Is this enough food

[Cosymess]

7 year old DS has school lunch. He generally eats most of it but I think it's sometimes a small portion as he says often the potato/vegetables aren't great quality.

Yesterday was Mac cheese. At after-school club he had some cheese and breadsticks.

He is tired and never fancies proper dinner when he gets home.

Dinner was chopped fruit and a slice of toast with peanut butter. Bowl of cereal before bed.

He's very slim and I would feel happier if he has a substantial meal.

That's not enough in my opinion...and why was "dinner" chopped fruit and peanut butter toast?

There's a lot of empty carbs in what you're describing. School lunches are awful in general and I've never considered them to be enough.

What does he have for breakfast? Will he eat eggs? Eggs provide a good source of protein and energy.

What you describe him eating is mostly carbs....you need to get him to eat more protein somehow.

When he was 7 my DS would have had a hot evening meal (spaghetti Bol, chicken curry, sausages and mash), he also would have had a snack at school and some fruit in the evening. He’s not a huge eater but would need something much more substantial than fruit and toast in the evening.

I have a very restrictive eater but I also would worry that it was not enough. Occasionally maybe, but not as a regular thing. Are you or his dad able to batch cook some meals like bolognese, casseroles etc that he likes and freeze them so a quick microwave is easy in the evening? It sounds like time is pressured for you in the evenings. Can he eat slightly later if he is not hungry when he gets home (I am rarely hungry when we get home from school circa 5.30, but then am quite hungry an hour later).

My small eater will pick at a dinner, and so I have started letting him eat what he wants at dinner and then he gets a before bed snack. It is usually a full fat hot chocolate and some crackers with a bit of cheese. He is incredibly slim though and is able to take the extra calories. Sadly he has allergies because peanut butter on toast would be a bit of a godsend for us.

No proper dinner doesn’t have to mean toast and cereal (empty carbs). Would he eat any of these
Boiled egg and soldiers
Ham and cheese omelette
Beans on toast with grated cheese on top
Ham or chicken and veggie wraps
Hummous with veggie dippers
A small burger in a bun
Sausages in brown bread rolls

sorry- not a proper answer for you and I understand how worrying it is when DCs eat a very small amount. Mine is 12 and is small and very slim and I really worry about it. I said on another thread though that i often make him milkshakes out of full fat milk, complan chocolate mix and drinking chocolate mix and vanilla icecream. I know it's not ideal but it adds calories and when you are worried about their intake it can be useful.

I would still cook a nutritious meal at home, and give him a smaller portion.

We always have a proper evening meal, regardless of whether DDs have had school lunch.

You know that's not enough OP.
He needs a proper evening meal.

I cook every evening. He just doesn't want it when tired. Particular at the best of times. I was torn about whether I was worrying too much as it included cheese and peanut butter (protein?) and fruit included banana. He had fruit as he hadn't had any all day. He won't eat any of the things others have suggested (not a single one in your list LapinRose) He has cereal for breakfast. I blend smoothies and yesterday's had an avocado in it so good calories but he didn't touch it. Will think of more ideas.

I have just made mine pancakes for breakfast with half the flour substituted for ground almonds for good calories. Would something like that help? getting an avocado in a smoothie is inspired!

Does he have a very restrictive diet overall?

Yes he has only a handful of meals he likes. He will eat pretty much any fruit and has 3 vegetables he likes.
School lunches don't sound great but I think it's a positive that he eats with his friends and enjoys lunchtime.

It might be worth getting some advice from your GP. I know a young lad who was similar and for a while it was recommended by a dietitian that he was given literally anything he would eat, in order to get calories into him and stimulate an appetite. Getting him eating was the first goal then adjusting the food was secondary. Everything was calorie laden. Full fat milk, peanut butter on porridge for breakfast etc.

I would see if you can get some guidance so you can be confident in a few things to try, expert help is so useful and reassuring. Good luck!

@ButWhereDidTheWindComeFrom could give those a go at the weekend. Other child loved the smoothie!

My 6 year old does not eat well. He slim but not under weight. He has autism so that sometimes has ab effect on food .

He often won't eat breakfast so I put an apple in his bag. He has school dinner basically He will either eat it or won't. I have learnt that if he well when he gets home he probably did not eat much at school. But if he's not eating well at home then he's probably had a good day with food at school. If he does not want to eat I don't really make it a thing. As long as he's not underweight.

Unless there's a medical reason /disability a child will not starve him/herself.

Try making French toast by mixing a mashed banana with egg, soak the bread in it and fry in butter, then spread peanut butter on top.

He needs a hot meal with protein in the evening.

I have a very slight 7 year old. She typically eats:

B bowl of cereal and bowl of fruit (occasionally pancakes or waffles instead)
Snack at school of plain biscuits and fruit
L school lunch
D hot dinner - salmon, pots, veg/meatballs, pasta, veg/fish fingers, chips peas, etc and pudding
Evening snack of raisins and oat bar.

When does he eat dinner and later the cereals?

If he has cheese/breadsticks at the after school club, then dinner and then again cereals it looks like he is eating but maybe not the right food. It looks more like grazing.

Could you merge dinner and cereals together at a slightly later time? If he eats the cereals each day it sounds to me he is still hungry.

Maybe start with food you know he eats, even if it is a bit repetetive for the rest of you.

For breakfast, try proper full fat greek yoghurt with fruit, rolled oats and honey, that's a great source for protein.

We had issues each holiday with DD as she sleeps in, then didn't eat lunch and snacked all day and said she is not hungry for dinner. We put her on a normal meal timetable, didn't expect her to eat large amounts but "normal" food instead of snacking on yoghurt and biscuits.

That's not enough. My 7-year-old granddaughter has:

toast and jam, or cereal
a cheese sandwich or a wrap, carrot or cucumber, a yogurt, crisps, fruit
crackers at after-school club
a cooked meal (spag bol, fishfingers, stew or something)
toast before bed.

She's naturally slim, and very active (gymnastics, swimming, etc)

To the people saying school dinners are awful what do you provide in a packed lunch that is better? (And that most dc will eat?) Interested to know as the meals at dc's school seem much more variety than I could ever get into a packed lunch 5 days a week.

If he’s not eating the veg at school I think he needs some at home. He could probably do with a bit more protein in his diet too. I don’t really get that he’s ok to eat toast, fruit and cereal in the evening but is too tired to eat a more substantial meal. Seems like a guise for fussy eating to me.

Op I think it sounds fine except it would be better if he had a proper dinner in the evening. If he wont eat it is that because he knows there is other things on offer instead? With mine if they don't do well with dinner I will give them supper later on. I will always start with a hot meal though so they are used to to it. Sometimes they do well so it's worth offering it at least.

@Cosymess

I cook every evening. He just doesn't want it when tired. Particular at the best of times. I was torn about whether I was worrying too much as it included cheese and peanut butter (protein?) and fruit included banana. He had fruit as he hadn't had any all day. He won't eat any of the things others have suggested (not a single one in your list LapinRose) He has cereal for breakfast. I blend smoothies and yesterday's had an avocado in it so good calories but he didn't touch it. Will think of more ideas.

Is he maybe so tired because he's not eating too much?

I assume he's tired because it's a long day. I don't think the evening tiredness for dinner is because he is literally too tired, more a case of emotional and wants easy food. On the very rare occasion he doesn't have to go to after school club he eats ok.

12yr old DS is also very slim, in fact his rugby coach showed some concern when he went back after Christmas, as he looked to him, like he'd lost weight over the holiday, which he really didn't have capacity to lose. You can check a child's BMI on the NHS website, it's slightly different to adults and DS came up on the 25th centile, so small, but not actually underweight. I've just hired a nutritionist to work with him, as he does 20 hours of sport a week and he really needs to put a bit of weight on to be able to keep up with his peers.

DS is also not a big eater, even as a breastfed baby, he was more of a snacker, feeding for 5 mins at a time rather than the epic hour long sessions my friends babies were doing. Obviously DS is older than yours, but we've been told we need to up his calorie intake by about 1,000 a day to meet his energy needs for sport, as well as trying to put a bit of weight on. She has pointed out though, that children do have smaller stomachs, so the volume of food they can comfortably fit in, is much less than us as adults. Things we're doing:

Honey on his cereal.
Children specific protein shakes (under the nutritionist's direction)
Coconut water
Smoothies
Orange juice (not usually recommended, but he needs the calories)
Dried fruit/nuts
Cooked chicken pieces
Added cream in sauces

We've paid £75 for an initial consultation and plan, with follow up sessions £40 each. He is taking an interest in food for the first time and starting to understand that he needs to fuel his body properly, so that in itself, has been a positive. Maybe something to consider.

5 year old DS sometimes doesn't want dinner on an evening (Pick him up from CM at 5:15, we eat usually around 6ish)

Those evenings I make him porridge usually, either with cinnamon, mashed banana and grated dark chocolate or with frozen mixed berries and a splodge of honey - that seems to keep him going and I don't feel like its too unhealthy of a meal for a couple of nights a week, he too is exhausted after being dropped off at 8:15 and not picked up until late too some days.