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

^ funniest thing I've read in a while thank you.

Calorie-counting or everything in moderation, or low carb, or low fat - these all makes sense. I've NEVER heard about the "shape" diet where you can only have a certain amount of "fingery" things

Sooooooo funny

My titchy 2 year old can manage four, plus a side. Six does seem like a lot though.

That's just competitive mumsnetting, isn't it? "oh, mine has half a fish finger, two peas and a chip. If he's still hungry, I let him smell a rose for pudding"

😂😂😂

That is a LOT of fish fingers.

Can you scrap the beans and chips and do veggie / fruit sticks to go with it?

My 10yo eats 2 or 3! He will eat a load of veg and some mash/ chips as well, and probably some pudding.

I couldn't eat 6 fishfingers!

I want fishfingers so bad right now. 6 is too many though.

Any chance your MIL cooked 6 but ate 3 off his plate whilst he wasn't looking? That's what I do.

It's too much in terms of salt, before you get to anything else.

6 Bird's Eye fish fingers contain 1.3g salt. 1.3g in half a can of baked beans too. That's already pushed it over 2g which is the recommended maximum for three year olds, even without the chips, which OK, could be made from potato with no salt added, but that's unlikely. If they are oven chips then they normally contain salt as well.

I don't have a problem with amounts and I think it's OK for kids to have extra actual food rather than filling up on rubbishy snacks, but I'd be concerned about salt levels if he's eating that amount of that type of food regularly. It's a lot for a little system to cope with, and I tend to feel that by watching salt levels it tends to limit the amount of processed food which is probably a good rule of thumb.

sorry, X post.

Rose sticks??
sniff of a David Austen catalogue?

It's about the calories in those fingery foods and there are plenty in a portion of 2 and more than enough in a serving of 3, notherwise about shapes. In general, children in this country eat far too much. I was a little worried when my DS didn't eat much as a pre-schooler, so I took him to the GP, who reassured me that you SHOULD be able to see young children's ribs clearly. Lots of parents have lost sight of this and are setting their children up for problems in later life.

My 5yr old has 4/5 fish fingers as he's got a big appetite and is always running around. My 4yr old DD has 3 fish fingers usually, I'd say a 3yr old should have 2/3 fish fingers but it depends on how active they are.

As Derek says it depends on the child's appetite.
My dd was eating adult sized portions from when she was 2.
She's always been a little hungry Horace, though. She was on 8oz bottles at a month old. .
I like to see children with a good appetite.

I took my Y2 class on a trip on Friday. One boy had not 6, but EIGHT fish fingers and chips in his lunch box. This was in addition to some fruit and a cereal bar!

P.S. he ate it all!

I think my DS could've eaten more than 6 at that age because he used to make me take off the breadcrumbs (the best bit!) so he could just eat fish! BUT I'll never know as it wouldn't occur to me to cook so many for him or DD.

My 5yr old DS would be mortified if I got him carrot sticks instead of chips from McDonalds. 😂😂

That's just competitive mumsnetting, isn't it? "oh, mine has half a fish finger, two peas and a chip. If he's still hungry, I let him smell a rose for pudding"

Seriously snorting with laughter at smell a rose for pudding

I agree with 2 or 3 sausages/fish fingers etc being a portion, it's not a rule it's just what I think of as a portion. I think it's probably come subliminally through pictures on the packaging, restaurant portions, what my parents considered a portion etc

Is this about the quantity or the type of food?
Don't really get it.
If he ate it all and isn't fat, it's not too much.
And I get that you can have too much tuna or swordfish but white fish is great nutritionally... Loads of protein and low fat. How can you have "enough" (unless you are full)
How much fish is in a fish finger anyway? Have never bought them so don't know.
A big dinner is not going to cause size issues in a three year old, they generally self moderate like cats. Eating snacks all the time will and so will worrying about size issues.
Fwiw, mine all eat a phenomenal amount and are not fat. DC 3 (9) regularly eats 6 weetabix for breakfast and then toast and I am still a bit horrified that DC1 had eaten kedgeree for 4 people (1lb of haddock, 4 eggs etc) by 9:30 last Saturday (but he does row and tries to eat at least 4000 calories a day). The younger ones can have an apple if they are starving between meals, but otherwise no snacking, big meals and lots of running and lots of fish... And they are strong, fit, rarely ill and slim.
I think this is all a bit odd

Not if he's active. My 4 year old neice is a skinny active beanpole and won't think twice about having half a 400g tin of beans, three or four veggie fingers, and as much veg/salad as she can stomach. She gets really hungry.

Most packets of fish fingers state 4 as the recommended adult serving. I would eat 4, split a can of beans with DH and a handful of chips or similar. I'd struggle with that so wouldn't expect a child to eat it but some kids can eat me under the table when they've been active all day!

Too much! My very active hungry twelve year old wouldn't eat all that.

Yes, and unless he is a giant or training for a marathon he will become obese.Funnily enough the school nurse was at Dc's school today, We reminisced about the nit nurse and the cursory check we had aged about 10 that everything was in it's place ie balls and boobs were on track .
She said obesity and malnutrition were the biggest concern nowadays.
If a child is active ,they can consume a relatively high number of calories,
If they eat there own body weight in food and watch the goggle box for half the day, I'd have concerns.

Gosh yes, that's a lot, my 6 year old granddaughter get 2 normally or 3 if she's very hungry!

Tamesa it's more about general attitudes to amounts of food and what we teach DS.

If all children were capable of self regulating them we wouldn't see so many overweight/obese kids would we?

I'm not suggesting that as a one off it's an issue, more that I'd like to nip the over-feeding in the bud. MIL doesn't have a great diet and I've never seen her cook anything that wasn't readymeal type food. She, quite frankly, lives on crap. I don't mind DS having a bit of rubbish food when he is with her, it's more about the volume.

Wow, that's way too much. I would be unimpressed by that too.

What is it with GPs and bloody over feeding/feeding crap? My nan does huge portions if we go there for tea and constantly offers cake or chocolate or biscuits, even an hour before tea. I am forever saying "no, it's 4 o clock, we will have tea in an hour and the DCs aren't allowed a load of cake now" then I look like the bad guy. Every. Single. Time.