Sandwell quotations Dr Rosemary Kyle

A mother’s viewpoint ‘I quite like salad but she says to me I don’t want salad, it’s too healthy. We usually eat something out of the freezer, Iceland pie, nuggets. Sometimes we go to the chippy or Chinese at the weekend. Two minutes from the chippy, two minutes from the Chinese where I live!’

Mother’s viewpoints ‘Mine have sandwiches. You know what you’re giving them. You don’t know what they’re having for school dinner. It may be on the menu, but they don’t help them (to choose)’ (Mother) ‘We sit down as a family in the evening. I like to know what they’re eating so ‘A’ has a packed lunch’ (Mother)

The teacher’s viewpoint With a lunchbox it’s the children dictating what’s in there. There is an increasing level of control by children with parents condoning that. Children rule the roost in the house. Parents say ‘he won’t eat this’ or ‘he won’t eat that’. They make noises about grounding etc but don’t follow through. Children play people off against each other, they manipulate. (Head teacher)

Teacher’s viewpoint We can tell the parent that a child is throwing away their lunch and the parent says that the child is a ‘fussy eater’ and ‘only eats crisps’. It’s the line of least resistance; they don’t want to have a strop so the child gets away with it. They say ‘he’s the same at home’. This has an impact on behaviour. Children argue back as if that’s ok. (Head teacher)