Hola chicos, knowing what and how much to feed our kids is not easy. I know many of you might be asking yourself the same question, “How much food is too much food for toddlers?”. Since having my girls I’ve always worried if what they are eating is what they need. With Bella I always worried if she was eating enough as she was a fussy eater. She was and still is very difficult with food. She is getting better though but it has always been a rollercoaster journey for us. I have always worried about her weight as she is very slim buy thankfully she has never been unhealthy. On the other hand, I have Sienna who is totally the opposite to Bella – she will eat the whole house! If we have a little human bin, I promise it will be her, LOL! I know it sounds awful but it’s true, 😉
Sienna really likes her food so be careful if you want to take something from her plate as she will fight until she gets it back. She will eat until the last portion and will probably ask for more. I really feel that she could potentially explode one day, LOL!
Knowing what are the correct portions sizes for her age (almost 2 years old) are really important for me at the moment as I really don’t want her to be overweight and therefore unhealthy. When I heard about The Infant and Toddler Forum (ITF) and their Tot it Up Analysis challenge, I was really eager to take part and find out what Sienna’s results would be.
Firstly, so you know a little bit more about ITF, they promote best practice through reliable, clear, evidence-based advice and simple, practical resources aimed at healthcare professionals, families and a wider range of stakeholders in early years and child health. Its resources and published outputs undergo external peer review by national experts to ensure the information is accurate, balanced and consistent with health priorities, in the context of current and emerging policy.
Early nutrition and its implications for later health are a public health concern and everyone’s responsibility. The ITF aims to work in partnership with other organisations, professional groups, commercial organisations and policy makers that share its mission, to ensure that better advice informs and influences practice and ultimately behaviour, so that all can benefit from a body of impartial, evidence-based guidance and best practice about feeding, healthy eating and development.
The ITF is launching the #rethinktoddlerportionsizes campaign to help take the guesswork out of how much is enough including a guide to the correct portion size range for children aged 1 – 4. Parents are expected to have all the answers and when it comes to feeding toddlers, it can be hard to know how much food to offer. These guides are practical, visual, user-friendly and evidence based.
A survey of 1000 UK mums and dads revealed that 79% of parents routinely offer portions bigger than the recommended size range for toddlers when offering popular meals, drinks and treats. It’s clear that guidance and practical advice for parents is lacking.
See the video below:
The survey, which involved parents looking at images of portion sizes, also revealed that more than 10% of parents usually serve their child close to an adult-size portion of spaghetti bolognaise or cheese sandwiches.
However, 73% are more concerned that their child does not eat enough. There was a tendency for parents to use food or drink between meals to comfort their children, with 36% of parents using this method to calm children down when they are upset. I must admit that I’m very guilty of this too as I think food is the only thing that will distract and comfort my girls. I will need to be smarter and find different distractions.
Also, check these numbers:
- 71% of parents routinely offer their child a bigger portion of crisps than recommended for this age group. More than a third of parents usually offer their preschool child a whole bag of crisps: this is nearly twice the recommended amount
- 65% of parents routinely offer too much squash/fruit juice, with 31% often giving portions that are double the recommended amount for children of this age.
- 61% of parents routinely offer their child too many sweets, with 24% of parents giving their child a whole pack of jelly sweets as a treat: this is 3 times the recommended amount
When we took part in the challenge I realised that we were not doing that bad but we do need to improve in a lot of areas. Apparently Sienna needs to drink more fluids. I thought she was drinking a lot but I guess I was wrong, so I will be offering more fluids more often going forward. I also realised that I’m not giving her Vitamin D supplements which is something that I will amend asap.
I must admit that when I started checking the portion sizes for her age group (1 to 4) I was really surprised to see that those portions were really tiny! Sienna is capable of eating a whole pack of crisps and not just 6 or 8 that were suggested. The same with cereals and bread. She can eat a whole slice of toast but she should eat just half. I will need to do a serious amendment at home and change her actual portion sizes for the the ones suggested in the ITF website.
The 10 tips for healthy toddlers below are suggested by the ITF:
- Eat together as a family and make mealtimes relaxed, happy occasions
- You decide which nutritious foods to offer but let your toddler decide how much to eat
- Offer foods from all five food groups each day
- Have a routine and offer three meals and two to three snacks each day
- Offer six to eight drinks a day
- Give vitamins A & D each day
- Respect your toddlers’ tastes and preferences – don’t force feed
- Reward your toddler with your attention – never give food and drink as a reward, treat or for comfort
- Limit: fried food, crisps, packet snacks, pastries, cakes and biscuits to very small amounts and sweet foods to four times a day and avoid sweetened fruit squashes, fizzy drinks, tea and coffee, undiluted fruit juices , whole nuts
- Encourage physical activity for at least three hours every day and about 12 hours sleep
I think we should be more careful of the portion sizes that we give to our kids. We need to try to avoid any tendency towards obesity and if for any reason we think we are going towards that direction we should stop. We need to encourage healthy eating for our kids. I highly recommend you to browse around their guide of portion sizes and if possible do the challenge. Get the most of this free service. You can find more about them on Facebook and Twitter and search for #rethinktoddlerportionsizes.
What do you think of this survey? Do you think you might be having this problem too? Could it be possible that you are feeding your child too much? What do you think about the portion sizes? Will you be keen to also register and take part of the challenge? Please leave me a comment below as I would love to read what you think.
*Disclaimer: I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not been paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity. I have received a voucher in return for writing this post.
Thanks for stopping by,
Love you all ❤️
Franca 💋
Linking up with:
Romi says
Qué rica mi chanchi!, se come toda la casa y se pelea si le quitas su plato !, jajjaja
Muy Vaccarella salió por lo visto!
Mientras haga deporte estará Santa y en su peso
Fran @ Whinge Whinge Wine says
I too have a human dustbin child but I think this is really important. At home it’s not so bad but when we are out and order kid’s meals they can be huge! Now I just tend to get a sandwich and split it between the kids. #KCACOLS
Mrs Morgan Plus 3 says
What a great post! I think I am definitely feeding mine too much I need to look into it…. #KCACOLS
wendy says
Wow, I always thought my boy didn’t eat enough but looking at this he seems to be eating top much! I’m definitely going to look at this in more detail as what Leo is and isn’t eating really does worry me. Thanks for sharing xx#KCACOLS
Alison (MadHouseMum) says
This is a subject close to my heart. I still struggle with correct portion sizes – for all my family. Everything now is ‘super size’. A bag of crisps, a chocolate bar…all come in huge sizes now. A metre of jaffa cakes and so on. All of this really annoys me, as it is teaching our kids nothing about healthy portion sizes. A very interesting and informative post. Alison x #KCACOLS
Hayley McLean says
Oh I saw this myself and I was quite shocked by some of it, I definitely overfeed my children I think – I’ve been making a conscious effort to give smaller portions since! Very informative post Franca! #KCACOLS
PeTite Pudding says
This is so helpful thank you! I think we are all a bit lost as to how much they should eat. My husband dishes up massive portions – think we need to have a look at our meal time servings! #kcacols
the frenchie mummy says
I know that we need to make sure not to feed too much our children but the portions are tiny! We don’t want to make them feel guilty about food either. It could be a cause of future problems like bulimia. A balanced diet and some sport is the key I think. #KCACOLS
Helen says
This is soooo useful and perfectly timed. We’ve had a rough week, with little one playing up at meal times. I don’t think we’ve handled it brilliantly. This has really reassured me that we can offer the food and let her choose how much she eats. Thank you! Really helpful blog xx #KCACOLS
Shelly says
Oh, I wish I had a little one who would eat a lot because all of my kids are so picky. I’ve always worried more that they’re not eating enough! Thankfully, though, from looking at what you’ve reported here, my kids are actually closer to what would be the recommended portion sizes, so that makes me feel better! #KCACOLS
Sarah | Digital Motherhood says
Interesting post. I never had this problem when my daughter was that age as she hardly ate anything! I do think though that it’s all in moderation – giving your child more than 2 sweets in 1 go isn’t really that bad if it’s not every day! #KCACOLS
Coombe Mill says
Knowing what to eat and how much is important at any age, a really useful article and interesting statistics. #KCACOLS
James Hopes says
That is a really interesting article! Our little one can be a bit all over the place – some days he’ll eat everything and want more and some days he barely touches it! He definitely doesn’t drink enough though by the looks of things so will try to fix that! Thanks for hosting #KCACOLS
Mackenzie Glanville says
I am through the toddler stage, but found this so interesting, I think this will really help parents out there with toddlers as it can be so overwhelming when making the right choices. My battle is my 6 year old hates fruit, he would eat a piece of broccoli over any fruit. It makes lunch boxes trickier as with my girls they take a variety of fruit in their snack each day, I wish I could do that with Adam too. #Kcacols
One Messy Mama says
Very interesting read! I usually put a small portion on my kids plate and tell them to ask for seconds if they are still hungry. Luckily my kids love fruit and veg so they nibble on that during the day! Or I offer a glass of water. #KCACOLS
Toarizonaandbeyond says
Brilliant post, I had no idea about the guidelines, it isn’t something I’ve thought much about but will be very helpful in the future, thanks for sharing. #KCACOLS
Emma Plus Three says
This is really useful, lots of helpful info. My toddler eats about one mouthful of any meal so I’m always worrying about her not eating enough! 🙁 x #KCACOLS
Fran Back With a Bump says
This is really interesting and it’s easy to overfeed kids I suppose as we encourage them to eat well. I remember watching a programme a few years ago about portion sizes and how we tend to give much bigger portion sizes. #kcacols
Maria says
It’s really interesting to see the correct portions sizes vs what we give them – there is a big difference! I do think sometimes it can be down to how active your child is. If you have a really active child they may naturally consume more food for energy and for me, as with anything it good to be mindful of portion sizes but if my boys want to eat more I won’t limit them.#KCACOLS
Leanne says
#KCACOLS I’ve been reading these eand found it really interesting. My youngest can also demolish crisps and sweets and at times will eat loads for dinner. I spent far too long worrying about my eldest eating that i have tried to be more realxed with this little man. Its really interesting how they can differ so greatly.
Rebecca TAYLOR says
Thank you Franca. This is REALLY useful! I must admit, I am a bit geeky when it comes to nutritional info so some of this I knew or suspected anyway, but some of it was still quite surprising. And just because we know what is right, it is sometimes difficult to put it into practise consistently isn’t it?! I’ve always worried my little man doesn’t eat enough because he isn’t particularly interested in food so then when he does go for it I tend not to limit his portions because I think ‘let him eat as much as he wants whilst he is interested’! But this probably still isn’t the best method! Thank you for the information and for hosting. x #KCACOLS
Jess Powell (Babi a Fi) says
Really interesting! I find Marianna changes from day to day with what and how much she will eat. One day she will finish her plate and ask for more, and the next we struggle to get her to take one spoonful! x #KCACOLS
Laura says
I think my son definitely eats too much for his age! Which doesn’t seem to be a problem at the moment – but I fear it may in the future so I’ll definitely be looking into this further. Thanks for raising my awareness! #KCACOLS
Emma says
My oldest has always been great with different types of food but he always seems to be hungry too. Straight after dinner he will be looking for something else! Good info. Thanks for sharing! #KCACOLS
Rebecca | AAUBlog says
Wow this is really fascinating! I need to work on how much Chloe eats for sure x #KCACOLS