What does your child's daily diet look like?

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There seem to be multiple videos on FB where people show what they feed their children & I just watched one which got completely slated in the comments. So it got me curious.

Especially interested to hear from people with older boys as I have 3, ranging from 10-15 & sometimes feel like I can never fill them up & they always want junk 🙈

DS is 12. Very active and wiry. I don’t get hung up if he wants to eat junk but I ensure he has a good basic grounding of nutrition.

Breakfast is eggs of some sort with toast and milk. Or sometimes just a banana if he is not feeling like much and is running late.

He eats absolute rubbish from the canteen at school. He likes fruit and veg though and usually eats an apple and a clementine and some carrot sticks taken from home as well.

When he gets in he is famished. Will eat some noodles (kind of home made pot noodle) with some veg thrown in. Will forage in the fridge for leftovers from night before. And will Hoover up chocolate if it’s around.

Dinner with the family. Usual family food. I cook a meal pretty much from scratch every evening. He’s not fussy (thankfully). He can’t abide baked beans or custard or porridge or yoghurt. Will eat most other things. Will usually have seconds. And will hope for a pudding of some sort. Would be pleased if it’s berries. Even more pleased if it’s chocolate brownie.

He will always want a snack before bed at 9pm (he’s often been out doing his sport till 8pm). Hot chocolate and crumpets maybe. Or warmed up left over supper if it’s one of his favourites (cottage pie, chilli, curry). Sometimes I put a potato in to bake for him when he goes out to sport so he can eat it at 8.30pm

I know he eats too much sugar. But he also eats lots of veg. He is healthy and energetic so I don’t worry too much.

Lol well I’m sure I’m going to get slated by the super healthy protein brigade but here goes, DD is 5.

Breakfast- On a weekend, pain au chocolat, during the week cereal (usually Cheerios or shreddies) or some fruit and a cheese string.

Lunch- Weekends it’s usual soup/beans on toast/sandwiches sort of stuff. Her school seem to do reasonably nice school dinners which I appreciate.

After school snack- usually a little snack plate with some combo of crisps, crackers, veggie sticks, hummus, fruit, cheese.

Dinner- fajitas, spaghetti bolognaise, curry, chilli, noodles, etc. Quite typical family meals, make sure there’s always some veg involved even if it’s a few bits of cucumber on the side of a fish finger sandwich. Probably have pizza once a week.

Treats- We don’t do pudding (although they get them at school) or generally have a lot of sweets in the house but will get stuff out and about, so an ice cream in the park when it’s hot or a cake in a cafe. If I do the Big Shop in Aldi while she’s at dancing I often pick her up a pink doughnut for after.

I have 3 older boys too. In fact they are 17, 21 and 22 now, but if i think back to what they used to eat i will answer you.

So i will do the 17 year old as if he were 15 again. Its pretty bad tbh. For reference we are what you might call an educated, fairly wealthy family. Boys all went to private school, if that makes any difference.

Breakfast, either nothing or if we were early getting to school a McMuffin meal.

Tuck shop at break, probably crisps and or Sour Chews of some description.

Lunch was good at their school - nice choices of fairly healthy things like fajitas or stews, jacket potatoes etc.

After school he would plough his way through absolutely loads of crap, multi packets of crisps, bananas, Club biscuits, yoghurts etc.

Home cooked dinner, like a curry, or pretend nandos or lasagne.

Then after we would go to bed there would be evidence of bowls of cereal being consumed whilst xboxing.

It all sounds really bad, but this child is STICK THIN!! I no longer buy crisps and the like as he is the only one left at home now and is working (apprenticeship) and earning and buys his own rubbish. We get Hellofresh boxes now so eat pretty well, but i often hear a pizza delivery arriving in the evening after we have all eaten. He just never seems full and is still skinny. (6ft 1 and with a 28 inch waist and size M mens tops).

I fi fed him carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes in a packed lunch he would have wasted away! lol.

Other end of the scale, my DD is 1 ;)

Breakfast: blueberries, banana, toast or hot cross bun, sometimes scrambled egg
Lunch: cream cheese wraps, apple, yogurt
Dinner: pasta mixed with a baby pouch sauce, green beans, broccoli and/or carrots, sometimes chicken or minced beef
Snacks: a lot of blueberries and satsumas, bread sticks, crackers with cream cheese

I'm sure I'd get slated for hot cross buns and wraps but I reckon we do ok feeding her sensible stuff!

You will genuinely think I'm joking when I tell you my 15 yr olds diet.
But she's doing food tech gcse, and is discovering a real passion for nutrition.
Only whole foods ever - spinach, kale, nuts, seeds, eggs, fish, meat, butternut, sweet potato, any veg, any fruit, pomegranate etc etc. nothing out of date. It's costing me a fortune, but I don't see how I can say no. She has been persuaded to have a pancake today, but she's only had one and piled it only with blueberries.

Oh - I didn't think I'd attached that. That's what she made for her lunch the other day.

DS is 9, he’ll usually have:

Breakfast: Not much usually, on weekends egg, mushroom, bacon.

Snack (school): Fruit, veg, occasionally a bit of cheese

Lunch (school): Usually some variation on meat/fish with potato/rice and veg, lasagne, curries etc. He doesn’t eat the puddings ever (no sweet tooth) but will have fruit.

Afternoon snack (school or home): More fruit or veg, crisps, sometimes a pepperami or a small ham/salami sandwich.

Dinner: Meat/fish with a carb and 1-3 veg, sushi, curries, fish fingers and chips with veg etc. Fruit after, maybe once a week a few Haribo but generally no puddings.

Before bed: cup of full fat milk.

He eats loads, will happily have a full size roast dinner in a restaurant, but is super skinny, underweight actually.

Dd2 - ibs diagnosis so...breakfast is kefir yoghurt and fruit, packed lunch corn wrap with chicken and salad, seaweed, tiny tub of choc buttons, large tub of melon usually, dinner protein and 2 veg, no pudding. We have just started a gluten free 4 week cycle with the dietician.

Dd1 the same but cereal for breakfast and ham wrap for lunch.

Dd2 has extra snacks for dance classes usually seaweed fruit and monster munch.

Ok, these are making me feel not terrible so far! Not the best, certainly room for improvement, but doing ok I think.

DSes are nearly 10, 12 & 15. They eat a lot! There are only a few foods they won't eat. DS2 is most adventurous with food, but eats very slowly & is very skinny like his dad - NHS calculator says 1st centile for weight, but only 200g off 3rd centile (considered healthy range). Others are both tall for their age (DS1 is 6ft already 😳) & skinny, but sporty.

Breakfast (weekdays) - bran flakes/porridge/Weetabix/cornflakes/toast. With honey, raisins, berries, marmite or plain. Apple juice or milk to drink.

Weekend breakfast - croissants/crumpets/pancakes/waffles/Coco pops. With hm banana milkshake (milk & banana) or hm smoothie. Fruit offered.

Packed lunch- sandwiches, salad, crisps, cheese/meat portion, biscuit. Fruit snack.

After school snack - crackers & cheese. Biscuit. Hm cake or flapjack.

Dinner - this week pork, mash & 2 veg. Tomato & cheese pasta. Chicken & veg curry (hm). Scrambled egg with sardines & salad/baked beans. Hot dogs on Saturday. Puddings are ice cream, rice pudding, hm crumble & custard, hm bread & butter pudding. Fruit.

After dinner snack if asked for - carrot, bread & butter, crackers.

My 16 year old eats complete crap.

On a typical school day
Porridge with fruit (frozen berries etc) -only when up in time

Lunch 2 sandwiches (4 slices of bread), one ham/cheese/chicken/tuna, one marmite/jam/chocolate spread. Crisps &chocolate bar

After school snack
Sausage roll/beans on toast/pot noodle. Apple, satsuma, grapes.

Dinner
Family meal. Big portion.
yoghurt or ice cream

Evening snack
2 pieces of toast

Takes a bowl of dry cereal up to bed with him. Plus whatever he’s bought himself.

Before I get absolutely slated, DS is autistic and we're lucky to get him to eat anything. What he's eating at the moment is his current thing, next week it might be something more nutritious, hopefully.

DS breakfast - custard creams, specifically 4.
Lunch - school dinner or when at home, sandwich & crisps
Dinner - noodles, only one brand though and they HAVE to be in a specific bowl.
He also has special nutrition milkshakes to ensure he's getting enough vitamins, minerals & calories.

DD breakfast - oats with jam or cereal
Lunch - pesto pasta, breaded fish bites and cucumber slices or mini sandwiches and fruit salad, changes daily.
Dinner - chicken hotpot, spaghetti Bolognese, curry & rice, fish pie with mash and vegetables...etc, again changes daily
She also has fruit snacks and crackers

DS2 is 13 and a swimmer. He eats

Breakfast
Scrambled eggs, toast or bagel

Lunch
School dinners

After school snack
PB on toast, just under a pint of whole milk.

After swimming snack
Chocolate spread sandwiches

Tea
Same size portion as his Dad of whatever the family are having. Followed by a protein yogurt and fruit.

In between Tea and bed
Toast, cereal, fruit.

Mine are polar opposites

Child who's 8

Breakfast- 1/2 avocado on 1x brown toast
Lunch - tuna mayo on brown, pineapple chunks, small banana and mini cucumbers
Dinner - mixed bean chilli with rice and cheese
Probably have a pudding of Greek yogurt & honey, today will be pancakes. This child of mine is a little overweight

Child 2 is 11
Breakfast 2x white toast jam and butter
Lunch - doesn't eat at school at all (SEN)
Dinner - bean chilli & rice
Pudding chocolate custard
Snacks chocolate croissant & milkshake ff milk, crisis and maybe more toast & jam or pancakes later
This child is of mine is slightly underweight, eats no fruit veg or meat 😢

Both are girls

Tween-
Breakfast- smoothie bowl/cereal/yogurt and fruit/egg and sausage. Sometimes a pastry or pancakes.
Doesn't eat snack at school apparently it wastes time.
Lunch- packed lunch, sandwich/pasta, fruit/veg, yogurt and a cake. Sometimes has school dinners maybe twice a week.
After school snack, fruit/cake/crisps/biscuits/crackers and cheese. Sometimes buys sweets on the way home.
Dinner- usual family fodder pasta/curry/tagine etc plus pudding.
Glass of milk in the evening.

Teen-
If training before school a banana and a yogurt straight afterwards.
Breakfast- home made McMuffin/ egg and bacon/omlette/avocado on toast. Sometime porridge and banana.
Snack at school, don't know what but it costs 80p.
Lunch- leftovers from dinner in a flask, sometimes a wrap or roll, yogurt, fruit, cake, sometimes has school lunch.
After school often buys donuts and sweets on the way home, has a bagel or crackers and cheese when he gets home and a biscuit or cake plus fruit and veg.
Dinner same as Tween above,
If he's eaten early due to training he has cottage cheese on toast or similar for supper.
Drinks tea by the gallon!

I will also probably get slated. My kids all play a ridiculous amount of sport.

My 9 and 10 year old boys

Breakfast
Usually pan au choc or pancakes with maple syrup. They always have a big bowl of fruit too.
Apple juice.

Lunch (if at home)
Omelettes, boiled eggs and soldiers, bacon sandwich or a picky lunch crackers, cold meats, hummus, carrots, cucumber sticks, tortilla chips

Dinner
Pasta, roasts, curry, fajitas any normal family meals really.

Snacks fruit , yogurt, toast, crumpets they also have a "treat"box each which is filled once a week if they chose to eat it all at once that's their look out but that's it gone for the week. On the whole they are pretty good at rationing it.

Dd13 eats differently.

She has

Breakfast Smoothie or yogurt with fruit

Lunch eggs, sandwich or wrap or sushi

Dinner same as the boys but she likes quite different food to them so if it's something she's not keen on there is always ramen stuff in to make a quick alternative.

Older ones either take what's on offer or sort themselves out.

My DS is 16. For breakfast he'll eat greek yogurt with fruit and granola, porridge, Weetabix, Shreddies or when I occasionally buy it Coco-pops, rice Krispies and the like.

If he's at college he has chips for lunch. But that's only twice a week. At home he'll eat eggs/baked beans on toast, noodles, a cheese or cream cheese sandwich

For snacks we have a variety of fruit, hummus to eat with crudités, hard boiled eggs, snack portions of cheese, crackers, bagels to spread avocado on, nut butter for sandwiches.

Dinner he eats a healthy dinner full of vegetables (his sister is completely different and I have terrible trouble with her dinners!) I try to make a bit extra so when he gets hungry again in the evening he eats the leftovers. He can have fruit and yogurt for dessert if he wants and sometimes on the weekend I make something like apple crumble or rice pudding.

I let my 2 eat some 'not so healthy' food at the weekend. I ask what they want as I don't like to keep those things in the house (or I eat them!), I just buy on Friday to be eaten by Sunday evening!
DS loves his fizzy drinks so usually asks for some cans. I'll get him 3 - one for Friday, Sat, Sun - although he can drink when he likes. He's not massively into sweet stuff, he prefers crisps so may ask for them but sometimes something sweet. He had a cadbury's chocolate dessert last weekend. He also asks for chocolate milkshake straws.

What I have realised is if you have junk lying about they will inhale it! But if their only options are more healthy food they will eat that (obviously putting aside sensory issues due to ASD etc.) I like to have a balance though and not make junk food, the 'forbidden fruit'.

I'm answering without reading the replies so far as otherwise I'll probably get depressed!

I have a 14 year odl and a 12 year old. DS1 has autism and issues around food and is under a paediatric dietician. DS2 is NT and has not food issues at all.

Breakfast - DS1 - two slices of toast, cream cheese and a glass of juice
DS3 - anything - toast, eggs, sausages, cereal

Lunch- DS1 - if at school he chooses crisps and an apple. Home would be chicken nuggets homemade and sliced carrots, cucumbers and cherry tomatos plus a carb of some sort for bulk

DS2 - whatever the school puts on (they have a terrific selection) and at home- sandwiches, what DS1 eats, omelettes, etc.

Dinner- DS 1- pasta with tomato sauce and hidden vegetables (thoroughly pureed) cheese. Or chicken tacos. Or roast chicken and roast Aunt Bessies potatos and sliced raw peppers, sweetcorn.

DS2- whatever we eat.

I supplement both Dcs with vitamins and can occasionally get a milkshake made with drinking chocolate and complan down DS1 until he got wise to it.

We have DS1s diet reviewed every 12 months and the dietician is okay with it. But I wish so much DS1 liked food as much as I and his brother does!

My son when aged 10 - 18.

Breakfast 7:30 am - Porridge or Weetabix with honey. Toast with Marmite or honey. Water.

School lunchbox 11:00 am until 200 pm - One and a half salad sandwiches with lettuce, cheese, carrot, tomato, beetroot, onion and sometimes tuna or ham. two biscuits or pop corn, a piece of fruit...apple or mandarine or banana or orange. water

After school - milo or milk drink, one piece of toast with peanut butter, weetabix x 8, piece of fruit

Dinner 7:30 pm - protein and vegetables such as:

• tuna mornay with corn and peas served with rice or potato and carrots.
• two chops or a half steak or three sausages or a fifth of a chicken or roast red meat or fish served with five vegetables.
• pasta sauce made with tomato, grated zucchini, carrot, mushrooms, onion, herbs, minced beef served with pasta and broccoli or beans.
• Chowmein - heaps of cabbage, mince, noodles, vegies.
• lassagne served with greens
• soup - barley, split peas or lentils with vegetables or pumpkin or cauliflower or tomato, served with bread.
• egg dishes like scrambled with tomatoes or frittata
• pizza home made eg basil, tomato, meatballs, cream cheese, bacon, capsicum, cheese, herbs
• stews and thickened mince sometimes with mash, sometimes on toast.
• sweets two times per week - icecream and canned fruit, Apple Crumple, custard or Choc sauce pud.
• Take away once per month.. Fish n chips, dim sims, pizza, Maccas, Red Rooster etc

Saturday at sport - lunch - a pie, a can of soft drink, 10 lollies or a Mars bar.
Sunday lunch - eating with others or special occasions .. cakes and biscuits, a roast.
Weekend kids might bake and share a packet cake, making a salad, biscuits or a chocolate brownie.

Our kids had a pretty regular diet. We had no money or time to waste and son was sporty and fit and cared about his teeth. Still eats pretty healthy and cooks from scratch.

My eldest is 10, yesterday he had

Breakfast - I don’t know how it happened but somewhere along the line he started having a breakfast ‘starter’ and a ‘main’ 🤣 his starter is the same everyday a banana, croissant and a yoghurt. His ‘main’ is either buttered toast or porridge with a drizzle of honey.

Lunch - again same everyday, he is a creature of habit. Cheese sandwich, an Aldi version of fruit winder (dino) or raisins. A pot of fruit which has 2 x types of fruit in it (apple and strawberry today) a cake bar and a cheese string. Not the healthiest but he won’t eat anything that ‘crunches’ like crisps, biscuits, breadsticks. Won’t eat sausage rolls or any other kind of sandwich. Won’t eat cold pasta salad or anything like that.

After school snack - a piece of fruit and a drink, either an innocent smoothie or flavoured milk, whatever we have in.

Dinner - if it’s hot he’ll eat basically anything. Last night was shawarma spiced chicken thighs in the air fryer, with rice and medditrranean roast vegetables. I did some pitta breads for the table too.

Dessert - usually a small bit of chocolate (eg 1 finger ofntwirl) but last night he had half a Costco Valentines cupcake my mum brought round.

That’s not complete crap…..could be worse!

It’s a balance dinner is always a meat/ fish with plenty of veg or salad. Breakfast is cereal / toast / porridge, yoghurt and muesli, cooked breakfast at the weekend. School lunches, they tend to choose hot. Normally a treat for snack plus fruit. Plus a little something after school as “starving”

I think that all sounds pretty decent.

I have four. DD18, and DS16, 12 and 8.

Breakfast is usually some type of cereal - fruit and fibre, shreddies or shed load of weetabix, the three boys will have fruit too. Often my DD makes over night oats for them all wich they all love. Toast! The boys usually eat 4/5 slices each if thats what they choose for brekkie. At the weekends they all like porridge/ pain au chocolate.

Lunch they all have school dinners, not sure exactly what, pizza is involved I know that.

After school, either biscuits or cereal bar/ crisps/ fruit/ maybe a piece of flapjack or cake if i've made some.

Dinners are usual family meals, except they're vegan because, we are, curry, stir fry, pasta, sausage and mash, stews, lasagne, sheps pie etc etc. They all love their food and the two older ones usually have a double portion.

My two middle sons do alot of running, train at club three days a week, and one of them likes to run extra in the week, he loves it, so I like to make sure they're eating enough, they often have toast/ crumpets in the evening before bed.

Looks lovely! My DD loves pomegranate too!

Son, almost 5.
Breakfast is normally weetabix or porridge with strawberries and honey

lunch if in school is a cheese sandwich, pom bears, bag of mini cookies, cuc sticks, fruit and something like quorn savoury ball things

Home and he likes a mega snack which is normally a bag of crisps and a Freddy or a lolly. He’ll have an apple as well.

tea is fish fingers, chips and corn on cob. He loves beans and mash and cheese as well. He’ll eat about 2 cucumbers a week. Hates other veg unless we hide it

this isn’t every day but average, and he’ll eat more if he’s going through a growth spurt.