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

Sounds OK for a moderate lunch,

And the evening meal you give her sounds OK.

meh...... it doesn't sound too bad overall.

Not much protein

You could put some oats or granola in to the yoghurt if you want to bulk it up but keep it what she’s used to?

My kids are 2 and 4, neither overweight and both would eat that and more. Judging by packed lunches in my 4yo class most of them eat quite a lot more than that.
My niece however would eat 3/4 of your lunch and declare herself full.
Just ask your daughter if she's still hungry.

My 7 year old daughter would eat a similar amount. But she would definitely ask for a snack, cheese or fruit, between lunch and dinner which I think is fine.

I think we’ve lost sight of normal appetites now and are in danger of over feeding our kids by giving them too much food most of the time - see it at the school gate every day with parents all handing out snacks in case their DC die of starvation on the way home (and I’m talking kids with a 10 minute walk home here!).

Crazy.

My nine month old who is on the small side would eat that!

If her height and weight are fine then there's no problem.

I'm shocked by people saying "my kids ate adult portions at 8".

I agree with you EveningShadows I think many people have lost sight of what constitutes a normal portion size

My nine month old who is on the small side would eat that!

But my 2.5 year old would have maybe a couple of the breadsticks, a lick of houmous and a strawberry. And then bounce happily off the walls for six hours. They're all different.

Are we taking a school packed lunch here or an at-home-day lunch? I think for a school packed it sounds fine, if you're at home couldn't you chuck a jacket spud in the microwave or something? The overall daily food sounds fine and you friend is going a bit OTT, so I wouldn't loose sleep.
But I do think proteins important. Have some chicken pasta or something like that. If you DD is hungry surely she'll say right?

If she is happy with that amount and is growing and developing properly then there is no problem. My DS at 1yo would have had that as a snack though. But I do think girls tend to eat a lot less than boys anyway.

If I saw your DD eating that outside I would assume it's a snack, so I can understand how your friend was shocked to realise it was a full meal. Was there anything in the pitta?

I think it sounds totally fine. My ds 10 eats similar amount for lunch, but healthy and growing. We are under dietitian for health reasons, but they never show any concern.

It's the same at my kids' school Evening. Parents are handing out brioche buns and bags of crisps galore as the children step out if the classroom.

My dd is 7 and has had 2 eggs and some soldiers for lunch.

Her appetite varies.

You know your dd best :)

Yes she would say, she asked for chocolate which is rare and she’s having a little chocolate bunny atm. 9/10 when offered a snack she says no though

Sounds like my DD’s diet. But I’d up the carbs a bit. If your DD is like mine, she will seek quick bursts of energy from sugar (fruit or plain yogurt and tsp honey in our house) rather than slower release carbs. I think she just doesn’t like that “replete” or “full” feeling that carbs give. Little and often (drives me mad as chief caterer).

it sounds good and healthy

People are a bit weird about protein on MN.

There's protein in houmous, yogurt, cheese, casserole, fish pie and probably soup.

Calcium too, in milk, yogurt, cheese and houmous.

That would deffo not be enough for my 8 year old son, but they are all different! If yours is happy with it that's fine, mine is never full lol! x

My kids would have regarded that as the first course, but hey ho, I have a friend whose daughter is now 13 and still orders off the child menu. My 12 year old always has a starter, adult main, and picks off everyone else's plate.

It's perfectly fine OP
your dd isn't clamouring for biscuits or snacks
she has a healthy height and weight
everything she eats is "good"

ignore your friend. never overfeed a child. we have an obesity issue in this country, most people eat too much and have stopped listening to what their body wants/needs

it's not loads is it?
But then you know your own child and what she will have over the day.
Better than scraping food into the bin tbh.

Tell you what, if you were a chicken reading this, or any other MN about children's diets, you'd shit yourself, wouldn't you?

People are a bit weird about protein on MN
They sure are. As long as they eat a variety of foods then they will get enough protein, by default really. We actually don't need that much protein. For an eight year old it's 19gs per day. For and adult woman it averages out at 50gs per day (1 g per 3 pounds of body weight).