Worried about ds's protein intake

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Ds is small for his age. He's been checked for digestive problems and is fine but he doesn't grow much.

He is a really really fussy eater

He has stopped eating any neat except for KFC popcorn chicken & birds eye chicken dippers. He'll eat fish fingers. He will also eat corned beef & potato pie

He used to eat sausages but now is obsessed with pigs so won't beat pork but he will eat Quine sausages.

He used to eat lasagne but now picks out all the mince. He adores cocktail sausages but only if I lie & pretend they don't have pig in them (its a Minecraft thing apparently)

He won't chicken, beef etc.

I've no objection to him being vegetarian but he also won't eat cheese, (except a little melted on a pizza or cream cheese) heceobtvest lentils, pulses etc except for baked beans. However he much prefers peas or carrots to beans.

Given the choice he'd live on cream cheese sandwiches, quorn sausages, home made corned beef pie, pasta in a smooth pasata sauce (though he pregers plain pasta and KFC. He eats virtually nothing at school.

He keeps getting mouth ulcers which ice read can be a sign of protein and vitamin b12 deficiency.

Not sure what else I can do.

He's had bagel & Philadelphia this morning. His diet is very very carb heavy.

How old is he?

What about egg? Egg-heavy wholemeal or half-and-half pancakes are a fab breakfast.

How does he feel about feta? Edam? Could you experiment with cheeses a bit?

I think from a meat point of view I'd be trying things like home made turkey burgers (I can give you my recipe if you like), fish pie, tuna sandwiches, chicken noodle soups etc. Does he like pate?

Will he eat other quorn foods (burgers, mince, chunks etc)? Could you make a soup with red lentils and vegetables, then blend it all so it's smooth; I do this for my 3 veggie boys and they love it, especially the sweet potato and lentil one...

He is 9. He won't touch eggs. He used to eat mince in a lasagne or spaghetti Bol but now picks it out & leaves it. We've tried other quorn stuff eg fillets but he won't eat those. Has never eaten burgers.

He will eat Brie if I squash it down to look like Philly. Won't eat any other raw cheese. He doesn't eat soup but I wondered about purring lentils into pasta sauce.

He won't eat tuna which is a shame as its his sisters favourite food.

Does he drink milk (or milkshakes?) You could fortify with complan if you're worried about nutrients. Yogurts? Ovaltine or Horlicks?

Homemade chicken nuggets are easy to do. What about prawns, like prawn cocktail?

Quinoa is high in protein and good in stews or with plain tomato sauce.

Would he respond to a reward chart for eating new foods?

Wow, that sounds hard. Have you seen a dietician?

Can you explain to him that he needs xyz amount of protein a day and xyz amount of fruit and vegetable and decide between you how he is going to get it every day. In a meal planning type of way.

My instinct would be not to give him solely the foods he is willing to eat as you need to expand his repertoire. I think you need proper help though.

Quinoa's a good source of protein, as are nuts. How about a choc nut smoothie - milk, peanut or almond butter, cocoa, blended together?

Have you tried "disguised" pulses e.g. beanburgers or lentil croquettes?

Yes he loves milk and yoghurt and will eat/drink it plain or flavoured.

We're pushing for a referral to ASD unit at the moment but our area is trying to cut down the number of kids it refers. Cams think its a control issue but we & school nurse disagree & think it may be a colour/texture thing.

He tried Nutella & liked it until he saw the jar and realised there were nuts in.

My homemade nuggets are too meaty/thicker than KFC apparently. I do try to blend bits of beef into the gravy.

We have talked to him & he gets genuinely distressed about it. He has decided he will eat more meat & potato pies or birds eye crispy chicken.

We tried rewarding him for eating tiny amounts of proper chicken in a roast dinner. It took him aged and he was really distressed about it.

Fruit& veg isn't a problem. He loves his carrots peas sweet urn cucumber berry fruits apple etc.

Protein is present in lots more foods, not just the obvious ones like meat, eggs and dairy. I think for his age group he needs around 28g a day. Think back to what he ate yesterday and see how much protein he had overall. That Bagel and cream cheese would provide around 7g of protein (working roughly speaking off top of my head!)
Peas contain protein, about 4g per 100g.
Have you tried things such as falafels, perhaps served in a pitta, that's a good source of meat free protein. Would he eat Nutella on toast?

Sorry x post re the Nutella. I take too long to type!

Yesterday he had

Cereal & yoghurt

Pack of crisps (treat after tkd grading)
KFC popcorn chicken, fries, Oreo krushem & ice cream) -(grrrrr grandparents took him I allow krushem or ice cream, not both)

Crispy chicken, hash brown, baked beans

Not the healthiest of days

Today he has had bagel & Philly then he will have quorn sausage, roast pots & veg (going out for parents anniversary meal )

He also had a glass of milk before bed last night.

Is he a Minecraft obsessive?
It's a serious question, DD made an entire feast based round Minecraft, so I'd be tempted to try out a few foods in perfect square and cube shapes if he was, to see if the novelty tempted him.

Yes he is! Hence the pig thing and he's decided not to eat sausage anymore. I did try to say he should eat cows instead as he doesn't like cows on Minecraft - pigs are cute cows are killed apparently but it didn't work.

A Minecraft feast - interesting idea!

Yogurt eg a petit filous (as that's all I've got to compare) is 2.5 G protein per pot. Baked beans per 100g is about 5g of protein. A slice of bread is around 4g. It really easily adds up, even if he isn't eating the more "traditional" sources of protein! Not to make light of your worries, just trying to reassure you.

Yes I'm trying to encourage baked beans.

I just feel so awful that I'm feeding him processed junk good eg KFC & crispy chicken all the time. It goes against the grain for me.

It doesn't sound too bad you know. I'm no expert but I know most people eat far more protein than they need so even though it looks like little to you, it may be ok.

Personally I'd try to concentrate on just having a variety of different things and its great that he eats fruit and veg so readily.

I also might try blitzing spag bol sauce with mince so that it looks smooth and he wont know rhe meat is there... Just if you realky want to see if that has an impact on his mouth ulcers.

He wears age 5-6 clothes and he's 9 and a half bless.

Wow, I think it sounds like he has plenty of protein! Bread, pasta, and other wheat products are all reasonably good sources of protein- gluten!

Philly's got as much protein in it as any other soft cheese would, a glass of milk/yog has tons...

Bless him, my son is the same age. Do you know his height and weight and where he is in the growth charts? Do you think your GP could refer him to a dietician, might give you some ideas or just peace of mind. I do honestly think your DS eats a decent range of food, especially as you say he likes fruit and veg.

If my ds ate all of that, I would weep with jot. Seriously, do not worry. His diet is super better than anyone our dietician would see.

He is underweight and as for growth charts - well. He's never really reached the first centile line!

So perhaps if I increase his yoghurt and don't worry too much about all the processed foods