Children's portion sizes - think I'm getting it wrong. Did anyone see the Jo Frost street party programme about this and if so, what did she say?

[Doodlez]

MIL just been talking to me about something she saw on TV. Jo Frost held a street party and talked about appropriate portions for various aged children. Example - ONE dessert spoon of ice cream is enough. Half a small pizza is enough etc.

Did any one else see this and can you remember what else she said about portions - is there a link to the programme or can you at least remember what it was called?

I've tried searching but can't find owt.

What I'm after is an example list of child's age - appropriate size of portion of different foods.

I wasn't saying that she was right about the portion sizes, coldtits, but that part of the programme did make me think about smaller initial portions, with seconds if the child was still hungry - letting the child guide their own appetite, as you said earlier on.

My DS eats as much as me on some days. He's not quite 5. He is tall for his age, but a perfect weight, and really healthy. All I'd gain by measuring out 5tbsp of food would be 'mummy I'm STILL HUNGRY' the second he'd finished his meals. There are days when his breakfast consists of an enormous bowl of porridge, a banana and 2 slices of toast. I can't even eat like that in the morning. I've given up on portion control, but I know he'll stop eating once he's full. Even if it's something he really likes, which is weird. Guess he just doesn't like that post-Christmas dinner sleepy bloated feeling.
Surely an appropriate portion size should depend as much on the child's individual metabolism and build as their age...

but if you don't give them the idea that they have to clear their plate, or 'just have 3 more spoons' in the first place, they have no qualms about leaving food.

TBH I think my complete lack of giving a shit over meals has produced children who eat until they are full, then stop.

ALTHOUGH ds2 does 'boredom browse' which I am trying to distract him from.

but children are capable of controlling their own appetite if you dish a massive plate of food - they're still capapble of getting half way through and saying "I've had enough" (in that horrible whiney voice that only 6yr olds can muster )

Neither of my children ate their tea last night, in fact I don't think they ate more than half of it.

they just stop eating.

It's MUCH less annoying to throw away leftovers than to be continually saying "Well, what do you want then? You want a sandwich? You want a banana? You want some toast?" when they wail at you that they're hungry because daddy feeds them like they're children

That's a good point too, coldtits, and I definitely don't insist on clean plates - though I will insist on a reasonable amount of the protein and veg part of the meal being eaten.

Examples of portions in this house:-

12" family pizza - kid's eat a quarter each, with a few chips and vegetables or salad. Pudding will be a yogurt.

Home made burger in a bun, few chips and salad/vegetables.

Pasta - a dollop from a serving spoon. 2 slices of garlic bread.

Sausages in Toad in the hole - 2 each with veg.

Steak - maybe the size of THEIR individual palm each.

Home-made chicken nuggets - maybe three quarters of a chicken breast each. Maybe a bit less for 6 year old DD.

Both are good eaters (not being smug by the way, we have other issues to deal with!!!) and both can put a bloody good dinner away but they have to eat a school lunch and then they get a good, hot dinner at home. I'm wondering if I should switch to sandwiches at tea time as they're getting a hot meal at lunch (compulsory school meals).

My reasoning is that they only have small tummies (they're 3 & 1) so half an oatibix plus toast and some smoothie is probably enough to start the day with. They don't whine about being hungry. I promise I'm not trying to starve them, just get a better gauge of what they really do need.

My DD eats more than I do.
She's 8 and sometimes looks podgey, but I know that a month later will be looking lean and I'll be wondering why her jeans are too short.
That's the way she grows, out, then up.

I don't limit her food at mealtimes, though I'd serve more of the good stuff, ie more veg rather than another sausage, or offer extra fruit and yoghurt for desert, instead of extra lasagne.

She would happily eat a whole pizza though, and I wouldn't stop her.
We don't have pizza very often, and most of the time, when we do, it's home made, and so great tasting that who can blame anyone for wanting to eat a big portion!

Really, I won't worry as DD has no weight problem to worry about, and neither do I.

portions in this house for the 6 and 9yr old

3 (thick) sausages, wedges, fried egg (large eggs), baked beans, sometimes 1 or 2 rashers of bacon and some mushrooms if the budget stretches that far

I used 800g of mince last night, 2 tins of beans, 2 tins of tomatoes, onions and mushroom,s and abbout 3/4 of a 500g pack of pasta twirls. Put half of it in the freezer for another meal, the rest was all finished.

Tonight was scampi and wedges, and frozen veg. Used 3 packs of scampi, 3 largish potatoes and they had 2 large spoons of the veg (straining/serving spoon size each)

If I order pizza in I'll order 2 large pizzas, double chicken wings (so 16 - I don't eat any of them), and 2 garlic breads. Of that I'll have about 1/2 garlic bread (they're only little ones) and maybe 3/4 slices of pizza - DS's eat the rest.

Burgers - I buy the butchers quarter pounders, DS1, 3 and I have one each in a bun, DS2 has 2.

I'm far too fat. I obsess over my own portions and weight because I have no stop button in my gullet. My children have far more sense.

The rule in my house is, here's your dinner. You don't want to eat it, fine.
You want to eat some of it, fine
You want to eat it all, fine.
You want to ask for more, fine.

But then, I don't do pudding...

Hmmmm....I think pudding was where I first started to go wrong

So, any views on the idea of giving them butties at tea time since they already have one large meal under their belts at lunch?

its so hard to generalise the way Jo Frost did on the programme. Yes portion size is important, but more important is to let the child eat as much of it as they need and not make them feel compelled to finish everything on their plate.

portion size varies wilding in my house - it all depends what we have been doing. DD has a ravenous appetite when we have been swimming or playing in the park but quiet days at home, not so much wanted.

The only thing I do say no to seconds of is sweets biscuits and icecream!!

I agree thin doesn't mean healthy, but DS is allergic to dairy and eggs so one of the challenges we have is getting the right amount of fat into his diet. His diet is probably healthier than most as he can't have cheese or full fat yoghurt or full fat milk that all these guides mention.

He will eat a massive bowl of cereal in the morning, double the amount of homemade veg soup that i eat plus half a sandwich, then a huge portion of homemade spaghetti bolognaise, then a soya yoghurt,plus a snack of a banana and maybe a bit of dark chocolate.

That programme made me worried that his portion sizes are far to big, but then if i cut down then I'm worried his weight will drop. I don't ever make him finish everything on his plate if he says he has had enough and he quite often won't have the dessert afterwards saying he has had enough.

The only thing I limit is the amount of fruit juice he drinks.

I feel ill if I eat lots constantly. I do sometimes, I get into a habit of eating until I burst, but I feel tired all the time, have no energy, have diarrhoea/constipation/trapped wind/smelly wind. my asthma is worse, I just don't feel well at all, I can't eat like that.

I've just lost half a stone and feel so much better for it. I was 8st7, which is not big for my height really, but it doesn't suit me.

I want to lose another 7 pounds to feel, and look good.

What is the problem with pizza?

I make my own dough and tomato sauce and we have it every week. Its flour, yeast, water and the tomato sauce is tomatoes, a little olive oil and infused garlic. Then half a small ball of mozzarella on a large pizza, which has a super thin crust.

Am I missing something here? I think served with raw veggies on the side, this is a perfectly healthy veggie meal.

And of course the DC wouldn't eat the whole thing. They would be full and stop.

Half a small pizza for a 8-10 year old? That wouldn't work for my two unless they had eaten something before hand, or there were lots of other things to eat, or other things going on, in which case they might not eat at all. My ds usually eats an adult serving, and often more than me. He is tall, skinny (knobbly knees, sticky out ribs) and very very active (well except when couch potato-ing). I worry more about him running out of energy than eating too much, and he has always been that way - its usually the first comment I get when he has been visiting or in childcare. He's also quite adventurous with his food choices. I haven't really worried about his diet since I stopped with the Anabel Karmel ice-cube purees! dd doesn't eat so well or so much, and she is I think pretty much perfectly proportioned.

But party food is very tricky IMO - either they don't eat at all or they eat a ton. Presumably a street party involves lots of running around though?

I was really stunned at the tiny portion sizes recommended by the programme. My 7 month old baby could probably eat that much on a hungry day, I reckon! My twins are a good bit older than 8 but I've been offering them portions bigger than the "double the necessary" ones shown for years...

Having ploughed through all the posts, I see most people are in agreement that Jo Frost did not get it right!

As soon as I saw her say her piece about portion sizes, I thought that wasn't right - unless of course, she meant a quarter of a small pizza plus lots of veg+something else filling!

If my ds(7) was given a quarter of a small pizza on its own, he would nag all evening for more food and end up eating more than he would have if he had been given enough to start with.

It appears to me the piece on portion sizes was more for dramatic effect than anything else.

i have the same ds as bibbity
a skinny rake of a 6 y o who eats non stop all day if allowed
he obviously burns fuel like nothing on earth
if deprived of the amount he wanted at meals he would be miserable
HE is the one who knows when his stomach is full, not jo blinking frost

It was the ice-cream portion that had me icecream should be a treat - some treat if its gone in two mouthfuls!

Why do you need people you don't know on tv telling you what you do/don't need to do?
It's nuts.

Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full.
Don't pander or offer huge choices.
Oh and the % of people in the Western world who die/get ill because they eat too little is infintesimally small.
I have never worried about what I eat, my kids eat, or the squirrels outside my door eat.

Maryz - I disagree that it meals don't make children fat, unhealthy snacks do. If you feed a child a regular diet of unhealthy, fatty, sugary meals then surely they are very likely to get fat.