Healthy eating for children

[MarmaLaid]

In the interest of healthy eating, I’m trying to get DD to eat better as her diet has slipped this year due to my health issues. Anyway I am wondering what does your child eat for breakfast? What snacks for after school but before dinner ? And also their age would be helpful,
My DD is 5, she currently eats a slice of toast with organic peanut butter and a drop of honey on it with some fruit. I know peanut butter is fattening but I believe it’s healthier fat?? Also I’m struggling with after school snacks that are healthy but filling until tea time.

Peanut butter or other nut butter on wholemeal toast is fine - yes, fats but good fats and in moderation fat is necessary. Ditch the honey, though. Honey is worse than sugar in terms of how it’s metabolised. Eggs are also good - if you don’t have time go cook them in the morning then boil and refrigerate several. Or, if she likes most savoury food then breakfast doesn’t actually have to be “breakfast foods” - nothing wrong with eating what you might eat later in the day at breakfast time.

Snacks - cold cooked meat, vegetable sticks with hummous, and if you can find it I like Eatlean protein cheese - high protein and low fat. But encourage her to have a drink of water and think before snacking - is she actually hungry or is it just a habit to have a snack between school and dinner. Loads of snacks get eaten out of habit rather than because they’re actually necessary.

Thank you comtesse that is very helpful

No food is fattening - too many calories are fattening. Peanut butter is full healthy fats, vitamins and protein and is a great start to the day. You could try some sliced banana on top for extra fruit that’s also sweet. This is a good afternoon snack as well.

There is no need for special protein cheese, I don’t know why anyone would suggest that. Regular cheese is just fine, a good source of protein and children need a lot more of their calories from fat than adults do. A portion of good cheddar with some crackers and chopped veg is a great snack.

Honey is also not ‘worse than sugar’ it just is sugar, and is metabolised no differently. Where are you getting this crap Comtesse? Honey in moderation is fine but not much different to sprinkling sugar on the toast.

No interest in arguing with you Buffalo - we can all make our own choices. Honey is higher fructose than cane sugar - hence metabolised differently. It’s also missold as a “health food” which leads people to use more of it, which bumps up calorie intake. And it’s not needed on peanut butter and toast, anyway. Encouraging children away from a sweet tooth is positive.

Protein cheese over regular cheese is a good switch for people who like cheese but tend to eat too much of it - a recommended serving of cheese is about 25g which looks tiny when you cut it - hence people often eat huge wedges and this way too much. Nothing wrong with regular cheese, I didn’t say there was, but better to get the higher protein if possible.

My DD has porridge (with extra milk honey and raisins) and or an egg with toast for breakfast. Sometimes cereal. She’s a healthy weight and my main focus is trying to make sure she respects her hunger cues and not to inadvertently pass on any of the diet/ nutrition bollox that passes for ‘healthy eating’ these days.

DD1 is six. For breakfast she has some fruit and Greek yoghurt and then either weetabix or a slice of toast with cheese, peanut butter or avocado.

After school, I offer a mix of the following: fruit, raw veg sticks, rice cakes, cheese, plain popcorn, crackers or a digestive biscuit.

I generally aim to sneak fruit and veg in where I can, as well as offer them in "visible" form. Mine are also much more likely to eat them chopped up, so fruit salad or fruit kebabs over whole fruit, or crudités before dinner etc. Soup packs all kinds of goodness in.

You don't need to give extra protein but you do need protein over empty carbs. Good fats like nuts, avocado, hummus and dairy are important.

Thanks everybody that is helpful stuff there