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

She’s not much of a snacker at all
I always offer a mid morning and mid afternoon snack but she doesnt often want one and if she does it’s not a lot
She knows there’s always fruit/cheese/biscuits/salad if she wants them

Hummus can be a good source of protein - but a dessertspoon has only 1 gram. Guacamole - under 1 gram. It's the 2 servings of yoghurt that save the day in the OP's scenario.

Personally I would not find a breakfast of full fat yoghurt and fruit filling, not in the same way as eggs, fish, ham, tofu etc. Horses for courses.

Horses for courses but I would say breakfast not sufficient for a child..breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince...supper like a pauper.

I'm sure if it wasn't enough to eat she'd soon let you know. If height & weight are fine then don't worry. All sounds nice and healthy :)

It sounds like you give your child a nice healthy diet, and well done for that, because with the best of intentions, it’s hard to get them to eat the good stuff.
Some people feed their babies or children just to keep them quiet. If she’s one of them, then she’s a lazy parent! Ignore her

My 12 year old would probably eat the same. He generally has cereal for breakfast. For lunch a sandwich and a bag crisps. For dinner he picks at food and eats about same amount he did 6 years ago. He's growing. I think he's just got a small appetite.

That would be fine for me, never mind an 8 year old.

It's not like at that age they won't tell you if they're still hungry!

Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that there is no protein in hummus and guacamole, a number of posters seem to have missed that the child then gets to eat what seems like a very traditional cooked evening meal (casserole, fish pie etc).

Do people assume that protein only does any good if ingested at lunch time? Or that every single nutritional element has to be present in every single meal?
(makes you wonder how the human race ever survived the hunter-gatherer stage)

My 6 y/o (in size 8 clothes for height but healthy weight) would eat all that in one meal tbh. But he’s extremely active. If it’s fine for your daughter then it’s fine but with my experience of DS I must admit I’d be a bit shocked seeing an eight year old having such a small appetite (although that would be because I’m used to my sons appetite)

To all the people who are saying 'where is the protein'. Bread is a good source of protein.

It's all like convenience snack food for breakfast/lunch

All runny slop with fruit or carbs to dip.

One Tesco mini pita - 2.9 g protein
6 mini breadsticks - 2gs protein
That is 4.9 gs of protein in the bread she eats at lunchtime, over a quarter of her RDA. And thats before you count the protein in all the other food she eats.

Martha don't be silly. Houmous, guacamole and yoghurt are all staple foods for millions of people around the world. It might not be to your taste but there's plenty of nutritional value there.

We all adore hummous etc and make our own here.

However I regard it as more of a mid afternoon snack here with some pitta or olives. We more likely dip peppers or carrots though

Dd loves it on a wholemeal bagel too instead of butter with a filling.

But hey

Thanks for the info

Pitta and hummus is not a ‘mid morning snack’ - it’s lunch!

Not meaning this snippily, Martha , what do you consider a better lunch or breakfast?

🤔

Just personal preference I guess with my lot but we prefer porridge for breakfast with fruit. Sometimes a weetabix with yoghurt and Kiwi....also a fave here.

I'll leave you to dissect

Sometimes a dollop of Hum with a Pitta or veg crudités goes down well here after school.

We don't eat until after 18.30

But perhaps I'm completely over indulgent with this

My dd is 12. Some days that would be enough for her, others she's eating everything in the house. It seems a bit odd to have pitta and breadsticks, I'd have been pushing just one with more hummus and guacamole, and something like cherry tomatoes too.

We often have pitta, humous and a tomato, cucumber and onion salad for dinner!

Has she seen the amount of fat unhealthy kids in this country?! Take no notice. You are doing everything right. x

Every child is different. If she was hungry, she would tell you! And well done to you for getting her to eat healthily.

I think most kids will tell you soon enough if they haven't had enough to eat.

I think it sounds fine - some children are not big eaters