What's on your lunch menu?

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

I discovered some new lunchtime foods as I helped one of my diabetics today:

"Pineapples in the sea" - blue-green jello with pineapple chunks. Approx. 4 oz = 40 g carbs

"Chicken Twister bowl" (AKA chicken nuggets) 40 g carbs

Grilled stuffed chicken burrito - 61 g carbs

"Yogurt parfait box" - Each yogurt parfait box comes with a peach sunrise parfait, cheese cubes, whole grain donut holes, and homemade granola. 106 grams of carbs

Fortunately, sweet baby did not consume all the above, but the chicken, pineapple jello, a roll and chocolate milk came to well over 100 g carbs. I mean, he can eat what he wants because he's correcting BUT I did break out the speech about cheap carbs taking the elevator while the insulin takes the stairs, and how that's not good long term.

As an aside, I can't remember the last time I consumed 100 grams of carbs...in a day.....

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Specializes in Med-surg, school nursing..

Holy cow! Yeah, ours is high in carbs, but not that high. My t1d kiddos' parents don't want them going over 50g carbs. Sometimes that one entree, one side, and water. They should definitely offer low carb options.

(I just looked and the highest lunch carb item is 39g)

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

Lower carb options are being offered...sweet baby is just not picking them. And not having a salad or raw fruit. All of breaded items are baked and if there's grain in it, it's whole grain. But still..

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Specializes in school/military/OR/home health.

Yeah, I have been pretty disgusted with the crazy amount of carbs in the lunches at my school. The yogurt parfait is one of the ones I wondered about. It seemed pretty high carb for yogurt and some granola. Then my little T1D explained it has cookies in it. What the heck?

I have never actually eaten in our cafeteria so I have not actually seen much of the food, nor gone through the line, and my diabetic from the last few years always packed. It's not like I carb count my own kids' lunches, so I have been shocked and appalled these last few weeks counting carbs of school lunches and breakfasts.

As an aside, my little darling type 1 has been making comments about how much insulin I am giving him. He seems to think it is too much, like 3 units at breakfast and 5 at lunch...he keeps adding them up and exclaiming that I have given him 8 whole units today!!! I keep trying to explain that if he eats the carbs he has to take the insulin...like I'm not giving too much insulin, he's eating too much carbs. He's not getting it. This is the same kid who eats breakfast at home then comes to school and eats school breakfast. And then eats snack. Then lunch. Then snack after lunch. Sometimes he wants a snack for the 10 minute bus ride. He's driving me nuts.

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My T1D kid's mom packs his lunch and it horrifies me - yesterday was a thermos of velveeta shells and cheese, a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread, a bag of fudge stripe cookies, juice box, and grapes. Well over 100 g carbs and his BS was already 400 when I checked before lunch. He is so poorly managed it kills me and his endocrine clinic really is no help. I was actually scolded by the nurse there (I posted about it earlier this year) when I voiced my concerns about it. She said "he should be allowed to eat like a 6 year old kid". :banghead: My 6 year-olds never ate like that and they don;t have T1D.

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.

Our school lunch is so nasty, no one eats it except the kids who can't bring lunch. The carbs are high sometimes too, but it's only for some of them. My student is able to eat with correction too, but I keep telling him to watch his carb intake, but the way his mother feeds him and the doctor telling them it's okay for him to eat anything he wants, the suggestion gets ignored.

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.
My T1D kid's mom packs his lunch and it horrifies me - yesterday was a thermos of velveeta shells and cheese, a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread, a bag of fudge stripe cookies, juice box, and grapes. Well over 100 g carbs and his BS was already 400 when I checked before lunch. He is so poorly managed it kills me and his endocrine clinic really is no help. I was actually scolded by the nurse there (I posted about it earlier this year) when I voiced my concerns about it. She said "he should be allowed to eat like a 6 year old kid". :banghead: My 6 year-olds never ate like that and they don;t have T1D.

I swear these endocrine clinics piss me off sometimes too, it's like this kid has HIGH BG, he should not be eating mcdonalds.

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Yikes 106gm?!?!?!

Are you sure? I'm just asking because my t1d got a beef burger from the school and the nutrional

list they sent us the carbs said "100". We had to ask the lady who is in charge of all this and they actually labeled it totally wrong.

sure does sucks.

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Specializes in School Nurse.

Sounds typical. My son always brown bagged it. It took a little arm twisting to allow him diet soda.

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