What size meal do you give your children for dinner?

[PimpMyTunnel]

I've come across something online and it got me thinking about how much we should be putting on or childrens plates at meal times. The website said that children have smaller stomachs (obviously) and that prepared food we buy are based on adult portion sizes eg. Frozen battered cod should be cut in half for a child as one whole one is meant for an adult. It also said you should give them half a packet of crisps and give them the other half next time. I give my dd a whole packet and also a whole portion on fish. I'm not worried because she is certainly not overweight and I'm happy about how much she eats, I'm just curious. How old are your children and what portion size do you give them?

I give them a smaller meal than I would eat but certainly wouldn't half a cod portion or give half a multipack packet of crisps ( but wouldn't give a full pack of the shop bought ones.. they are huge!). Both of my children will stop eating when they are full up though and we never push them to eat more than they want. They are 3 and 7.

I always give too much because I can never tell what items he will eat!! So if I give tomatoes, mashed potato, fish and broccoli (say) he might scoff all of one, half of two and none of the other - so I put enough on his plate that whatever he goes for he will get enough to eat.

But it isn't a problem as he isn't given junk and will stop when full, anyone who tried to get him to eat too much would be wasting their time, so don't think the warning not to overfeed would apply to ds.

He hasn't had crisps yet, but they come in all different sizes, a 'grab pack' is massive but the ones that come in the multi packs are pretty tiny really so I wouldn't mind him eating all that amount.

I tend to give a small portion as dc feels overwhelmed and doesn't eat if too much is on the plate. I rather give seconds or offer some yoghurt/fruit after a meal in case dc is still hungry.

i think that sounds like crap tbh. It has to depend on how active the child is too! My kids can easily eat massive portions. For dinner yesterday they had a 10" pizza each. But they haven't an ounce of fat on them, because they are physically very active.

We don't tend to have crisps that much because I would eat them all if they were in the house, just for picnics, so will get a bag to share (mine are 5yrs and 3yrs).

For meal times I tend to put a small spoonful of whatever the main part of the meal is and then encourage them to help themselves to vegetables. I definitely try to not overload their plate, they can ask for seconds if it's something they like. DS (oldest) definitely has a bigger appetite than DD, who often appears to survive on fresh air and a few raspberries...

fresh air and a few raspberries

I tend to give my DS1 (3.4, sturdy build but also as tall as many 4-5 year olds) the kind of portion sizes suggested on the website you read. So, for example, a packet of crisps lasts him 3 days, as I give him 1/3 one day, then put the rest in a tub to be divided over 2 more days. He will have this as part of a lunch comprising sandwich (2 slices bread), 1 thick slice of cucumber & a slice of ham/sausage & sometimes half a mini pork pie or a chunk of cheese. Pudding will often be a fromage frais or a handful of grapes/fruit flakes/raisins.

With your other example, if we (myself, DH & DS) are all eating together, DS will have the 'end' of a piece of fish from each of us (probably about 1/4 of each piece), supplemented with a good dollop of mash & about 3-4 dessert spoons of baked beans/veg. He will then have a pudding, such as 2/3 banana & custard (DS2 gets the other 1/3 banana!) or about 1/3 tin of rice pudding with a spoon of fruit, or maybe a fromage frais.

We also tend to make a fun-size packet of buttons last a week or so, as he will get about 5 at a time - enough for it to feel like a treat, but not too many, IMO!

Of course, if we are with friends/at grandparents' house/out for the day etc, he can & will have more, but we keep an eye on things!

I agree chopstheduck. For dinner I will have 2 sausages and dd has 2. I have 1 fish she has 1 fish. I think I give her a smaller portion of potatoes, mash, rice etc though. She does surprise me with the amount she can eat, she is only 3 :)

Mine are 7yo (ds) and 20months (dd). I tend to divide an adult portion between them (ds gets 2/3, dd gets 1/3) though they won't always eat it all. They don't tend to snack at all (though ds sometimes has milkshake after school), but usually have some chocolate or marshmallows after tea. If I'm unsure re portion size I tend to go for portion the size of their fist.

Ds is healthy weight/height ratio (checked on the weekend) and dd seems fine (fits into clothes for her age range) but is too wriggly to be weighed/measured.

They are generally active (i.e. ants in their pants).

Depends I guess how old your children are. Mine are 5 and 3. DD1 has school lunches which are massive substantial, so I feed her and DD2 the same in the evening. Yesterday they had half an adult portion of fish, 1 new potato and some peas. Neither of them ate it all.

If they have crisps they have half a bag. On the occasions they have had a full bag (thank-you grandparents ;) ) they have not eaten their next meal.

Wow jenduck thats really good! My dd finishes a packet of buttons on one go (small packet) I think your way of sharing a banana between the 2 is great to, your food bill must be low

We give small ish portions because they always want seconds, no matter what size the portion! I would split a piece of fish or chicken breast for example between the two dc's. They always have puddings aswell such as fruit and yoghurt.

Mine only have 1 pack of crisps a week from a multipack so they have a whole one of those as its a bit of a treat for them. They are 6 and 3 (nearly 4 )

i never plate up, just put the food on the table and get them to help themselves. Dd (3) eats about a third of an adult portion, DS (7) eats anywhere between a half and a double.

Loony half a fish and one new potato would not be enough for my dd! However my dd doesn't get a dessert

If I plate the food up (which I do on week nights):

DS (7) gets a smaller portion than me, maybe about 1/3 smaller.
DD (3) gets a toddler portion - I use little plates for her. Less than half of what i would have.

At weekends we all eat together and they help themselves within reason.

See mine don't seem to eat as much as other kids . Dd is still not up to 3 regular meals a day - usually preferring 1 main meal and then 2 snack sized meals (e.g. 1/2 apple for breakfast, piece of cheese and salami plus banana for lunch, and proper tea on a good day, she skips lunch at least half the time). Ds was 4 I think before he got up to 3 meals a day. Plus they have no desire to snack. But they're not underweight.

Ds got upset last time he spent the night with his grandparents as he said they gave him too many meals and he was quite overwhelmed (though he has had food issues in the past). Turned out they'd gone out for breakfast so given early rising ds some fruit beforehand, and then gone for coffee mid morning after breakfast. When we went to get them and I said it was time for lunch he got upset. Still ate it though. They definately don't get it from me as I am a heffer Dh is very slim though and also not a big eater.

Pimp, it was a largeish potato! As I said DD1's lunches are large so she needs much less in the evening - In the easter holidays I couldn't understand why she was so hungry in the evening until I clicked that she wasn't getting such a big lunch as she does at school

DD's have as much fruit as they want for dessert - normally they would share a banana or have a small apple. Any other kind of dessert is for special occasions only.

Same as what many others have said really - DD (7) gets a portion around 2/3 of what I have and she generally eats it all, DS (3) gets a very small portion to start with (probably around 1/3) of what I get, but will often have 2nds (or thirds if it's something like mince or spag bol). But both of mine have 'eating' and 'non-eating' days and always have done - on a non-eating day DS can survive on breakfast, a few bits of pepper and 1/4 sandwich for lunch, some grapes and a few bites of tea.

For snacks on the times they get crisps they share a pack (often with me or DH having a few too). I would split a piece of breaded fish so that DD got 2/3 and DS got 1/3 then loads of veg.

I work on the proviso that a portion of most things is about the size of the palm on the hand, so dd who is 6 has pretty small potions, ie small piece of fish, a few chips and a tablespoon of peas, if it's a meal like pasta bake where the portions are all mixed in I would give her about 3 heaped serving spoons full.

I think my older DDs didn't stop sharing an adult meal when eating out until they were 10 and 8, possibly even older. They usually ate half each (DD2 has a bigger appetite for her size than DD1). When the older three were small (say 5, 3, 1) they shared one adult meal. Older DS always ate the larger portion of it but at those age the DDs were perfectly fine with a 1/4 of an adult meal each.

I give very small portions as it tends to put DD (4) off if she has too much, and she will just wail that it is too much and not attempt to eat any. I have a 10 month old as well, so I tend to split things like a piece of breaded fish between them.
I use small children's plates and bowls, which don't fit much anyway.

Things like rice and pasta - I'd probably cook one cup of rice or 200g pasta for me, DH and the the 2 kids, the girls wouldn't have much, definitely less than a third of what we would have. But I do give them more like about half the amount of veg we would have.
I hardly ever have crisps in the house, but if we did have some I would give the 4 year old about 4 or 5 crisps to go with her lunch, we wouldn't eat crisps as a snack on their own.

I quite wish DD1 would eat more, but she is never really that keen. She quite often says no thank you if you offer her a snack (even cake or biscuits!). She does enjoy fruit, but still she'd be unlikely to eat, say, a whole banana, so she'd share something like that with her sister too.

Both my two eat incredibly slowly. If I gave them bigger portions I think they would spend the whole day sitting at the table!

is a ramekin your portion size measure?

Actually I did choose that name because I used to feed DD2 from a little glass ramekin and DD1 was jealous and always asking for her food in one too, so we started nicknaming her Ramekin.

My 12 and 9 year olds get 2/3 of an adults meal and my 4 year old gets les than half what we do.