Apparently this “isn’t enough food”

[foodFood]

Dd is 8
Height and weight fine

I’ve just been told by a visiting friend I’m basically starving her when she saw her lunch !
1 mini pitta
6 mini breadsticks
Dessert spoon of houmous
Dessert spoon of guacamole
Bowl of strawberries cut up (6 big ones)
A frube

That’s fine isn’t it??
For breakfast she had a bowl of plain yogurt and loads of berries
She will most likely have an afternoon snack usually cheese or a piece of fruit and dinner is normally casserole/fish pie/jacket potato and soup or similar
She has milk before bed
She’s fine !! Always has small snacks lunches and doesn’t complain of hunger
Friend was aghast and said her kids at 18 m old ate more than that

Whts not normal is the vast quantities of food that people seem strangely proud of their kids eating the constant snacking and the fact that clothes sizes are now so large yet everyone insists their child is just tall when they need 2 or three ages above their kids age in order to fit.

I have to agree with this. DS is one of the tallest in his class, with the biggest feet in the school (including teachers). He's not particularly skinny - BMI calculator suggests 60th centile, so a little above average, though he's starting to become muscular from stupid amounts of sport which might explain it. He's age 9 and has been wearing age 7-8 and 9-10 shorts to school all year - the former looking too short now but the latter needing to have all their elastic heaved in to make them narrow enough. So goodness knows who all these "tall" 9yos are who can't fit their hips in the right size skirts/shorts.

Whts not normal is the vast quantities of food that people seem strangely proud of their kids eating Agree - it's weird when people seem to boast about their 5 year old eating adult portions.

I think the key thing is my 4 year old eats way more than this - but isn’t obese - in fact she’s under weight for her age as it’s just how she’s built and she’s very very active.
I often find it’s the smallest eaters that are the most overweight as they don’t burn anything off

That's the trouble with NHS guidelines it's one size fits all!! Every child is different! I think everybody has got over obsessed with what everyone is eating! My daughter hardly eats a thing where on the other hand her cousin would eat for England! Don't listen to other people! Listen to your instinct.

How the hell do you get that total, Overeaters?

Ghoul this child is not underfed. You're being silly now.

If that is fine for her don't worry, bot every child is the same. My 6 months old would happily eat that much if I let him and my 3 (nearly 4) year old would demolish that and ask for more.

I work as a mid day supervisor and the amount of food that doesn't get eaten and thrown in the bin is unbelievable. So a lot of posters saying there children eat like horses it's proberbly because there lunch went in the bin.

Ghoul, you are being weird and offensive.
The OP is not starving her child.

Booie09

I think you have got a very good point there !

So goodness knows who all these "tall" 9yos are who can't fit their hips in the right size skirts/shorts.
@MrsHathaway
My 9yo Dd is over the 98th percentile for height. (Advanced bone age) appearance wise she is effectively a slim 13yo. So to that extent there is no way that she can fit her hips into any clothes intended for 9-10yos. Or 11-12yos for that matter. She's not even slightly overweight by any stretch of the imagination, she doesn't overeat and apples are her snack of choice, but clothes intended for her age have not fit her for years.

I only got to page 3 or 4 but anyone critising the breakfast is mad.... That is a fab brekkie.... If you put granola with it as some suggest.... That will likely be packed full of sugar!! Oats, perhaps, but not necessary. Getting carbs from fruit and protein and fat from yoghurt..... More kids should eat that for breakfast

Sounds fine to me. My kids tend to go through stages when they want to eat lightly and stages when they want to eat everything in sight. It’s not a huge lunch but perfectly reasonable. Also think a “spoonful” can vary a huge amount- I can make a spoonful of hummus be half a tub.

If in doubt, offer more. But if your child is healthy, normal weight and not complaining about hunger, I wouldn’t fret too much. Most people eat too much these days.

I would expect more for her breakfast, some carbs that would slow release energy.
It does sound more like a 4/5 year old's lunch to me.

It sounds like the afternoon is light. I'ld add something which would bring it up to the extra 500 that pp suggested.

Does she want More? Mine would have. They're still going in the afternoon.

Dd has always been on the smaller size and she only has little feet too she’s just petite not underfed
I regularly offer her more and snacks but she says she’s not hungry so I’m not going to force her ! She eats a similar amount each day and has energy, today was pretty similar to yesterday
Yogurt berries and some flaked almonds
Jacket potato, tuna, Philadelphia,grated cheddar and butter, pepper sticks
Kiwi and grapes mid aft
Pizza (half of a small one a bit smaller than the pizza express ones you can buy), lettuce, yogurt and a small banana
She will have milk at bedtime again
I think today was a day where she actually ate more than usual as afternoon snack was quite big for her

Dd seems fine and happy and healthy. I was just so surprised at my friends reaction but it seems everyone’s different but a lot of people onviuslybhave children who have bigger appetites ?

My 2.5 year old would be starving on that!
She eats
Bowl of porridge, a banana &Sometimes some toast for breakfast
A mid morning snack
2 slices of bread sandwich, bag of crisps, some cheese cubes and an orange
Mid afternoon snack
Then a hot cooked evening meal
Biscuit for supper

She's as skinny as a bean pole

It sounds like a toddler lunch, sorry. However, I have 2 very active boys so that’s a different ball game.

The problem is she is only having a yogurt and berries for breakfast plus 230 (she had one frube-calorie calculation is for 2) calorie lunch to sustain her from last night's evening meal to the time she gets home from school the following day.Energy cannot be created or destroye, she cannot burn calories she hasn't got.so she is either wasting away her reserves which obviously cannot continue for long, or she is not expending anywhere like the normal calories a normal girl of her age would be.Does she seem very physically weak/lacking muscle, is she very lethargic or very sedentary?

...and if neither of those things she must be stuffing in food you don't know about

I personally wouldn’t worry about the small portion because children will generally say if they are hungry. If she’s not asking for more food it’s clearly enough for her. My daughter perfectly healthy weight, doesn’t eat much but my son who if anything is a bit underweight eats more than me at 8. My only concern with your average day of food is there’s more fruit and less veg. Whilst there may be veg at dinner time I would maybe add some salad or veg to lunch. Maybe a boiled egg sliced up or some ham for protein? But actual size wise? I wouldn’t worry because children will general say straight away when they’re hungry.

I think as a society we’re normalising larger and larger quantities of food, so it’s hardly surprising that 67% of men and 57% of women are overweight or obese in the U.K.

It sounds fairly similar to what I ate back in the 70s. You could try giving her a bit more and see if she eats it. I’d be included to put in more straight protein in the pittas (granted bread, hummus and avocados have protein in) - tarama + lettuce, ham and cheese, egg mayo etc.

Ffs there is no problem.

But if she’s not complaining of being hungry, she may not need more and she may not eat more if you give it to her.