes so she is involved and can choose what she would like to have for the day?
When I was younger I HATED eating at kinder and school. I remember being reprimanded which made me even more stubborn but...I survived! Teachers cannot force a child to eat no more than they can force an adult to eat. May be look at other strategies etc.
I was talking about this with my sons psychologist yesterday, if I'm lucky he'll have some popcorn and maybe an apple at school
She said for a kid with ADHD that's actually pretty good, most don't eat anything at all, because they're either too busy to stop or if on medication, they lose appetite
She said to just make sure he has at least fruit or toast before school and a snack when he gets home, but not to stress because not eating at school is part and parcel of ADHD (as is anger btw)
My 9 year old daughter hardley ever eats anything she gets packed but is "starving" when she gets home, she says its because if she was to sit down and eat she misses out on playing because they don't get long enough, I'm still trying to get through to her that it's important she eats. Most of her friends are the same, the teachers can't make them eat at this age.
This is a bit silly. Firstly your daughter is fine if she doesn't eat anything at school it's just one meal after all. You can still make sure she has plenty at breakfast and dinner and an after school snack.
Also you and your daughter need to take responsibility for her eating? She is 11 after all. Teachers can't force her to eat. As parents we know how hard it can be to get our kids to eat and your expecting the teachers to do it with 29 other kids in the room.?!
Maybe you can teach her that nutrition is important and give her more information on the benefits of healthy eating and how it can help with her concentration. Why do you expect the teacher to teach your daughter life skills? That's not their job!!
Ha that's funny.... My son is on 'life skills' curriculum at high school. So yeah, they do teach life skills and everything in between at school.
If she's on medication which affects appetite, I'd imagine it vital to have "supervise eating" in her Individual Education Plan. If the school's not on board with this, maybe get your paediatrician to write a letter to them. What about she be allowed to eat small frequent meals? Then take her shopping and she gets to choose the foods she'll eat, moderately healthy of course, but ultimately you just need to get something into her. Perhaps get a referral to a dietician.