Help! Two children, two different dietary needs…suggestions please
I don’t want to make my tween daughter super self-conscious, but she just hit puberty and won’t grow much taller. She is at the 80 percentile in weight and is not very active. I try to provide one balanced meal per day plus a good breakfast, but she likes snacks such as chips, cookies, cheese crackers, more than extra servings of vegetables & fruit (can’t blame her). Unfortunately, there isn’t enough during the week for sports so she is going to have to develop better eating habits. She asks about calories, she reads food labels (like mom), and is aware of the results of a high sugar high fat diet. But given the choice, junk food wins. I need to be able to suggest tasty snack alternatives that are satisfying.
My 8 year old son, on the other hand, is underweight, and needs to eat more food (he’s a grazer). He doesn’t like to eat much for breakfast (fruit & a granola bar), but is hungry by 9 a.m. I like to encourage him to eat extra crackers or chips so he can have the extra calories. He eats one balanced meal a day and likes green beans, collard greens, various fruits, french bread along with chips, cheese crackers, etc. He will also eat sunflower seeds and pistachios. I need to fill his lunch box with quality food that has good fat & calories.
Any suggestions? Recipes welcome:)
September 14, 2009 at 8:01 pm
How about encouraging both to experiment with smoothies? My sons know how to use the Magic Bullet.
I encourage my underweight son (11) to use organic peanut butter and whole milk, and my heavier son (17) uses skim and frozen fruits.
They both use a scoop of protein powder…we have different flavors around the house all of the time. If you put enough ice in those things, they will whip up like a decadent ice cream dessert.
I use bite sized flavored rice cakes for my kids. Less fat and no wheat, but still the cheesy flavor of crackers.
Be carefull of the calories your daughter is drinking, such as fruit juices, sodas, chocolate milk, etc. You may encourage her to drink more water if she has her own bottled waters with fruit flavor (but not sweetened).
As for the boy…don’t worry about him. Once puberty hits he will keep eating and eating and eating….
September 14, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I agree smoothies are great for children and they can have fun making without realizing how healthy they are. You can use plain yougurt and add fruits and vegetables (carrots) etc. as they will still want the sweetness, dates and dried coconut are also great alternatives especially for your daughter, good fat from coconut and fibre and a bit of sweetness from dates. Great for breakfast, snacks or you can freeze them for frozen dessert treats. See if she will have plain yogurt as snack with fruits instead of chips as well.