kids?

timeforwork

hi all iv been logging for 2 weeks now and its going well but iv relised how " off" my portion sizes are, I weighed my cornflakes this moring and relised I normaly have 5 portions! so what I want to ask is how do I judge a childs portion? packaging gives adult portion amounts and if im over on that a lot I guess im over feeding the kids too! I have an 8 year old and a 3 year old and they look a healthy weight and are fit and active but they are eating the same amount as I am now . yesterday they each ate a ham and cheese sandwich ( 2 slices of bread) and yoguert for breakfast, 2 slices of toast and half a tin of beans and a biscuit for lunch then we went out for dinner and they had the same as me, half a rack of ribs and chips with salad ( 1200 calories est by restrant) and ice cream! so as a guess they each consumed 2000 calories! also how do I go about introduceing changes? I don't want them to notice if poss or if they do not enough for them to think there is an issue, as iv said they don't need to lose weight at all but 2000 calories for a child that only turned 3 a few weeks ago seems like a lot. thanks for any ( sensible) advice

jaqcan

I struggle with this too. I'm eating the same as my 13 year old. But I figure she's growing and probably burning more than I am. She's not overweight at all, neither is my 8 year old.
My only suggestions are don't give dessert every night and if they are eating good well rounded meals, they don't need snacks in between. Kids eat when they are bored too.
I understand that was a little snapshot of ONE day, but there wasn't a lot of fruit or vegetables with that. So instead of a whole sandwich, maybe half and some baby carrots. Yogurt and 1 slice of toast with a half a banana. Stuff like that!

ejb06070

Typically, a child's portion should be about half the size of an adult portion. For your 3 year old, he should be getting 1,230 calories daily or she should be getting 1,165. If he/she is closer to 4, the calories between 4 and 6 go up a lot. 1,715 for boys and 1,545 for girls. For your 8 year old, from 7-10 he should get 1,970 calories or she should get 1,740. These figures are meant for weight maintenance:


Of course, if your children are more active or less active, an adjustment will definitely need to be made. If you're worried about how much they're eating, slowly decrease the amounts. If you know they're both getting about 2000 calories per day, decrease it by 100 calories or so each day, until you find a comfort zone. Kids are very vocal creatures and they have no problems letting you know if they're still hungry. Essentially, they'll let you know when they're full and if they're still hungry.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/children/nutrition_calorie_needs.htm

I took a free online course a couple years ago, and I recommend that if you have time, you give it a shot. https://www.coursera.org/learn/childnutrition There's only 5 hours of material, spread out over 5 parts. It's all about healthy cooking and eating for children.

timeforwork

thanks that table realy helps with regards to fruit and veg I didn't write that down as they help them selfs and I go through per day 4-6 bannanas, a couple of apples god knows how many strawberries, cherry tomatos plums ect and my 2 year old has just got half a cucumber to eat from the fridge! so never know the exact amout but I only fill the fruit bowl and snack veg tub up once a day as it all goes, I have to hide every thing else! it just seems a huge amount of food for them and I thought id ask thanks guys

ejb06070

There is a lot worse that they could be snacking on than fruits and veggies! I'd take that alone as a win. No problem, and best of luck.

timeforwork

fruit and veg bill is the biggest half of my shopping bill each week thanks to those 2!