Is my girls' diets ok?

[~LadyBug~]

I had a VERY mainstream friend of mine be very critical of my girls' diets to me a few weeks back and although I don't feel badly, it has stuck in the back of my head ever since. There are some very wise people on this board so I was wondering if you all think I am missing something here. Let me preface it by saying we DO NOT eat fast food (ever) I don't allow sugary snacks, and steer clear of processed foods and snacks. We do mostly organic. A typical meal for my two and three year old:

Breakfast: One cup of whole grain Cheerios (not my favorite but they like them), banana, strawberries, blueberries or other fruit and whole milk. (We are switching to raw milk in a couple of weeks or farm eggs.

Lunch: This varies obviously but today they had farm tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, and Amy's bean and cheese wraps, organic cheese slices.

Dinner: Again varies but tonight we are doing whole wheat pasta spaghetti with homemade garlic bread, raw carrot slices and salad with organic dressing.

Snacks include string cheese, raisins, grapes, bananas, blueberries (or other seasonal fruit) strawberries, cottage cheese, whole grain breads...

I think my girls need more protein in their diets as they are not big meat eaters and I am not fond of peanut butter in general. They will eat fish and eggs though. I guess I was just wondering why my friend thought this was a "bad" diet. I tried getting her to elaborate but she just changed the subject. She is an RN so I was wondering if am missing something here. Anyway, any suggestions are welcome.

[Zenzero]

Hmmmm....sounds pretty good to me. Very strange that she wouldn't elaborate and not very helpful either! Tbh, it sounds like she has some kind of issue in herself or is jealous or something because I really don't see how anyone could say that is a bad diet!

[~LadyBug~]

I think her exact words were I was too restricted on what I "let" them eat, which was confusing to me and left me wondering if I am not giving them all I should.

[Snowflower]

have no idea why that would be considered a 'bad' diet. if she's a friend- i'd bring it up again and ask her, others insight can be helpful sometimes. i personally think yogurt is important but i think that diet sounds really healthy, esp the no fast food/processed food part. your doin good.

ETA if you think you need to add more...green smoothies are great!

[victoriaaustin]

Originally Posted by ~LadyBug~

I think her exact words were I was too restricted on what I "let" them eat, which was confusing to me and left me wondering if I am not giving them all I should.

Some people believe that it's harmful not to let kids eat XYZ because they'll grow up obsessed with it...but I think that's personal and individual for each family. As for what your girls do eat, it looks great to me!

[Yulia_R]

Originally Posted by ~LadyBug~

I had a VERY mainstream friend of mine be very critical of my girls' diets to me a few weeks back and although I don't feel badly, it has stuck in the back of my head ever since. There are some very wise people on this board so I was wondering if you all think I am missing something here. Let me preface it by saying we DO NOT eat fast food (ever) I don't allow sugary snacks, and steer clear of processed foods and snacks. We do mostly organic. A typical meal for my two and three year old:

Breakfast: One cup of whole grain Cheerios (not my favorite but they like them), banana, strawberries, blueberries or other fruit and whole milk. (We are switching to raw milk in a couple of weeks or farm eggs.

Lunch: This varies obviously but today they had farm tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, and Amy's bean and cheese wraps, organic cheese slices.

Dinner: Again varies but tonight we are doing whole wheat pasta spaghetti with homemade garlic bread, raw carrot slices and salad with organic dressing.

Snacks include string cheese, raisins, grapes, bananas, blueberries (or other seasonal fruit) strawberries, cottage cheese, whole grain breads...

I think my girls need more protein in their diets as they are not big meat eaters and I am not fond of peanut butter in general. They will eat fish and eggs though. I guess I was just wondering why my friend thought this was a "bad" diet. I tried getting her to elaborate but she just changed the subject. She is an RN so I was wondering if am missing something here. Anyway, any suggestions are welcome.

I think her diet isn't bad. If it were me, I'd do more proteins: meats, raw nuts, alaskan wild salmon and veggies and less things like pasta and cheese from pasterized milk (raw milk cheese is great, IMO) and sugers from fruit/berries.

[Magelet]

It looks good to me mama. Indeed, a bit more protein might be good, but I'm of the opinion that if its offered, they'll eat it if they need, (unless there are other issues like allergies, sensitivities, or texture issues) and they're not likely to be deficient if they are eating a good diet. If they were sugar hounds, maybe not, but it sounds like thats not the case.

I personally feel that a lot more nutrition can be had from say, oatmeal, or rice porrige than cherrios for the price and amount of food, but thats definitely not a reason for her to say its a bad diet, I think its a very good diet. I also think yogurt and/or sourkraut/pickles (probiotic foods)

They're getting whole grains, plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, lots of whole fat dairy and eggs, and thus animal fat, and some fish, without processed crap. Sounds like a healthy diet. You don't need to be worried, imo

[Zenzero]

Originally Posted by ~LadyBug~

I think her exact words were I was too restricted on what I "let" them eat, which was confusing to me and left me wondering if I am not giving them all I should.

Ok, I think I maybe understand. I think my FIL would probably say the same thing about me because I wouldn't let my DS have chocolate when he was like 7 months old. I think some people think you are depriving them if you don't let them have candy and pop and stuff but then what do they know?

I think some of the suggestions others have given are good but I would still say what they are eating looks ok!

[crunchy_mama]

I would just agree that they need some more proteiin sources. However, looks pretty darn good. I would just ignore her. Sounds like their diet is fairly varied to me and I think it is probably that she wants you to offer them more junkfood so you don't deprive them- if I was a guessing person.

[Youngfrankenstein]

I think that is a great diet and you should keep them eating that way as long as you can!

[~LadyBug~]

Thanks you all! I should mention I do give yogurt as well. But, where can I find raw yogurt? What are its advantages?

[Sol_y_Paz]

Sounds better than at least half of what I see American children eat! :

[natural_mama89]

Originally Posted by ~LadyBug~

I had a VERY mainstream friend of mine be very critical of my girls' diets to me a few weeks back and although I don't feel badly, it has stuck in the back of my head ever since. There are some very wise people on this board so I was wondering if you all think I am missing something here. Let me preface it by saying we DO NOT eat fast food (ever) I don't allow sugary snacks, and steer clear of processed foods and snacks. We do mostly organic. A typical meal for my two and three year old:

Breakfast: One cup of whole grain Cheerios (not my favorite but they like them), banana, strawberries, blueberries or other fruit and whole milk. (We are switching to raw milk in a couple of weeks or farm eggs.

Lunch: This varies obviously but today they had farm tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, and Amy's bean and cheese wraps, organic cheese slices.

Dinner: Again varies but tonight we are doing whole wheat pasta spaghetti with homemade garlic bread, raw carrot slices and salad with organic dressing.

Snacks include string cheese, raisins, grapes, bananas, blueberries (or other seasonal fruit) strawberries, cottage cheese, whole grain breads...

I think my girls need more protein in their diets as they are not big meat eaters and I am not fond of peanut butter in general. They will eat fish and eggs though. I guess I was just wondering why my friend thought this was a "bad" diet. I tried getting her to elaborate but she just changed the subject. She is an RN so I was wondering if am missing something here. Anyway, any suggestions are welcome.

Sounds totally great to me! They should be getting enough protein with the cheese, milk, beans and nuts they are eating. I would not worry. I think a lot of people just have the belief that people NEED to eat meat to get enough protein. I have had people all the time think that my kids must be malnourished because we don't eat much meat and I cook from scratch. I think it is just a weird societal thing that has little to do with actual nutrition.

[mumkimum]

Their diet sounds just fine.

It's easy to forget that there is actually (small amounts) of protein in pretty much all food, and it adds up. I'd really only worry about protein if, say, it was only coming from dairy foods or some other solitary source and you didn't have any other source (like beans or eggs. . . which you do).

[noobmom]

Originally Posted by victoriaaustin

Some people believe that it's harmful not to let kids eat XYZ because they'll grow up obsessed with it...but I think that's personal and individual for each family. As for what your girls do eat, it looks great to me!

I think this is what your friend must be getting at. I have seen this happen before, but I don't think it happens in a vacuum. Usually there are other things going on (self-control issues, self-esteem issues, eating issues, etc.) Just look around at different families, some siblings will eat very well and other sibs will eat junk, even though they are all raised on the same food. At your children's ages, I doubt they even realize what they are "missing". I do think it's a mistake when parents teach their kids that snacks and candy will "kill them". Kids take things very literally and when they find it doesn't make them drop dead on the spot the parents lose some credibility. I doubt you're doing that. Shaping their taste buds now is the best way to ensure a healthy diet in the future!