To stop my daughter (what I see as) overeating?

[isthisfairidontknow]

She's 7, fit and healthy but neither skinny nor fat. Does gym, dance, etc each week.

But she has an enormous appetite. And we keep clashing over it.

For example this morning she has cried that she is hungry but has had a bowl of rice crispies, a banana and a cheese sandwich. She's only been up since 7. I've made her have a big drink in case she is thirsty. I would be full if I had that.

Yesterday she had a bowl of bran flakes, strawberries, breadsticks and Nutella (as a snack) mid morning, kids portion of fish chips and peas (at a restaurant) and apple crumble and custard for lunch then 'green pasta' for tea (peas, pesto, courgette, garlic, onions) and a corner yoghurt for pudding.

There is a rule in our house that food is unlimited but if it's outside of mealtimes it's fruit veg and water or milk. And I've offered all of that but she's still whinging on.

She's been like this every day of the holidays and it's relentless every day. Even before the holidays she was always complaining about portion size, 'can I have more? I'm hungry etc'

Is she just chancing it for more food? Because she doesn't want the fruit and veg and water on offer.

[TheCatThatDanced]

That's not that filling a breakfast for DC in my opinion! Mine both eat (under 10 both of them) - cereal (e.g. cornflakes etc and toast in the morning for breakfast, or scrambled eggs/boiled eggs on toast - no cereal.

Agreed with protein (fish, chicken, quorn with the green pasta.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

I would be full if I had that

An active 7 year old and an adult sedentary woman can easily have the same calorific demands, indeed, if you're smaller or even mode sedentary than average she could have more - stop comparing your appetite to hers.

[TheCatThatDanced]

Fruit - try things like:-

bananas, apricots, raspberries etc which is what my DC prefer because generally sweeter - both love bananas.

[TheCatThatDanced]

sirfredfredgeorge - agreed - active 7 year olds and sedentary adult women can easily have same calorific demands.

I don't look that closely at DC's eating habits (obviously too much sugar and too much food is a no go) but when they're on the go from 7am (if not earlier!), active all day etc then they're bound to consume and burn off more as kids!

[drspouse]

Kids don't grow "over the summer" or "at age 7" and I would be completely sure she is NOT overweight before you write that off. If you think she's "robust" and you haven't said her weight/height you can check her centiles against other children here:

www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/

(note for children it doesn't give you a "BMI" like we are familiar with for adults, it gives you a centile i.e. where she is against other children her age and height. And remember we are all used to seeing lots of overweight children. My DS is on medication that limits his appetite so we watch his weight and you can see his ribs but he's still at the 63rd centile - but compared to other kids he looks like a rail).

She sounds like she wants sweet stuff and is bored, as others have said. I was similar myself, and active in that I loved doing stuff but wasn't sporty (bike riding and playing at the park, yes, organised sports no).

I think the ideas of offering non-sweet snacks, and making sure there is enough protein, may well help but DO check her weight and height (I'm not sure how you do that subtly as both of my DCs have regular medical appointments so we always check there!).

[gingersausage]

I don’t get the obsession on here with endless bloody fruit. Most of it is almost pure sugar, and apart from Vitamin C it has very little nutritional value in large quantities that growing children need. You might as well give them a Mars bar and a glass of orange juice.

@IsobelRae23 sorry, but that is just sheer greed. No one needs to eat that quantity of empty calories. You wouldn’t be broadcasting the fact your son had cleared the fridge of chocolate bars, and yet he might as well have done really.

If people learnt about nutrition and stopped feeding their kids on sugar (yes fruit and honey are the same damn sugar as any other) then there wouldn’t be these endless pointless threads. Children need calorie dense foods, not massive quantities of low fat, low protein food. Growing children should not be following (even unconsciously) any form of low-carb diet or faddy eating plan.

No child needs three bowls of cereal. One egg or some cheese on wholemeal toast will fill them up and keep them full for longer. A Cheesestring or a Lunchable has more nutrition than a bowl of bloody rice crispies.

[Passthecherrycoke]

Children don’t eat whatever you put in front of them @gingersausage. There is no point in me giving my daughter an egg if she won’t eat it but will eat rice crispies

[goldfinchfan]

As your daughter is very active I think she needs more protein.
Protein will enable her to feel more full up....her body is hungry because it hasn't yet received enough fuel to keep her going.
I hope you will research this and find out how important protein is for growing active kids.....and less carbs.
Fruit is basically sugar and can just make more hunger.

She sounds like a great DD

[drspouse]

I don’t get the obsession on here with endless bloody fruit. Most of it is almost pure sugar,

Fruit sugar is absorbed more slowly than the sugar in a Mars Bar (which also has fat).
Fruit has fibre, which fills children up (unlike juice). It has water, meaning that the calories per weight are less than a Mars Bar. So no, it's not just pure sugar. Sugar is just pure sugar.
It has more minerals and vitamins than just vitamin C.
In summary it's an appealing, relatively low calorie but filling, and nutritious snack that is ideal for children and adults.

[NoSquirrels]

endless bloody fruit. Most of it is almost pure sugar, and apart from Vitamin C it has very little nutritional value in large quantities that growing children need. You might as well give them a Mars bar and a glass of orange juice.

Oh for goodness sake! It’s nothing LIKE the same as a Mars and a glass of orange juice! You also need fibre (which you’re not getting with juice or chocolate) and depending on whether your orange juice is freshly squeezed or not you might not also be getting the vitamins and minerals you’d get from just eating the orange.

Sugar isn’t just sugar. A balanced diet is more than just the component nutrients. Focusing on breaking it all down to its components is madness.

Eat food (without crazy ingredients, as natural/unprocessed as possible) Not too much. Mostly fruit and vegetables.

[Passthecherrycoke]

No, the obsession here is with protein. Which is just a fad.

[IsobelRae23]

@gingersausage I don’t buy chocolate bars or crips so 🖕on that. And please point out in my post where I said that it was ‘not because he was being greedy’.- because it is quiet obvious it was. But I would rather her have eaten the large fruit like bananas than all the more expensive that was being used for fruit salad for the next 3 days.

This was eaten over an afternoon, before, during and after, rugby practice and a match. Ds14 (almost 15) is 6ft 2, a size XXlarge top because his shoulders are so wide, and looks down on half the fully grown men we know. So he does tend to eat more than a skinny 5ft 3 peer. But then he a actually is just average in his rugby team. I’m just glad my 6ft 2 ds19 wasn’t home- as he would have eaten twice as much.

[cantw8]

Porridge is rubbish at keeping you full. An omelette with bacon will keep her fuller for far longer.

[alligatorsmile]

Could she maybe get more involved with preparing food? I know my DD tends to eat more if she's "made" (stirred/stood near) the thing. You coul make frozen lollies with plain yoghurt and mashed fruit?

[Passthecherrycoke]

10 years ago it was all about the porridge keeping you full until lunchtime

[AnastasiaVonBeaverhausen]

I don’t get the obsession on here with endless bloody fruit. Most of it is almost pure sugar, and apart from Vitamin C it has very little nutritional value in large quantities that growing children need. You might as well give them a Mars bar and a glass of orange juice.

As someone who has had to monitor blood sugar for pronged periods of time I can state this is absolute nonsense. Fruit has sugar but it has an awful lot of other nutritional benefits, including but not limited to, fibre, folate, vitamin A and potassium. A green apple eaten with skin on or a bowl of berries have nothing like the effect on blood sugar that a mars bar has. They are lower calorie and more nutrient dense. Fruit is very important as part of a balanced diet.
And not one single person here has suggested "just" feeding a child fruit, but as an additional option once meals and snacks have been consumed, thus forming part of a balanced diet.

[MrsMaow]

If I’m really hungry and someone offered me a satsuma for example I’d rather have nothing. If I eat the satsuma I won’t be satisfied at all and if anything I’ll feel even hungrier after the initial sugar hit has worn off.

I’d much prefer half that satsuma with half a boiled egg, or a few nuts, or something similar with a bit of fat and protein in it. I’d feel much more satisfied and for far longer because I’d be getting a good balance of carbs, protein and healthy fats. Maybe your daughter would too?

[Passthecherrycoke]

Half a boiled egg? Living the high life 😭

[Kelsoooo]

Lord people take food way too seriously on here.

My teeny tiny 7 year old, eats from the moment she gets up til she goes to bed if we let her. Sometimes it's fun to say yes to everything.

If you regulate too much, how will she learn to regulate herself?

One glass of water is going to do fuck all if she's thirsty and not hungry. Why doesn't she have a drink on the go permanently?

[Siameasy]

I would actually lower the starchy carb content and increase the fat content if you can because fat is the most satiating macro nutrient of all yet everyone is told to eat low fat so sadly kids may not get enough fat. In the meantime they will be hungry and eat tonnes of starchy carbs which to me seem to only increase hunger if I eat them.
So full fat dairy (curries made with full fat yoghurt?), fatty cuts of meat, coconut, add butter to peas etc

I make smoothies with berries (berries are lower in sugar) and full fat plain yoghurt DD likes these and the colours are great!

I am vigilant with my DD and that includes not allowing mindless consumption of fruit as sugar is sugar and we have T2 diabetes in DHs family.

You are far more likely to be overweight/get T2 these days than be anorexic so I don’t get the fear of restricting inappropriate foods. If my child becomes overweight it’ll be no ones fault but mine and DH’s.

I tell her too much sugar makes you have a big tummy and is bad for your blood. This is 100% true.

My SIL was recounting her school days-she was allowed to become rather overweight and had a dreadful time. No child will thank you for not being careful, you are right to monitor.

[Siameasy]

NB I’m sure I read somewhere that fructose doesn’t trigger the “full up” feeling so fruit isn’t a great snack.

[ElizaPancakes]

She does sound bored I agree, but also cereal is the absolute worst. It only keeps me going for about half an hour before I can feel my belly rumbling!

Can you get some porridge and teach her how to make it? Or do her eggs? I have boys of a similar age, I quite often let them have cereal at around 8 when they get up (earlier when not the hols) and then we have eggs for brunch at around 11:30. That normally keeps them going till an afternoon snack and then dinner later on.

Also, Apple and grapes with cheese cubes is a proper awesome snack and will keep her full for much longer than just the fruit.

[Passthecherrycoke]

Of course fruit doesn’t “fill you up” - fill
You up means fill your stomach. So there is no room for more food to enter.

Fruit is small, and becomes thin liquid during digestion. It’s not going to “fill you up” but neither will 1/2 an egg and a handful of nuts. Your tummy needs to be physically full, which means quantity.

Now whether you want your tummy to be full at all times is another matter.

[kateandme]

yesterday doesnt seem like overeating at all!!really?
i think your attitude and the wording youve used in your post is a recipe for disaster to be honest.