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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Preschool teacher here. So many times the parents pack a sandwich, fruit, and 6 Oreo cookies. The kids spend 20 minutes eating their Oreo cookies and a few strawberries and ignore the sandwich and then 30 minutes later complain that they are hungry. So yeah, I would encourage kids to eat the "growing" food first, but I never require it. Don't get me started on how long it takes to eat pirates Booty!
 [/quote]

OP, I'm a teacher who does kindergarten lunch duty. I'm also a mom of a child who had severe picky eating and difficulty gaining weight.  I'm very sensitive to adults who criticize what children are eating because there were years when all my child would eat at lunch was "junk" food.

But what PP says is correct -- SO MANY children will just eat the frankly "junkiest" part of their lunch first, and then run out of time to eat the more filling parts. And as they are in a classroom setting, there just isn't the time to get out the sandwich or whatever an hour later, as you might allow if you were just at home with the child. Or to extend lunch time for another 20 minutes.

People send kids to school, in part, for "socialization".  And socialization means learning to adapt to a group and classroom situation.  And part of that is getting through your lunch in the time allotted, and doing things according to school and teacher rules, not as you do them at home.

"Teacher says we need to eat our sandwich first, and then cookies" is fine for kids to learn.  If your child has no problems gaining and growing with what she is eating, she will be able to adapt to this.

I could also understand though, if as a point of pride you want to let your child's teacher know you are very concerned about nutrition yourself, and that the cookies you send are nutrient dense or whatever.  Or send your child with extra cookies but no yogurt and berries for a while!

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