Anyone else's DC have small appetites?

[SmallAppetite]

DD is 7, and eats very little portion size wise.

She eats a good variety, eats chicken, most fish, pork, and beef (including sausages, burgers, ham etc). Loves most fruit and vegetables too.

But her portion sizes are tiny.

She’s always been small for her age, born on the 25th percentile dropped down to the 4th and never wavered from it. She’s 113cm (the size of a 4/5 year old not an almost 8 year old) and weighs 22kg so is still really small.

No-ones worried as such, blood tests have been done and she’s not lacking any vitamins or minerals or anything she’s just small and has a small appetite.

Example:

Yesterday:

Breakfast – Single size portion (the small 30g box) of rice crispies with whole milk

Snack at school that I provided – 2 small strawberries

Lunch – she insists on the school hot dinner – Roast Chicken, Roast Potatoes, mash, peas and gravy. No pudding as she didn’t want it.

She then didn’t want anything else until Breakfast today. And that’s pretty typical for her. On days she’s in wraparound she often eats even less as she’ll go without the snack.

Like I said no-ones concerned but it just seems odd, all her friends parents moan how much their DC eat, and I see them leaving school with a snack and asking their parents whats for dinner.

I offer an evening meal and it’s very rarely taken, I often get told “I’m not hungry”, she will occasionally (maybe once or twice a week) have a slice of toast before bed but that’s it.

As I said she eats a huge variety just very small amounts of it.

Is anyone else’s DC like this?

No one?

That is really small. It can’t be good to be having nothing from lunch to breakfast surely? I think I’d be trying to encourage at least a milkshake or something but I suspect as you’re asking you probably already tried something similar.

She drinks plenty, water, squash, milk, she just doesn't eat much. Reducing her milk intake caused her to eat even less than she started loosing weight so the GP and dietitician said to let her have what she wants.

She's really skinny, not so bad it causes concern though. Like I said no-ones concerned as she's not lacking anything, they think she just has a very small appetite not through lack of me offering either.

School dinner could be genuinely huge for her.
How much milk does she drink?

At this age, DS had both small appetite and very limited variety, but wouldn't have skipped tea completely.

My dc have small appetites, but not this tiny.

my youngest is 9 now, and he will eat (roughly):

breakfast: half a bagel thin, then breakfast club at school he may have a small croissant.

lunch: at school he has school dinners, but doesn’t eat much (sensory issues, plus food issues). Probably eats equivalent of a few bits of veg, a couple of bites of meat plus some carb (not much if it’s potato). Maybe pudding. At home he has a sandwich and some carrot sticks.

dinner: a small portion (really small, probably about 20 pasta twists and a serving spoon of sauce) of eg spag bol or similar, and an apple.

He’s fine, just doesn’t eat much. The long gap between lunch and breakfast the next day with your dd would worry me. It’s a very long time to not be eating anything.

If she is happy to drink in the evening can you do her a smoothie with some kind of protein in it? Otherwise she’s not actually eating for about 19 hours.

She has milk with lunch at school, then milk when she gets in from school plus has it on her cereal.

It used to worry me but the GP and a dietitician both said she just obviously doesn't need much food, she's got loads of energy, runs round with her friends at school and does after school activities fine she just doesn't eat much.

I will try her with a milkshake made with strawberries and stuff as she does have milk when she gets in.

I wouldn't worry too much, if she's happy and healthy. Remember small people have small stomachs! Her stomach will be about the size of her fist.

I think if you are concerned I'd look at making sure the things she does eat are really nutrient dense. To be honest what you list looks great. If you feel she does need to gain weight think high calorie low volume. Things like nuts and nut butters and cheese!

@AtleastitsnotMonday Thank you, I do worry a bit because it's going so long without food but as professionals aren't concerned I just have to get on with it.

She eats a huge variety, there's only a few things she doesn't like; mushrooms, celery (and even that I put in Spag Bol and things and she's fine) and certain cuts of beef/steak (she's fine with mince, burgers, sausages etc. and eats casseroles and things with it in but she doesn't like steak)

Yes my two girls have always had small appetites. They are adults now and still only eat small portions. If they serve themselves they only use a side plate, if I serve them I have to ensure there isn't too much on the plate as it puts them off before they start.
I don't think dd1 has ever managed a full packet of crisps, she rarely eats more than once a day and sometimes only realises she hasn't eaten all day when she gets a migraine (doesn't live at home). She isn't interested in food at all.
Dd2 eats well at breakfast and then either doesn't bother with lunch or if she does she doesn't have dinner. Both are small and slim always on 25th centile as children.

@hiredandsqueak thank you sounds so like DD, she also can't have too much on her plate. Going out to eat is always fun, not because I think she'll eat nothing due to fussiness but because I end up ordering her a side dish like chips and then she'll just have a tiny bit of whatever I have, so if I have a curry she'll have a bit of my sauce and that's enough for her. I always get weird looks, thats until I offer to pay full main price for her meal then they snap my hand off

My 7 year old is similar - she’s same
height but 19kg. She eats very little at main meals and very little variety but does like snacks. Today (fairly typical day)
day would be:
breakfast: half a bowl of porridge and about 4 raspberries
snack: apple
lunch : she ate the yolk from one boiled egg and half a toast soldier and 4 bits of cucumber
snack: a baby bel. Three sweets at a party.
dinner: tonight she ate about 4 pieces of quorn chilli and three/ four spoons of rice and a few kidney beans. Then she had half of the bit of cake she got from the party.
She never once finished a bottle as a baby and was a nightmare to wean. It used to really stress me out. Still does sometimes. But she is healthy with endless amounts of energy. She is slim rather than skinny but has a small frame.

@SmallAppetite it was a standing joke with her brothers that she could never manage a child’s portion at eighteen. Like your dd they both eat a good range of food but just a small amount. Dd1 is five foot two and dd2 is four foot eleven but their heights aren’t out of synch with the female side of mine and their dad’s family.

@hiredandsqueak Interesting you mention height, I'm only 5ft 1, ExH is 5ft 5, but both of us come from gigantic families, Ex-FIL is over 6ft, Ex-SIL is 5ft 11, my mums 5ft 11 as well, my dads just slightly taller than my mum and my brothers over 6ft too, so it's a weird one. Maybe DDs destined to be small just like her parents.

I am five foot but my mum was and sisters are five foot seven but my gran was four foot ten and exh's mum,sister and gran were all smaller than me. I always say they eat to live rather than live to eat which I can be guilty of.

May not be related at all but has she been checked for a hole in the heart? Only say this as I was born with a hole in the heart, it was picked up as the murmur was noticeable but I was always tiny for my age and hardly ate anything as a child. I'm sure the consultant told my mum it was due to my body using that much energy I didn't have the energy to eat, safe to say once I had it repaired I made up for the 10 years of hardly eating 😂. I know you've said she is very active so may not be that at all as I know it did make me quite poorly I use to pass out if I got too excited and my lips would go blue if it was too cold for example.
Hopefully it is just that she doesn't need the food which it sounds like is the case if no docs are worried x

I admire her ability to know her body and respond to what it needs.