School lunches

Post Reply New Topic

I'm not a parent, but I do have a nearly 13 year old cousin who is going to a nearby Catholic school and is in the 7th grade. She resides in Seoul when not in school. I was wondering for any lunch ideas. She hates the school food. Is lunachables ok? The other thing is that she lost 20 pounds in little over a month by eating just one meal a day. I was on Nutrisystem 6 years ago and lost 30 pounds in 4 months. I was 148 pounds and by end of Dec I was 118 pounds. I watched her portion sizes at home and its no way near like a Nutrisystem portion. Obviously she can't bring Korean foods to school due to the smell, although there are some that may be fine. But there is no access to microwave or hot water. I thought about those cup ramen noodles, but she would need access to hot water, so that's a no go. My parents are going away this weekend so it just leaves me and her in the house. I am the one with aspergers. She doesn't have it. She is I think adjusting to living overseas away from her parents. By the time she finishes 8th grade she will go to some boarding school somewhere in the US. She is studying this SSAT exam. The girl needs to eat meals though. She's so skinny. She's my height, 5'4, and weighs 100 pounds. I know that asian girls are skinner than any other race. I'm half Korean.

A parent gave me the idea of putting hot lunches in the thermos and sending the child to school with that. I have been doing that with my 3 yo and it works. Maybe you can do that?

A 13 year old girl needs more for lunch than a cup of ramen noodles.

How about a turkey sandwhich or a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with chips and a cup of fruit?

Sorry-lunchables are not good quality nutrients. The thermos idea will work to keep something warm, but I agree that Ramen would not be a good option on its own. Perhaps by adding some meat or other nutritive food it would be okay though.

Some thoughts:

It's ok for her to take Korean food, even if it smells strongly, unless the cousin feels embarrassed -- ask her what she would like to take for lunch. You can also ask your parents what they usually send.

Since you are only responsible for her for a weekend, you should not concern yourself about her weight and the portions she is eating.

When I was in school and brought lunch, it was always a sandwich, a piece of fruit and a snack of some sort.

I have a similar issue with my son (age 4 in pre school.) Up till this year we lived in Japan and a lot of the food he likes needs to be heated. We are giving him either sandwiches or onigiri (rice balls) and he is fine with it.

I do not know very much about Korean food, but there are many things you can give her, if you can keep them hot or cold (to reduce bacterial growth.) It depends on what she likes to eat. There are many websites for bento box meals that are not necessarily Japanese foods. You could adapt them for your cousin's tastes.

http://lunchinabox.net/recipes/

Some of these are quite fussy. Ignore the fussy part, just use it for ideas.

I do not know if Korean food has a version of a cold noodle salad, but something like that might be nice, as you could add bits of cooked chicken and vegetables to it. Leftovers from dinner, can be repackaged for lunch too.

Different types of sandwiches are good. My son is autistic, and he is very picky. He will not eat combined foods, so I send him the ingredients for a sandwich in separate containers plus fruits and raw salad vegetables. He is seven, so this is different than a teenager.

If she is losing weight, I have to ask, she does not have anorexia or anything, do you think? Is she a picky eater, or does her family just not have time to make her foods, and they expect her to do it? She should be eating three meals a day and maybe a snack. Does she eat anything else the rest of the day, or just school lunch?

Yeah I am wondering exactly what's going on here too. It sounds as if she might be having a little trouble adjusting. When did she start going to the school? This year? Has she only just arrived in the US (if that is where you are)? Could it be that she's just not used to the food yet?

When I lived abroad I tried lots of different things, some I liked and some I didn't...the ones I liked best were pretty much the ones I ate all the time.

BTW I do agree about the cafetaria food, what they served during my school days wasn't exactly gourmet cuisine...we always joked they were serving roadkill.

Hmmm... ask her if the other kids are being friendly. Maybe they are not being friendly and that could be why she is losing weight, you know, stress. From bullying. Expecially if she is foreign, english is her second language etc... I bet anything those kids are not being nice at all. Just a thought.

That being the case, to address the lunch issue, I would give her a nutritious lunch, maybe a pbj on whole wheat, carrots, and a banana or maybe some hummus or something and a filtered refillable water bottle but then I would also see if you can go to the local asian supermarket and get some cookies or treats that she knows and likes. Then give her extra to share with some other kids. It will give her something to try to "make nice" with the other kids as well as give her the chance to maybe talk about home alittle bit. Just a thought.

While she can't eat tuna all the time, my daughter is picky and she likes to bring those tuna packs that have tuna, mayo, and crackers (you can find it near the tuna in most big supermarkets).

And I will disagree with the others. If she is very picky and you are limited to lunchables because that is all she will eat, I'd let her have lunchables. Sometimes all my daughter will eat is a bagel with butter. It's not nutritious, but I'd rather have her eat that than nothing at all. Same with the ramen noodles. If that is all she will eat, let her have it, IMHO.

Skipping lunch wont kill her. But what I packed in my kids lunches was this. Couple lunch meat and cheese sandwiches. Chips or cheese curls in a bag. A little Debbie cake. If they like fruit then I'd send an apple or something. Usually the real food is all they need though.

Kids don't die from missing a meal.

Sounds like she's picky - and prefers Korean food. Bringing in food that the other kids think is "weird" could unfortunately cause bullying...

No, kids don't die from skipping a meal. But this girl is 13 years old, has already lost 20 pounds, and is too thin for her height. I think the responsible thing for the OP to do is to figure out what she will eat so the problem doesn't get worse, no?

I agree, so I wouldn't recommend bringing in Korean food. But if she will eat lunchables, I think that is preferable to nothing.

Another thing my kids will almost always consume is the instant breakfast drink things. They are packed with nutrition and not so bad if you get the sugar free ones. They can either be in powder form so you can buy milk at school, or you can get them in little bottles.

1) While her current weight is on the low side, it's not particularly concerning, other than the fact that she dropped to quickly.

2) Get her one of these - http://www.thermos.com/products/vacuum- ... -loop.aspx They sell them at Target and Walmart (usually in the camping isle). You can send her with ramen (add some chicken or beef or something to it though! Maybe a hard-boiled egg and some peas as well). I've done this for my son before. I put the noodles in the thermos, then boil some water, and pour it in then close it up. He says it's great at lunchtime (he's 8, so probably take that with a grain of salt, lol.) Generic store-bought ramen has a lot of salt, but that's nearly all in the seasoning packet - you can buy low sodium ramen cubes to use instead of the packet that comes with them.

3) If she's getting a good breakfast and dinner at home, I wouldn't worry too much about lunch. I survived two years of high school eating a package of twix and a Dr Pepper nearly every day for lunch!

You are a sweet cousin to worry about her. I agree with Anticipate that her weight is not a huge problem right now. I am small boned and built narrow. I am her height and have been 110 pounds for decades. Her drop in weight is something to watch. See if it gets worse. I would focus on her state of mind, more than her eating. Is there anything anyone can do to ease the adjustment? Are her parents supporting her emotionally across the seas?

I personally wouldn't worry about if the other kids think Korean food is weird or funny smelling. If that is what she wants and what she can put in a thermos, I'd go for that. Tons of kids at school eat ethnic foods or healthy foods. It's much more the norm. She is 13 and can probably decide for herself what she likes to eat.