After school snacks

Yes hangry is hungry/angry and my youngest still suffers from it-or gets whiny as hes "starving" he also cant sleep at all if hes hungry at bedtime (he doesnt sleep much anyway) and hes now thought to have ASD issues also which contribute to his fussy diet(tastes/textures) and he has gatric reflux problems which probably 'guided' him to choose certain foods in first place.At end of the day a child wont eat what they dont like.or if theyre full.No matter where they live. And yes i agree that you cant know when a childs had all their lunch, or a dessert,or when their having tea- a number of children do after school clubs now or after school care (minders etc) so that all pushes back evening meal times.Come on gransnetters-stop making assumptions please!

I have no problem whatsoever with healthy snacks, fruit, carrot sticks a slice of toast when they first get home perhaps and do understand what other grans have said about not all children eating their lunch in combination with late dinners. Mine eat everything and have seconds if they can. No, it’s the unhealthy sugary fizzy stuff which does not assuage hunger that children now want and expect as they come out of school. Are parents creating this by supplying it, because other parents do? I don’t know, it’s only what I have observed at one school and was curious if this is now the norm generally.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that children are always hungry after school!
How parents respond to this universal fact can make a big difference to their habits. If parent waits until they are home and then offer a nice, nutritious, slow-release carb type snack then probably they will have (a) tidier car interiors and (b) children with a healthier attitude to food, surely? Or if like WeeMadArthur you stick to a fruit snack if it's a tedious car journey home. Whereas if you train your child to expect an instant sugar rush the minute the going home bell sounds you aren't exactly building their ability to enjoy deferred gratification, are you?

my daughter only gives her children a treat once a week when coming out of school.and then its usually something healthy. i only seen one small chocolate bar on the day i was to go for tea with them. gd tells me she had 2 pears at school after her lunch. and she is in nursery, gs had 2 bananas, so they not really hungry when they come out of school ,though my gc are always hungry...but not for sweets...but yes i seen lots of children get crisps/sweets/chips/

Cherrytree59. My grandsons's school has now banned parents sending in sweets or cakes for birthdays. Not only from the general health point of view but also because of allergies. It's hard on a child who can't have what all their class mates are having. Perhaps your daughter should speak to the school, I'll bet she's not alone in her concerns.

Ooh-lots of things to get the hackles raised here! First,i disliked the throway comment of "deprived council estate'-from MOnica-just because some children live there it DOESNT mean they are deprived- the same way living in a house in a more 'well off' area means they get everything they want! It simply means theyve either got parents who started off in council housing as its more affordable(some working families find this is the easiest way to get a foothold on housebuying then work their way up)it certainly doesnt mean the childs deprived in any way- or the well off area are those who have worked their way up and reaping the benefit of their earnings now from better paid jobs-not everyones had everything handed to them or whatever- but neither have a bearing on what they give the child as a snack either! And the other comment (LynneB59)of it being "an easy option" or "what they themselves eat"- thats a bit much,who gives you the right to make these assumptions about people? My youngest was a very fussy eater at nursery/ primary school- and still is at 15- to no avail of me weaning him with HOMEMADE baby food,and trying to feed him all the 'right' things while growing up- but- he doesnt just eat snacks or chocolate all the time- and sometimes id bring them a treat at school gate,often not- or if my sons were hungrier we'd call in the shop on way home(walking,so excercize) and not always bought sweets-none of my kids are overweight and in fact my youngest spent years seeing a dietician to GAIN weight,and high calorie items were included-so you cant always just assume things about people!!It annoys me no end about all the hype over "children being obese"- when i know they are NOT all like this at all!And yes,mostly school dinners these days seem to be disliked by kids in general,and despite jamie olivers interferance (he seems to have made it worse!)the dinners seem to be mostly fast food or panninis these days- and my sons in particular dont eat anything with sauces or gravies added- which schools now seem to put in or on the food! I could never give my youngest packed lunch as the things he needed to include for his 'weight gain' high calorie diet would be considered as 'not allowed' in packed lunchbox.so you see its not always how it first seems is it?

Always took a piece of fruit for my kids a banana, or apple.
Worked as a TA and Senior Meal supervisor in a London school, very very small portions and lots of children didn’t Finish the meal or didn’t eat it.
There lunch was at 12 till 1pm. 3.30 home time.
Found it was easier to do then having to rush in and do their dinner. Because they were as they said ‘starving’

What a great word - I’ll be using that!

naught wrong with a banana Arthur. Not sure what hangry is, hungry/ angry? will check out on mr google.

I don’t see many parents doing this, but I used to give my DS a snack on the way home when he was in Reception and Year 1 as he was very fractious otherwise and the journey home was unbearable.

I later realised that he was ‘hangry’. He didn’t get sweets though, usually a banana. It made a huge difference. I think little bodies struggle to go for long without food, giving them bigger blood sugar dips than an adult might have.

P.S. They are not obese!!

Whenever I've picked my grandchildren up, they have demanded a snack. They live about fifteen minutes from home but it seems to be something they're used to. plus a drink! I never gave my children anything, nor did they expect it.

My Reception age DGS both have snacks at the end of the school day and so did my DC. All active and healthy and not an ounce of surplus fat on any of them. How many of us (honestly) go happily through from lunch to evening meal without feeling peckish?

We recently noticed as school ended the local well known burger bar with a big M arch full of secondary age children in large groups all eating burgers and chips with fizzy drinks. Then families with younger children ditto. The place was heaving. Teenagers also crowd the cafes and burger places at midday. I suppose my point was that children starting young on regular unhealthy snacks may grow into teenagers with a liking for fast food leading perhaps to adults with health issues....I believe we are the most obese in Europe. Just saying......

The senior school near me all pile out at then end of day straight into the nearby Aldi.
I always a remember someone I worked with told me about her son then aged about 14 but getting on for 6ft tal who would come home from school have 10 slices of bread with 2 tins of bans and then have his tea later.
My GS and nephew tell me sometimes when they get in to school dinner there is very little left so they are starving when school finishes. When my daughters mobile rings in the office at 4pm the whole office choruses ' Can I have a Subway?

Interested to read views. On wednesdays when we pick up it’s a roast lunch with dessert so fairly substantial. They finish this about 1 pm. School out at 3.20/30. Home at 4. Ours have their tea at 5 pm and are in bed around 7. Clearly others eat later, however it’s more that most of what I see being given at the gate are sweets, cakes or biscuits. the childrens expectations are high too, woe betide if a snack is not provided...tantrums galore.

I think the idea of lunch with dessert and then dinner an hour after school may be a little idealistic silverlining48.

I was a single mother for much of my sons childhood. I worked till 5 most nights, but always had dinner with my son, usually about 6. That would have been a very long time for him to go without food. Was his snack always the healthiest? No, often a packet of crisps/ small bar of chocolate as he walked home, or milk and a couple of biscuits at the childminders. He was however thin as a rake and very active.

I now act as a kind of surrogate grandmother to two young girls in my street, neither stays for school dinners as they both say they’re horrible. They instead take a packed lunch, which comes home only half eaten. The small bag of jelly sweets they eat on the way home, and the slice of bread & jam they have at my house keep them going until dinner time. Which in Their house is 630, when both parents are home from work.

I give GD sandwiches with carrot sticks and tomato, it is a long day for little ones and she has after school activities. I always ask what school lunch was but sometimes she is vague. I don't think a child would eat if they were not hungry so I don't see it as a problem.

My grandchildren – at least the ones who come here after school and preschool – seem to be eating machines. I do remember being pretty hungry after a busy day at school, so I am happy to dish out some snacks. However, I try quite hard not to fill them up so much that by the time supper time comes, they don't want to eat. I do encourage eating fruit and cheese but I do include crisps and biscuits in the three snacks that are allowed. However, then it it gets difficult if Mum or Dad is held up on the way to collect them.

I'd agree with Gillybob. In a perfect world the child would have had a delicious, nutritious lunch and then have tea / dinner an hour after they get home from school. In the real world, they may have had a horrible lunch , and dinner might be four or five hours after school.

I doubt that a snack after school is the reason for the "obesity epidemic".

Well firstly far too many assumptions in the OP.

How do you know the child had a dessert at lunchtime?

How do you know when the child will eat dinner/tea?

I often take my DGC a snack when I pick them up from school because I know that they would have either a) had a really cr*p school lunch or b) they will have a long wait before their next proper meal.

Incidentally they are “built like bus tickets” (a Geordie saying for stick thin) and are really sporty children.

Once a week I used to take my children to the local cafe after school and buy them hot chocolate and a slice of cake. On other days it was a piece of fruit and a single biscuit until dinner was served at 6pm.

I pick mine up once a week, and yes I take flavoured milk and some biscuits. I take them to the park for an hour or so, and they snack as they play. Their mother doesn't get home until about 6pm, and they might get some dinner at 7pm, so I don't have any guilt about giving them snacks at 3pm.

When my boys were at school they always had a choice of fruit available when they came home from school at 4:15pm and dinner was at 6pm. A lot of the school kids I see out and about at the end of the school day are munching on chips as they catch the bus home.

I hold my hands up I sometimes give DGS a small packet of Haribo (five or Six in a packet.) To eat on the way home.
He has had a healthy breakfast, lunch and will have his evening meal.

What upsets my daughter is the school stating it is a has a no sweet policy but nearly everyday it is allowing parents to send in sweets and lollipops to dish out as it's their child's birthday.
The sweets are full of sugar and ball shaped lollipops are dangerous. (DGS is 4 reception class).