Fussy eating in 9 year old DS1

[doyoudoduvets]

DS1 (9) is tall, slim and active. A happy boy but he get's hungry quickly (high metabolism like me).

Breakfast - one of the following - pancakes/toast/cereal/glass of fruit juice/croissants

School morning break - he has toast and chocolate milk from the tuck shop

He says school dinners are too small.

He is hungry after school so has a cereal bar and a smoothie (to get some fruit in).

Dinner - he won't eat anything roasted or too brown. He says it's 'burnt' (when it's not). Sausages are fine in the slow cooker as they are soft but he's not a big meat eater. He will pick out the mince in a spag bol as it's too dark. He loves gammon. He prefers food that's lighter in colour.

On holiday, he chose rice, pasta/spaghetti and pasta sauce every day. He loves pasta sauce so I whizz lots of veg into that.

He likes boiled potatoes but not keen on chips. He would live on pasta if he could.

After 5pm dinner, I offer yoghurt but it doesn't fill him up. I get stuck as he doesn't like fruit, rice pudding or custard. He then asks for more food at bedtime (plain toast/porridge/Weetabix).

AIBU to think his diet isn't too bad but he could do with more protein and fat? I get stuck on meal ideas for him. He can't be doing too badly as he has so much energy but it seems a lot about texture?

I agree he’s eating a lot of carbs and sugary fruits.

will he eat eggs, cheese, chicken?

Cheese is only grated on the side of his plate. I've tried cubes of cheese after school but no success.

He does like scrambled eggs but he wakes early and wants his cereal as soon as he wakes but won't do hot food that early. I do pancakes every few days to get the eggs in.

He likes hot chicken legs and nuggets but not plain chicken. He says it's too chewy.

I feel like he needs a more substantial snack with protein after school if dinner is at 5pm. He won't have cheese in a sandwich. Any ideas?

Is the issue with mince the colour or texture? Could you try pork, chicken or turkey mince recipes? Will he eat fish? What meat in what form will he eat?

What vegetables will he eat? His diet seems very short on veg. It’s not ideal but even if there is only one vegetable he eats, serve it every day for fibre. How about cauli rice (or a small amount mixed into rice)? Whizzing veg into sauces isn’t as good as eating whole veg. I would try serving veg on the side too. He probably won’t eat it but may eventually try it.

He doesn't like the skin on fruit and veg so will only eat:

Boiled or raw carrot
Boiled broccoli or cauliflower
Boiled baby sweetcorn
Smoothies with the occasional slice of watermelon

No cucumbers, peas, tomatoes or peppers so no salad.

What can I give him after school?

Meat - he will eat breaded fish, breaded chicken, sausages in stews, gammon and slow cooked sausages but not normal oven cooked ones.

I think it's the colour but the issue with skin on things indicates texture?

Hello, are you me? Is that my 9 year old son you're talking about! I'm in exactly the same boat. I got my son to write down a list of foods he will eat and I went with that, but adding in extras, like a high fat sauce. We make a smoothie every day and hide stuff in it, eg boiled egg yoke, peas and carrots. I make it with cream and peanut butter and jazz it up with squirty cream and cocoa so he feels like he is on holiday. His sugar intake is higher than I would like but it's currently the only way to get the other stuff into him. We did also do a 'food festival' where I put out a range of things like a buffet and he helps himself. My husband and I are constantly at loggerheads over this as I think that as long as he is eating and I'm doing my best to offer him his nutrients, then we can't do much more. I totally feel your frustration but it sounds like you're doing fine x

My son likes peanut butter and banana sandwiches as a snack.

I also make little muffins that I make with grated carrot, peanut butter, and oatmeal and he quite likes them for a snack and there's protein in the peanut butter and eggs. Also little mini bread and butter puddings.

Son also likes ham or tuna sandwiches. I can't get protein into him without mixing it with carbs but it does the trick.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the after school snack, I would be more concerned about introducing more fruit and veg, possibly protein at other meal times.

Would he eat porridge or overnight oats for breakfast instead of sugary cereal?

Does he actually eat the school lunches? What do they serve?

How about soup or grated cheese and carrot sticks after school? Have you tried him with raw broccoli or cauliflower? Other brassicas (cabbage, sprouts, kale)? Tinned sweetcorn? Peeled fruit or tinned fruit without the skin? Grated apple or pear? Beans? Could you try grated veg in sauces instead of blended (more fibre). Puréed veg in mash? Does he like casseroles and stews with softer meat?

If he eats a range of meat/fish but only in a specific form, just stick with that. It’s a pain but can you just make chicken nuggets for him when you have roast chicken etc? If he’s texture sensitive, that probably isn’t going to change, at least not until he is older. Try to encourage him to eat a wider range of foods for his health but I’m not sure it’s worth trying to get him to eat foods he already eats in a different format.

His diet isn't terrible to be fair. Quite a lot of sugar/carbs though.
Does he eat eggs? Eggs for breakfast would keep him fuller longer.
Or beans on toast, porridge?
How about chicken or turkey mince so it's not as dark?

Thanks. They are good suggestions.

He does like porridge but before bed as he doesn’t like hot food early. I will try porridge for breakfast tomorrow.

He won’t eat bananas. I’ve tried tinned fruit but he refuses that. He wont eat peeled fruit as it still has the ‘bits’ in.

You could try overnight oats instead of porridge, if he doesn’t like hot food for breakfast. If he likes them, you could try adding things like grated apple, fruit purée, ground nuts, nut butter.

His brother also doesn’t eat eggs, beans or cheese so it can be tricky.

I highly recommend this nutritionist for fussy eaters
www.tiktok.com/@familysnacknutritionist?_t=8niQ5aJn52e&_r=1

Does he like nuts? My daughter likes cashew nuts and pecan nuts as they are quite soft and not too crunchy (in her words...). A handful of them with raisins after school is a good snack.

Would he eat hummus with carrot sticks? Peanut butter on rice cakes? Natural yoghurt with pureed fruit?

One of mine isn't a big meat fan (it's the texture and she can't handle raw meat) but she loves pulses. Apart from when she was really young she has always eaten the same as us, with the occasional exception. One night I had made chilli con carne and she ate all the beans and peppers from her own and then started asking for beans from my plate; after that I often removed the meat from her meal and gave her mixed beans instead, so sweet and sour chicken became sweet and sour beans. Ironically she hates baked beans.
Her go-to lunch if she makes her own is couscous (with dried cinnamon sprinkled on top before she adds the water) with chopped peppers, dried fruit and chopped nuts.

Today he’s had peanut butter on granary bread for breakfast, school dinner, oatcake, cheese and milk after school and carrots, baked beans and nuggets for tea 👍

Thanks for all the great ideas here. You get a bit stuck when you have two kids who eat completely different things!

He's eating a lot of sugar and carbs so potentially whilst it seems he eats often, his blood sugar potentially dipping often, and he's burning it off fast and making him feel even more hungry. Some people feel sick when they feel hungry, and this makes them even more critical about the food they eat.

Definitely try to up the protein and fat and reduce the sugar/quick burning carbs proportionally (I do not mean drop the calories he eats in any way!).

Try and get him to stick to having some decent protein and fat with each snack/meal as the more you do that the less the blood glucose will swing around and the better he'll feel, but it may take several days, it will not happen after just one or two meals!

It is infuriating to not be able to eat certain textures, its nigh on impossible to explain to people who don't have these issues what exactly the problem is (for me it is a visceral revulsion its not as many people assume, that I simple 'don't fancy it' or 'its not her favourite thing so she won't eat it'!).

It is also difficult to cope with foods that vary, fruit is one - I love tangerines but cannot stand the weak bland flavoured ones with tons of fibre and bugger all flavour. I love nectarines but oh only the ones that taste like summer sunshine, not the ones that have a hint of the bins at the back of the market ( a flavour only super-tasters will even know is present in some fruits!)...

Nuts are a really good way to get in protein and fat!

My eldest is very particular about food and it’s hard sometimes to get protein into him as he likes what he likes and won’t always try new things and even if he does he won’t always eat them.

He has a sweet tooth and likes carbs. I try to add protein where I can. So knowing he likes sweet snacks, I tried energy balls (though these won’t be the healthiest ones in the world) and almond butter biscuits. I also used to make a lot of cheese biscuits but now he only likes them warm.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2011/03/whole-wheat-goldfish-crackers/

http://www.thelittleloaf.com/2018/05/21/peanut-butter-jam-thumbprint-cookies/ (I make with almond butter and without jam - he doesn’t like jam. Tbh I have about a 50/50 success rate with these when friends have tried them).

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

Will he eat

• hummous
• daal/thick lentil soup
• seitan
• edamame
• peanut butter or nuts
• low sugar beans on toast

There are internet recipes for protein balls made with nuts, cocoa etc

He will eat hummus occasionally. Tried edamame beans but he rejected them as it's in a skin. He loves beans on toast.

Yesterday he tried and liked some cashews (left in a bowl nearby and he helped himself) which was great plus he had grated cheese, oatcakes and carrot sticks after school. Porridge as he was still a bit hungry before bed.

He loves peanut butter which is good so PBJ and a glass of milk is a good one.

He often leaves the meat in a meal but goes for the carbs and the 2 boiled veg.
His brother devours fruit and veg but doesn't like beans, cheese or eggs (he loves meat though).
Mealtimes are tricky as they like opposite things!

He also plays football so I struggle to think of how to feed him on football club nights. Tonight he had his dinner straight after school as he wasn't at footie for a couple of hours so he had pasta with 5 hidden veg in the sauce and gammon (which he loves).

He is too tired to eat a big meal when he gets back at 7pm but is obviously hungry after running around for 1 and a half hours. I give him peanut butter on toast and milk. What else can I give him at that time?

The other issue is protein for my other son who doesn’t like eggs, beans or cheese! I sneak eggs into pancakes and he loves his meat but only likes ham for cold meat. He does love his fruit and veg and likes yoghurt and milk.

He had some eggs on toast this morning :) He loves baked beans on toast too.

He likes milk and yoghurt. I tried chicken in stock in the slow cooker (low 7 hours), shredded it and mixed it into pasta pesto and he loved it. I'm also trying the mince for a spag bol in the slow cooker today so it's softer.

He loves gammon, breaded fish and chicken legs done in the air fryer.

He's doing pretty well overall.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions.

You can get protein powders that will mix in with some foods - I use them when I've gone off all the easier forms of protein (happens fairly regularly!).

I also eat a lot of quorn, which isn't fab if you're avoiding UPF but has lots of protein. The current favourite is the Takeaway fillet burger things, brushed with a bit of spicy bbq sauce and then done in the airfryer so they're sticky on top.

Another good protein if he likes it, is Halloumi. I often use it in place of meat in various hot/toasted sandwiches, for example I do a 'BLT' but with Halloumi instead of bacon - thin strips done in the griddle pan so its crispy on the outside (I can't tolerate it if its thick and squishy!).