Does your child get 5 a day or more?

[cuckoochick]

Up until v recently I would have always said that C did eat 5 or more fresh fruit/veggies per day but lately this has drastically reduced particularly fruit intake. She had a vomiting bug a few weeks ago and was off good completely for around a week and since then she's been a really tricky customer.

She still enjoys veggies and we've never had to hide them in food but it's the fruit that has reduced such a lot. She will drink fruit juice (watered down) all day long if I let her and we've started giving her a multivitamin but I'm worried about fibre as she can easily become constipated. Previously I never had an issue with letting her eat a yoghurt before fruit as I knew she'd always eat the fruit after. I've found I've started bargaining with her to have fruit first but then she'll forgo the yoghurt and then I'm worrying about her calcium intake.

Would a chart for us all be appropriate? I know DH and I are not always good at eating fruit for a snack and will pick up carbs instead (C is carb mad too!). I'm thinking of something simple like just drawing pics of the 5 fruits/veggies we've eaten and these must be eaten before a treat food (eg biscuit etc).

Any thoughts please?

[clazzat]

We go back and forward on our 5 a day - I'm confident that my children get enough fruit and veg in general, but I wouldn't necessarily think that they get 5 every day, iyswim. It's worth bearing in mind that a portion of fruit/veg is smaller for them than it is for us.

We did do a chart for a while, but it was a chart for all of us and we all had to tick our 5 off every day. There wasn't any reward involved, nor did we say that they couldn't have something if they hadn't had their 5 a day, but what it did was make them very aware of what they should be eating to stay healthy, and they will now quite often say "I haven't had my 5 today, I should have an apple" so I think it has worked.

If she is eating plenty of actual veg, though, I wouldn't stress too much about the fruit. Also, I did read recently that fruit juice only counts for one, no matter how much of it you drink, so I wouldn't rely on fruit juice.

[cuckoochick]

Yes I know that about the juice. I guess wanting to tackle this is that sometimes our evening meal wouldn't offer that amount of veg depending upon what it is. Every lunchtime she is offered salad (cucumber/tomatoes) but for instance last night we had fish and chips with peas and although she ate the peas she then wouldn't have fruit.

This morning she asked for fruit so I washed her some grapes and blueberries but then she hasn't touched them. She did eat her tomatoes ask cucumber with her lunch (left the pasta!! Ha ha).

I think your idea about not linking it to a reward as such is good but I'm just worried that C will not be bothered about eating the fruit/veg if she's already had a biscuit. I love a biscuit with a cuppa on an afternoon so maybe I'll have to forgo that!!!

[koe2moe]

Mine definitely doesn't!  What size of fruit do you consider one unit?  He is eating more veg than he was when he was 3!!  Fruit is limited.  He is healthy, so I am not too worried, just try to give him more varieties.  I give him breakfast cereals as snacks sometimes for fibre and extra added minerals and vit.  I give him a multi-Vit for 0year because it contains sugar not sweetener! 

[*Ali*]

I think we do generally get 5 a day into mine.

We might have fruit of some kind with breakfast or as a morning snack then some veg with lunch such as tomatoes and cucumber or sweetcorn, then veg with dinner and another piece of fruit either as an afternoon snack or dessert. And they will usually have diluted fruit juice at some point as well so that makes 5. I don't worry about the fruit too much though as like Claire said their portions are smaller so half an apple would be enough for a whole portion. I know with adults you cant count two portions of the same fruit as two portions but with kids I was once told it is just as important to look at a varied diet across the week. So if they eat a whole apple one day and the next day they eat a whole nectarine and the next day they eat a whole banana then over the week they probably do get all the nutrients the same as if they had a portion each of two different fruits in that same day.

Will she drink smoothies? Is it possible she is getting bored with the same fruit week after week? Might it help to buy some new fruits she hasn't had in a while?

I tell mine that they need to eat enough healthy food to make their bodies grow before they can eat the sometimes foods/treats that we eat just because they taste nice. I say they can't fill up on the treats because they won't have room for the nutritious foods they need to grow big and strong.

Koe the portion size is roughly equivalent to the size of the child's fist so it would be bigger for a 5yo than a 2yo but still less than an adults.

[koe2moe]

Thanks, Ali

DS eats 5 portions of banana everyday  

[cuckoochick]

Thanks ladies,

She may be getting bored of the same fruits so I guess we could try some more. Am I right in thinking that a portion is roughly her palm size. So today she had two larger style cherry tomatoes cut up into quarters and a chunk of cucumber sliced.

She does like smoothies so yes that's a great idea as we could incorporate this into breakfast as it is her poorest meal of the day. She's often not hungry or will only eat carby things like toast/crumpets/brioche.

I think I'm also worried because she has developed a taste for sweets lately and is asking for them more and more although she obviously doesn't get them every day.

I think I will make a family chart for us tonight and may include a visual for water because she is barely drinking water/milk these days either! I think things have slipped since G's arrival because she is so stubborn she won't drink unless it's juice (she only has milk at breakfast and with bedtime stories now).

[*Ali*]

I also hide mashed or pureed fruit or veg in pancakes which might be an alternative carb for C. If I can make them with wholemeal floor and serve them with almond butter and a drizzle of honey then they can be quite nutritious.

I don't worry too much about portion size.  Anything is better than nothing and it all adds up.

I've started limiting juice to one or two meals a day.  The vitamin C helps with iron  absorption and having it while chewing reduces the damage to teeth.  The rest of the day we try to stick to water.

Does she like dried fruit?  Dried cranberries are lovely.  I can often add a handful of raisins to porridge or yoghurt.

[cuckoochick]

I don't worry about portion size either to be honest. I am a believer in her self-regulating for most food groups over the course of a couple of days/week. I guess I'm just wanting to make her diet as healthy as possible as it definitely seems to have slipped a little.

The water thing is one thing I really wish I'd persisted at. I don't actually know how we got to the point where she won't drink it (she will drink fizzy sometimes) but when I tried to insist on juice only at mealtimes and milk/juice between she just didn't drink and ended up constipated. Will definitely be more aware of this next time around with Georgia though.

 

[*Ali*]

If she will drink fizzy water then maybe use that for now.  I give mine fizzy water.  Maybe some ice and a straw would make it more appetizing.

[michaeljacknnugg]

We are working on this right now so this thread is very apt.

DS seems to respond to just counting them, but as I eat loads (probably 7-9 per day) I wish he would just eat them for enjoyment!

Fizzy water goes down well too. Can you make some posh ice cubes with fruit in or something to make it really special?

[*Ali*]

Oh and frozen smoothies are great!

[deb]

There is little reason to make sure your kid is getting *enough* fruit. All the nutrients I can think of in fruits can also be found in veg, and without the fructose. If your LO is getting plenty of veg, especially (but not limited to) the green stuff and enough yellow (carrots/squash/sweet potato), fruit is really optional as long as she gets the 5 helpings total.

[cuckoochick]

Thanks! Well we made the chart together and she seems excited by it and proceeded to wolf down the blueberries/grapes I'd offered her this morning so that we could draw those on the chart. She will achieve 5-a day easily today as I know she'll eat her broccoli and baby corn with dinner tonight.

Deb we probably don't eat enough of the greens as it's been summer here but as we're moving into autumn/winter there'll definitely be more of those with the heartier meals we'll be eating. She loves green beans, asparagus, broccoli, peas and cabbage so we'll push those a bit more too.

[Shiv52]

Nic, we banned juice except for dinner time. So there is only water or milk through the day. Rosa gets easily constipated and needs to be drinking water to combat that. They each have a water bottle and if its empty at dinner they can have juice. They rarely even ask for juice anymore and drink water so so much better now. r was holding out for juice so it had to go.

[We Three]

 My dd really responded to us focusing on colors, and we would try to "eat a rainbow" every day.  We are dye-free, so we talked alot about colors that God made, (which are awesome) versus colors that people made, (which are made from chemicals) and that the colors God made are really, really important to be strong and healthy.  So she'd eat some raw broccoli with her lunch, some pineapple for a snack, etc, trying to hit all the colors in the rainbow every day. We didn't always hit it (blue and purple are hard!) but I have to say, it was a fun and ongoing thing in our house, and she really, even at almost 7, gets how important it is. 

 Her dentist commented that she can always tell the kids who eat lots of healthy foods, and that went a long way with dd also!

[cuckoochick]

Thanks Shiv. If I'm not worried about her being constipated then I'm worried about her having runny poos from all the fruit juice even though it's watered down by at least half. perhaps i should dilute it even more? she understands now why I'm diluting it as she would lose the plot before when she saw that happening. When it was hot I was too worried about her not having enough fluids to see it through after a few days of her barely drinking, being beastly and then having trouble pooing. I will keep going with the fruit/veg chart for a few days and then begin to tackle the drinks issue. As soon as DH came home she took him off to see it and explain it. DH has only had 1 portion so far so he's lagging behind!!

[becj86]

I thought DS had developed a sweet tooth but really he was asking for sweets when he had been too long without eating. If I gave him something small, he'd then sit and wolf down his fruit/veg/meat, etc.

I love the chart idea, will steal that

[cuckoochick]

Thanks ladies, poor love is ill today and only wants milk. She ate some houmous and bread with lunch but that has been it. Hasn't even asked for juice! DH made up his 5 when he got home from work! I'm doing well though I wished crisps counted!!! Had some yummy vegetable ones this lunchtime (very root, parsnip etc).