to think nesquick whole grain cereal, fat free milk and no added sugar juice is relatively healthy for a fussy eater

[twistedsista]

Hi,

My 7 year old Ds is a very fussy eater, tried everything!

I would love it if he would eat kale with cottage cheese on rice cakes for breakfast but get real no child eats perfectly like that.

Today he had a normal sized bowl of whole grain nesquick cereal with skimmed milk.I know it has some sugar in it but its only about the same as a banana and to counter this he has a glass of sugar free orange squash. Both the cereal and juice have added vitamins. Does everyone else agree this is pretty healthy and realistic breakfast?

Thanks

Marie

We Don't drink sugar free squash I think it really tastes nasty burns your throat.

People have very strong views on these things.

1. I am anti dairy.
2. I would give chidlren protein and good fats at breakfast not carbs of any kind. Why can't the child have eggs?
3. Sugar free squash is worse than sugared and full of additives, aspartame and all manner of stuff. Water is better.
4. If you have to have dairy at all full fat is much healthier all the new science proves.

So on just about every score I am afraid I would give this very low marks indeed.

It sounds fine.
My ds is not a breakfast person, I have managed to get him to move on from toast to toast and Nutella or a cheese toastie. No added sugar squash all the way here as well, hes refused milk and water since he was tiny and hes 10 now with no obvious effects.

hazeyjane is topping up juice with soda water worse than with tap water? I never knew that, they do brush their teeth after breakfast so I assumed that the fructose would be getting brushed way then, does the soda water make it stick to their teeth or something? Genuine question, as DH has poor teeth (runs in his family) so I am a bit paranoid about watching DC's sugar consumption.

Maybe he won't eat eggs if he's quite a fussy eater

Nesquick cereal has 35g of sugar per 100g serving which is very high. Look for a cereal that has a lower sugar content as a starting point.

I don't agree that all cereal is bad especially if you have some fresh fruit with it. It's much better than eating nothing before school.

Vindscreen Anything fizzy is bad for teeth, including fizzy water, tonic, soda water etc.

Ok, thanks for the clarification dojo.

My understanding from a study I saw is that artificial sweeteners prime the body for a rush of sugar. When that doesn't happen, sugar/carb cravings increase and the hormones produced by the body don't have their proper function to fulfil. FWIW I don't ban all soft drinks by any means, but my DC have water and milk mostly.

Jane I'm with you on the dairy but was too scared to say it When I say it in real life people go but milk's GOOD for you!

OP ALL processed foods are shit. They are really the work of the Devil and I include bacon, cereal, yogurt and over the counter bread in that.

If you haven't made it yourself don't eat it. And to those who say "Ooh like we've all got TIME to do that!"

Sorry but you have if you don't do other stuff. I have a filthy carpet but all my bread is made by me in my kitchen. [smuggety smug]

The advice to give skimmed milk is not great advice. Full fat milk is only 4% fat and is better for a child.
If a child has a weight problem, the best thing to feed them is natural foods rather than processed.

I'm not that obsessed with only having healthy foods but I do not buy stuff with artificial sweeteners. I really think they are terrible and harmful in the long run.

Instead of a 40% sugar chocolate cereal, I'll give my kids some plain rice krispies with a spoonful of chocolate nesquick powder over it. They still think its delicious and its much less sugar.
Ds2 had a dairy intolerance and still doesn't really like milk much. He'll eat cheese strings and will have milk with nesquik in it so I've learnt to become a bit more forgiving of some so called rubbish foods.

Good god. And this is why eating healthily is so difficult - look how many differing opinions there are on just 3 pages of comments.

Also have to ask why crumpets,marmite ,honey are so superior to cereal? I am not sure this is the case.

Dares it's not difficult. Just don't eat anything that's processed. That's it!

Foodie they're not...crumpets are as bad as cereal.

Orange juice is very acidic for teeth, and we were told by our dentist that the carbonation process causes the water to be acidic, so it would be a double whammy.

Ds is a very selective eater, the dietician said that cereal with a bit of milk and some toast was an ok breakfast - if I could get him to eat porridge, berries, eggs, homemade granola or well pretty much anything....then he wouldn't be a fussy/selective eater!

Given the OP has already said the child is fussy I'm not sure how helpful it is to suggest drastic changes. But the OP could try phasing certain things in/out - for eg, OK, squash - not my choice, but even in a house where DCs drink squash, is there any need to have it for breakfast?

Try different cereals - some have no sugar (eg shreddies). Try a slice of cheese on the side. experiment with adding extra 'bits' while still giving the safety blanket of milk and cereal.

And to answer your OP, I think it's realistic, but no, I don't think it's healthy. Although if you have already taken medical advice I think you probably know that.

I really cannot understand many posters' wholesale aversion to breakfast cereals.

Nesquik cereal is not great due to the high sugar content. However a plainer cereal such as weetabix/oatibix, shredded wheat or shreddies, with full fat/semi-skimmed milk and a sliced banana or handful of berries, makes a perfectly acceptable breakfast.

In our house we often like to have porridge, wholemeal banana pancakes, granola and yoghurt etc for breakfast, but sometimes there isn't time for that and cereal is a good alternative.

It is not necessary to have a large portion of protein with every single meal, indeed too much protein is known to be unhealthy. There is nothing wrong with carbohydrates, but they should be derived mostly from whole grains, fruit and vegetables, rather than refined sugars.

Cereal is shit in a box. Really????

The tide is turning on the "low fat" myth. The longitudinal studies show minimal weight difference between low-fat and full-fat diets (about half a pound over decades IIRC). Many low-fat products are bulked out with sugar or starch for texture reasons.

In the no-sugar club we observe that fat and protein keep us satisfied for longer, with smoother mood and energy. Cereal that's 35% sugar does mad things to blood sugar levels - bad. Whingey children craving empty calories.

I agree that full fat milk would be more appropriate, and a cereal with lower sugar - even a swap to equally sugary muesli where the sugars are mostly naturally occurring would be better.

But, you know what? I've seen plenty of children rock up to (secondary) school on a tin of Monster and a bag of Doritos. By comparison yours is brilliant!

If cereal is the only "acceptable" breakfast (as it tends to be in our house), try scouring the shops for the lowest sugar version. Supermarket own brands often have less sugar than branded versions. I often give my two an own brand chocolate cereal that has less sugar than pretty much all branded kids cereal and most granolas on the shelves.

Try and wean off the squash, if you can.

Apart from that, don't stress about it too much.

I've given up getting too worked up about breakfast - main rule being that you have to eat something (don't care if it's leftover noodles or pizza, a chocolate brioche, cereal or wholemeal organic spelt toast with hand churned butter). And clear your dishes away after!

Have you tried a cup of strong coffee and a fag?

www.goodtoknow.co.uk/wellbeing/galleries/34492/cereals-the-best-and-worst-revealed/2

This might help op?

Jnaeparker why on gods green earth would you not allow carbs of any kind at breakfast time?

A normal breakfast in our house is own brand shreddies, wheatabix or ready brek. Made with milk (normally semi skimmed, occasionally full fat, last week we had purple top)
I don't add sugar to it, and occasionally ds2 will have banana on his wheatabix.
Or toast/crumpets with jam, marmite or chocolate spread.
And normally water to drink, sometimes squash, which is probably sugar free.

tethers I hope that is a healthy silk cut?