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!

calories are not all equal.
'Meat and two veg' - a filling satisfying meal. Pasta - slop dowsed in a creamy sauce that will slip down easily, burn quickly leaving you feeling hungry again in no time

You surely understand that everyone is different. A normal sized bowl of pasta, sauce and a small handful of grated cheese will keep me full for eight hours. Meat and two veg with no carbs will not; I will be starving again within two hours.

Sounds about right, my 8 year old eats like that, I honestly don't know where he puts it, I say it is because they are growing. My son is on the thinner side as well. My eldest who is 15 eats me out of house. If he isn't over weight, leave him be.

TwinklyStorkYeah right. If you say so.

I had pasta for lunch. Five piece of spaghetti chewed really slowly. I'll not be hungry now til November.

Possible worms?

Maybe he needs to be eating more filling foods like meat, eggs and full fat dairy instead of lots of carbs.

Sounds like me at that age...
I ate more than my dad...
Was never really big nor small
Age 52 now and still eat well and I'm 5'2", 61kg and muscular and active... (also post menopausal.... but that won't affect him).... but long term it did ne no harm... if he's activevand growing it's fine

You could do a mug/bowl of soup before a meal too or as a snack? A roasted veg and lentil based one would get protein in and loads of veg. Or cauliflower cheese or chicken and veg

Although it sounds like lots of food it is all basic home cooked fare with few snacks. If he isn’t overweight I wouldn’t worry.
Is this a new issue or has he always eaten loads, he may just be having a growth spurt?
The reason I wouldn’t stop him eating if he isn’t overweight is you could interrupt his natural appetite. This could lead to him eating more in the longer term.

My youngest is 8 and was 144 - eats a lot compared to peers - I found "rabbit" food as I call it very helpful - I read its because it has water content which also helps. I do plates of veg as a snack between meals too. Boiled eggs i saw op write - yes we make those regularly as a snack too.
I also give her adult portions but she does sport so I'm positive she's burning a huge amount. I found less carbs and more steamed veg and raw veg helped the intake lower. I had to actively give smaller pasta portions so that she'd eat the veg as having veg available didn't mean she ate it as a large part of her meal.

That's great you've taken the advice, op. I also immediately thought more protein when I read your op. Eggs, toast and milk is a good alternative! My eldest is only 5 but I try to make sure he has a carb, protein, fat and fruit /veg with every meal / snack. Not always possible but I try.

If he isn’t overweight then I don’t think you have to worry. He must be expending the energy otherwise he would surely be overweight. My son eats what I consider more than most kids but he also isn’t overweight so I just keep an eye on that. He is autistic though, is your son ND? They can sometimes have problems feeling satiated.

I'd ask for a diabetes check just to be sure. When I got diagnosed I could eat a huge breakfast, midmorning snack, full meal at lunch, afternoon snack, and a massive evening meal and not gain a pound...

Re: diabetes, ive looked at the list of signs and he shows none of them - not thirsty, not going to the toilet more, definitely not tired (he never sits still outside of school) and definitely not losing weight. So I think its very unlikely but I will keep a general eye on him with this in mind

Thats a huge amount for 7 … what does he do while eating? Is he sat at the table or in front to the TV / computer game??

I agree with PPs. More protein, mainly, along with healthy fats and fibre, will help him feel fuller for longer. I'm doing slimming world atm and in my case it's to lose weight but there is a focus on healthy eating habits and eating nutritious food that helps you feel full. I'm eating a lot of eggs for breakfast and boiled eggs as a snack as they are tasty and filling. So keep going with the eggs!

He needs A LOT more protein. Carbs are addictive. Give him eggs for breakfast, meat and veg for lunch & dinner, and fruit & snacks in between.
my son is also 130cm and he is 6.5yo. He also eats loads but I offer protein first. He is 28kg

He sits at the table to eat, we eat together and chat. I don't think ND. There was some question asked earlier that I think i didn't answer about porridge but its made with oats, milk and water here, and this morning I just made it with milk and put yoghurt in his. He stopped at 1 1/2 bowls full, so I think this is another bit of the puzzle in place.

I'm so grateful for the really helpful tone of all the advice here. In general we try to eat well and all like food in my family, but im navigating this kid in this phase for the first time and I needed to hear what others have done - his metabolism and food needs are obviously very very different from mine!

PS My oldest is 8 and he can sometimes eat loads of food when he's hungry and is enjoying it; he can polish off an entire adult's pizza for example or several portions of pasta. But he is a fussy eater and will often not each much so it's swings and roundabouts with him. I'd love it if he ate the variety of foods that your son eats!

Just because it's not all biscuits and cake doesn't make it the right balance. Sounds like you need to really up the protein and healthy fats.
If you can train him to slow down, sit down, eat together as a family while you have a conversation he might take his time a bit more. Chewing food and eating slow makes your digestion more efficient and makes the chemical signals that you're full work.
Try to phase out snacking when you can as that's not a healthy habit.

Seems to lack protein and veg, it’s twice what I eat or more!

I have a 7 year old boy, I would say this intake is normal and you have nothing to worry about

Oh come on now. Phase out snacking?! He's a growing kid FFS. All kids are obsessed with snacks and even as an adult l would prefer smaller meals and snacks. Depends what you snack on, too.

If you are on instagram at all - have a look at the glucose goddess’s page. She is a bio chemist who has studied glucose spikes and it is really interesting some of the stuff she shares. The more glucose spikes we have the more we tend to reach for food etc etc - and although fruit is really good for us with the fibre etc, if you have it on it’s own it still leads to glucose spikes. Just a thought that it could be glucose spikes and then crashes that make your son feel hungry! He could also just be growing and needing it - particularly if there are no weight concerns/thyroid issues! But definitely worth checking out! She will often show snacks where you pair fruit with a protein (like apple and peanut butter, or berries and greek yoghurt etc) to help lower the spikes/make you feel satiated for longer.

Children often actually need meat, its very nutritious and quite hard to replace with vegetarian sources unless you have a very unfussy child & are a broad cook.

I wouldn't let him build a habit of reaching for huge portions of easy carbs & dairy.

Give him big piles of root vegetables - swedes, squash, beetroot, carrots, and fibre rich pulses - beans and lentils, rather than than starchy grains, if he likes large portions.

Plenty of protein - lean meat, fish, eggs, cheese, these will take longer to digest and satiate him more. Piles of green veg, firm and lightly steamed rather than mushy.

Meat can be expensive but frozen cuts are often cheaper.

Also op do check what he actually weighs.

My friend describes her son as having "no fat on him at all".... he's much chunkier than mine and I'd say bordering on overweight. Children don't tend to get rolly fat until they are quite obese, the deceptive ones are the stocky, solid types. What can look like a muscly "athletic" build is often hiding extra weight - children simply don't have the testosterone to build much bulky muscle.