To ask if you think 6 fish fingers is too many for a 3 year old boy to have for dinner?

[BasinHaircut]

along with half a 400g run of baked beans and chips.

Need to settle an arguement.

Cheers

My 3 yo would eat 6, if he was particularly hungry. Only them and cherry tomatoes though. He's not a fan of chips or beans.

Can't get myself worked up about it, really.

do no adults here ever notic that different people have differing approaches to food/portion etc. I am greedy and never say no to seconds/passing plates of cake etc. Some people take a sliver and no more.

stretching your kids bellies so they are STARVING if served a portion of food appropriate for a triathlete is not really helpful.

A portion of pasta for a kid of 3-4 is 16 farfalle by the way. meat is probably a mini fillet of chicken, rest of the plate should be veg. Any more than that and you are doing your kids a disservice, yes, the probably can/will eat it...but thats BECAUSE YOU'VE CONDITIONED THEM TOO...by overfeeding them...

3 of anything 'fingery' e.g. fish or vegetable fingers or sausages is the most an adult should eat

Well surely that depends on the adult. I'd imagine Andre the Giant might need more than three fishfingers whereas three might be plenty for Wee Jimmy Krankie. And it will also depend on how active someone is.

I'm on the fence (plucks splinters out of bum) I mean I definitely see how it's not helpful to automatically give kids too big portions - it takes a while to get down to a 'normal' amount of food then, I know as it's only now I'm starting to get satisfied/no longer hungry off what other people would class as an average portion. This is in part to being served big portions when I was growing up, in fact my parents still eat these bigger portions now whereas my stomach is slowly returning to normal capacity.

But then, I also see that if a child is hungry after his 1 sandwich that it's not right to deny him a second sandwich because 1 is the correct amount. Children shouldn't be worrying about portion sizes and weight and if a child is still hungry after it's meal then feed it (obvioudly allowing for medical issues). Just don't make the food junk - so give anther sandwich if hungry, not a mars bar. Obviously there are exceptions - if the child's weight is an issue and they're overeating the majority of the time, due to overfeeding constantly then portion sizes do need to be cut down - you need to be cruel to be kind sometimes. But even in those cases I think the onus should be on getting them to be more active and burn it off rather than restricting diet. I personally think feed the child a correct/reccomended portion and then give seconds if asked, obviously don't let that go to extremes so 4+ servings of curry and rice for eg, but seconds I'd give, no more than that though - would get pointed to the food bowl, as too much food can make them sick. Kids are fickle eaters though. My mum remembers that sometimes I'd barely pick at my toast at breakfast and then another day (when due a growth spurt) I ate 4 rounds the younger the child is the more they eat too - perhaps due to being more active than adults are. I can remember my baby cousin eating 3 weetabix for breakfast and being shocked he ate it all cos I only had 2 at the time (said cousin was slim)

Nobody nutritionally needs 6 fish fingers!

I think there is a massive difference between want and need when it comes to food and it isn't good to condition children to thinking that massive portions are the norm because then they come to expect that.

hoddtastic 16 pieces of pasta??

My children are half Italian. I can assure you a normal portion of pasta for a child is not 16 pieces. Of course, we eat pasta with a sauce as the main event, with maybe some meat afterwards. Not as a side to fish fingers. But Italians are generally pretty healthy and slim.

On the fence with this one. My DS1 eats for breakfast: 6 weetabix, yoghurt, 2 biscuits and sometimes a banana.
DH thinks it's excessive.

DS1 is 13 and 5ft 10 a very slim 5ft10!

I think the issue here is more your mils lack of culinary skills. But once a week won't harm him.

My 9yo is 5ft 1 and wears size 6 shoes.

I have the freaky kids who ask for salad with their meals or carrot sticks instead of fries at McDonald's.

Also bemused by the kid who had fish fingers and chips in his lunch box

A portion of pasta for a kid of 3-4 is 16 farfalle by the way.

My 9 month old eats that much pasta. I don't think I've stretched her tummy in the 3 months she's been eating food, she eats as much as she wants / needs and stops.

that's the guidelines. I didn't write them. Just for clarification.

When I make myself beans on toast i have 2 slices of toast and half a can of beans, for the kids they might have the other half between them and then a slice of toast.

I don't give them a full packet of crisps cos it's too much, they could eat them but they don't need them and well, crisps are shit.They only need a handful with a butty on a plate (for the texture more than anything else)

i could mainline 8 packets of frazzles and not miss a beat doing so by the way. Everything in moderation.

Why would i serve a kid who weighs a quarter what I weight the same amount of meat as i'd serve myself? Again, a portion of meat is supposed to be the same size and thickness as the palm of your hand Not inc fingers ... :D carbs a similar amount, rest of the plate veg.

Y'all have lost sight of a portion... hence the amount of people on a diet/struggling with weight as an adult, cos portions aint going to get smaller as kids grow up are they?

How long will it be before families are dishing up an entire roast chicken per kid for dinner???

Yy hodd, agree that people have lost sight of what a portion is for children and adults.

There will be people/children that are exceptions to this but they are not the average person.

Without meaning to sounding reactionary it is this level of misunderstanding that is in part to blame for the ever growing obesity problem in the uk.

Why would i serve a kid who weighs a quarter what I weight the same amount of meat as i'd serve myself?

Well a child between 4-8 years has a calorie requirement of between 1200 and 2000. An adult female is 2000.

If Ds1 (8) is half my weight. I'd be significantly underfeeding him if I only gave him half my portions though.

I'd say yes. My 5 year old has 3 with one waffle and some slices of cucumber for tea.

and people get really defensive over it.. and then wonder why their inert male teenager is getting breasts/dimples of lard around his waist...

Most kids run around a lot. My own walk to school and from school (10 mins each way) and then 3 times a week will play in the park (this tends to be sedentary/sloping around playing unless there's a kid with a football...) they both swim 2 x a week (45 min lesson once, one for enjoyment) in the 45 min lesson I imagine they are actually moving / active for twenty mins tops.
Both play football / train for football 2-3 times a week for an hour or so a week (depending on match schedule). Dd does an afterschool dance club, DS does golf and tennis, they both do school p.e twice a week.

In addition to this we as a family dog walk, go on the occasional bike ride, might go to a climbing wall/roller disco/trampolining centre.

How many times a week are they out of breath? How many times a week are they red-faced? from all the above activity (and imo it looks a fair bit written down) none of it requires specialist feeding/ adult portions. DD1 did swimming training to a high level- which required 2 x breakfasts (for 6 am swimming sessions and then another midmorning having completed 2 hours ploughing lengths of a pool...) that was pretty much it.

Not helpful to kids to not know what is an appropriate amount of food to shovelling into themselves 'because they've had pe today' or whatever.

Now I want fish fingers!!!!!!

6oz of roast chicken (cooked) is about 300 calories. A portion of lasagne ready meal sized is about the same.

no need to then load the plate with garlic bread etc. hoy a load of salad and veg and that's fine.

Child in the OP is 3 btw, not 'between 4 and 8' and that in itself will lead to people saying their 4 yo is really active- so can have an extra 400 calories and still be in 'safe' limits. hence all the fat kids.

1600 calories or thereabouts is right for a 6-11 year old, however there will be variations within that. Use your sense.

My 16 year old has 4!

my 6 yr old has been eating 5 fish fingers since he was 3 .... plus beans, sweetcorn, potatoes, whatever else we give him with it. And he would eat more sometimes.
We have moved onto whole fillets at some point, there is less breadcrumbs and more fish that way.
His friend, 7 yr old, barely manages 2 or 3.
So not an easy argument to settle.

I'd give my 10 year old about 4 or 5 and my 4 year old 2 fish fingers. I share one can of beans between three children and then add a small amount of chips. I think it's easy for big portions to creep in but these foods are not particularly nutritious and very sugary so it's not a great idea to let them eat tons of them.

Well a child between 4-8 years has a calorie requirement of between 1200 and 2000

NHS guidelines:
Age (years) Boys Girls
7 6900kJ /1649kcal 6400kJ /1530kcal
8 7300kJ /1745kcal 6800kJ /1625kcal
9 7700kJ /1840kcal 7200kJ /1721kcal
10 8500kJ /2032kcal 8100kJ /1936kcal

Obviously only guidelines, and depends on the level of activity.

I don't actually think I could fill my 15 year old with fish fingers................

YES!!!

My 2 DD's are 6 & 7 and have 2 and 3 fish fingers respectively and share a 200g tin of beans.

Waaay too much food! My two year old will have 3 fish fingers with about a tablespoon of beans or peas- no chips as he doesn't like them- and that will fill him up. I'm 27 and I would struggle to tuck away 6 fish fingers, chips, and beans!

My SIL sends her Y2 boy with cold fishfingers and chips for lunch.. (wonders if Fitbit is his teacher)
We all boggle at this but he loves them.