Fussy eater lunchboxes: win or fail

Many parents are very uncomfortable telling me what they put in their child’s lunchbox. Even though my job is to understand fussy eating challenges and then support parents to help their children eat more widely, still, the question “what goes in the lunchbox?” produces discomfort.

Today I’d like to approach lunchboxes from a different angle and one that may be helpful for many parents of fussy eaters. If you’d like practical advice I have written on that previously and will link to those articles at the end.

Society has a lot to answer for! Eating challenges are not framed in the same way as reading or talking issues. Other parents, professionals and family frequently don’t see fussy eating as a childhood problem to be overcome with loving support.

Instead, it is often the focus of finger pointing, guilt and shame.

But what goes in your child’s lunchbox is between you and them. Not the school, not the other parents and not your friends and family.

Why the lunchbox is not a fail

Judging our parenting by the quality of the food in our child’s lunchbox is unhelpful. Although we may not do this overtly, there is often that thought in the back of the mind.

This is the reason parents are uncomfortable telling me what’s in the box. They…