How many calories per day should children eat.?

caseythirteen

I think as long as kids are eating a well balanced diet as often as possible and they are living an active life, calorie counts aren't that important. At this age, I believe the most important thing is making sure they learn about good nutrition. Unfortunately I've only been "seeing the light" the last few years so I'm making up a bit of time in that department with my son (9) but it's never too late to start teaching them. I use any opportunity I can to teach them about fruits and veggies, the impact food has on our body and the importance of ingredients in our foods.

As for calorie counts though, my son out eats me on some days and my daughter loves her fuits and veggies so I don't pay much attention to quantity on most days.

ebony__

Off topic but my son has been a his grandmas for two nights and I'm super excited to get him back tomorrow

marieautumn

i dont know how many calories they should eat but i have a six year old son and my rule of thumb is half the plate should be meat/protein, 1/4 veggies and 1/4 fruit or cheese. my son usually finishes all his food and has room for a treat afterwards so i would say just give them healthy options that they like and let them eat until they are no longer hungry.

caseythirteen

Off topic but my son has been a his grandmas for two nights and I'm super excited to get him back tomorrow

I know that feeling! My kids spend a week at their grandparents every summer and I always look forward to them returning. I hope you enjoyed your time while he was gone and enjoy having him back!

fbmandy55

1) Don't EVER say 'finish your food on your plate'

2) stop feeding him when he says he's full

Agreed.

My issue with this is that my son would NOT eat food for dinner in and then tell us an hour later that he is hungry for a snack. I don't make him clean his plate but i WILL tell him to have x bites of this and X bites of that before he can leave the table. My son likes tons of healthy foods but he is getting smart and will con his way out of healthy food for "snacks". Snacks are typically popcorn, fruit, yogurt or the occasional mini wheats.

rml_16

1) Don't EVER say 'finish your food on your plate'

2) stop feeding him when he says he's full

Agreed.

My issue with this is that my son would NOT eat food for dinner in and then tell us an hour later that he is hungry for a snack. I don't make him clean his plate but i WILL tell him to have x bites of this and X bites of that before he can leave the table. My son likes tons of healthy foods but he is getting smart and will con his way out of healthy food for "snacks". Snacks are typically popcorn, fruit, yogurt or the occasional mini wheats.

I think that's a reasonable approach. And it's also OK to say, "If you don't eat now, there will not be a snack later." But I see people pushing kids to eat after they've eaten a decent amount already and that is not good.

GCLyds

I dont control her caloric intake, I just make sure that what I put on her plate is healthy. We dont keep convenience snacks around. The ones targeted for children have a lot of sugar and no fiber. I find fruit convenient, as well as whole grain crackers with nut butter.

We dont make her finish everything on her plate but she does have to stay at the table until we are all done. This prevents them from taking off because they want to play and not because they are full. She also gets everything we are eating on her plate. Veggies and all, because she changes her mind about food all the time. So just because she didnt like it last time doesnt mean she wont like it this time.

melodyg

Here's US government info, if that helps:

http://www.nutrition.gov/life-stages/children

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/meal-and-snack-patterns-ideas.html

I don't know that my 6 year old eats anywhere near as much as they say he should... I usually serve him about half of what I eat for supper and he probably eats about half of that. He's tiny for his age, though (but perfectly healthy!) I understand on having the kid who would eat 1/2 cup of food a day if I didn't make him eat too! He's really good about making good choices, though, and if I grab a snack he usually wants the same thing (or fruit, which is good for him too!)

Thanks

no offense to the government but their advice is to eat more grain and more soy. I would not follow their advice unless you reach that conclusion based on your own preference and research

Agreed. I don't follow their recommendations on calorie distribution (for myself, I don't track anything for ds), but it is at least a good guideline for relating a child's portion size to an adult's.