Is my toddler snacking too much?

[newmum234]

My DS (16 months) ate a whole packet of these this afternoon, plus 3 strawberries and two rice cakes.

www.ocado.com/products/kiddylicious-veggie-kiddylicious-veggie-straws-baby-snack-9months-318750011

Surely that’s too much for an afternoon snack? I only wanted to give him 5/6 of the sticks but he was shouting for more!

He loves his food and has three healthy meals a day. Should I try to cut down on the snacks?

Depends what the meals and snacks were the rest of the day tbh, but my 14m old would demolish a whole pack of those straws or all the punnets of strawberries in a field if given half a chance!

I agree my @Ginfilledcats my boy would also polish off a whole packet and punnet if I let him

Thanks @Ginfilledcats. Would you allow him to eat that much though as a snack? DS was exactly where he should be with his weight 3 months ago, but I haven’t had him weighed since. Perhaps I should take him again.

There don’t seem to be many calories in those stick things but it still looks like a lot of food!

Erm yeah I probably would as a one off, again depending what else she had eaten during the day.

Today for example, she had weetabix at home, porridge and nursery, roast dinner for lunch, fish pie for nursery tea, and then when she got home, a scotch pancake, and a whole piece of salmon, some sweet potato fries!
Which is ALOT of food. But she's 14m trying to walk and never ever stops. She's on the 75th percentile.
Yesterday she barely had half that amount and refused her tea so it's swings and round abouts!

I didn’t realise people didn’t give their dc a whole packet of the veggie straws 😂. Mine loved them and would happily eat them all. Mine always have multiple snacks, they’re really not filling.

Hmm. When 16 months old my boy would eat 7 times a day; breakfast at home of a smoothie & oaty bar, 2nd breakfast at creche of cereal, snack of toast and fruit, cooked lunch, (spag bol, curry etc) snack like flapjack or banana cake, dinner at home then porridge before bed. He's always been a healthy weight. So on that basis I don't think your boys snack is too much at all.

Okay thanks all - I’m feeling slightly better now!

I read that babies naturally self regulate when it comes to food intake, but do toddlers?!

I would say theres not many calories in the stick things or the rice cakes. I've never done snacks with either of mine. Doesn't matter apparently, my 1 year old is still overweight 90th centile according to the registrar.

@newmum234m yes they do. As long as you let them choose their intake.

honestly my toddlers ate what they wanted (healthy!). I only said no when i was cooking a meal/about to eat and wanted that pause so they were hungry.

As long as they are not overweight, happy and running around I think healthy snacks should not be restricted as such, I never did or do!

That's why I refused to put my one year old on a diet 🙄. He was 90th percentile from b feeding alone. I'd say don't worry and let them self regulate, as long as you're not feeding them tonnes of shit food.

A toddler might be able to self regulate real food, but can't self regulate artificial ultra-processed food such as veggie straw which are engineered to be highly palatable. (or rice cakes or cereal bars and other crap)

The Australian consumer magazine had an article about toddler junk food this month and had this to say about the veggie straw which they compared to Cheetos and burger ring"

"" Kiddylicious Veggie Straws, for example – which are essentially puffed-up potato starch, with added veggie powders, salt and oil – have minimal added baddies, it's true. But the point is they're so highly processed they offer little in the way of nutritional value – just empty kilojoules.

They're also reminiscent of mainstream snack products such as Burger Rings and Cheetos, a similar look and feel that isn't ideal if it leads to a taste and preference for those types of snack foods.
"""

Who can stop after 5 Cheetos?
The whole article is here www.choice.com.au/babies-and-kids/feeding-children/making-healthy-choices/articles/sugar-in-packaged-toddler-foods

Give real food, not highly processed food. BBC player has a good documentary www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wgcd
What Are We Feeding Our Kids?

Let's not present scare stories. I watched that programme and felt it was a bit ott. It also referred to people eating 80 percent ultra processed food. I think a little bit of unhealthy stuff is isnt the end of the world.

I don’t think it’s an issue, toddler was probably just hungry x

Oh no, I thought the veggie straws were a relatively healthy snack! But if they’re just empty calories as that article says, is it really a problem to be eating them? DS has them about four times a week!

Would something like breadsticks be better? We’re often out and about so I need something he can have on the move!

Stuff like that is just empty calories. He would be better off eating fruit, veggies or a piece of cheese as a snack.

Why change it if he enjoys them? Does it really matter if he’s eating empty calories? As adults, we also eat a bit of what we like the taste of without analysing whether they’re empty calories or not. He’s fine! He will survive and you’re not a bad parent because you’ve given him veggie straws!

Veggie straws are kind of a treat snack but the veggie powders do mean your child can get used to some savoury flavours.

Have a look at kids.eat.in.colour on Instagram. Lots of great nutrition tips.

I notice the snack was quite carb based. If you include a protein he will stay fuller for longer - maybe some peanut butter on the rice cakes?

Oh and I try to follow the rule - you decide what's served, they decide how much to eat. Toddlers do self regulate if they have been allowed to continue doing so.
My son loves veggie straws but there are days he'll only eat a couple. I think, partly because he knows he can eat the whole pack if he likes, they won't be taken before he's done.

Give him something which is actually filling, like a banana, some cheese or milk or something oat-based. One banana probably has the same amount of calories as all those airy things but a lot more nutrition and means he wouldn't be constantly snacking and getting into that habit

Isnt white pasta, white bread and white rice also empty calories?

Just saying because no one would be commenting on pasta and sauce or toast for breakfast. But really should be eating brown pasta, brown rice, brown bread etc

Toddlers can self regulate if the food is natural types of food - egg, proper cheese, plain yogurt, fruit etc. However, not if it's bread, rice cakes, processed packaged stuff. It's pretty much designed to make them keep wanting to eat it. Processed food has a similar effect on adults. Hence the massive levels of obesity in the USA, & the UK isn't far behind.

We stopped giving DD any kind of snacks between meals, by the age of 2. She's 9 now, the height of an average 11 year old, & relentless energy. People aren't the same as cows. We don't need to graze.