What age did your kids switch from the child's to the adult's menu?

[Tiddleztheelephant]

Just that really?
My 9 year old ds wolfs down a kids meal in record time but I'm reluctant to switch because he's getting a bit chubby anyway plus he probably wouldn't take advantage of the wider range of food available on the adult menu.
So far he seems happy with his meals and doesn't complain of being hungry afterwards but, somebody suggested tonight that "next time we could give him the choice"
So, what age did your dc make the switch?
Thanks!

My 13yo still orders from the kids menu. If she can't she'll just order a side of chips 🙄 (but she won't eat chips at home)
My 9yo still happily on the kids menu right now. My DS16 was on the main menu about 8, he has very adult taste though and chicken nuggets are his nemesis.

I don't think its a switch: an all or nothing move from one to the other.

For is it would always depend on menu. So even when very little, they might have adult menu if there's stuff they like on it. But right til age 11/12 they would choose the kids menu at pizza express cause of the pudding and baby chino.

Around 8/9 as far as I remember.

Depends - if the kids options are something fried with chips I will always give my 8 year old the full choice as she doesn't like nuggets/fishfingers and would always prefer mash or jacket potato to chips.

We're away in the UK and have eaten out a lot this week. (It's not a holiday when you have to cook and clean up after every sodding meal...)
Today's children's menu offering was Chicken Nuggets & chips, sausage & chips or HALF a ham sandwich. So 10 Yr old had adult lasagne and 9 Yr old had a baked potato with cheese & salad. I'm still not forcing them to eat crap or survive on half a sandwich because someone on MN decides they'll be too tall if they don't nibble off the kids' menu

If they want the beige they can choose it but I'm not mandating it because they're kids.

@Forstarters

My 10 year old is taller than his granny. He has an adult meal eating too much can prompt overgrowth in height in children I believe

Awful comment, should we just starve kids incase they grow then?! 🤨

It's very normal for kids to gain weight around the age of 9-10yo as they are approaching puberty and the body knows a huge amount of energy is soon to be needed for growth and brain development.

My dd moved onto the adult menu around 12yo I think.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies I've been about that all day! Haha. He's tall NOT because I'm tall and his dad's very tall but because I don't insist he eats chicken nuggets when we go out for lunch. Some people are just odd.

I’m not odd. It’s science - overweight kids are taller than their contemporaries. There’s been a number of studies, here is one. www.nature.com/articles/pr200144

Of course I am not saying all tall children are overweight. I’m saying that some parents think their children need more food as they’re taller but really they’re taller because they eat too much food. Look at the PHE website if you don’t believe me.

@Nohomemadecandles clearly if the kind of places you’re eating at only offer nuggets and half a ham sandwich then your kids are better off eating something else off the menu. It’s silly to take one anecdotal example and extrapolate it to all occurrences.

Kids won’t get overweight by eating the occasional adult portion. If kids always eat an adult portion they will. It’s simple. Not odd.

She rarely ordered from the Child's menu, I'd share with her and then she'd have room for dessert.
She's always liked to try new things.
She likes nuggets and stuff too, but didn't often want those when there was better on offer, we did have them at home sometimes of course though.

My dd is 16 and very petite. She would probably choose kids meals even now for the small portion sizes, but she never liked the typical beige kids menu food, so started ordering from the adult menu long before she was actually capable of eating adult portions. She still complains at home if I give her the same size portions as me and DH.

All kids are different and have different appetites. I remember being stunned when dd was around 10 to see how much her perfectly proportioned school friends could eat in comparison to dd.

Mine has looked at both for as long as I can remember. We're vegetarian and there's often only one veggie option on the children's menu, so he'd often choose something from the adult menu. When he was very young, we'd ask for a smaller portion (although we never expected to pay less than the adult price for it). At 14, he's regressed a bit in his tastes and will often just want a bowl of chips!

@Forstarters my children have probably eaten similar portions since me from about 9ish. I need about 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight. An 8-9 year old boy and a 9-10 year old girl will need a similar amount. We are all slim.

@3WildOnes great. Why are you telling me this!