Is it healthier for a child to run on a full tank of junk or only a half tank of a variety of...

[ellemenope]

I really hope the title says it all. 

This is in regards to our picky eaters out there.  I feel like we are over the hump now with our DD, but it was a trying time, and this was something that I though about a lot. Does/has anyone feel/felt this way? 

Personally, we stuck it out with the offering of nutritious variety and in the long run it seems to have paid off.  She is 2.5 now and her diet is way more varied then our friends' kids who stuck with what worked (Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza, PB and J, hot dogs.)  In a way it was DD's pickyness that forced us to go to the ends of the earth to look for healthy things she would eat.  She would only ever eat mac and cheese from that list.  Mac and cheese along with french fries and cookies (and not the healthier options of that stuff either.  She wanted the junk.) being the only three things she would ever stuff her face with.  But, I do wonder if on her bad days/weeks her diet, or lack thereof, somehow stunted her growth. She is smaller than our friends' kids. She never starved.  I did try hard to balance calories with nutrition. But, lets face it, had I allowed her to eat mac and cheese every day she would have never taken the bites of broccolini, salmon, hummus, tofu, quinoa, shrimp, seaweed, pulled pork, edamame, etc. that she did.  She would never have developed such an eclectic diet.  But, I did feel like on many many days she would run on a half tank.

[Nicole730]

I think a half tank of a variety of good stuff is better.  I know there are many days if I poured out the box of crackers, my boy would eat them all.  But that's obviously not a wise choice.   I figure he will eat the fruit and veggies I offer if he is really, really hungry.  And he does.

[peaceful_mama]

With the exception of special needs, and in the absence of any pressure to eat/not eat/eat certain things, hungry children will eat what is offered when they are hungry.  (sorry for being redundant...but it's simple and true)

I have 4 kids.  One baby who eats at the Mom Buffet on demand.  :)  The other 3 what I have done is if I am in charge of the meal, I make whatever I am making, and I let them decide what to eat of it.  Then there is no food for awhile.  Then I (or somebody else) decides to make the next meal or snack.  With 6 eaters' tastes, appetites, etc to take into account, there are few times that *everyone* loves *everything* on a meal and eats a ton all at the same time.  ;)

I don't give them access to a whole box of crackers or bag of chips or whatever.  For one, they fight over the bag, LOL.  For 2, then they've got to come back for 'seconds'...and usually they will get involved in doing something else, or the show they are watching or whatever. 

If there's 'junk' there and they ask for it, I'll usually give some.  But I also make snacks for them when I know they haven't eaten much and probably need to eat.  Their absolute favorite is for me to make a plate of cheese and crackers and grapes.  I sometimes do other fruit...they love all fruits.  I've also noticed the best way they eat vegetables is to be around when I'm making a salad.  They devour bell pepper slices at that time.  ;)  They also really like turkey sandwiches--with sliced veggies like Subway.  ;)

My general rule if I'm making a snack like when DS comes home from school is I include some sort of protein and a fruit or veg. along with the carb-y crackers or whatever.  The other thing they like is whole wheat tortillas with cheese melted inside.

[peaceful_mama]

Oh and I have another 'trick'  ;)  Since my kids are all pretty fruit-aholic, but *especially* the 2 year old, I don't put it on the table till they've started to eat the other stuff. 

and mac and cheese doesn't *have* to be bad  ;)  There's a world of difference between the packaged box and homemade with whole-grain noodles, real cheese, and possibly shells that 'hide' veggies.  I have a fast one-pan recipe my kids like...I made it the other day along with a side of plain broccoli....my 6 year old said it tastes better with the broccoli stirred in  ;)  (he ate leftovers the next night and started without the broccoli)

[nextcommercial]

My step daughter only ate junk.  The healthiest thing she ate was Teddy Grahms.   She's 24 and is sick ALL. THE. TIME.  

As and adult, she made the choice to start eating healthier...(plus all the guys she dated were shocked at her weird diet)  She's trying to get healthy.. but, she wishes her parents had spent more time trying to teach her to eat better.   My husband blames his ex (her mom) but he eats pretty bad too.. not like her, but it's nothing I would be bragging about.

[Polliwog]

Unless you are truly starving your daughter, her height has nothing to do with her diet.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by ellemenope 

But, I do wonder if on her bad days/weeks her diet, or lack thereof, somehow stunted her growth. She is smaller than our friends' kids.

are you and/or your husband shorter than your friends?  My mom used to get all freaked out about how my kids' height compared to my sisters' kids height. I'm 5'3" and my DH is 5'5". My sis is 5'7" and her DH is 6'2".  I'm thinking that genetics, not diet, are the reason my nieces and nephew have always towered over my children.
 

I'm firmly in the camp of small quantity of real food is better than loads of junk. I'm very mellow about it, and always keep those healthy options that the kids like on hand. Fruit and yogurt is just fine. I'm not into power struggles.

[urbangoddess2]

A child running on a full tank of junk food is like running your gasoline car on a full tank of water.  She's just getting empty calories and in most cases, things that are detrimental to her health (bad fats, too much salt, too much sugar).  Offer her a variety of good food and let her choose what and how much she wants to eat from that only.  One thing I've learned having a house full of picky eaters:  when they get hungry, they'll eat.  Eventually she'll be running on a full tank of the good stuff by her own choice.

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by urbangoddess2 

A child running on a full tank of junk food is like running your gasoline car on a full tank of water.

I like this.

I'm one of those people with a pretty strict/extreme view when it comes to eating healthy. I do not believe junk food has ANY place in our diets... I mean, obviously there's a big difference between, say, ez mac and lollipops (at least the mac & cheese has SOME nutritional value) and everyone has to figure out their own limits... I'm not saying we never let our DS have [healthy versions of] sweets/treats/etc. but I have pretty high standards as to what is 'food' and what... isn't. I know some kids have issues which may require some compromise with the junk but overall I feel it's way better to just keep offering a wide variety of healthy food and not give in to the fear that they will starve to death if they aren't allowed to eat hot dogs... My DS really didn't anything for his first 18mos and very little until just recently. Seeing the way he eats now & the foods he prefers, I have no doubt that he would have eaten large amounts of ez mac and hostess cupcakes had we ever offered them to him... instead he now loves brussel sprouts, mushrooms, beans, whole grains, etc. (and yes, he enjoys a small square of dark chocolate frequently!) I am lucky I guess that he is still nursing so I had that insurance when he wouldn't eat... I'm sure it's very scary to see a kid literally eat nothing (and no milk) and I imagine I would be much more tempted to just give him whatever he will eat...

I doubt you stunted your DD's growth!! ALL my friends' kids are smaller than other kids it seems... and many of them have always eaten well...

[ellemenope]

These are comforting responses.  Thank you.

Yes, we are smallish.  I am 5'6, DH is 5'8.  My sister's daughter who is 6 months younger than mine seems to be following the same curve. 

She on the other hand has always had a huge appetite.  She constantly asks for food.  My DD rarely tells me she is hungry.  What does DN eat?  She is fed almost nothing but blue box mac and cheese, frozen chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, the same bag of mixed veggies, sugary oatmeal, fruit, crackers, fun fruit, and cookies.  Her menu is pretty much exactly the same everyday.  Not what I want for my DD, but her caregivers are very proud of her well rounded diet, as well as her appetite (please don't flame them).  She is getting all the food groups, but her diet is what many here would consider junk.  Artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and no variety, heavy on the sugar and salt.  

But, like I said, they share half their genes, they are the same size, and no child appears any healthier than the other.  But, what is clearly evident is that DN's appetite is so much better.  She never goes hungry.  She is very happy.  She loves to eat.  She loves her food.   

My DD rarely eats even half of what DN eats in a day.  For example, for lunch today DD ate half a (veal, pork, and beef) meatball, about 3 tablespoons of fresh Parmesan cheese, maybe a teaspoon of homemade tomato sauce, and a 3 bites of crust.  You could easily fit all she ate in the palm of your hand.  And, this was a very good meal for her.  My DN ate half a box of mac and cheese and an entire apple.

To be perfectly clear, I am happy with our choices.  As a family we just do not gravitate towards boxed, bagged, or fast foods because they make us feel gross.  When DD has the opportunity to eat this stuff I just get sick thinking about how it would make me feel.  Other than that we are not that extreme about healthy food.  There is just no way I could feed my DD mac and cheese everyday.  DD was never starving.  But, I do genuinely feel that her caloric intake was just enough to survive on some days.  Not enough to thrive.  Although usually, if I had noticed that her recent caloric intake was really bad I would break out the box of mac and cheese. She would eat close to half the box.  (This would be after offering her healthy options that she picked at.)

I guess I just wonder, hypothetically speaking, if having periodic gaps in caloric intake (I know it is said that a child wont starve himself, but the brink of starvation is not healthy either, right?) is as detrimental as having gaps in nutrition or ingesting all that bad stuff in the food kids love.

Hmm, and here is another version of my question, would you rather feed your child something healthy along with something unhealthy to get more good stuff down, or feed them only healthy food but get far less of it in their system? 

[crunchy_mommy]

About to rush out the door here but you just gave me another thought -- maybe if they are eating 'junk' they need to eat a whole lot more to get the same amount of nutrients? So your DD eats X amount and gets all she needs but your DN needs to eat twice as much (junk) to get just as many nutrients???

[ellemenope]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 

About to rush out the door here but you just gave me another thought -- maybe if they are eating 'junk' they need to eat a whole lot more to get the same amount of nutrients? So your DD eats X amount and gets all she needs but your DN needs to eat twice as much (junk) to get just as many nutrients???

Oh, I like that.
 

[Nicole730]

Originally Posted by ellemenope 

My DD rarely eats even half of what DN eats in a day.  For example, for lunch today DD ate half a (veal, pork, and beef) meatball, about 3 tablespoons of fresh Parmesan cheese, maybe a teaspoon of homemade tomato sauce, and a 3 bites of crust.  You could easily fit all she ate in the palm of your hand.  And, this was a very good meal for her.  My DN ate half a box of mac and cheese and an entire apple.

Hmm, and here is another version of my question, would you rather feed your child something healthy along with something unhealthy to get more good stuff down, or feed them only healthy food but get far less of it in their system? 

What your daughter ate for lunch is very typical of what my son eats for a meal, sometimes less.  He will be 3 in April.   When he was a baby he was 50% for weight.  At 18 months he was 10% and he is still there at almost 3.  I do try to make a smoothie everyday that he downs and sometimes asks for seconds.  I figure a decent portion of his calories come from that.

I've done that before and if I have unhealthy and healthy choices on the same plate, he will only eat the unhealthy. 

[blessedwithboys]

Think of it in terms of dog food.  You can feed a dog either 2 cups of the cheap stuff or 1 cup of the high end grain-free food.  Like the PP said, you need more cheap stuff by volume to get the amount of nutrients packed into less of the good stuff.

I am of the "keep nothing but healthy food in the house, let the kids help with prep, serve it attractively, and if they don't eat it, give them another chance to eat in 2 hours and remember, they won't starve!" camp.  :)

[madskye]

Your DN might be hungry because she's eating a lot of "empty" carbs that turn to sugar and she burns through it quickly.  Half of one dense meatball might be more filling or satisfying in the long run, than a lot of processed food.  But frankly, it's all conjecture.  If you truly feel that your DD is not thriving on her caloric intake, though, I'd address it.  I don't have food battles with DD, but some time around 3 I did get a little more proactive with encouraging her to eat more.  Before then, I was of the "she'll eat if she's hungry" camp.  And I still do believe it...but she is a moody little thing and I found that her moods were a lot evener when she had a full tummy and ate protein dense snacks at a regular interval.  Again--not tons of food, by any means, but I make sure she has something good every two hours to keep her in good spirits.  She's also on the petite size for five, and has always had a slender build.
 

[pianojazzgirl]

I think it's possible to find a happy middle ground between chowing down on "junk" , and picking through a variety of stuff, none of which the child cares for very much.  I don't feed my kids much "junky" food at all (no boxed mac'n'cheese or chicken nuggets, just to go with your example).  Mostly we cook from scratch here.  BUT they are kids, and they are more picky and have less eclectic tastes than me and dh.  My approach is to offer them simply healthy foods that I know they will like, as well as encouraging them to try new foods.  If I was truly worried that my kid was running on "half a tank" then I'd probably make more effort to include more protein-rich snacks that I knew would appeal to her.  Of course that doesn't speak to the truly very picky child who really will only eat mac'n'cheese and chicken nuggets, but I think most kids out there have some healthy options that they will go for - smoothies, for one, seem fairly popular with most kids, and you can add all kinds of good stuff to them.  Organic pb on organic whole grain bread is a fine option, imo.  Veggies dipped in hummus.  Etc.  If we make a meal that the kids just kind of pick at then I'll make sure to have a non-junky but kid-friendly snack (like the ones I mentioned) available a reasonable amount of time later.  We also do try to make an effort to serve at least one protein and veggie/fruit that we are pretty sure the kids will eat at every meal (getting carbs into the kids is never an issue, lol!).

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by peaceful_mama 

With the exception of special needs, and in the absence of any pressure to eat/not eat/eat certain things, hungry children will eat what is offered when they are hungry.  (sorry for being redundant...but it's simple and true)

I'm actually not sure that's entirely true. I would be really hard-pressed as an adult to eat coconut. The texture makes me gag, and I don't have any over-arching textural sensitivities. While I'm sure I eventually would eat it rather than starve, I could go a while before doing it, especially if I were getting little bites here & there. DS had a friend whose parents have tofu as their protein 5-6 nights a week. This poor kid really has a hard time with tofu. When he's at our house, he eats such enormous amounts of protein dishes that it's shocking. I truly believe that he's hungry and that it's nutritional neglect that he eats a few pieces of raw veggie every night and only chokes down a bite of stir-fried tofu if he's really hungry. They're not vegetarian, so I offered him meat. At first he would spit back what his parent said about eating very much meat, but eventually he would ask for things like baked chicken breast for a snack at our house. It really makes me sad for him. I know that's not the same situation that the OP describes, but it's why I cannot say "half full on nutritious foods" (though tofu is debatable...) is always better. I think this child would be better off with a full tummy rather than parents who adhere strictly to dietary principles.

[rightkindofme]

Of course it is healthier to eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and less-processed proteins.  I mean, duh. 

But just because someone eats tons and tons doesn't mean it is just because they are eating junk food. :P  My almost three year old can eat more food than the average Navy Seal and I promise you, those are some healthy calories. :)