Wtf do kids eat this much?

[Esmeismyhero]

Ds is 5 and 3 months (I don't know if that is relevant)

He goes to school, he does karate one day a week and the weekend he is usually running around out etc. After school he watches his iPad, does homework, runs around the house, plays toys etc.

He is very slim but very tall for his age. Lately he has been eating me out of house and home.

Today for example he ate

A bowl of cherrios
An apple
A school dinner
1/2 punnet of grapes
5 strawberries
2 x chicken dinosaurs
Beans

He is apparently still hungry????

Hasn't he had enough? Or Aibu?

He will have milk before bed and I'll ask dh to give him a carrot if he is still hungry while I'm at work tonight. He likes eating whole carrots on his own, I keep finding the carrot stalks hidden :/

My boy is exactly the same age as yours, is tall and skinny, and is considered to be a light eater among his friends.

He would eat on an average day:

A large bowl of porridge for breakfast.
A Club biscuit at break
A pot of cucumber, a one-slice sandwich (plain butter, he doesn't like fillings), a little yoghurt and a bit of cake for lunch at school.
A few cheddar biscuits or a couple of crackers with butter when he gets home.
An apple or some berries.
Beans, chips, 1 fish finger for tea (a fairly small portion)
A bowl of ice cream or a slice of cake.

It's quite a lot of sugar but he's slightly underweight, very active and is extremely picky so his diet is pretty unrestricted at the moment while I get him back on track food-wise.

change the cheerios for some Weetabix or porridge to fill up.

2 dinosaurs and beans is not a huge dinner.

rest isn't filling at all.

feed him more!

Your concerned now at 5 yrs.

Ours are 12 and 16, man alive they eat!

That's not really much tbh.

cereal is just air and sugar. and fruit is sugar and water although has other it is good for you.

he needs something actually solid that's not so highly processed

eggs or actual chicken/ meat etc

that's alot of food quantity wise but not alot nutritionally

That doesnt seem like a lot Op but sometimes kids get worms, if you feel he eats and straight after is hungry he may have them.

Today my 5 year old ate:
2 bowls cheerio style cereal
1 slice toast
1yoghurt
Chicken sandwich, carrot, crisps, plain popcorn, Apple, 8+ grapes, plain yoghurt
3 large rice cakes another Apple
For dinner he will have 1 chicken breast, small bowl of pasta and sauce, sweet corn, broccoli and carrot (whole) followed by hm pudding.
After swimming lesson he will then jar large bowl of cereal and a glass of milk.
He would eat more if I let him. He is on the 25th percentile donor overweight. You g children need calories, carbs and fats. He is probably starving!!!!!!

there's not much you can do.
he's growing and he needs fed.
i don't think what you've listed is that much food.
wait till he's a teenager - then you'll know you're alive...

It's not enough.
My 5 year old ate.

Bowl cereal, cheese on toast (1slice) kiwi fruit, glass milk

School lunch plus fruit

Jacket potatoe med size
Carrots
Macaroni cheese
Cucumber slices
Pepper slices
2 plums

He may eat more tonight and he's a skinny little thing.
Will also have milk before bed.

-pulls chair up and waits for op-

He probably needs a proper breakfast. Something more substantial like eggs/porridge. A handful of grapes is fine but there are much lower fruit sugar options (berries).

Another one who doesn't think that is much at all. I've got a 4yo who would easily eat a bowl of cheerios and an apple for breakfast, the equivalent of the strawberries and grapes as a snack between morning and afternoon, a cooked lunch at nursery, a decent tea at nursery, and then will come home and probably have a bowl of Ready Brek or Weetabix and some nuts as well.

There'd be more veg as snacks for us (another one who has a child who will eat a whole carrot or half a cucumber) as well as oatcakes and crackers etc.

But seriously, that's not a lot for a 5yo at all.

I doubt the chicken dinosaurs are going to fill him on their own and just with beans isn't enough. That isn't a huge amount of food and tbh it is the quality ie protein, good carbs, energy food that is relevant, not the quantity. Cheerios aren't going to last long either.

Sorry, OP, seems we are mostly slating your food but we are trying to help as you see, to be worried he is over eating.

No bread, toast or potatoes? No cake or biscuits? No milk, yogurt or cheese?

Of course he's hungry.

If you are avoiding bread for some reason, add porage at breakfast, for a start.

My DS aged 4, slim and tall (5-6 yrs in clothes) on an average day has:

Large bowl of porridge and slice of toast for breakfast.

Banana and a biscuit for a morning snack.

Peanut butter sandwich, apple, grapes, 2 small from age frais and a box of raisins for lunch.

Babybel or equivalent as a snack, possibly another biscuit and some crackers and butter as a snack.

5 fish fingers, portion of chips, bread and butter and some more fruit for afters. He is refusing all veg at present for tea.

Washed down with water, milk and diluted squash.

I consider that a lot OP so to me your DSs intake seems small.

I agree that there is not much there calorie wise. He needs pasta or rice or potatoes with that meal.

Ds1 is also 5, today he had

Breakfast - brioche and an apple
Break time - slice of toast
School lunch - chicken pasta and peaches
Dinner - burger and veg sticks (carrot, cucumber and pepper) fruit salad
Milk before bed

OP?

Is this a wind up?

My three year old eats more than that. I would cut out the berries for something more substantial and cheaper, and add carbs to his evening meal. Perhaps something more substantial for breakfast too like eggs or porridge.

Not enough food there for a busy 5 year old.

He needs protein, fat and carbs.

Porridge made with FF milk for brekkie. Big slice cheese with it, maybe a banana too.

Lunch - sandwich, yog, fruit, maybe some hummus and veg.

Snacks should be fruit, veg, yogs, nuts, cheese, peanut butter, homemade biscuit, cake if possible.

You can't just give him a carrot as a snack! He's not on a diet!

Dinner: sausage, mash, carrots tossed in butter.

He needs a pud too - rice pudding with strawberry jam.

Think a Famous Five diet and you'll be set.

Hell, my one year old eats more than that.

Laddo (4 but huge) has today eaten:

2 bowls of cheerios
Yoghurt
Banana

2 sandwiches (ham)
Cheese cubes
2 chocolate digestives
Strawberry school bar
Bag of hula hoops
Apple and a pear

Bag of freddo faces
2 humzinger fruit bars
A breadstick

A pitta bread
A chicken breast
2 gherkins
Half a tin of baked beans
A mini twister lolly

AND NOW HE'S ASKING FOR MORE!!!!!

Sorry I've had to come back to this thread. I'm actually really concerned about this child. You barely feed him, give him a crap meal, acknowledge that he's still hungry and you think he's eating a lot. You really do need some help with nutrition awareness, op. This is negligent. If I knew you I'd have to say something, if nothing changed I'd be raising concerns with his school. That's how concerning this is.

I would add two veg to both lunch and dinner.