Many parents visit us for pediatric feeding therapy in Kansas City because their child is not eating enough at school. They often encounter this problem because of how short most lunch and snack times are in our schools.
On average, school snack times and lunches are around 15 to 20 minutes. Throw on top of that the fact that cafeteria environments can be loud and dysregulating for many children. We’ve gathered a few tips below, but be sure to check out our resource center for more information and helpful tips!
- Ask your school if they’re open to discussing how to help improve your child’s nutrition needs throughout the school day, especially during lunch.
- Get involved in your child’s school lunch program and encourage your school’s administrators to put recess before lunch. This helps children get their bodies ready for eating and helps them to be hungry for meals.
- Pack your child’s lunch and snacks yourself or with your child’s help.You will have much better control of what is offered, and your child won’t have to wait in line.
- Another practice we’ll encourage outside of pediatric feeding therapy in Kansas City is picking easy foods to eat. For example, meat and bread sandwiches are actually very time consuming to eat and most children won’t finish them. Consider making lunchmeat sandwiches between two crackers—the crunchy crackers are easier to eat than chewy bread!
