Am I feeding my 8 year old enough?

[Eileen101]

What does an average day of food intake look like for other 8 year olds?
My boy is constantly saying he's hungry, even when he has not long had a full dinner in the evening. I am trying to work out whether I am not actually giving him enough or whether he is just moaning.
A typical day:
Breakfast:
Bowl of porridge or overnight oats
A weetabix or piece of toast
Water to drink.

School snack- breads ticks/ Jacobs crackers. I always pack apples too but he leaves them.

School lunch - he always has the hot dinner option with some form of cake.

After school - fruit at After school club or a biscuit or something if he comes straight home.

Dinner - if they're at After school club, a lighter tea - sandwiches/bagel (chicken, or tuna or cheese). The bread is homemade and relatively filling, along with tomatoes, cucumber, a fruit, a homemade biscuit/cake or yoghurt.
If there's a club on like swimming, I cook a dinner (vegetarian as I cook one family dinner) - spaghetti bolognese with a lentil base, bean and lentil chilli etc.
He has a really good portion of whatever - usually not far off what I'd have as a 5 foot 6 adult with an average BMI

This is with Water regularly.

Would it help if I switched to full fat milk?

He is small in height in comparison to his peers and he's slim - only just gone into 7-8 clothing at 8.5 years. Also his sister is petite too so i think it's a family build. I thought i was feeding him well, but I'm not sure now.

Is this average? Am I doing it wrong? Is this just it now as I'll have a teenage boy at some point?

Why can’t he have a proper meal on days when he’s at after school club? Do you actually refuse him food if he’s hungry? If he’s hungry and not over weight, give him more food.

Is breakfast one of the options or both?
It doesn't sound like he's overeating. On club days, if anything, I'd guess he's not having enough, it all sounds a bit 'snackish'. Ime teenage boys have hollow legs - yours isn't there yet, so don't over feed, but at the same time, it does feel a bit restrictive.

I’d add milk or a milky drink at breakfast. Are the breadsticks and crackers just dry? I’d add houmus, cheese or cheese dip/ spread.
Does he eat bananas?

Breakfast is very light if its one ir the other. My 9 yr old would eat 2 or 3 weetabix, plus a slice of toast. 2 large bowls of porridge 2 toast with 2 eggs scrambled.

Scrambled eggs are a good breakfast idea for filling him up. Also greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey, or some granola.

Try to add more protein

The breakfast especially sounds very small portion wise.

I would also always give a full meal even if they've had food at after school club.

When he moans he's hungry do you always allow him food? It sounds like he is genuinely hungry so I would be looking to increase his portions.

Let him eat as long as it's solid food not snacks and crap.

I feel something is missing like my children have an early dinner after school then before bed snacks like crumpets or pancakes and milk. So if you are having dinner late I would give something more than a biscuit after school. School dinners are tiny btw.

I have three 8 year olds that sounds very similar to mine- I’d maybe offer snacks on occasion

Is he not having proper dinner if he goes to after school club? DS always saw after school club food as a snack.
School lunches are pretty small, also what are his breakfast portions like, you say a Weetabix, ds is 7 and very slim he has two with a banana, whole milk and Greek yogurt for example

Sounds like he needs more calcium. I'd also add in eggs and some nuts each day.

It doesn't seem that portions are small if he is having porridge plus toast or weetabix, but it is potentially all a bit samey in terms of food groups. Maybe mix it up to include protein/fat that will keep him fuller for longer. Definitely use whole milk and maybe add a handful of berries or banana plus nuts with the porridge. Add Greek yoghurt to overnight oats. Babybel with crackers for the snack if he doesn't eat apple

Is it either or on the breakfast? My one year old has a Weetabix so if it's just that it sounds measly.

My nearly 8 year old probably eats around the same amount of food as that.
He has supper too (as he has started asking for it), usually cereal or toast.

I would defo always do cooked meal every day

No I don’t think he is getting enough food! As everyone knows, school dinner portions are tiny. I have always given my kids a cooked meal for dinner, even when they were at nursery and got a so called ‘tea’ in the afternoon!

I think that sounds ok.

When you say ‘a weetabix’ you don’t mean on its own though right?

School dinners were never big enough to fill up my son. Feels light to me, especially the after school snacks. Also get some protein in at breakfast - boiled or scrambled eggs and a small glass of milk.

This doesn’t sound a lot to me and on a day he’s had a slice of toast for breakfast and a snack of bread sticks it’s hardly anything to start the day on.

add eggs for breakfast, if you know he won’t eat the apple why keep sending it, send something he will eat!

he needs a proper meal every night. A sandwich and salad items aren’t really enough and not enough protein.

he’s trying to grow, if he says he’s hungry, he’s hungry. Why do you need us to tell you to feed him more. Would you really tell your child they cannot eat more when they’ve told you they are hungry???

Mine have cereal or toast before bed now as they complain of hunger but they aren’t overweight so I feed them.

He needs a main meal every evening, a sandwich or bagel is not enough.

I'd consider adding a supper too if he's very hungry, something like porridge or toast and banana.

Maybe higher calorie/ denser snacks like banana bread, pancakes, babybels, oat bars, hummus, nut butters. His day sounds quite light on protein.

he's leaving the apples at school pack something that he will eat, stop sending them.

It sounds a bit carb heavy and protein light.

At eight years old I would let him have as many healthy snacks as he likes as long as he was eating his meals and a healthy weight. We can't know whether your eight year old is really hungry or not. Only he knows that. It'd be awful for him to grow up remembering that he was always hungry. Offer healthy snacks, mainly veg, but also nuts, houmous, cheese etc. If he's hungry he'll eat the healthy snacks. If he isn't and he's just looking for a sugar fix/eating out of boredom/looking for sweets he won't eat them.

It sounds a pretty good amount of food and healthy/wholesome. However if he’s hungry and not overweight here are a couple of ideas: I remember being very hungry when I got in from school, and Mum would give us a slice of wholemeal toast and jam. That might be a bit more substantial than fruit or a biscuit? Then on the nights when he doesn’t have a full dinner, how about a glass of milk or in winter a mug of hot milk?
It looks as if a little more calcium might not harm,
Does he get proper meat or fish (not minced or processed?). That helps fill you up and I would think is especially important for a young boy growing muscle, though am no expert.

I've a really slim 8 year old and 10 year old and they are always hungry after school.

because mine are so slim in comparison to their school friends I am trying to pack in the calories a bit at the moment as they both seem to be extra hungry and having growth spurts.

A typical breakfast for them now is a soft boiled egg, and a croissant with a bit of nuttella. One of them likes a rasher of bacon every now and then as well. Neither like cereals but will drink full fat milk

They take a snack from home to school for morning break (homemade flapjack or a piece of fruit, sometimes a brioche) and school also provides toast and milk to anyone that wants it at morning break.

Lunch is school dinners - usually something carby like jacket potato or pasta.

Snacks after school is a selection of whatever we have in out of hard boiled eggs, cheese strings/baby bells, flapjack, fruit, raw carrot sticks, crisps (Hulahoops or mini cheddars) and fruit yoghurts, jaffa cakes. They are also partial to pots of readymade custard...

Then they have a main meal with us. Traditional family meals, spag bol, cottage pie, roast but also sometimes snacky type meals like chicken wraps or pizza.

I usually let them have a pudding - either a small fruit ice lolly or some baking.

They will usually ask again before bedtime for something else and get pointed in the direction of a glass of milk, eggs, fruit or brioche.

I always check if it's hunger or boredom as well. Often 'I'm hungry' is just a way of saying they are bored. I suggest doing their reading book / homework first and then they can have a snack. They quickly decide then if they are actually hungry enough to do it or more often they find something else to do instead, which solves the boredom and thr hungry problem.

I have a list of foods my children can eat freely, that I don’t restrict. It includes unsalted almonds, cashews, banana, hummus / carrots, eggs and plain greek yoghurt, the emphasis being on protein. My daughter goes through phases where she eats more but because they’re not sweet or highly processed I don’t feel she overeats for the sake of it. It’s stopped the whinging completely so seems to work for us.

More protein perhaps?
Glass of milk, Greek yogurt with breakfast, eggs, home made smoothie with Greek yogurt in it, peanut butter