My 4 year old seems to have developed the most enormous appetite

[snickersnack]

She's never eaten all that much - went through a fussy phase a couple of years ago, and has always been happy with small portions. We don't really do snacks either - she'll occasionally have a biscuit or piece of fruit between meals but not as a matter of course.

But over the last month or so she has suddenly started eating absolutely enormous quantities of food. 2 bowls of porridge and fruit for breakfast, or a whole pizza in Pizza Express (child size, but even so) plus dough balls. Or, today, 2 bowls of egg fried rice and then an apple.

Most of her diet is pretty healthy. She eats lots of different things, lots of fruit and veg, hardly ever has sweets. She does love cake, but it's usually home made and she doesn't get it every day. It's not as if she's filling up on junk food - she'll often ask for a slice of bread and butter half an hour after tea, or for some grapes or a bowl of cereal.

I'm assuming it's a growth spurt (rather than a tapeworm!) - she's fairly lean, there's no fat on her at all. She lost all her baby fat a year or so ago, and seems to be getting skinnier rather than fatter (judging by her clothes).

So do I just stop worrying and be grateful I have a child who likes food? Or do I try and ration it because a child her age can't possibly need that much food? Or do I take her to the doctor and risk being laughed out the door?

My DS has recently just started eating like a horse too!! For a while he was eating not all that much and at least one meal a day he would leave, but now he says to me, what can I eat now? It does make me laugh I feel like Im running a cafe! I have started to make sure that my fruit bowl is constantly full, he climbs up and helps himself whenever he wants something. He has also started saying to me if I offer something he doesnt fancy " mummy you need to be more flexible!" I dont know where he gets these lines from. I really would not worry about it, its great she has a varied diet, dont worry that she has some nice treaty things, mine does too- pretty much every day he will have a treaty thing of some sort but when you think how active they are and the amount of other stuff they eat its not going to harm them. My son is also very lean- but he has days when he out eats me at lunch time, and can even go to 8 slices of bread (ok that was one extreme day!) If I were you I would be pleased she as a healthy appetite. The porridge for brekky is exactly what my sone has and its the same amount I have, he burns it all off, and its good for him. That kind of food helps them get their metabolism up.

I'd say growth spurt.