Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6

Original poster

AIBU to think that Iceland food isn't poisoning my child...?

132 replies

RoystonVaseySmegHead · 05/09/2015 21:30

A bit long, sorry
yesterday I was at DGP's house, with a bag of shopping from Iceland.. Chinese food (Saturday night 'takeaway') and a bag of smiley faces for me (haven't had them since primary school!!) and DGM was horrified and wouldn't stop going on about how Iceland food was all convenience food, the wrong kinds of food and that I 'was setting my son up for a bad future' she also seemed to think I don't cook and don't feed my son 'proper' food and vegetables!! WTF I can and do thanks I really don't know whether she's right and I'm a crappy mum (not her words but the way she was talking to me about it seemed like that was her opinion) I'm a bit upset about it... I love her to bits but she's quite a my way or the highway sort of person and I usually end up doubting myself after these sorts of discussions with her.. Especially as my lads a big boy (size 4-5 clothes at 2.5yo) and he's got to go back to the children's centre next month to make sure his heights caught up with his weight but he's about 100/101cm tall now and 22kg... So now I'm feeling really guilty and a bit of a crap mum
Is Iceland food really bad? Ds usually has cereal/toast for breakfast then a sandwich or sometimes hoops/beans/ravioli on toast with sweet corn or peas for lunch and a meat, carbs and veg tea before he goes to bed.. Is that a really bad diet for him?

OP posts:

Gileswithachainsaw · 05/09/2015 22:08

seem like tiny treats

southeastastra · 05/09/2015 22:10

we buy lots from iceland, they were the first to sell organic frozen vegetables. it's like any shop you pick and choose and everything in moderation.

and tea i fine for younger kids. how on earth does it 'leach' iron out of us?

W00t · 05/09/2015 22:10

OK- it's really good that he likes fish- it's very good for him- but are you using processed ones (i.e. with the sauce made on it) or are you making from scratch yourself? Bought ones will be high in salt again I'm afraid.

Will he eat yoghurt?

Do you have an oven, and a casserole dish of some type (like a pyrex or cast iron one)?

Original poster

RoystonVaseySmegHead · 05/09/2015 22:12

He loves bananas and blueberries and strawberries, he'll eat cooked apple and he sucks the juice out of oranges so not sure if that's classed as eating them? He usually has those rice crispy shapes without sugar and while milk for breakfast and when I say cup of tea I mean like half a tippy cup of weak decaf tea with half a sugar in and milk. Same with hot chocolate but it's half a spoon of cocoa with half a sugar and hot milk

OP posts:

Oysterbabe · 05/09/2015 22:13

Yanbu to think it's not poisoning him, it isn't. It is crap though.

W00t · 05/09/2015 22:15

NHS anaemia advice page here sea
And if you can bear to sully your computer with a daily mail link here a dietitian warns young children shouldn’t drink tea because it can interfere with the absorption of iron.
‘Tea contains compounds, called polyphenols, which bind with iron, making it harder for our bodies to absorb it,’ she explains.
‘Iron deficiency causes symptoms such as tiredness and lethargy, and can make it harder to concentrate.’

It is in the 0-5 booklet from the midwives/HVs where it says don't give children tea.

So, sorry, prevents absorption rather than leaches out, but effect is the same: anaemia.

Feckingfeckfeck · 05/09/2015 22:15

When you say fish and meat everyday, is it proper meat and fish? It is it fish cakes/fingers chicken covered in breadcrumbs kind of thing? Because that would be the reason why. Also hot chocolate and tea is totally unnecessary for a 2 year old.
If you cook everything totally from scratch it actually works out cheaper because you can make a huge bulk of it and freeze a load if it, so then if you are in a rush you can chuck one of those in the microwave instead if a ready meal.
Also I find Asda to be really good for cheap meat and it's fairly good quality too!

poocatcherchampion · 05/09/2015 22:15

You add sugar to your obese Toddlers drinks??

Nuff said really.

W00t · 05/09/2015 22:16

Argh- please ignore that offer to follow the DM! That pasted itself automatically, the shame of it!

MerryMarigold · 05/09/2015 22:18

22kg at 2.5 . Sorry, we worked so hard to get my ds to 25kg at the age of 9.5!

JawannaDrink · 05/09/2015 22:18

22kg is vv heavy for a 2.5 year old no matter how tall. My six year old weighs less than that.
His diet sounds high in salt sugar and fat.

Original poster

RoystonVaseySmegHead · 05/09/2015 22:18

We usually do a big meat and tatty pie from scratch and then eat what we want then freeze the rest. Same with spag Bol and stuff that's easy to cool lots of at once. He eats a lot of yogurt and if he's hungry between lunch and dinner he'll ask for one or raisins (but it isn't everyday) instead of chocolate and stuff. Portion-wise he usually gets a spoonful of everything and if he eats it all he can have fruit or a yogurt before bed if he asks. He usually eats all his breakfast and picks at his lunch then eats most of his dinner.

OP posts:

noeffingidea · 05/09/2015 22:19

Tea isn't good for young children because it reduces iron absorption. I was advised to give my son (a very fussy eater, and tiny amounts) a small glass of orange juice with his dinner instead. Apparently orange juice helps iron absorption.
Iceland food in itself isn't crap. There's plenty of meat, fish and veg at a good price. I would limit the ready meals to once a week though, similar to how some people have a takeaway at the weekend.

MerryMarigold · 05/09/2015 22:21

But in answer to the Original Post, I buy stuff from Iceland quite frequently. They do really nice Pain au Chocolat to cook in the oven yourself, also frozen fruit, ice cream, frozen veg, granola, yoghurts, innocent juices and frozen fish. It's not the healthiest stuff, but neither is it too bad in moderation. I'd end up buying ice cream from Sainsbury's at double the price.

W00t · 05/09/2015 22:22

Sorry, the casserole dish was for me to suggest that mince dishes you make in a casserole, as then (with the lid closed) you won't have to smell the mince cooking. Bung everything in, put it on 6 for 20mins, then turn down to 4 or 5.

You can buy salt-free stock, either as cubes (holland and barrett, sainsbury, asda all sell Kallo cubes, who do salt-free) or theres a powder, possibly called ?Marigold too, but I think that's from H&B too.

If you cook shepherds pie like this, it's really easy to bulk out the mince with lentils- I use red lentils because they're a good source of iron, and green lentils, because my fussy DS actually likes them! (and they're cheap and you can get more meals out of one pack of mince then)

You can make shepherd pie, cottage pie, bolognaise sauce etc like this very easily.

Original poster

RoystonVaseySmegHead · 05/09/2015 22:24

Thanks poo that's made me feel so much better.. I'm confused now though because our scales say he's 3st 1 (he was on them yesterday), but 22kg is closer to 4st isn't it? The scales aren't wrong because I weigh 15st on them and when I went to the doctors last week I weighed 15st

OP posts:

Original poster

RoystonVaseySmegHead · 05/09/2015 22:26

Should add that yes I know I'm overweight but I'm nearly 6ft5 so not too badly

OP posts:

TheLowKing · 05/09/2015 22:29

Put his stats in on the NHS calculator if you're concerned.

Celerysoup3 · 05/09/2015 22:29

Are you mostly having breaded processed chicken/fish?

SillyBub · 05/09/2015 22:31

22kg at 2.5. Really? I just happened to weigh my just turned 8yo DS today and he is 22kg. I also weighed my 5yo DD and she was just under 22kg but then she's only 2.5cm shorter than her brother at 128cm tall. I think you need to take some proper advice on his diet. Mine don't eat perfectly, far from it, but I am at least armed with the correct information with regards to portion sizes and balanced diets for children.

TripTrapTripTrapOverTheBridge · 05/09/2015 22:31

I rarely do bulking out, but when I do I use aubergine. It blends really well with mince and you get the benefits of it while it remains hidden from the kids

Celerysoup3 · 05/09/2015 22:32

Sorry just read your post.

Can you swap snacks like yogurt and raisins for veg sticks? Or an apple.

W00t · 05/09/2015 22:32

What kind of yoghurts does he have? It might be better to buy the large pint-sized pots of natural yoghurt, and spoon it out and then add fruit, especially if he likes bananas, blueberries etc. Lots of children-targeted yoghurts have loads of sugar in, but if you go for normal, adult yoghurts, even the fruit ones have less sugar in than the kiddy type. He probably still needs full fat not low fat yoghurt btw. Plus the low fat ones always have lots of added sugar.

Are the rice krispie shapes those multi-grain shapes ones? they have just over twice as much sugar in as normal rice krispies.

Celerysoup3 · 05/09/2015 22:33

OP why do you think your DH is so heavy?

W00t · 05/09/2015 22:34

You're 6'5"? He's going to be tall, isn't he?

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6

Swipe left for the next trending thread