Lunch Box for Kids! Is it good to give money instead of Lunch Box??

If you give your children a lunch box you know what they are going to be eating whilst at school. If you give your children money you have no idea what they are going to be spending it on, and children normally go for chocolate and stuff full of sugar which is no good for them in their young years.

I think it all depends on the age of the child. When my daughter was in kindergarten, she wanted to buy her lunch. The first day she came home and decided that she wanted to bring from then on becuase someone took her seat when she got up to buy. She was devistated by this. I try to pack something nutriciuos, but it is very hard. I know that our school lunches are nutritionally balanced until they hit high school. My older kids 13 & 15 yrs old like to take money and buy. I don't think that they are eating very healthy, but they would die if I had them bring lunch at their ages.

I have a five year old daughter who already goes to school. I always make her snack at home and never gave her money, as she is too young to handle money and make healthy choices on her own. Giving money to children only gives them the freedom to buy junk food in the canteen. It is still best to prepare healthy snacks at home for them to take to school.

In my opinion, you should alternate your kids between the lunch box and the money. if not the kids would easily get bored and in the end would not eat form th lunch box. if you insist on th lucnh box, then make sure that the d=food has lots of varieties form one day to another.

I think that its better to give the children a lunch box, simply because you know what they are eating. My brothers used to take the money that my mother would give them and spend it on stupid things, then they would charge it and still get a meal. Well they ended up oweing like 50 dollars each, the school took my mother to court and she got put on probation because my brothers weren't using the money to buy lunches. So in my opinion I think that the children should take a lunch box to school, even if it costs a little more.

I think it is not wise to give away money to small kids for eating their lunch out. As now-a-days u never know what children might be eating out, u didn't know what kind of food they will eat out with that money,is it healthy or not??? I think giving away lunch box to small kids is good enough and is must for kids as u know that ur child is taking proper diet with healthy and rich food...

Lunches now are very exspensive. I send my son with a packed lunch and I put alot of stuff that is good for him but have found out that he does alot of trading to get things that are not so good for him. But in the end I just find that it is alot cheaper to pack a lunch for him.

I think that it depends on the age of the child. I personally believe that young children should be given lunch boxes because they are most likely to loose the money and then they will be hungry.

Well my son is only in playschool and they dont' have any other way to get their lunch but when he does start kindergarden in september I will definately make his lunch everyday. I for one know what kids eat if they get the money and buy it themselves. My mother used to give me money for lunch and i usually ended up eating chips and junk. How healthy is that?? I will of course give him money once in a while but it will have to be a reward for doing well at school work or something. It also depends on other things as well like if the school provides a lunch program where you can send money with your kids and they feed them it usually only costs about $3 so that isn't much and they always give them something good for them. My son will be going to allday 5 days a week kindergarden in september and at this point I will be giving him his lunch.

I agree that it is much better to provide the food. In my experience children will favour sweet and flavoured food which is bad for their teeth and weight over healthier options. I think if you get kids into good eating habits earlier on they will be healthier happier individuals when adults. Let them choose for themselves what they will eat when older but when they are kids, choose for them, allowing them the odd treat here and there but mostly healthy food such as fruit and veg, brown bread etc. If you give them the money they can get bullied and have it taken away from them! Maybe as a compromise give them the money once a week, depending on what their friends are doing.

Our schools have decent cafeterias. Not the greatest health-wise, but ok. We let the kids pick the days they buy from the menu and what they like to eat. The other days they pack a lunch. I don't know what they actually eat when they get there, because some kids throw out the good stuff, or trade with other kids. We can't control everything in their lives.

I agree with you on this one. Giving kids money for school lunches, especially when she is just starting, is a poor decision. Kids don't understand the importance of healthy eating and really won't, if we don't give them guidance. She is too young to make a full decision on her own, she'll just choose junk food. If they want to give her some freedom, they can give her choices the night before on what she wants to eat at school. That way she'll feel proud and learn how to make good choices foodwise. Also, giving them money for lunches will be so expensive and not teach her the value of a dollar. Canteens charge at elast $5 for lunches and for lunch all week, there that's $25, $100 a month! Her parents could easily make her lunch for way less than that!

i am not in favour of providing money instead of lunch box as if you are providing lunch box then you knows what is good food for growing childrens, what should be feed to students for more energy. otherwise chilpdren will become dependent on junk food which may ruin there health. as healthy mind and healthy body is a phrase use to corelate them. if children have grown up i think they are in above 8th standard then we may think of other option but still lunch cooked at home will be better option

I'm still in college, and I don't have any kids yet. But I am a daughter, and I'm still financially dependent on my mom. Well, my Mom used to buy me lunch boxes back when I was still a kid. You know, one of those huge pink Barbie lunchboxes with matching water jugs. And inside, you would find the perfect meal that strictly adheres to the ever-changing food pyramid nutrition model! I was the envy of every other kid, but when I grew older, I got more and more embarrassed to bring my lunch box out of my bag. There were even times that I wouldn't eat my lunch because of this. So we switched to brown paper bags, but that didn't work either. So my Mom finally realized what this was all about, and decided to give me money for my lunch instead. It works out pretty well, really. She trusts me enough to know not to eat "street foods".

Personally I think it's better to provide a lunch box because at least then you have some control over what you're child is eating. I always did that with my daughter when she was at school - although she complained about it all the time when she was a teenager!

My kids use the school cafeteria mostly unless it's something they don't like or have toomuch have,like saucy stuff three x aweek.They usually have a menu card and alot of kids are eligible for reduced or free lunches. Alot of schools are starting to serve healthier food and here they've taken out snack machine and soda machines at the high schools.Always check the menu and somedays buy and somedays pack.

Hen I was a kid parents gave me lunch for school and sometimes a asked for some little money to buy some sweets. Parents really shouldn't give small kid money at all. Because all I see kids buy is total crap. They buy a lot of junk food, sweets and soft drinks that damage their health in early age that makes them fat and unhealthy.

I have two school going children i prefer giving them home made tiffin box,to protect them from eating out side food which may harm there body.It is always good to eat home made food for all and not only children.

hey, i think its absolutely esential to give ur child a lunch box-simply becoz u know exactly what they are eating. this would avoid them from eating absolute junk, unhealthy or other food not consumable under religious principal ( if ur religion prohibits) This would ensure that they are having the best food stuff, also by giving money-you never know what they may be indulging into. I know a few of my friends back in school, uwho used to tke extra money from home-have a small unhealthy meal and save up for a smoke and a drink fortnightly. prevention is better than cure-personally, i would strongly advise u to kindly provide a lunch box to ur kid.

I do not have a school aged child yet either, but I plan on sending him with lunch. That way I have a pretty good idea of what he's eating. Yes some days he may trade his lunch or something, but who's going to trade their chocolate bar for an apple? So really what he's eating should end up being good for him. I would think buying lunch one day a week would be enough. I believe everyone should always have a day when they can eat "badly". Then the tempation isn't as great.