Just got RL flamed for the packed lunch I did for DS

[AClearShotOfTheStreet]

Lovely friend is here. Didn't know how but got on to the packed lunch I did for DS, who is 6, today for a holiday camp.

Apparently it's not enough, no wonder he is skinny and I am starving him (mostly lighthearted but kernel of truth?)

He had porridge for breakfast with a cup of milk, semi skimmed. I have given him an apple for morning snack, a ham and cucumber sandwich on seedy bread for lunch with a yoghurt, and a small bag of hula hoops for afternoon snack. He will have cottage pie with veg for dinner and a tangerine for afters, possibly a bit of Easter egg with a cup of milk just before bed.

This is OK right? Hula hoops are a bit of an anomaly as we are having the kitchen knocked down and It's what I could find. But this IS a reasonable amount of food for a 6 year old? He's very sporty and slim but I don't think I need to feed him any more? He rarely complains of hunger and if he does is directed to fruit bowl or slice of toast with peanut butter etc.

My 6 year old is very very slim (verging on a bit too). For holiday camp lunchbox was:

Apple
Baby bel
Crisps
Juice box
Water bottle
Red yo yo
Raisin box
Cheese sandwich
Box of sliced red pepper

I never understand these food threads. So many pp's piling on to list the colossal amounts of food their small kids are eating, adult sizes portions, snacks here there and everywhere. But, they're always skinny. How does that work? There's a child obesity crisis going on out in the real world, due to kids overeating - but, here on MN, kids overeating only ever leads to being skinny? I'm confused

The lunchbox in op wouldn’t be enough for him but I think it varies so much child to child

My theory is that metabolisms vary a lot. Also my kids usually only get crisps in packed lunch on days out/holiday camp

If he's not hungry, ignore everyone else. He sounds healthy, so what if he is skinnier than other kids? Maybe he's not 'skinny', he's a healthy weight and the other kids are fat? No one wants to say it, but could easily be the case. Too many kids now are fat as parents over feed them and they don't exercise.

Sounds alright to me. Similar to what I give my DD13 for her lunch although I add some sort of cheese to it and an extra snack for her first break.
Having said that, I work in an infant school and some of the kid's packed lunches are enormous! I'd struggle to eat it all in one sitting!

So many pp's piling on to list the colossal amounts of food their small kids are eating, adult sizes portions, snacks here there and everywhere. But, they're always skinny. How does that work? There's a child obesity crisis going on out in the real world, due to kids overeating - but, here on MN, kids overeating only ever leads to being skinny?

Easy. They aren't overeating, are they? They are eating the right amount for them. I've got one of those skinny boys that eats what appears to be massive amounts, but its not overeating for him. If his brother ate the same amount it would be, but he doesn't.

There isn't a set amount of food that is right for everyone and at which point after you are overeating.

That all sounds perfectly fine and normal to me, we have roughly the same without the hula hoops and there’s a lot of dairy, I’d cut out the morning milk.

AClearShotOfTheStreet

If that wasn't enough food for your child he'd let you know. Over feeding kids and teaching them to ignore their natural hunger cues is a big part of why so many are obese.

Your son probably only looks too skinny because most of his peers are overweight or obese.

How can you have had kids and not understand centiles? It is literally all they go on about as babies

yes but understanding them may be dependant on the HV understanding them in the first place, and mine didn't.

She banged on and on about ds2 being underweight. he has never been underweight. He is small.

"But he's on the 0.5 centile"

Yes he is, and he's also on it for height. I am 5'2. He's never going to be enormous.

Your son probably only looks too skinny because most of his peers are overweight or obese

What bollocks.

do you not believe that there's a childhood obesity problem Slieve?

Yes there is a problem with childhood obesity, though I don't actually see many children who are overweight at my DDs' school. A few definitely. That does need to be addressed. But there's also a problem with eating disorders. My DDs (9 and 6) are very slim, not an ounce of fat on them, and they're both very sporty. But they nevertheless sometimes worry about their 'arms looking fat in the school cardigan'. And comment on their bellies being big, which is absolutely not true. I blame Barbie and Disney princess films.

It's a fine balance. The main thing is encouraging them to be active and eating a diet that's mostly healthy, with occasional treats.

My son who is super skinny would eat three times that and still want more, my niece who is slightly chubby would eat half of that, kids have different appetites, builds and metabolism. If he’s not hungry his lunch is fine , kids don’t needfeefing every half an hour!!

do you not believe that there's a childhood obesity problem Slieve?

Not to the extent that a child on the 8th centile only looks skinny because every other kid around him is obese, as you do. Which is good because you are clearly wrong.

I never understand these threads either. What op describes sounds like what I would eat in a day, porridge for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and Shepard's pie for dinner with a few snacks. Sounds normal. I feed my DC what I think they need, if they want more or less that's fine. I have 5 and they are various ages, shapes and sizes with differing appetites. If someone else told me what they think I should give them I would think it very odd and quite rude.

The problem with centiles is that they represent actual weight distribution curves of the population. So if the majority of children are overweight, then a child on the 50th centile (ie slap bang in the middle of the distribution) will be overweight , whereas the child is on the 8th centile might actually be closer to the "correct" - or healthy - weight. So even before you factor in "weight compared to height" centiles, the centiles themselves can be misleading.

I suspect that things will only have got worse in the 7 years since this article about childhood obesity was published:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12226744

It includes the point that "Did you know that a 10 year old's ribs should be clearly visible?"

The problem with centiles is that they represent actual weight distribution curves of the population

The centiles are idealised WHO data, nothing to do with actual distributions.

For a holiday camp / day out you need to put in more than a normal lunch. Some more carbs with the lunch eg piece of healthy cake, flapjack perhaps. A piece of fruit for afternoon snack eg banana.

You're right - I should have double-checked. I was thinking on terms of standard deviations for a local population - and not in terms of WHO guidelines.

It doesn't take away from the fact that people's perceptions of obesity is warped by the fact that (supposedly) 1 in 3 children is obese. Plus if a child is on the 8th centile for heigh

(posted by accident): that a child who is on the 8th centile for height and the 8th centile for weight is every bit as in proportion (and normal ) as a child who is on the 50th centile for height and the 50th centile for weight

My 5 year old would be starving if that’s all I gave. Both my girls are very slim and eat far far more than that breakfast is usually branflakes, toast and a banana . A packed lunch alone would be sandwich (2 slices) or large wrap with chicken, salad and mayo. Cucumber and carrot sticks with humous, 3 mini sausage rolls or mini eggs, crisps, yogurt, fruit.. probably melon or mango. If giving 2 snacks one might be oatcakes or a cereal bar and another fruit such as apple and some cheese. They’d still be ravenous by tea which is always a home cooked meal

If kids can eat all that why am I so fat?😂

My seven year old is skinny as a rake. Holiday camp for her is sports camp, so lots of activity.

I sent her with a yoghurt pouch, a bag of chips, several pots of veg, a pot of houmous, a banana, a satsuma, crackers, and a sandwich or two.

She would eat what you provide for morning snack