Childrens diet...

MarilynMonroe_2

slaughtered humanly is an oxymoron

SmallL

Back to topic....
There are far worse diets than what the OP's child is having.
I remember when i was a kid i would put EVERYTHING in white bread, including potato waffles and potato croquettes.
I had lots of ready meals as my parents worked full-time.
BUT when my mum did cook it was lovely fresh and filling! She often made shepherds pie, thai specials such as Tom Yum or a sunday roast.

I'v never been overweight and now i live in my own house i cook from scratch 4/7 days a week, with all meals including meat and veg in some form.
Meat isn't expensive if you bulk buy, freeze and portion well. For example between me and OH we only use 250g mince (lean) in a spag bol or chilli.

heartbreak_star

Oooh I quite fancy making shepherd's pie now

I was a very picky eater as a kid, but the worst thing my mum did was force me to eat whatever I left over at dinner fried up in a sandwich so I'd still "get my veg". I ended up just eating the bread.

Food caused a lot of rows in our house - and I believe that is what led to my eating issues that persist even to this day.

SmallL, I recall potato waffle sandwiches being awesome too...especially with a processed cheese slice!

I don't think the OP's child has a particularly bad diet - there are areas for improvement (it's very high sugar) but at least it's not all processed rubbish.

HBS x

Kayalana99

No I don't think its that bad, I think maj of people are saying 'You can make it better' not that 'Its wrong to feed a child that'

Obvouisly thiers always room for improvement in someones diet but I think your MIL will probally just find something else to pick on even if you did improve it/have it to her standards.

Lagoon

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Obvouisly thiers always room for improvement in someones diet but I think your MIL will probally just find something else to pick on even if you did improve it/have it to her standards.

I agree with this. The idea of parents criticising their son or daughter's parenting skills annoys me immensely. You've had your chance, these aren't your children, stop it.

No kids here yet, but MiL is lovely and I'm hoping she won't become intrusive when we have children. It concerns me quite a bit, but if she gets it right I think she'll be the perfect grandmother.

If she kept giving her opinion on how we raised the children, I'd make my feelings clear. I think it's great that OP has come on here to ask for further opinions in case the diet isn't right, but if I were OP then I'd also let MiL know their limits.

Gigervamp

Lagoon wrote: »

And you're blaming the (limited amount of) pork in the pork pie for him being overweight?

That's not 'meat-based food' - it's processed rubbish.

I'm not one to judge a vegetarian diet - go ahead - but to argue that meat is making your husband overweight because he eats pork pies is getting a bit silly.

I didn't say that at all. He also snacks on biscuits, chocolate and stuff. It's the fact that he snacks all the time that is the cause of his weight issues. But, because he's also snacking on meat products, he's eating a lot more protein than is necessary and that's a contributory factor.

It doesn't bother me that he eats meat. He just eats too much of it.

Kayalana99

Gigervamp wrote: »

I didn't say that at all. He also snacks on biscuits, chocolate and stuff. It's the fact that he snacks all the time that is the cause of his weight issues. But, because he's also snacking on meat products, he's eating a lot more protein than is necessary and that's a contributory factor.

It doesn't bother me that he eats meat. He just eats too much of it.

But if he was to replace those meat products with more biscuits/choclate etc I don't think he would be any better off...if not worse.

Think your husband isn't the best example for the point your trying to prove..

Lagoon

Gigervamp wrote: »

I didn't say that at all. He also snacks on biscuits, chocolate and stuff. It's the fact that he snacks all the time that is the cause of his weight issues. But, because he's also snacking on meat products, he's eating a lot more protein than is necessary and that's a contributory factor.

It doesn't bother me that he eats meat. He just eats too much of it.

I see. I misunderstood as you said that the whole family snacked on cakes, biscuits, crisps etc, but your husband (who snacks on 'meat') is the only overweight one.

Yes, it will be a symptom of overeating junk food in general.

Gigervamp

Kayalana99 wrote: »

But if he was to replace those meat products with more biscuits/choclate etc I don't think he would be any better off...if not worse.

Think your husband isn't the best example for the point your trying to prove..

Lol! I was trying to point out to VestanPrince that not eating meat doesn't mean that one is more likely to snack. I failed miserably! :rotfl:

Lagoon wrote: »

I see. I misunderstood as you said that the whole family snacked on cakes, biscuits, crisps etc, but your husband (who snacks on 'meat') is the only overweight one.

Yes, it will be a symptom of overeating junk food in general.

Lol, I did mean that too. Sorry, I'm not coming across very well! But I think all the fat and protein in his meaty snacks are a big factor in his overweightness. (Is that a word? )

silly_moo

If you want to sweeten porridge why not add fresh fruit, for example banana, pear, strawberries, blueberries. You could also add some dried fruit (raisins, apricots, prunes). Another idea is to try reducing the amount of sugar gradually to allow your kids to get used to less sweet taste over time. In a few weeks you'll probably find it that they don't really need sugar any more and are happy with plain porridge. I believe that people tend to add lots of sugar out of habit and not out of need (my DH puts sugar on corn flakes and rice krispies!).

You could also try mixing your own cereals (oats, spelt flakes, rye flakes, bran, nuts, sunflower seeds, linseeds, dried fruit, etc) and have them with natural yoghurt - even more filling and nutritious than porridge with milk and a nice change to your breakfast routine.

Porridge is very filling on its own - I have a bowl of porridge with fruit before 7am and it lasts me until 12.30-1pm - so I would consider dropping the toast/jam sandwiches altogether. Bread and jam are just empty calories and don't have any nutritional value. Your kids may feel hungry for a few days if they don't get their bread with jam as their stomachs are used to getting a lot of food at breakfast but after a few days they would adjust to the new eating plan and would not feel hungry at all.