Calling all parents of slim, active and fast metabolism kids

[haveanothertea]

DS is 9. He has my Dad’s tall and slim build. He’s skinny but energetic. Likes sport and is always moving.

He has a fast metabolism. He doesn’t like:

Solid fruit
Tuna
Plain chicken
Vegetables with skin on (only likes broc/carrots/cauli)

The only thing he will wolf down is pasta. Always leaves most of his mash or chips. Likes baby potatoes and rice.

Has a decent breakfast but always wants cereal. Has toast and choc milk for snack at school and a hot school dinner.

He is starving when he comes out of school
so I give him cheese and crackers or a
smoothie and a small sandwich to get the fruit in. The cheese is hit and miss. He likes cold meats.

I struggle with ideas of what to give him and I feel like he needs more fats and protein to keep up with his activity levels. He does tend to get a cold easily.

Would be interested to hear what others do.

He has a vitamin sweet.

He does okay overall I think. I just struggle with snack ideas because he’s more of a little and often
type.

He’s also a slow eater and real times are tricky because DH is a really fast eater (big plate in a few minutes).

My DC are like this and love nuts and peanut butter. Peanuts, macadamias, cashews, almonds. Can't have them at school but keep a huge supply at home. Also dried mango.

Mine also eat lots of nuts and lots of the nut/dried fruit protein bars. Houmous and Carrots too.

I have two of these children! I add butter to foods if I can - scrambled eggs, pasta etc. One of them likes pate so quite often has this as a snack on some crackers/bread, the other prefers cream cheese or homous. Lots of dried fruit and nuts - mango is a favourite - we have a 'scoops' shop locally so I stock up there. Also - pepperamis are good snacks, or Lidl do chorizo which comes in a 'snack size' which are always popular, as are hard-boiled eggs.

Mine is the opposite on that he doesn’t care about food at all! Eats the middle of a sandwich and then goes off. Wish I had his appetite tbh.

Fruit plus flapjack coming out of school although my dc not a fruit fan had a couple of years having a banana or apple ...plus pb sandwich and/or flapjack..
If coming home scrambled/poached egg on toast.. although we did do protein breakfast so egg toast/toastie.. as that kept him fuller at school.. more faff for me but really worth it

Then a bowl of cereal after school esp with full fat/gold top milk

If we were going to the park i would bring a wrap/sandwich..plus fruit occasionally scotch egg/sausage roll or pizza slice ! Arancini were a favourite..

Mine eats avocados as a snack or on toast. Peanut butter on toast or with something to dip in it (apple, rice cake, etc). Swap normal wheat pasta for lentil pasta sometimes for a protein hit? I get Sainsbury's own. Cashew nuts as an after school snack, sometimes mixed with other things like raisins or other kinds of nuts. I also blend cashew nuts to make some creamy sauces for pasta or salad dressings which gets some extra good fats in.

My beanpole eats a lot of eggs in all shape and form. Also not a fan of tuna specifically, but loves salmon and shrimp. And yes avocado.

Is he a healthy weight OP? If so, honestly don't worry just keep doing what you're doing. If he is underweight then I'd probably suggest a GP visit.

I'm sure the sugar police will come after me, but homemade cake and biscuits.
We've just finished rhubarb crumble. Chocolate cake is next.
It's the first snack DS1 (teenaged) dropped. He kept up 2 breakfasts for years, but dropped the cake first.
Pork pies are the other thing that get demolished in this house.
Fried eggs are often cooked (by the kids) if they think there was insufficient dinner.

Will he eat tinned fruit?

DS gets through mountains of sausage rolls and dried apricots (the crazy jack ones which are quite soft). Plus peanut butter and jam sandwiches using 50/50 bread. All in addition to fairly hefty meals I would say. He is in a growing phase but very slim still

Mine are like this and love spicier foods so I can fill them up with curries, chilli, tagines etc.

He’s around 30kg and 142cm so a healthy weight.

These are great ideas. I get stuck sometimes!

You could try pea protein pasta. I like Zenb but cook it for a shorter time than on the packet.
Protein powder in smoothie.
Make your own pasta sauce . Mine is onion, tinned tomatoes, mushrooms and diced courgette in a slow cooker. Blend.

My kids are both skinny. I make a high calorie cake to try and build them up with something they like. Neither will eat eggs, or butter for that matter, but the cake has 4 eggs, 200g butter, 200g sugar and the other bits and pieces that go in, so I bake two of those per week.

I used to give my boys a proper sandwich straight after school (2 thick slices of bread, butter, salami or ham or cheese)

then dinner at around 6

How about fruit loaf (we should have shares in Soreen), protein yogurts, smoothies made with frozen fruit, thick yogurt and vanilla protein powder?

Can you try different pasta recipes to try and encourage him to eat other food? E.g. sausage and veg pasta, chicken and pesto pasta, tuna pasta bake...

I also really enjoy baked oatmeal recipes - you can have them warm with yoghurt, or leave them to cool and eat like a flapjack! TheFoodMedic on insta does a really nice chocolate and peanut butter one!

He’s just had some chunky ham, loads of broccoli and pasta followed by some peeled and chopped apple with a yoghurt.

He eats well overall but I’m stuck in a rut. I’ll try tuna pasta again but he keeps picking the chicken out.

Thanks all.