daily diet for your kids

[ethanryan]

hi i just wondered what your kids daily meals consists of. my 2 boys are 2 and 3 and they are always hungry and asking for food. im starting to think they dont get enough food. they have 3 meals a day.

[beanebabe]

My kids have fruit (especially bananas) to fill them up. I try to encourage something more filling than just cereal at breakfast. One had rice pudding and a banana this morning. Another fav is macaroni pudding made with milk - a bowl of that fills them up for longer than rice krispies. Their evening meal usually has potato or pasta for bulk. They do have biscuits and crisps in moderation, but I do tend to steer them away from junk with the offer of something more filling, ie toast or a banana milkshake, even in the afternoon. They only have sweets at the weekend. There were cases highlighted in the paper this week of kids suffering from malnutrition because their diet was too healthy!

[ethanryan]

today for example, they had, 2 slices of toast with jam for breakfast and one of them had a yoghurt and the other had an apple. then at playgroup they had a bowl of fruit and a buscuit. then at 12.30 they had a cheese sandwich with a box of raisins and a yoghurt. then for dinner tonight they both had pasta with meatballs and a slice of garlic bread, plus yet again another yoghurt. they love yoghurts. oh they also had a cake inbetween this, is this enough as they still moan they are hungry

[beanebabe]

It does sound like quite a bit! Perhaps give them bigger portions! I buy the individual pots of rice pudding for mine as snacks and ripe bananas liquidised with milk is filling. Mine also like pitta bread with stuff in. My youngest will even have one with cheese for breakfast, sometimes they'll have beans or poached egg on toast (it doesn't have to be cereal). Fruit on it's own isn't very filling. It makes my tummy grumble all the more if I'm hungry. Maybe your 2 are having a growth spurt. Sometimes my son is a bottomless pit and other times he doesn't seem to eat enough to keep a fly alive.

[curiosity]

I know it sounds daft but is there enough fat in their diet? they need fats.

[Lindylou]

Try an egg for breakfast. Boiled, scrambled, poached or even fried. With a couple of slices of toast and a smear of butter and marmite. You could start brekkie with cereal with a chopped up apple or banana with yoghourt and some milk. Lunch - sandwich made with some sliced meat and salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber) with a piece of fruit for pudding. Or grated cheese sarnies with - again - tomato or some fruit chutney for a change. For supper try fish (grilled or fried), potatoes, maybe mashed or whole, different green veggies or salad. A lamb or pork chop, chicken joint - or a pasta dish made with tinned or fresh tomatoes, mince, grated cheese and whatever veg you can grate (i.e. disguise) in the sauce. We used to have a 'sweetie' day once a week when my children were allowed to buy/eat whatever sweeties they wanted. Mars bars, crunchies, turkish delight, cola type sweet things, juicy fruit things, etc etc. But they could only devour these AFTER they'd eaten their tea. And then they had to clean their teeth!