To have thought my dcs diet was ok until I joined mumsnet?

[Meandmygirls2009]

I have always thought my dc ate ok, but since joining mumsnet and reading lots of posts I am worried that I do not feed my dc a healthy diet! Typical day consists of:
Breakfast: bagel and orange juice
Snack: grapes
Lunch: cheese sandwich, mini cheddars, raisons
Snack: 2 chocolate digestives
Dinner: home made spag Bol, strawberries

Does this sound ok? I am worried the daily mini cheddars and digestives are too much after reading what other children eat :(

I wouldn't eat a rich tea biscuit if I was hungry. why would I do that. I wouldn't eat a biscuit if I was hungry. I would eat something that would stop me being hungry. Biscuits are snacks.

atticus

There is a lot of consensus out there (by expert dietitians)about some points you raise:

smoothies - smoothies are not good because they contain too much sugar. Experts have pointed out that the amount of fruit that goes into a smoothie is way in excess of what anyone would eat in one meal. This gives the body a 'hit' of sugar pretty much the same as something considered unhealthy- ie a Mars bar. Too much sugar is not just about weight gain, it' s more about how the body has to deal with it- the pancreas pushes out insulin to get rid of it- and over time if the pancreas does this too much it just gives up- and you end up with diabetes.

Dried fruit- yes it's about the water but the same thing applies as above. You might eat 10 grapes and feel quite full; and stop. no one feels full after 10 raisins so they keep eating and in the end have far more sugar than if they ate the same in fresh fruit.

And the stickiness of fried fruit is bad for teeth.

fried? Hmm- maybe dried!

Fried fruit.. I'm in.

Fried bannana and a scotch pancake is food of the gods

I don't think it is terrible either, but I would omit the juice for the sake of their teeth.

Dd's (4) food day:
Breakfast: 2 weetabix with soya milk and raisins and flaxseeds
Snack: wholegrain rice cakes
Lunch: egg sandwich, baby bells, tomatoes and fruit
Snack: fromage frais
Dinner: vegetable soup with bread

This is a weekday menu, at the weekend she is allowed more treats.

Opinions?

that seems reasonable hibble.

I did some work a while ago with a public health dietitian on children's diets. What they said was that children ought to have 3 portions of dairy daily (unless diagnosed as allergic /intolerant.) so that could be milk on cereal, yoghurt, (plain not with sugar added) , cheese, etc. I know that some children don't have dairy but if that's the case then they need lots of other sources of calcium.

Your DD is not really having enough vegetables. Tomatoes count as one, (though some pedant will come along and say they are fruit-ok they are!) veg soup as another, and that's it.

When my DCs were that age, they'd be having veg for tea/dinner such as carrots, peas, cauliflower (cheese sometimes) broccoli, raw peppers, sweet corn, etc.

Might she eat that?

It's also a bit low on protein- she's only getting that from 1 egg and the cheese,(and the fromage frais). She really ought to be having fish, meat, or more cheese/eggs to make up her protein.

Sounds great to me! I grate carrot into my spag bols with mushrooms, onions and garlic.

If a tomato is a fruit why would it be pedantic to say so? Genuine question.

Yes but whilst smoothies are heavy on the sugar I wouldn't give the mars bar (typically) and so the smoothie is still better than the mars bar because it contains vitamins. If I'm trying to get vitamins into my child smoothies are a good way to go as long as they're not getting additional sugar in another form such as the bags of haribo or the mars bar.

Similarly if I sit here munching on dried pineapple (which is self limiting since the enzyme in it will start to eat the inside of my mouth if I eat too much) that's got to be far better for me than the pack of jaffa cakes I would otherwise eat.

I'm sticking with "balance" I think

Weirdly, fruit and veg are apparently an inefficient source of vitamins. They contain other good things though.

You can also reduce the sugar content of smoothies by chucking in more veg. Kids are pretty wise to this though

If a tomato is a fruit why would it be pedantic to say so? Genuine question.

Because its a meaningless distinction. It is a fruit, yes, but its also a vegetable. Saying its a fruit as if that makes any difference at all to how it is used or what nutrients it contains is wanky.

It's all a matter of degree. The 100% alcohol and chocolate diet is not going to be good for anyone. A 100% healthy food diet will be.

Glass of milk going to be better than a glass of sugar or sugar free junk but glass of tap water better still.
A smoothie might be better than a Mars bar but you'd be better off just eating a piece of fruit or eat more fish at lunch time.

Since we're posting menu's now. This is my DD's (2) Menu for today:

Breakfast: Weetabix with milk and an apple (one of the small kids ones). Ate the whole apple but only about half the Weetabix. She gets a cup of milk every morning which she sips through the day along with a cup of very dilute juice (literally a drop of juice in a whole cup of water).

Lunch: Scrambled eggs made with milk & cheese on brown toast, cherry tomatoes and a banana. Ate all the toast, about half the scrambled eggs and the whole banana (she loves fruit).

Dinner: Will be Home made minced beef taco's and sweet potato wedges served with sweetcorn. Will probably have a no added sugar fromage frais afterwards.

No snacks as of yet but if she does it's usually in the form of fruit, cucumber sticks or occasionally cheese. She does get treats (and raisins, gasp!) but not every day.

She's two, nearly 3 so is naturally fussy at this age, although there are some things she eats which other kids her age won't touch. I don't think this is too bad though. Is it?

Meant to add, by juice I mean squash and the taco mixture will contain veg such as onions, green peppers, garlic.

Loads of parents on mn seem to give their children cherry tomatoes as a snack...IRL, I have never met a child who would eat a raw tomato!

IRL, I have never met a child who would eat a raw tomato!

One of mine eats loads of them, like apples. And lettuce leaves and lumps of cucumber, sticks of celery etc. But won't touch an assembled salad at all.

My DD has gone through phases with them, she used to only eat the inside and leave the skins, at the moment she eats them in their entirety though. She's funny about cucumber though, won't eat it if it's got the skin on but loves them peeled.

Tomatoes - have to say most children I know will eat them. And they are one of the free fruit/veg snacks we are given at school - about once a week.

I think most children will eat tomatoes in a sauce on pasta etc but neither of mine would willingly eat a raw tomato, DS1 will eat them grilled.

I have to say you'd rarely see me eating a raw tomato either unless I was doing so to be polite!

Neither of mine will eat raw tomatoes either - it's the only fruit or veg ds1 won't eat (I have one very good eater and one beige food lover)

For me I try and make sure at each meal they have at least two portions or fruit or veg, so at least by bedtime they have had min 6 portions. Breakfast is Something like:

Poached egg, beans, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Or

Porridge made with milk and seeds, banana and peach.

If they had the fruity breakfast, I try and make sure lunch is just with veg. If they ate veg and breakfast I might add fruit at lunch.

Lunch and dinner are both generally a meat/ fish or egg, with veg and some rice or similar.

can I post mine please because I do struggle with this

DS1 (10) and DS2 (8)

Breakfast-
scrambled eggs on half and half toast (two eggs each) with two rashers of bacon each. DS1 had six grilled cherry tomatoes. DS2 didn't.
glass of smoothie (red berries and banana)

snack - frozen yoghurt stick

lunch-
salmon with sweet chilli glaze, jacket potato, carrots, peas and sweetcorn (two handfuls of veg each in total)
drink - water

snack - popcorn (with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on it)

dinner will be - fajitas - chicken strips, peppers, onions, tomato and chilli sauce, cheese, tortillas.
pudding - rhubarb crumble and custard.
drink - water

Ok? I know there is quite a lot of fruit.

What do you struggle with?

One of mine won't touch tomatoes in any form - not on pasta, not even as ketchup. The other will just about eat bolognese but not plain tomato sauce.

In fact, the youngest one will eat broccoli, cauliflower and then carrots under duress. That's it for veg.