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

This thread has really cheered me up, it's quite funny. Hilarious in places :

"Yogurt isn't for breakfast" 😂😂 who said?? I must have missed that part of the rule book

Ds2(9) eats like an adult.
He plays football (training twice a week plus one match) he is slim but muscly.
You food wouldn't touch the sides.

He eats 3-4 weetabix for breakfast.
Grapes, or banana or tinned pineapple.
Lunch: 2 rolls, yoghurt, grapes or banana, crisps plus 2 Oreo biscuits.
Snack when Home: garlic sausage or frankfurter.
Dinner : enormous adult sized portion of: big Yorkshire filled with mash, 3 sausages, peas and gravy.
Snack before bed time.

I'm sure he's got worms!!
Permanently hungry.
All the other football team mums say their boys are the same.

My two dd's eat like mice,they always have done. That would have been loads for them even now at 15 and 23. My ds at 8 would have polished the lot off as a snack and wondered when his meal was coming. At eight she is old enough to let you know if she wants more so wouldn't worry.

All that fruit and veg must mean she's shitting for England?

I couldn't eat like that, my stomach would be in bits. If she was hungry though I'm sure she'd ask for more, just like Oliver

I wouldn't worry that's fine, she sounds like my daughter who eats to live not lives to eat.

WTF is embryonic disordered eating ?

If the child is growing, healthy and about the right weight for her height and build then she is getting enough food. If she is hungry she asks for more. Sounds like an entirely healthy food relationship.

It also sounds like a day with decent varied food which doesn't need over analysing.

If your DD has plenty of energy then she must be eating enough. End of I would have thought. It sounds like she has a pretty good diet. Some people including children aren't particularly interested in food even if they enjoy their meals. They don't want to stop what they're doing to snack if they're not hungry. Which os excellent.

My DSC is 7 and she wouldn't eat half of that so please don't worry.

My 7 year old eats less than my 2 year old, the older three eat adult portions and have done since age 10. All kids eat different amounts, if that amount of food fills her then it's fine.

My 8yr old would be moaning that he was 'starving' with that lunch. He usually has a sandwich with 2 pieces of bread, some crisps, a yogurt, an apple or a banana and maybe a flapjack or traybake. Saying that, he is very active and plays 1-1.5 hours sport a day as well as being outside running and cycling with friends.

that is fine! It probably looks small to your friend because those foods contain a lot of fat (not saying that is bad they are good foods still) which means small amounts of them will go a long way. For example a small bit of cheese will fill you up loads, so will hummous and guacamole. Im sure the meal would look small at a glance but actually if you think about it its all very filling food.
Sounds like she eats well to me!
All kids are different. My son does not really snack at all and likes big meals at meal times so will have things like a large portion of cottage pie. Im sure anyone looking at his meal would think it was too much but he doesnt eat at all between the three meals in the day and he drinks water at night. Just how he is and hes not overweight or underweight.
If you know your child is healthy and not hungry then just ignore your friend. People have very different expectations based on what they have seen their own children eat etc

This thread is so funny. The best is the 6 year old eating four weetabix with full fat milk, raisins, half a banana and a slice of "thick cut (homemade) toast".

It might be the most Mumsnet thing I've ever read

I also got told your portion size should match your clench fist. Portion sizes have got so much bigger over the years.

If her weight is fine and she's not complaining because she's still hungry then it's enough.

My 16mo dd would look at me like if I presented her with that. But she has a big appetite (also perfect weight mind) and would make short work of a full jacket potato and beans when most kids her age make do with half a jacket.

You know your dd. Sounds like a pretty healthy diet too.

My slim, healthy, active almost 8 yo has had:
Small (IKEA child's bowl) bowl of rice crispies and a cup of chocolate milk for breakfast
Chicken sandwich (2 slices of wholemeal bread, one slice chicken, mayo, no crusts) a handful of grapes and a cup of orange squash for lunch
Packet of quavers as a snack
Tea will be macaroni cheese and peas followed by a satsuma and a fromage frais

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/how-many-calories-do-children-need.aspx?CategoryID=51

nhs guide

what do you think? would the first two meals and afternoon snack, plus dinner and glass milk reach that level of calories in one day?
would intake naturally rise during day of lots of exercise? its the intake over a few days that show good level of intake.

My DD2 is nearly 10, and would eat that amount for lunch on a good day. She often eats less. She's fairly small, very skinny but still manages to swim competitively. I think it's fine. DD1 has always been much taller and bigger, and was eating adult portions at 8.

It sounds fine to me.

Op, is your visiting friend overweight?

I remember a post on here years ago, similar to this one where a woman was worried her DC didn't eat enough. Another poster agreed and said a bowl of cereal for breakfast isn't sufficient. Her DS was 3 years old and for breakfast ate:
3 weetabix, full fat milk, yogurt, 2 slices of toast with peanut butter, fruit and sometimes a bit of cheese.

I'll never forget it and imagine the kid to look like a mini sumo wrestler. There's no wonder we have an obesity crisis.

The best is the 6 year old eating four weetabix with full fat milk, raisins, half a banana and a slice of "thick cut (homemade) toast".

Indeed. I'm a rather fat adult and I wouldn't be able to eat all that.

This thread is bonkers.

It doesn't sound much to me. Not many carbohydrates. Children need healthy calories for energy. I might give my boys a small breakfast like that but then a bigger lunch. They wouldn't survive on 3 low calorie meals like that. But it's all healthy stuff, so well done for the variety.

When I was eight, lunch at home was a boiled egg with 'soldiers' or half a tin of tomato soup with bread or beans on toast. Nothing else and no snacks before the evening meal.
I don't remember feeling hungry.
I think kids get used to having more because you give them more. Parents didn't worry their kids would starve when I was a child

Think some parents are overfeeders!!

It's similar to what my 18 year old had for lunch and she didn't even eat breakfast. Never mind, she's making up for it later.

The only thing I'd say is your meal description does sound very precise and measured? Why so? Are you on a tight budget?
Unless one of my kids was a greedy scoffer I'd pull the guacamole out the fridge and just leave it on the table rather than a desert spoon of this and that.