Preschool son is hungry all day at school

Amarante

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 9:50 am

As others have posted, lunch is not very substantial at all.

Yogurt is not a substitution for a more "solid" food. To me it is a light snack or equivalent to a glass of milk. Not satiating in the least.

You can send a sandwich as others have said.

String cheese plus whole wheat crackers or any other kind of cracker.

What about eggs - egg salad? Deviled eggs?

Neither pretzels or animal crackers are particularly filling. They are simple carbs and digested quickly and then the blood sugar drops and a person feels hungry quickly.

mummiedearest

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 9:53 am

Give him eggs and cheese for breakfast. Is the yogurt low fat? Give him whole milk yogurt. Sugar/ carbs tend not to keep one full- give him plenty of protein and make sure none of his food has reduced fat. Add a cheese stick or two to his lunch

amother

↑ Emerald

Thu, Jun 27 2024, 12:42 pm

amother OP wrote:

My 4 year old DS says he is hungry all day at at school/camp, even though he eats all his breakfast and lunch and has seconds on the snacks that they give out.

I think he might just be having a growth spurt or has a very fast metabolism, as I did as a child. So I want him to be able to satisfy his appetite properly during the school day. I just don’t know how…

For breakfast he has 2 bowls of whole grain cereal with whole milk.
For lunch, which has to be milchig, we send him with a Gevina yogurt cup, a fruit, a veg, and a bag of pretzels/animal crackers. It is similar to what the other children get.
For snacks, the school/camp gives out carby stuff (chips/pretzels, plus some fruit) twice a day.

At home he has tons of healthy but carb-centric snacks, and then a substantial dinner with meat or fish and veggies.

I guess it’s too light for an active child. I don’t think I can send “extra snacks” to school, as there isn’t really time to eat them during the day and the other kids will want to share. So what would you suggest I give him for meals to keep him full all day?

P.S. He is very tall, not thin but not truly husky. He wears 5T at age 4.

This isn’t enough food at all.
His breakfast needs to be more filling as well.
His lunch should be a sandwich, macaroni and cheese and send a Greek yogurt not a regular small yogurt.
Snacks should be more filling as well. Some pretzels isn’t going to do much for him.