My 6 year old Dd2 refuses to eat any meat, she is starting to look ill... can I give her anything??

[sparklygothkat]

Not sure why, but she has refused to eat any meat in the last 2 months. She looks ill and drained. Is there any vits. I can give her?

TIA

[LedodgyChristmasjumper]

Is she getting enough iron and protein from other sources?

[sparklygothkat]

she eats lots of vegs,bread, pasta, rice etc.

[TellusMater]

My 3 yo doesn't eat meat. I don't think she likes the texture. She eats lots of beans and green veg for iron and protein and is fine on it. You need some veggies to advise you...

[sparklygothkat]

she loves green vegs, like broccili (sp?) and cabbage.

[LedodgyChristmasjumper]

Will she eat fish? Tuna, haddock and salmon are good sources of protein as are eggs. For iron green veg , baked beans, wholemeal bread, weetabix. Try to give her a glass of orange juice with a meal that way it helps aid her iron absorbtion.

[TellusMater]

What about beans, nuts? Will she eat fish?

[yurt1]

ds1 didn't eat meat (or fish or fruit or veg) for 4 years. I gave him various supplements such as Floradix or spatone when I thought he might be anaemic. Generally gave a multivit the whole time.

[sparklygothkat]

beans.. she is a bit funny with, she will eat them at a push. She will eat fish sometimes. Its so hard as we are a meateatimg family and most of our meals contain meat. I am not worried if she never eats meat again, but I need to know how to do it healthly

[TooTickyDoves]

Will she eat lentils? In pasta sauces or soups maybe?
Not eating meat in itself isn't a problem - plenty of healthy veggie children in the world.
Some useful info here

[yurt1]

We hid protein as well, so buckwheat pancakes with cheese inside. He wouldn't eat milk or eggs or cheese uncooked but would eat them made into things.

He was remarkably healthy although skinny- he looks chunkier since he started eating properly(ish) again.

[NotQuiteCockney]

If she eats leafy green veg, she's getting iron. So protein would be my only concern. If you eat brown carb rather than white, that's got some protein in it.

Other high-protein non-meat foods:

• yogurt's not bad. Good in smoothies.
• cheese
• beans
• nuts
• fish
• egg

[RBH]

A friend of mine recommends putting ground almonds into tomato pasta sauces for some extra protein. If you post a list of the typical meals for a week I'm sure between us all we can come up with vegetarian options that don't entail one of you cooking a completely seperate meal every night.

[ProfYaffle]

What about nut butters, almond and cashew are quite sweet and nice on toast etc hazlenut has a more pronounced flavour which I like on bagels with tomato. I've also started making chick pea pancakes recently, they're really nice. Use chick pea flour (also called gram or besan flour) iirc 150g, mixed with enough water to give a single cream consistency makes about 8 pancakes.

wrt iron, Special K has quite a high level of iron, dried apricots are also good.

[Enid]

I doubt its the meatless eating

its a knackering time of year

give her a vit supplement and take on board some of the food suggestions here but dont get hung up on it if she is otherwise eating healthily

(dd1 eats almost no meat)

[sparklygothkat]

she actually ate some of the beef in the stew I made today Along with the veg.

[sparklygothkat]

she eat lots of yogurts and eggs

[reikizen]

I'm pretty sure lack of meat wouldn't make a child ill! Is she actually ill? I mean a virus or something? What is it you worried she is missing apart from saturated fats!

[FairyTaleOfNewYork]

dd3 doesnt eat much meat sparkly. she has loads of green vegs (brocolli and peas are her favourite) and just eats more of that.

she does like fish, and sometimes chicken, but doesnt each much of it.

[sparklygothkat]

she just looks so pale. i assumed it was because she won't eat meat,

[FairyTaleOfNewYork]

feed her lots of greens and a big glass oforange juice as well.

yummy yummy.

your dd2 has always been pale though.

[luciemule]

what about soya meat? Would she eat that if knew it wasn't from an animal?

[andfranksentthis]

look at the inside of her lower eyelid and at her fingernails.... if these are very pale, that sometimes indicates lack of iron.

Does she get enough sleep? Sheer tiredness can make you a pit pale sometimes.

[shrooms]

wholegrain products are good for iron such as fortified cereals (weetabix, readybrek, even natural oats) and other grains like quinoa, spelt and rye crackers. You could give her ryvitas and hummus as the chickpeas are ground and seasoned and so less beany! Peanut butter and dried apricots are quite high in iron too and great for snacks.

It may well be that she is getting plenty of iron and protein, but that she is tired/stressed out or has a slight virus. Her absorption of iron could also be impaired. So it is worth getting her checked out.