To think this is too much food for an 8yo?

[Twelvehaysofmistcats]

Not sure what im asking here exactly, maybe just a bit of perspective, but DS is 7 (sorry put 8 in title, hes not 8 it was a typo). Each day he eats

2 or 3 full bowls of porridge with fruit
3 or 4 big wholewheat crackers or fruit as morning snack
Lunch at home would be maybe 4 slices of wholemeal bread, loads of cheese or anything else protein-y, veg/salad, then if there was any bread left on the table he'd just finish it. At school he has school dinners but says they're not enough and he's hungry
After school 4 or 5 big wholewheat crackers with peanut butter, fruit, probably more crackers
Dinner is e.g pasta and sauce or whatever - its healthy but he'll have a full adult portion, then seconds, eats far more than even his dad. He'll pretty much cry unless dinner is something solid/filling - e.g. stew or soup has to have masses of bread or potatoes with it
Drinks water

He's on the tall side, solid but absolutely no spare flesh and you can see his ribs. Does a fair bit of sport. I'm not worried he's overweight at the moment, just that this is an insane amount for a kid that age to eat! I guess I worry that I should try to encourage him not to always have seconds/thirds as he's storing up problems for the future. Anyone have any experience of a kid like this?

YANBU - don't feed him so much, he needs to learn to stop (and youll go bankrupt when he's a teenager)

YABU - leave him alone, its totally fine for a 7yo to eat more than the rest of the family put together

Tank you!

It’s loads. You say he’s solid- what is his weight and height?

I don't know his weight at the moment but he's about 130cm, maybe a bit more. He was at the doctors recently and they weighed him and said completely fine, not even on the heavy side!

it does sound like a lot. Apart from the cheese and peanut butter, what protein is he getting?

Is he drinking enough water? Sometimes people mistake thirst for hunger. I'd probably encourage him to drink a big glass of water with his meals and wait 20 minutes after eating his dinner to see whether he's still hungry.

130cm is very tall for a 7yo, unless he's nearly 8 (then it's still tall, but not unusually so).

TBH if he is healthy and not overweight I wouldn't worry about it. He's clearly using it somewhere!

You might need to save up for puberty though

Pre-pubescent growth spurt. Very common.

"Four wholewheat crackers" makes you sound mean.

It's a lot of carbs with not much veg and protein.

That’s a huge amount - more than my teenage son eats!

He gets protein in dairy, some meat but not much, eggs, beans/chickpeas, some fish. Hes not fussy, if its food, its mostly accepted!

That's a good point about the water, thanks. He does drink a fair bit but maybe sometimes not as much as he could

Depends on a few things.

Portion size.
Is the porridge made with milk?
Are there any nuts or seed or fats woth the porridge?
Is he getting enough fat?
Is he getting hard food (not a pop atyou but soft bread, soup, porridge etc doesn't encourage the the effort of chewing)

Is it possible he's eating because he doesn't feel satiated? He is growing so unlike adults isn't just aiming to maintain.

He's clearly not overweight so he's using the calories. Please don't restrict his intake and let him go hungry as he clearly needs it. My 8 year old is the same - he's eaten more than me since he was 8 months old, and he's very slim.

What do you mean 'too much'?

You said the doctor said his weight is fine. Do you want him to lose weight? Is he gaining weight? If his weight is fine, what is the worry?

I guess I worry that I should try to encourage him not to always have seconds/thirds as he's storing up problems for the future. What problems is he storing up if he is a healthy weight?

Being controlling about food causes problems.

Laughing at wholewheat crackers being mean! I got them to try and make him feel fuller as he was mainlining the white ones!

He does have a lot of veg/protein (peanut butter goes on in a carpet, i do the enforced carrot sticks etc to fill him up), just reaches for the carbs as he always feels hungry i think

Could he have worms?

It's an interesting question about what am I worried about! I am controlling about food because I only give him stuff that I think is good for him instead of letting him choose freely - with an appetite like his I think if I gave him the biscuit tin every day it would be a different story. I guess I just see an absolutely massive amount of food go into him every day, more than his tall marathon running dad, and I wonder if its normal! But maybe im just worrying unnecessarily

Don't worry, I wouldn't let him go hungry!

I’d provide more protein, like baked chicken, baked beans, deviled eggs.

Its a lot of crackers. Can you mix it up with fruit?
My child is similar age and height and will eat and eat. We try and have eggs and fruit. Eggs seem to fill him up, scrambled or boiled. Bananas are quite filling too.
My son is a little heavy, so weve been trying to cut down on carbs and found these are good solutions.

The crackers arent much I wonder if he needs something more filling? Also does he have lots of carbs like pasta/rice and lots of vegetables? And a lot of water?

If his weight is fine. And his sleep is good. And he can focus in class. Then don’t worry.

IME my kids sometimes eat loads more than their dad can. And then they go thru phases where they apparently survive on air for days , or even weeks, on end.

they also appear to eat loads. Get fatter. And then suddenly shoot up in height.

so. Don’t fret. Keep plenty of snacks and healthy food available. Keep fitness levels high. And provide education on the subject but don’t over egg it.

If his weight is ok and the food he eats is healthy then I can't see a problem.

Why does he not have much meat? If he'll eat anything, why the decision not to have meat? It would probably fill him up more than loads of pasta/bread/crackers. It also gives them a chance to chew which activates satiety indicators. There's interesting research about how we can overeat far more easily when we eat very soft food. Humans need to chew.

Four HUGE wholewheat crackers.

Because his metabolism won't always be so efficient and if he's used to having third portions of food, that he really doesn't need, that's a recipe for an overweight adult.

Exactly. The kids needs protein & good fat. You're loading him with sugar & carbs. It's no wonder he's constantly hungry, eating loads.

But he does need it or he would be overweight?

Crackers the size of your HEAD!

Thanks though everyone, some really useful things to think.about here. Protein for sure and thats really interesting about chewing. We don't have much meat because of the cost but I will think about what other things might take a bit more effort to chew