Some parents feel there is not enough choice on primary school menus. Other parents think there is too much. Currently Cambridgeshire Council Catering Service offers at least two mains and two dessert choices most days for primary school children. This is in part to ensure that families who chose to avoid certain foods for religious, cultural or health reasons can still eat school meals.

You as parents or caregivers may have concerns that your child will only select certain foods from the menu and those choices are unbalanced. The catering service makes as much effort as possible to ensure the combinations are balanced, but you can also help us to help your child chose a wider variety of foods.

• Discuss the menu with your children each morning and talk about what they are going to eat that day, you may need to explain what is in some of the dishes to your child in simple ways e.g. “Mousaka is a bit like Lasagne – you like that don’t you?

• Remember the average child needs 15 exposures to a new food before they will accept it as part of a regular menu, so offering similar foods at home will help with your child accepting new foods.

• If you are giving a new food put about ¼ of the child’s usual portion on the plate – you can always offer more.

• Until the age of eight, offer “either or” decisions on food. e.g. ask “would you like Weetabix or Shreddies for breakfast?” instead of “what would you like for breakfast?” This helps children accept they have limited choices for food.

• Do not assume that if you dislike a food your child will also dislike it. Every one is different, lavish praise on your child for trying new foods – even ones you dislike yourself.

• Children are more likely to try foods that they see others enjoying, particularly the people important to them – if you role model eating vegetables then they are more likely to chose them at school.

• The “if you eat your vegetables, then you can have a treat” trick backfires with most children, it increases the negative attitude to vegetables.

• If your child does not want to eat everything on their plate, accept that this is OK, but only offer bread, fruit or milk for in-between meals. This ensures that the child does not see not eating as a way of gaining treat foods.

If we work together, then children eating school meals will gain maximum benefit from their choices, and you, as parents will know that they have had a good meal at school that day.

The nutrition information and dietary advice on this site is general advice only. Because of the complex nature of nutrition advice, we will only be able to answer general questions. If you have individual dietary concerns about yourself or your child, ask your GP for a referral to the dietetic  service.