Children and Intermittent Fasting

Something like family meals at 7 and 5, with lunch around noon or at school, which some would consider IF, I guess? Sure, why not, if that fits the schedule and the child is getting plenty to eat.

Something like an older child (like a teen) not eating breakfast due to personal preference? Again, sure, if the teen seems to be functioning well. I was to make my own breakfast at that age and skipped it since I wasn't hungry for much (and didn't like non cooked breakfasts or to get up any earlier than necessary -- have always hated cold cereal), and was fine.

5/2? No way, not for a child.

Encouraging fasting as a weight loss method? Nope, although cutting out snacking might be a reasonable approach to try if an overweight child was interested in it as an idea.

Interesting question, OP. I’ve always hated breakfast - I just don’t have any appetite when I wake up, and I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. My mum nagged me to eat before I went to school, trying all sorts - porridge, toast, cereals - and she gave up and left me to it when I got to my teens, which is about the same time I started skipping lunch. I’m now OMAD, only eating dinner at 6pm, which suits me fine - but it’s taken a long time for this to be ‘acceptable’ to others.

With my own children, I provided variety and options, but never nagged. Neither of them were ‘faddy’ eaters, but they resisted breakfast in particular (for which I obviously had some sympathy!). As a parent, I had read the studies about nutrition and educational attainment (breakfast eaters having better concentration levels), so I felt really guilty if I ‘let’ them skip breakfast before going to school because I was ‘sabotaging their education’... but both have a Masters degree (and my son should get his PhD this spring). They’re now in their 30’s, daughter eats 3 times a day, whilst my son prefers brunch and then dinner.

My daughter now has two little girls, one (the youngest, 18 months) particularly loves breakfast - fruits of all kinds, bagels, toast, porridge - the oldest (3 and a half) is given the same options/choices and I suspect would happily go without breakfast completely but is ‘encouraged’ to try some of what is offered (not nagged in the same way I was, but both mum and dad express concern if she doesn’t eat much). Both girls are energetic, health and happy.

I wonder how much of this is nature or nurture? I offer no absolute conclusions, I just think the debate is very interesting.

At 16 now, I let my kid eat wherever she wants except dinner where we sit down. My kid currently eats 2 meals a day and a couple of snacks. Which IMO is good right now because with no physical school, she's been at home all the time. She's introverted so she doesn't go out much and when she does it's not for a lot of physical activity other than walking. Consequently since she's not burning a lot of calories, how she's been eating isn't causing unneeded weight gain on her.

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This is a somewhat touchy subject for me. In general, I think a better approach to healthy eating/exercise/lifestyle (especially for kids) is to emphasize what are the things we CAN do to lead a healthier life. Eat more of the healthier choices, less of the less healthy choices. Teach them more about recognizing hunger signals, and if they say they want something to eat--why is it they want something to eat. Are they truly hungry, or just bored? When you start telling kids what they CAN'T do (and this applies to all behavior), they're going to be more likely to want to do it. Sure, you could tell kids you CAN eat during these hours, but restricting the times they are allowed to eat just seems like telling them "no" about something. I'm not saying IF can't work for adults, but kids are still growing and I feel probably need to eat more regularly.

I was a bit overweight as a kid, and it always made me feel "less than" others. At age 14, I decided to do something about it. I got a diet book specifically for teenage girls from the library, and took the parts I liked from it to lose weight...which meant going on a 900-calorie a day diet. The advice in the book was that that was to last no more than 2 weeks, but I decided to do it long-term (FYI, this book was probably written in the late 80's).

Well, of course we all know that wasn't ideal at all, especially for a growing person. I then realized I wanted to be even skinnier (my goal was 100 lb at 5'6 so I could look like Kate Moss), and went down to 500 calories a day. That meant no eating breakfast, and then no eating breakfast or lunch. So, while some may disagree on terminology, that was fasting. I wasn't choosing not to eat because I just didn't like breakfast, it was to restrict my calories. How I ever managed to do well academically my sophomore year of high school, I'll never know. I do remember feeling tired and weak, though, and I sometimes wonder if I'd be a bit taller if I ate normally (I'm 5'8 now, so not short, but still). In any case, this pattern set up years and years of disordered eating--restrict/binge/attempt to purge.

My kids are on the chubbier side, and it's gotten more noticeable since remote learning. They see me lead a healthy example by choosing mostly healthy foods, exercising, but also enjoying small amounts of treats. I also don't buy a lot of processed foods or soda, and rarely buy juice. They're probably some of the few 9 and 11-year olds that don't drink soda or juice regularly--my son doesn't even really like juice. However, I remember what it was like to be a chubby kid, then teenager, so I'm trying to balance promoting healthy eating/exercising without criticizing. I wouldn't ever suggest IF to them, and if they brought it up on their own, I'd check in with their doctor in make sure they are doing it in a healthy way.

Yes, they should.
I, along with many others in my generation, grew up with this. We ate breakfast at a set time, had lunch, and dinner at about 5pm. Occasionally a snack. You would see an overweight kid every now and then. We ate cookies, white bread, cakes, etc, we just had them with our meals as a dessert.
It also taught us patience. If you’re hungry just wait, dinner is coming soon so don’t spoil your appetite.
So, I think yes.

Theo166 wrote: »

pancakerunner wrote: »

Do you think parents should let their kids practice IF? I'm not sure where I stand on this tbh.

Why not? We're not talking multi-day fasts here.
Don't many kids skip breakfast, which effectively qualifies them for Intermittent Fasting.

Also many religions practice more serious fasting to no ill effect; I understand they start pre-pubescent.

I know this is an older post in the thread, but just as a point of clarification: my religion practices obligatory seasonal fasting and encourages it at other times for spiritual growth. Children are specifically excluded from the requirement, as are the elderly and pregnant and breastfeeding women, or for anyone for whom it would pose a danger to their health. The point is to be a little bit uncomfortable, not cause harm to yourself. Have there been overzealous parents who impose harsher restrictions on their own children? I could believe it, but it's never been required and if they sought guidance from a clergy member I'd hope they'd be discouraged from it. I might reassess this when I have teenagers as long as they are eating enough. If I caught a whiff of disordered eating I'd probably bring in someone to help me figure it out because I'd rather have as much help as I could.

I do have my children practice abstinence from meat even when not required, but as many plant based folks will attest there's no serious health risk in that. I also don't feel like cooking multiple meals so they eat what I eat.

My children up until this point have been homeschooled so it's never been a big deal if one didn't feel like eating breakfast until later in the day, but this year they'll be going to school and I have one who may not want to eat first thing. Hm. His lunch will be earlier in the day than his older brother's, but probably later than he'd like for a first meal. I probably will encourage him to eat breakfast, but it won't bother me if it's small and I'll explain why. Even a glass of milk and an apple would be fine.

When I was a teen I used to use my lunch time in high school to get my homework done, and then I ate lunch when I got home in the early afternoon - so about seven hours without eating. It was nice not having to worry about packing something and not having to bring as many books home, too.

This is a really interesting debate!
I am one of those who tends to feel ravenous if I do consume food between 5-11am, and that itself makes it difficult to stay within calorie goals but also, breakfast cereal isn't necessarily appetising, especially when it goes mushy. Toast is ok. A piece of fruit of some yoghurt is also nice every now and then.
As a kid we had breakfast options available that we could make ourselves, and during school term would rarely eat an early morning meal however on school holidays when we could sleep in, or we had been up and doing work with our parents, we would eat toast/porridge/fruit about 10-11am.
As an adult, I am very much the same. A workday typically means no breakfast=more sleep whereas a weekend or time off means the 10-11am meal.
My son (now 16) is very much the same. Some days he wants breakfast and makes it and other days he wants those extra few minutes in bed. Some days he eats lunch, some days his first meal of the day will be a bowl of noodle and a fried egg after school. I got to the point of wasted food and money that I stopped sending a lunch for him and if he wants lunch he is in charge of preparing it. Therefore, some days he is doing his own form of IF until about 3:30pm.
Would I put a child on IF intentionally? No. Would I decide, as a caregiver, that having an argument or tantrum every morning about the child eating something so they "are fueled for school" wasn't worth whatever gains they might make educationally? Yes.
I think it absolutely comes down to the child, the caregivers, the home/work/school situation and timetable, as well as factors like income and cultural and religious expectations.

being FORCED to? absolutely not. regardless of their age. i typically did not eat breakfast in high school. i simply did not want it. was a normal weight. even as an adult I rarely eat it.

if an older child/teen is using it as a way to help lose weight (and needs to) and is otherwise eating enough then ... okay (so long as school work/ energy levels are not suffering as a result of not eating in the morning)