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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Do your kids always have their 5 a day?!

138 replies

TeddybearBaby · 18/07/2018 09:49

This is a really boring one, I’ve never posted before. I’m feeling stressed about nutrition - more dc than me! I really believe in ‘everything in moderation’ and try to get a bit of all the food groups in.

Do you all make sure your kids have at least their 5 / 7 a day? Aibu to stress about this?! DS and DD will probably have around 2/3 pieces while at school and I was going to make macaroni cheese because it’s their favourite and they need a nice chilled out night. Both very tired from the end of term etc. but I’ve started stressing that it means they won’t have their 5 a day 🙄.

Maybe I’ll put mushrooms / broccoli or salad with it. But what’s your opinion, is it fine to sometimes not have your 5 a day or is it a MUST?!

OP posts:
kaytee87 · 18/07/2018 11:13

My toddler does 3 fruit, 2 veg. I'd rather it was more veg and less fruit but I pick my battles.
I don't particularly count them or force the issue but that's just how it works out; he has a banana with breakfast, another type of fruit mid morning, veg with lunch, another fruit mid afternoon & veg with dinner.
I don't eat enough fruit and veg though - something to work on.

MarthasGinYard · 18/07/2018 11:14

People really count the dried and gimmicky stuff!!

kaytee87 · 18/07/2018 11:14

We avoid dried fruit and don't buy it for the house. Our dentist said it's terrible for teeth as it sticks.

BatShitBuns · 18/07/2018 11:15

Oh it is! Wait, are we going boat style or full on dipsy? (Pst guess what you do right after your breakfast)

You on the glue love?

DayKay · 18/07/2018 11:16

Mine do most days. They always have fruit in their lunchboxes. Sometimes some veg like carrots, cucumber and sugar snap peas.
They’ll have fruit as an after school snack (along with crisps or cakes)
They love watermelon at the moment.
Dcs love minestrone soup so they get that after school on cooler days. There’s always salad or at least two veg with dinner.
I’d give them some salad or steamed broccoli and sweet corn on the side with macaroni cheese.
We often bake cakes and I try to include fruit or veg in that too (carrot cake, apple or blueberry muffins, banana cake)

Nicpem1982 · 18/07/2018 11:18

Yes but we spread it through the day

2 for breakfast generally berries and pancakes

3 for lunch in the shape of cucumber peppers and tomatoes with hummus

2/3 with dinner

Then a banana before bed

I don't stress about it though some days it's a Nutella on toast kinda day Grin

MarthasGinYard · 18/07/2018 11:19

See I would never count blueberries or apple in a muffin....

This is a real eye opener

RiddleyW · 18/07/2018 11:19

DS does easily if you count all fruit plus dried fruit plus fruit juice.

Veg I try for 3 a day and we normally do it. I never serve lunch or dinner without some sort of veg and often it's masses - a veg and chickpea curry for example or a load of roast veg with chicken. Over a week it averages out I'm sure.

Kahlua4me · 18/07/2018 11:21

Yes mine do as does a reluctant dh! Dc always have so now they are are teenagers they do it out of habit.

I think it’s best to look at the week as a whole rather than daily as some days you may be too busy to fit it all in.

DayKay · 18/07/2018 11:21

I probably shouldn’t count apples and blueberries in muffins either but as it’s usually fresh and I put it in, then hey, why not?

RiddleyW · 18/07/2018 11:23

See I would count a serving of salad at lunch (lettuce, cucumber, peppers and cherry toms) as one not four.

colditz · 18/07/2018 11:23

infruition.co.uk/blogs/the-infruition-blog/a-guide-to-childrens-fruit-veg-portion-sizes

Some of you are grossly overcounting. The fruit in a muffin is not enough for a portion even for a toddler. Children aged 9 - 13 should have a near adult portion

An adult portion is 80g. If you weigh out 80g of peas, it's about twice what you would be served at a pub. It's not a handful.

Katri0na · 18/07/2018 11:23

See I would never count blueberries or apple in a muffin....

Which is why it's weird to have to count at all, and much better to add them to everything.
If you don't have fresh fruits and veg in your meals, raw and cooked, what do you actually eat? Is it just meat and pasta or potatoes? I know potatoes are technically vegetables

0ccamsRazor · 18/07/2018 11:24

Yes between 10 and 20 portions too, however my dh and I are veggy (I am a life long veggy) so I am used to using lots of veg anyway. Our dc do eat meat but most of our carbs come from seeds such as lentils, chickpeas, quinoa and root veg. My dh is on a low carb diet due to a low production of an enzyme used to break simple carbs down.

I dehydrate veg such as kale, swiss chard and root veg such as beetroot to make healthy 'crisps' and lots of different fruit for snacks. I make pretty much all of our meals from scratch and use a lot of different veg to do so.

Typically,

Breakfast, musili made with nuts, seeds (I make my own as it is cheaper but also I can keep it sugar free. Fruit compot with things like rosehips, hawthorn etc (homemade) with plain yoghurt. A piece of fresh fruit from the fruit bowl and a fresh made smoothie with fruit and 2 x veg. So that is about 4-5.

Mid morning snack, cut up sweet potato and carrot with homemade hummus or falafel, so 2 portions. Water or kombucha (homemade)

Lunch, a large salad wrap with cold meat or cheese, smoked paprika veg and lentil dip or beetroot butterbean and mint dip.
Or thick veg soup, dahl. So that is another 3-4 portions at least. A small slice of low sugar home made veg or fruit cake for dc lunch boxes along with olives, peppers, mushrooms etc. Water

Dried fruit made with the dehydrator, so a mix of strawberries, kiwi, apple, banana. Dried veg crisps, mixed seeds and nuts. So 1-2 portions. Water.

Supper, we eat a lot of raw food, so salads made with all sorts of veg, courgette and turnip noodles with crushed pumpkin seeds, lemon dressing made from lemon, lemon balm a tiny bit of honey and olive oil. A mixed salad with broccoli, quinoa, fennel dressed in ginger and soy. Feta stuffed peppers for dh and I, Dc have some fish. Homemade kimchi (have a separate fridge for my fermented foods and drinks as well as batch made stuff). We usually have between 5-7 portions of veg. Water or milk, a small glass of wine for dh and I.

Homemade pudding something like halva, fruit fool with full fat cream, oat crunch, baklava, fruit crumble/tart, all made with honey with as little sugar as I can get away with, but pudding is not an everyday thing.

I however do love to make and bake, it is a hobby as well as something I do because it is needed. So quite happy to be making kimchi or preserved lemons, dressings (usually have 5 types in the fridge at any one time) in the evenings. I also forage for wild foods when walking, many of these I preserve by making vats of compot, dried herbs such as wild garlic, jack by the hedge, flowers that can be made into concentate syrups or dried.

This way of eating is not for everyone, it takes time and a love I think for creating. My sister is completely the other way, she eats very healthly but for her it is a means to and end. We were brought up by parents that had 3/4 allotments, a large garden and a love for foraging. Our mum was a functional cook, our dad was the more creative cook. I hope that my dc follow in the footsteps when they are adults. At the moment they love to make and bake, particularly if there is a bowl to lick after!

starlight2017 · 18/07/2018 11:26

If I’m in charge of meals, yes. If DH, nope.

DayKay · 18/07/2018 11:26

I’d probably not count fruit and veg in a muffin as a whole portion but It’s a contribution towards it.
It’s more of an attitude too. Why not try to make even a cake a bit more nutritional?

adviceonthepox · 18/07/2018 11:27

Mine do most days unless we are on a day out such as a theme park. I don't take food with me most of the time and there is rarely healthy food available. Breakfast is always accompanied by a piece of fruit, fruit for break, peppers and cucumbers with fruit in their packed lunch and then veg with their dinner. Even if I'm doing a crap tea like burgers or pizza I will do salad with it.

ohtheholidays · 18/07/2018 11:28

We have 5DC some days they'll have 7 or 8 other days it will only be 3 and that's including orange juice Blush

DD15 and DD10 are the best for fruit and veg,DD15 will eat a whole tub of cherry tomatoes to herself as a snack and she loves carrot sticks,snack peppers and cuecumber sticks with homous and she usually eats any vegetables with her dinners first,she also loves any berries,mangoes and fresh pineapple.

DD10 loves the same veggies with homous and will devour a tub of blackberries a day and she loves satsumas.

The boys I'm usually sticking extra vegetables on they're plates at meal times to make sure they've had at least 3 portions a day.

BatShitBuns · 18/07/2018 11:37

Why not try to make even a cake a bit more nutritional?

Because it tastes a lot nicer without beetroot and fecking carrot in it?

I mean why the need to make everything "healthy". Cake is supposed to be unhealthy. Just don't eat it every day and you'll be fine.

DayKay · 18/07/2018 11:40

Each to their own BatShitBuns

MarthasGinYard · 18/07/2018 11:40

I just see a fruit muffin much the same junk as any sweet cake.

I mean do you the count fruit n nut Dairymilk too??

I would rather fruit and veg were as nature intended not crucified or covered in crap etc....

I can see my dc have well over the required guideline now.

dontknowwhattodo80 · 18/07/2018 11:42

DS2 (9)- yes- total fruit bat and loves veg and salad

DS1 (14) - no chance! Unless you can count the fruit flavours in skittles Grin. In his defence he is allergic to most fruits and some vegetables

SaucyJack · 18/07/2018 11:45

Agreed Batshit.

I'd rather just have one bag of Giant Buttons of a Saturday night and be done with it, instead of eating disappointing flapjack or cake every day.

0ccamsRazor · 18/07/2018 11:49

DayKay you are right cakes can be made to be nutritional rich, using raw puree root veg like beetroot (gives a lovely dark red colour to the cake), sweet potato, carrots etc. Cut up fruit, apples, mango, berries all good. Also raw cocoa, almond or coconut flour mixed with wholemeal. Honey mixed with sugar, spices, and olive oil as well as eggs. Natural yogurt with milk etc, I go on the more ingredients used the better it will be.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 18/07/2018 11:50

0ccams you're lucky that you're allowed to provide mid-morning snacks and lunch for your DC, at my DC's school, all food is provided by the school, presumably because they don't expect parents to provide healthy food. What annoys me is that they only provide fruit for a mid-morning snack, so DD has breakfast at 7, fruit at 11 and then doesn't have lunch until 12.30 as she's yr5. She's feeling quite faint by then because she's walked to school and run about at playtime. Maybe some bread would be a good idea?