Ok so I know some children are slow eaters, but............

eleusis -

LOL, that should have said she doesnt get lots of snacks or suagry treats!LOL

would she drink a smoothie? Just feel at the age of 8 she should be having more fruit and veg than that ie none. You could either make your own or you can buy 100's of different flavours.

i am the same with dd lately, one day(normally sat morn) shell eat 3 or four things for breakfast, the next week, like this weekend, she either winges about her food or takes that long its stone cold and awful..she loves pizz, so on friday night i cooked her pizza and oven chips.........it took her 1 and a half hours JUST to eat the pizaa..i made her leave the chips as they were cold and greasy, next night she was the same, she does gets lots of snacks or sweet/sugary treats..but the amount of time is ridiculous!, im setting a max of 1hr for next few weeks (even that is long time for her portion) then ill take it away, she can eat at a more reasonable speed, but jsut sometimes likes to drag things out

Must say I agree with you on this one, Anna.

star - is your DD malnourished/thin?

With all our children (two stepsons, 9 and 12, daughter, 2.6) I just provide one meal, same as the one the adults are eating. Obviously I don't serve up things they all really hate, though sometimes I do serve something one of them doesn't like much. The meals are always nutritious and balanced and my partner and I always eat a serving of everything - I think children need a good nutritional role model.

If the children don't want to eat, so be it. There are always mozzarella, ham, cherry tomatoes, bread, bananas etc around for a nutritious snack for those who don't want to eat the meal I serve. The one thing I get very cross about is children whining that they don't like the food - they can refuse what is served politely, and politely ask for something else.

I never buy any form of junk/fast food, so don't have to contend with that issue. Very occasionally the children have an organic, chargrilled hamburger for lunch - they love them, and they have weaned them off McDonald's which they now find too greasy.

Star,
I feel for you. My DD (now 4) is a miserable eater. DS (now 2) will eat most anything.

For DD, we sometimes have to:
1- Put down the food (it is what it is, and "I don't like that!" spoken is a repeated miserable winy voice will land her on the naughty step).
2- Set the timer for a resonable time (say 20 minutes)
3- When the imer goes off if she has eaten every last bite, she can have a treat. If she hasn't (and I do mean EVERY last bite) then she is excused from the table. She is not in trouble of she doesn't eat, and I do not beg or negotiate deals. I am not a short order cook, and I expect my children to eat what they are served.

Incidentally, I do make her eat vegetables. The diet you describe is not at all up to my standards. I don't mean to be hard on you, I'm sure you are at your wits end as I sometimes am. But, I do thing children will eat if they are hungry enough. And I also don't really subscribe to the view that eating junk is better than eating nothing.

Does she like pizza? I sometimes do things like shred a carrot (or chop spinach), mis it in with grated mazarella and then spread it on the pizza. Or, of course, many vegetables can be pureed and mixed in with mashed potatoes.

DS1 was like this.

We took all the stress away and had carpet picnics on a blanket in the living room for a while - with food such as chicken drumsticks, carrot sticks, dips, soup from a flask etc.

Another thing that worked well was offering everything in serving dishes when we all ate at the table, so he could serve himself whatever amount he liked.

He is now 11, and eats without any problems - although he still eats very sloooooowwwlllyyy.