Most parents will know that one of the biggest challenges with young children is food. We constantly ask ourselves if our children are eating enough of the right kind of foods so that we can give them a healthy balanced diet. All children are different so there is no clearly defined toddler diet that you can follow. You may have read a post I wrote previously about โHow much food is too much food for toddlers?โ which showed that from a survey by the Infant and Toddler Forum, we are feeding toddlers too much too young.
The Forum lead a campaign to rethink portion sizes by using their ‘tot it up’ tool to ensure your kids are eating the right types of food and the right amounts. This year the Infant and Toddler Forum are inviting people to be part of the biggest ideas sharing activity in the UK, developing a tool that all parents can not only use but can help create.
I was asked by the Infant and Toddler Forum to help get things off the ground by submitting an idea for the Toddler-Sized Portion Challenge. As parents, we love things that simplify our busy lives so I wanted an idea that would not only help parents with portion sizes for their toddlers but was something simple and easy to use. Most people have access to a smartphone or tablet these days so I thought it would be great to have an app that could be easily opened and used by parents to help in determining appropriate portion sizes for their children.
Looking at the Infant and Toddler Forum website they show the recommended portion sizes for different types of foods, depending also on your child’s age. I thought that it would be great to have an app where you could compare the recommended portion size with the portion you are about to serve your child.
On opening the app, a parent simply takes a photo of the food about to be served and selects from a predefined list of food types (e.g. cereal, carrots, potato). The app then displays your photo alongside a photo of a plate with the recommended portion size. The app will allow your photo to be manipulated using a pinch action in order for you to adjust the scale to make it a fair comparison. Of course, without exact measurements and making the process much more complicated, it is difficult to be 100% sure that you have served exactly the right amount, but even if the portion looks roughly like the recommended amount that could really benefit parents and avoid largely undersized/oversized portions.
I decided to mock up an image of how my app might look when you are using it. After that, I uploaded it alongside a description of my idea to the Toddler-Sized Challenge website where all of the ideas are listed. Each of the submitted ideas can be read and voted for by the public. The Infant and Toddler Forum, through this Toddler-Sized Challenge, are trying to create something that will help parents and carers when it comes to providing portion sizes.
You can see my idea HERE. If you like it, it would be lovely if you gave it a thumbs up or if you left a comment it would be even better!
HOW CAN I TAKE PART?
Signing up to submit an idea is easy, just follow the steps below for your chance to win ยฃ1000.
- Click โJoin Co-Creation Communityโ to sign up and either login with your Facebook or Twitter account, OR click โRegister for a new accountโ to sign up with your email address
- Once you have registered, scroll down to their โFeaturedโ Toddler-Sized Challenge and click โView Fullโ to see the competition in more detail
- Once youโve read more about the competition and looked at the Toddler Guidance page, click โAdd your Ideaโ to submit your idea
- Your idea will be reviewed and a decision will be made on whether to take it forward to the next stage.
Don’t have an idea of your own, but still want to get involved?
You can register for an account by following the steps below, vote and comment on ideas for your chance to win Love2Shop Vouchers worth ยฃ100. How fantastic is that?
- Click โJoin Co-Creation Communityโ to sign up and either login with your Facebook or Twitter account, OR click โRegister for a new accountโ to sign up with your email address
- Once youโve registered, scroll down to our โFeaturedโย Toddler-Sized Challenge and click โView Fullโ to see already submitted ideas to vote and comment on
- Click on any idea and vote if you like it by clicking the โthumbs upโ symbol or post a comment into the comments thread.
This is all you have to do to take part in this challenge. I really hope you do as it is a fantastic initiative.ย The announcing of the winners (ยฃ1000 for winner and two ยฃ500 runners-up prizes) will be done in a few months around September. There will be also some spots cash prizes of ยฃ100 for commenting and engaging. So what are you waiting for?
What do you think of this challenge? Would you like to take part? How do you normally manage the portion sizes of your toddler’s plates?ย
*Disclosure: This is a collaborative post
Thanks for stopping by,
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Dont know if i would go to the hassle of photographing my Lo’s food each time i feed her, your own judgement should be enough.
I don think i would do this
I suppose I just use my own instinct and judgement. I’m happy with my toddlers size and intake and weight gain so I don’t feel like I need assistance with this. If my toddler was becoming over or underweight I can see it would be useful.
Although I do photograph and share certain meals I create, I feel like my phone is already too large an aspect of my life so I don’t want to be any more dependant on it.
I know there are people out there that would no doubt find this useful.
I question whether technology is taking over to a point we are unable to use our own minds anymore. Totally nothing against your idea. Just my honest opinion.
Would love to submit an idea….if I had one (wracks brains) argh lol
#KCACOLS
This is something that I think about because I think my mum gave me too big portions as a kid! Ha ha! Saying that, totally depends on the time of day and how much he’s eaten before that for the size of his meal. #KCACOLS
I have finally given up worrying what and how much my children eat! This is a great idea as I think many people have no idea what their toddlers should and shouldn’t eat…sadly there are even more people that simply don’t care. My children don’t always get enough portions of fruit and veg but I do my best and that’s all I can do! #KCACOLS
I think this is something that might have interested me when my first was younger, as I did worry a bit about how much he was eating. Now though I’m much more relaxed, and am generally happy to go with my instincts and also to just trust my children’s appetites. x #KCACOLS
I had a look at your idea and I think having a photo could be useful. I tried to give it a thumbs up but that function didnt work. I think when my I had my first then I may well of used it but not with the second as I then became more confident in understanding a bit more about how kids eat.
Mainy
#KCACOLS
I think this would have been great when my firstborn was little but all my kids eat so much now! They eat like horses but are as skinny as rakes! #KCACOLS
I’m always thinking about what I’m feeding Peachy but I’m not all that concerned about portion sizes. She is not overweights. Never has been . The doctor is very happy with her size. So I don’t think we have a problem. #KCACOLS
This sounds interesting – definitely worth a look as I’m always worrying about how much my kids eat! I’m not sure I could be bothered to take a photo each time though! #KCACOLS
I really like the sound of this app – and don’t get me started on portion sizes, I think kids are fed way too much these day! #kcacols
I could have done with this when Leo was younger as I had no idea what to feed him and how much. I’m much more relaxed about it now though, I think he probably eats about the right amount. This is a very clever idea xx #kcacols