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

[e1y1]

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!)

Absolutely this, as a society we have become conditioned to thinking feeling hungry (a normally bodily function) is the devil and we must never feel it, and eating whatever to prevent it. No wonder obesity is the highest is the problem it is.

Feel tired, sleep. Feel thirsty, drink. Need the loo, go. I don’t understand this can’t feel hunger thing.

Lunch seems fine OP, as long as dds whole daily nutritional and calorific needs are met.

[e1y1]

*is the highest it has ever been and the problem it is.

[DailyMailFail101]

It depends on the child, my son 4 would be fine with half that, he’s full after half of a banana, my baby’s would devour that and demand more.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

guacamole provide protein

What do you make your guacomole out of?

As always on anything to do with food on mumsnet, individual meals are irrelevant, entire diets are. As others have said total calories appear quite low, suggesting that DD might need to get more exercise but it's such a wide range that it's pointless actually judging.

[TulipFromAmsterdam]

It doesn't sound like much (my 9 year old would want something else) - but different children have different appetites

[missyB1]

Wouldn’t be enough for my 9 year old ds but he’s tall for his age and very physically active. Today he has had
Bowl of blueberry wheaties with glass of milk for breakfast

Cupcake and apple for snack

Homemade American pancakes for lunch (holiday treat), followed by strawberries and yogurt.

Dinner will be leek and Parmesan risotto.

[GhoulWithADragonTattoo]

Wow I have and 8 and 9 year olds they would be starving after that. Both healthy weights. It’s actually making me hungry thinking about it...

[BackforGood]

As others have said, individual meals aren't really enough to go on, it is more to do with what they consume across a week or so.
That lunch does sound on the small side, but I'm more surprised at the breakfast tbh, I'd expect a child to be having cereal or toast / bread of some kind to give enough carbs to release through until lunchtime.
However - it is certainly a more healthy diet than probably the majority of children get, and if she isn't complaining of being hungry and is the right height and weight on growth charts, then it clearly is enough for her, and her metabolism.

[Klarabing]

My 13 year old would have that for lunch x

[RatherBeRiding]

As previous poster said - a lot of people in this day and age have totally lost sight of what a healthy weight is for a child, and what a normal appetite looks like.

Her diet sounds absolutely fine. If she is the right weight/height for her age, isn't hungry, isn't lacking energy then she must be getting enough food.

[diddl]

It doesn't sound much, but if she's healthy & it's enough for her-isn't that all that matters?

Why would you try to encourage a healthy kid to eat more?

[Klarabing]

Sorry about the kiss

[50andgoingstrong]

It's fine if she is fine.

My dc same age had a pot of prawns, big glass of milk and a banana!

[MrsPreston11]

Gonna sound like a right MNer but.

That's a hell of a lot of sugar for a 9yo missy.....in my house it would be cupcake or pancake as a holiday treat.

[silverbirches]

If a child of 8 is hungry then they will ask for food. You are regularly offering snacks, and she says no. There you are, then. She's fine.

Some people live to eat, others eat to live.

[HobnobBob]

If your DD is happy with that then I don’t think it matters.

That breakfast wouldn’t fill either of mine, but my eldest would probably be happy with that amount of lunch. My 3 year old not a chance, he would ask for more. Neither of them would touch guacamole either!

[Mightymucks]

My toddler would starve on that too. Dinner is fine. You need to add more carbs to the breakfast and more protein to the lunch. A slice of whole meal toast and a banana added to the breakfast and some pieces of chicken, egg or cheese added to the lunch.

It’s definitely not enough until dinner time. That is diet food for weight loss, not enough food for a growing child. Because so many of us are overweight we seem to have got the message that healthy food is diet food and this is not appropriate for children.

It’s all very well people saying ‘Well if she’s the right height for her age then it must be okay’. But do you really want to wait until her growth is stunted to act?

Two more things to bear in mind:

1. At her age at least 50% of what you’re giving her will end up on the floor so you need to give extra to factor that in.
   
   2). Unless you are on a very extreme budget it’s best to offer more than she will eat and let her refuse some than offer her small portions which she finishes but can’t adequately communicated haven’t satisfied her.
   
   Sorry, but breakfast and lunch are no way suitable or adequate for an energetic child.

[TellOutMySoul]

Lunch sounds fine. Breakfast sounds a bit light. Yogurt and berries is "watching my weight" food to me.

[kaytee87]

1) At her age at least 50% of what you’re giving her will end up on the floor so you need to give extra to factor that in.

my toddler manages to hardly get any food on the floor so I'm sure an 8yo can manage.

[Mightymucks]

She’s 8??? Fucking hell I thought that was a typo and she was 18 months!

I thought that wasn’t enough for an 18 month old, not an 8 year old.

No fucking way is that enough for an 8 year old. That sounds like embryonic disordered eating to me. Do you diet yourself? Is she aware that you do?

[kaytee87]

t’s all very well people saying ‘Well if she’s the right height for her age then it must be okay’. But do you really want to wait until her growth is stunted to act?

Her growth will not be stunted unless she's regularly hungry and not being given food. If she's not hungry then, barring any medical conditions, she's eating enough.

[raindropsandsunshine]

My 9yo is really small, petite frame and so slim, but that would still leave her looking for more food.

It depends on the child though, and timings - by which I mean growth spurts create hunger so she'd want more then.

[Pikehau]

I read this last year and it’s about doing best by your kids given what they will eat ....

au.be.yahoo.com/parenting/a/37595306/dietician-kate-save-on-school-kids-lunchbox-shame/

It’s about the whole week....You can’t judge on one meal alone.

And yes we place too much emphasis on large meal portions and snacks.

My 6yo declared I didn’t love him as I didn’t welcome him with a snack after school to eat on the way home! I told him I loved him enough to not take a snack and to scoot home.... and assured him there was plenty food in the fridge!

[NoqontroI]

It would be more than enough for my 10 year old and not enough for my 8 year old who eats a huge amount compared to the average.

[bookworm14]

That sounds like a meal for a toddler, not an eight-year-old.