To think it isn't normal to eat like this?

[2MumsAreBetterThan1]

Had a relative over for tea today aalong with her 9 year old daughter.

Served quite a large tea for a child as overcooked so at 6pm she ate (the 9 year old) a whole chicken breast, 6 boiled potatoes,.2 Yorkshire puddings and a large scoop each of cabbage, green beans, carrots and peas. She ate it all along with 2 slices of bread.

At 6.40 gave her pudding, just her as adults were too full to eat it , she ate all that and asked for more. Her plate was repeatedly filled with cheesecake until she had polished off a full cake designed to serve 6 .

By 7.30 she was complaining of hunger so her mum gave her a full pack of crackers (the big pack of Jacobs ones) all of which she ate.

At 8.15ish the adults were having a drink so got some nibbles out. doritoes, dips, mixed nuts, crisps and some cheese and crackers. She helped herself to these as well .

They left at 9pm by which point she was again complaining of hunger and her mum said I'll make you toast when we get in.

Needless to say she is overweight, now my daughter is a faddy eater so hard to compare but surely that's an excessive amount of food for a child?

No health issues, mum said she's always loved her food. Seemed to me like she was eating out of boredom a few times.

Could be a thyroid problem?
Or maybe she might be hitting puberty, I started early and could never satisfy my hunger. I got a bit podgy but as I got taller I evened out.
Did her mum comment on how much she was eating?

Good point about the thyroid.

Her mum didn't comment at all, seemed normal to her. It was only when i said she can't be hungry already that her mum said she loves her food and has always been a good eater.

Oh and yes she drank lots. Brought her own 2ltr bottle of pop which was almost empty on leaving and i offered her juice a few times but was turned down so can't have been thirsty.

That is a ridiculous amount of food!

Way too much. Although well done on her eating 4 different veg with dinner, unless it was only a bite of each.

Were the potatoes new (tiny) ones? I don't know anyone who could eat 6 regular sized potatoes with their dinner. Or a whole cheese cake in one evening. However, the meal (with 1 regular sized potato and 1 slice of cheese cake) sounds ok.
Maybe she is diabetic? Hunger and thirst are signs. Although my friends little girl lost weight when she had undiagnosed diabetes 1. Type 2 is caused by excess weight though...(well, not the actual weight, but the over eating/drinking).
Her mother is VU allowing her to eat all that cheesecake, not only from a health point of view, but poor manners....how rude! Also letting her drink 2 litres of pop.

Crackers would be dry - no one can eat crackers without guzzling some fluid! They just stick to your mouth.

The dinner sounds normal to me, minus the bread and the cheese cake. Did no say "thats enough?" every time she asked for more? Did no one point out that there were other people who might like a slice?

Would it be possible to tell the mum that you think she's hungrier than she should be, maybe worth checking out with a doctor? Would the mum be receptive to hearing that?

DD eats like a horse because she runs everywhere and grows like a weed so I let her. She is skinny. The problem is that this little girl is overweight and eats too much. If she'll eat veg, fill her up on that not cheesecake.

That's quite astonishing- even if there is a thyroid issue, it's amazing that she can fit that much food/drink in her stomach over a 2 hr period without barfing. I'm pretty sure I couldn't and I am not a light eater.

Both my older DC's (7&6) can eat like this on occasion - they would manage the dinner and share the cheesecake between them, and would likely nibble on nuts and crisps if they were around. The only thing that strikes me as particularly weird is the crackers.

Having said that both DD's are a bit camel like and can equally have days where they don't want much more than fruit and then will "fill up" over a few massive meals.

I also wondered if the girl was bored - it seems it was quite an adult-orientated evening.

Ah I missed the comment about being overweight- is this one of those threads?

Mrs. T - at grows like a weed that is exactly the description I need for my two skinny minnies!

I was like this as a child and my little sister is also like this (she is 9) my mum made us wait between finishing the meal and wanting more, trying to find our full feeling is how she would put it.

The mum should just be offering the child fruit and only alowing her to have 1 (maybe with a small second helping) pudding. Oh and pop is not great, no reason to be giving an overweight child drinks with hidden calories in.

I can't eat like this and I'm a fat adult!

oh dear! a 2ltr bottle of pop for a 9 year old, that makes me cringe.
and a whole cheese cake!!! My husband is 6ft tall and very sporty, even he could not eat all that in one sitting.
her mum is going to cause that poor child problems when she is older. I can't stand leaving food on my plate (something drummed into me as kid) which can be unhealthy to get out of.

But why did you keep giving her cheesecake? Eh sorry you have had your slice, the rest is for others greedy guts

It may not have been a lot depending on the size of the potatoes.

But if you thought it was too much-why serve it?

And bread as well?

And say no to the pudding after one slice-that you´re saving it for tomorrow or something?

Could be a medical problem or habit/boredom because her mum carries food around/feeds her whenever she wants.

It would take my 9 year old more than a week to eat that much tbh but she seemingly lives and grows on fresh air.
Was she bored? Sometimes children eat because they haven't got anything better to do.

It does seem a lot.

Do you plan to do anything other than post on here about the girl and her mum?

It sounds like far too much. But why did you, as host, let her eat the whole cheesecake? Encouraging bad manners and adding to the problem. If I had been too full for a slice immediately after dinner, you can bet i'd have been holding out for a piece later on if the dinner host had brought it out and offered it. I'd then be quite disgusted to see the whole thing given to a greedy nine year old.

I wouldn't have served her such a massive plateful and definitely wouldn't have given seconds of pudding or any further food during the evening.

I don't see what you can do about it tbh and it isn't your problem.

Way too much, but I agree with the others - why was she given a whole cheesecake, why did no one say "no"?

That's more food than my big-eating, over-weight 6 foot husband has ever eaten in an evening.

A big appetite isn't wrong in a child if they are running around and burning it off. If they are putting on weight, they are consuming more than their body needs to sustain itself.

What are you going to do about it? It's ok to post on here to just clarify the situation, but I really think you ought to be addressing it with the girl's parents.

downton Not keen on the OP's post but how does 'bad manners' come into a story about someone offering food and someone else eating it?

And 'greedy' for taking what's been offered to you? .

Or do you play games in your house to trap unwary nine-year-olds who aren't up on social niceties?

When my DC has been going through a growth spurt they have eaten colossal amounts ie 2 dinners in an evening. DS regularly eats more than adults at meals. But they aren't overweight at all.

Had she maybe not eaten earlier in the day?

If she has a big appetite her parents really need to fill her up on veg rather than cake.

I wouldn't give a child a whole 6 portion cake- was nothing savoury/ healthier offered?