Hungry 7 year old

leiela

How do you guys cope with your children when it comes to eating?

I have two boys 7 and 9, the older boy would forget to eat if you didnt remind him and i find myself almost forcefeeding the poor lad because he has almost no appetite. My second son is the compleate opposite i had such a shock when he was born as i discovered exactly what little boy's could shovel away.

Both are good eaters as a rule, they'll both eat most things but like alot of kids they frown when fruit and veg come into the equasion, not that they are fussy but without some cajoling fruit and veg is not something they tend to eat though choice.

Recently ive become more aware of what is going into my kids and my first concern is that my eldest doens't eat enough, he eats his meals but eats almost nothing inbettween, if i give him something then he'd eat it but in 9 years i've never known him ask for food not even an icecream from an icecream van. He is quite skinny but seems healthy enough should i worry??

Secondly i have totally the opposite problem with my youngest, i;ve stopped making his meals smaller than the elder boy as frankly he'll eat more of them anyway. However recently i'm getting alittle concerned.

Every 5 minutes he's pestering me for food, and i mean EVERY 5 minutes.. is this normal??? he's not over weight and ill admit most of the time i tell him to go and play he can't possibly be hungry after eating XXX and XXX and XXX.

I want my kids to grow up with a healthy relationship with food, as a child i was always allowed to "help myself" however i worry that if i adopt this approch the younger boy will litterally eat till he's sick. But at the same time i sort of feel my youngests current OBBSESSION (thats what i feel it is right now) is because i restrict it and maybe taking a more flexable approch would make him feel less restricted and i could perhaps teach him about moderation.

I dunno i feel so torn, he's a healthy wieght, quite active and how can i really know if he's truely hungry or not??? his dad has a super fast metabalism and everyone jokes about how growing up he ate more than his 3 older sisters put together. He turned out alright, maybe my son does just need more food than i'm letting him have??

Heres what he ate yesterday and even this resulted in him having 2 tantrums that i was starving him.

9am Breakfast cereal with milk
10am 2 slices of jam on toast
10.30am Cheese String
11am Tantrum because he was starving. (slice of toast)
12pm Lunch - Tuna Pasta Salad, Slice of HM Chocolate cake.
1:30pm Banana
3pm 2 HM Raisn muffins
4pm Another Tantrum.
5pm HM Flap Jack and hm popcorn
6pm Pork Sweet and Sour + Rice / Pancakes and Icecream with Fresh strawberries
7.30pm Complaints of starvation.
8pm Glass of milk, HM Flapjack.

Barneysmom

Hi, I just wandered is he drinking enough? He might be confusing thirst for hunger?
Sometimes drinking half a pint of hi-juice is enough to keep 'em quiet for a bit longer.

Glamazon

Is he very active? Compared to your other son.

I don't have kids yet but imagine this might make a difference. I know my little sister who is 8 eats like a horse but not as much as you have listed above. I would probably just make sure all the snacks are healthy and he's not getting too much sugar

ACTIVE = HUNGRY, GIVE HIM SUGAR = MORE ACTIVITY AND SO ON

VfM4meplse

I think your son is constantly hungry because he has carbohydrate cravings. All the foods listed are high GI (oats in flapjacks are slow-release carb but don't forget flapjacks are covered in syrup, toast with jam is also quick-releasing carb, ditto most kiddie's breakfast cereals). Try starting your little one's day with hot porridge instead and cut up an apple with a few black grapes as a snack. Bananas if offered should be greenish rather than ripe.

Ice-cream is a good choice for an evening desert but the key to managing this is to take sweet things out of his diet and make sure his main meals have plenty of protein and long-acting carbohydrates (that means go easy on the potatoes). And never ever use sweets as a treat / bribe. He'll hate you for it at first but you'll be helping out in the long run.

Barneysmom

MY son would eat a horse between 2 mattresses and he always looked underfed but DD puts on half astone if she looks at a biscuit.

leiela

Yes he's much more active than the older boy, and i've cut right back on the sugar i allow him to have, infact i've switched to using half and half in all my cooking, and tbh even then i tend to put much less "suger" in the recipes than they ask for.

I'm going to try and cut back the suger even further but its so hard to know what to give him i don't buy other snacks, any idea's of none sugery snacks??

As for liquid he drinks quite alot too, again he drinks far more than the older boy, there is always juice or milk available for him so i dont think its thirst.

Katyag

I have similar, DS1 7 years old is fussy and doesnt really eat much. Loves fruit tho. DS2 18 months is a little bucket! Would eat constantly and whatever you come into the lounge with he wants! An empty plate even gets him running accross the room.

I would try and introduce some fruit into his snacks. Easier said than done i know!

My DH has a high metabolism, eats whatever he wants and very rarely puts on weight! I think DS1 is more like him, hes skin and bone, perfectly healthy and active tho. DS2 is more like me, cuddly! lol Im a firm believer in nature and kids taking after the parents!

VfM4meplse

leiela wrote: »

As for liquid he drinks quite alot too, again he drinks far more than the older boy, there is always juice or milk available for him so i dont think its thirst.

If this is genuine thirst and not just a means of satiation this may be a cause for concern. Keep an eye out for bed wetting and phsysical tiredness and mention this next time you see your GP.

Milk / water are best, juice has plenty of sugar too.

leiela

VfM4meplse wrote: »

If this is genuine thirst and not just a means of satiation this may be a cause for concern. Keep an eye out for bed wetting and phsysical tiredness and mention this next time you see your GP.

Milk / water are best, juice has plenty of sugar too.

His liquid intake isn't really a cause for concern atm he seems to drink a fairly healthy amount, it's more than the elder boy but not an abnormal amount.

cte1111

My DD is 6, and like your DS always thinks she is starving. It worries me at times, atm she is being OK about it. I try and make sure that we have a good supply of fruit, and if she complains of being hungry, then point her in that direction.

She does sometimes have tantrums that she wants something else, but has learnt that it doesn't get results, and fruit is very much better than nothing. It is hard, and in the past I used to give her more substantial snacks, but then she started putting on weight, as she got less active when she started school.

We make sure that she has a big portion at mealtimes, and if she says she is still hungry afterwards, then offer her something boring but filling, like weetabix (or tesco's own variety as is cheaper). Then I know she's not going to bed hungry, but also is not over-eating just for the sake of it, as weetabix aren't exactly a treat.

I think you're right to try not to make an issue out of it, and making sure that both your boys are served up decent meals on a regular basis is the best way to make sure that they both eat well, in their own individual ways.

cte1111

leiela wrote: »

I'm going to try and cut back the suger even further but its so hard to know what to give him i don't buy other snacks, any idea's of none sugery snacks??

Other ideas for snacks:
Carrot sticks and houmous
Cheese slices or dippers (now and then as a bit high in salt)
Cereal
Rice cakes (again nicer with something to dip in like houmous)
Marmite on toast soldiers
Yoghurts
Cereal bars (can be high is sugar check labels)
Organix crisps (low in salt)
Cherry tomatoes (with one of the other savoury snacks above)