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.

You store any excess energy as fat, whatever it’s source.

But that’s why it’s bollocks when people on here go on about protein protein protein. It’s not special. It’s not magic food. Just a high energy food, too much of which will make you fat. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I hope my kids eat that well when they are her age. Right now, we are in the midst of neophobic toddler pickiness.

I will be the sole one to say that she is probably eating enough protein. Protein deficiency is rare for individuals eating a standard Western diet, such as your daughter. Even my picky toddler is not protein deficient. Adults need between 1 and 2 gr of protein per kg of body weight, the upper range being for athletes or those with a physical job.

A 7 yo needs around 20 gr of protein per day. People don't realize that even pasta has protein, 13 gr/100 gr. A cup of milk has 8 gr. Even if the corner yogurt was the one with chocolate balls, she would have still got 4 gr of protein from it. A piece of breaded fish has 10 gr. Even half a cup of green peas has 5 gr of protein. I know all those things because I used to worry about my toddler's eating. I still worry, but mostly about vegetables.

She is in all likelihood bored. Since she likes food, why don't you prepare a meal or snack together? It will keep her busy and delay the next meal until the food is ready.

God all this hand wringing about Rice Krispies and fruit. She just wants something nice to eat, a bit of chocolate or a bag of crisps every once in a while isn't going to do any harm. Bake some cookies or scones together or something.

reetgood
It clearly was different then because the % of overweight adults is increasing all the time.
Anecdotally I can think off the top of my head of a few things that are in abundance now which weren’t as much then. Soft drinks. Energy drinks. More screen time. Less walking.
I think it’s in The Obesity Code where the author pinpointed 1982 as the year it all went wrong, the advent of the low fat diet.
One big thing is that in the early 80s, being fat was extremely undesirable. I still retain that mindset. I hate to be overweight and make an effort not to be. But since 70% plus of the population are now overweight it is the norm so it has gone from being undesirable to neutral

As long as she's eating healthy food and she's not overweight let her eat. She's probably having a growth spurt.

LazY When I say cereal I mean porridge oats, weetabix and shredded wheat. Not Cheerios and Frosties! I don't eat them for added its, I eat them for the fibre mainly. Nature's broom.

vits not its

Another vote for a growth spurt here. It doesn’t sound like an excessive amount of food and they’re pretty self regulating at that age usually.

@MrsBobDylan
I don’t know a single child under 10 that snacks on bloody nuts 🙄
Every MN child is super active, slim, eats endless fruit and never a crisp or mars bar or McDonald’s has passed their sainted lips 🙄🤣

I don’t know a single child under 10 that snacks on bloody nuts

My 5 year old loves salted peanuts, but I don’t think that’s the sort of nut people are talking about

DD had lucky charms today AND McDonald's. Debating over dinner.

I’ve got DD into pistachios and pecans (I give her a pestle and mortar and she grinds them as she’s still q young) but she likes all the inappropriate stuff as well

Feed her a better breakfast with more protein. Breakfast cereals are just carbohydrates.

As for appetite, my dd had no appetite at all and my dgd has a voracious appetite and, if anything, dgd is slimmer than dd was at her age.

The important thing is totry to make sure she has good quality food and not to make an issue about food.

@YourSarcasmIsDripping

I shall alert SS immediately and log this incident with 101.

Do people really eat too much protein on average?

I remember the first time I did MFP for a few weeks and realised what a car crash my "normal" diet was - rarely enough protein, tons of carbs, not enough fibre or vitamins and nowhere near enough iron. Maybe it's just me I certainly feel more satisfied and eat fewer calories when I have enough protein.

Yep, 45-55% more than they need according to bbc (just googled it quickly but have read it loads before)

Mind you I’ve always come in massively over on mfp too

I’ve read that too about protein. My DD is vegetarian and I worried about protein but dietician friend said nobody gets too little protein in the western world.

Some people unfortunately still think carbs are the base of the food pyramid. The food pyramid invented by the American corn industry. Fibrous veg should be the main part of diet. And too many people avoid fats altogether when they will definitely keep you fuller for longer and do not cause heart disease as previously thought.

Of course nearly everyone gets enough protein, because nearly all foods contsin protein, including pasta, bread, yoghurt, milk, breakfast cereals, baked beans, fish fingers, vegetables. You don't have to eat chicken or eggs to get enough protein like so many people on here seem to think.

YourSarcasm Dominos?

I'd agree it's a lack of protein.

Teenage ds & I (both overweight after lazy summer eating - he's spent a month at his dad's being fed crap, I've just indulged in crap!) are currently on a bit of a boot camp.

After a run & a swim this morning, we went to a local Lebanese cafe & had halloumi, hummus, & felafel for brunch - normally I wouldn't have breakfast, he'd binge on toast, both of us would be starving fairly quickly.

Both fully stoked & satiated & happy to have salmon & veggie stir fry for dinner. It was a 'duh, we knew this!' moment.

Protein definitely works for both of us - scrambled eggs, beans on toast, bacon butty - anything but crappy cereal for breakfast.

feeling if only. She won't touch pizza. She's equally fussy with healthy and "junk" food.

She’s getting a lot of carb and sugar OP and not much fibre or protein. I would ditch all those puddings, give fresh fruit as a desert with yoghurt.
Add protein to every meal.
And up the veggies.

Do kids really not eat nuts? My 1.5 year old and 3year old wharf down raw pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds... any in fact. No salt. Not roasted

How many of you are qualified dieticians I wonder?

A protein breakfast means that your blood sugar doesn't rise and fall so quickly during the morning.

But I believe, without having any scientific proof, that if your body gets all the vitamins, minerals and everything else it needs, it is less likely to ask you to keep on eating once you satisfied that need.