High fat diet for one child and not for the others - ideas welcomed

[lostmywellies]

I have 4 dcs, aged 8, 6, 4 and 2. The older 3 all eat well; in fact, the 8 and 6 year old would just keep eating and eating if I didn't limit their intake a little. The 2 yo is going through a fussy stage - well, relatively speaking. The main problem is that she is refusing milk most of the time. How can I make sure she's getting enough fat and calcium - do I have to give her separate meals? I'd cook with the milk - porridge, custard and the like - but don't want the older ones eating the full-fat stuff. Can I just give her lots of biscuits? :o Still doesn't answer the calcium thing. Bits of cheese enough?

Advice would be great, thanks in advance!

WHy don't you want the others eating full fat stuff? I'd have thought it would be best to use real butter/ full fat milk etc in the family cooking for the time being - you won't harm the other children - in fact they'd probably benefit from more fat soluble vitamins etc in their diet.

Full fat milk isn't really that much more fatty than semi anyway.

Otherwise will your 2 year old have small snacks of cheese / custard pots / fromage frais etc?

Agree with dora, I would just cook with full fat milk to make it easier for you and just limit their fat from other sources such as chips, crisps cake and biscuits.

At this age milk isn't actually essential anyway. There is some information on calcium here and she's probably getting enough fat from cheese/yogurt and the rest of her diet.

Cook the same hot food for everyone, for the 2yo add a dollop of butter/ full fat Philly on top - would work for stews, soups, paella, rissotto, pasta etc

Grate cheese onto her meals?
Lots of peanut butter sandwiches to help with general calories and fat.

Thanks for all your suggestions - shall ponder and try a few things out.

The two older girls are a bit overweight and have had comments made about them at school. They eat healthily, just don't know when to stop. They get some exercise, but probably not enough - a cycle ride to school has to be done at the 4yo's pace and that's painfully slow... So I don't want to exacerbate things by giving them more fat than they need. Although actually their cooked meal is at school, so most of their intake is out of my control anyway!

Perhaps I just need to chill a bit?

My 6 yr old is a bit plump but has a 9 yr old skinny brother, so I'm interested in the replies. She gets very cross when I give her slightly smaller portions, she also eats lots of healthy stuff, it's just she likes everything and as much as possible! Plus she isn't interested in exercising, take her to a park and she sits on the ground playing imaginary games in her head, same as she does at home. I have recently started swimming lessons for her, which she enjoys so perhaps more formal clubs may be the way to get her to exercise as she gets older. She loves her scooter but is the only child I know who scoots so slowly that I leave her behind walking on the way to school! Her cycling hasn't got going yet, she's a bit scared.

Controversial alert If you look at the dieting threads you'll see that a high fat diet will cause your kids to lose weight if you limit the carbs. I'd be inclined to limit the carbs of the older kids - by this I don't mean no carbs I mean a smaller portion of the starchy foods, and loads of veg. High fat food is incredibly filling and your older kids will be less inclined to snack as fat will keep your fuller for longer and feed your younger child loads of carbs & fat if you want them to gain weight.

Oh and re cooking with milk (porridge, custard etc) - cook with skim/ semi skim milk, and keep a tub of single/ double cream in the fridge and add a couple of spoonfuls only to the 2yo's bowl

Oh, that's brilliant, div - there's always cream in the fridge because dh buys it but I never know what to do with the stuff that's left after he's cooked with a little bit!

BettyB - nice to hear of someone else in a similar situation. The best way I've found to get my dds running about is to chase them round the garden - well, I get tired long before they've had their hour of exercise they should be getting in a day! Your controversial bit is interesting - they often finish the pasta and leave the sauce, for example, so they're doing the opposite.

lostmywellies Scroll down and watch the video The Food Revolution. It's a long one at nearly an hour but if you want to have your eyes opened to the way we are eating and the effect it is having on our bodies have a watch and make up your own mind. The knowledge will enable you to control your children's weight without starving them.

As I said it's controversial because it goes against the Gov's advice...but they are not God are they?

Have just watched it - very interesting. Food for thought (ha ha). Low carb is the same as the Atkins' diet, isn't it? Sure there were criticisms of that and may have to remind myself what they were...

Did like that man's accent, though - I believe him just for that! :o

Yes it is a similar approach to Atkins but you don't have to follow his rules. I don't!

Regarding the Atkins crit some of it has a basis of truth - very high protein is bad for you kidneys - he doesn't recommend a very high protein diet.
Too many eggs will increase your cholesterol - this has been discredited now - you can eat eggs without worrying about cholesterol.
He doesn't recommend processed meat like bacon & ham and he does recommend that people eat with. I regard to portion size.
He has also been slammed for suggesting people don't eat veg - this isn't true - veg is essential in his diet but he recommends holding off on most fruits due to their high sugar content.
Saturated fats are also controversial because it is not clear from scientific studies that they are harmful - and the low carb scientists believe that it is the refined carbs that are causing most problems.
I don't follow Atkins but after seeing the video and reading a bit more around the subject I have changed my family's diet. They now eat more protein, more fat, more veg and less refined carbs. Dh and I eat less carbs than the dcs - they still eat sweet treats but now only have wholegrain options for bread, rice and pasta.If you're interested it's worth reading up on your worries and satisfying yourself that you are doing the right thing because people will challenge your choices because you will be going against conventional wisdom.

Thanks for the reply again, BB - that all sounds sensible. I have been thinking about cutting down refined carbs and eating more protein and fat (along with lots of vegetables) - your approach sounds sensible.

And I love the idea of cutting down fruit because it's more of a struggle to get my dcs to eat fruit than veg, tbh!