I feel bad. Suggestions welcome

[Rivlas]

I have 5 brothers and all ate every meal as if it was their last when they were young. Only 1 brother is bigger but he is also a completely different build to the other 4. The eldest who is 60 is as skinny as a rake and has trouble putting on weight.

As you can see everyone has a different sized body so will have different weights. As long as he is eating healthy food, is well and exercises I wouldn't worry.
One thing we did for ourselves was to buy smaller sized plates so we ourselves wouldn't be overeating. We also reduced the size of the meat portion and increased the vegetables.
Having plenty of fruit available for after meal snacks helps. Often when told to have fruit instead of more main course, they suddenly realise they are not really hungry but eating for the sake of it.
In winter we all put on a bit of weight compared to summer as we are more active and outdoors more.

[aussienic]

I'm not overly concerned about his weight. It just seemed to be heavy for a child of 7 nearly 8. He eats a lot of fruit but the dentist has told us we need to cut back our kids fruit intake. Ds3 can easily eat an apple in under 2 minutes. He eats fast.

We are trying to teach him to eat slower and not go back for seconds but I don't want to make him feel any worse then he does about his body. I feel as though I am starting him a path of worrying about his weight. We have told him he is simply a different build and explained how everyone has different shapes and heights ect. Like having different hair colour

Scales have been put away and he starts auskick this afternoon with his sister and school. I am sure he will be starving when he get home so ill cook extra veges .

I am amazed at what this kid can eat though. He can sit down for say an afternoon snack and eat an apple, mandarin then ask for a carrot and then still eat more then what I eat at dinner time

[Phteven]

My son can eat more than me.
We try our best to keep junk food out of the house and just let them eat as much as they want.
My boy worries because all the other kids are bigger than him. His Dad and I aren't tall people so he'll just have to learn to deal with being short.

[AnyDream]

Re the afternoon snacks - there's not a lot of hunger-busting in an apple + mandarin + carrot. For hunger-busting, introduce some lean protein (yoghurt, boiled egg, dairy) plus some healthy fat (eg nuts) and of course veggies/fruit for the sensation of eating bulk. Perhaps if he had something a little more sustaining in the late afternoon he would slow down a little at dinner time? I often give my kids a hot snack of something savory & filling like a cup of homemade soup and it seems to get everyone through better than just handing over fruit everytime they whine.

I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here, but I am an overweight person with a large appetite, and various reading + dietician conversation has lead me to the conclusion that there are a number of things involved in controlling hunger. Some people naturally have much lower satiety levels than others. These people will eat more food, for a longer period and then report being hungry again sooner than other people. Switching this hunger off (or at least turning it down) involves a combination of low-GI only carbs, a large amount of fibre in the gut (eg bulk veggies, wholegrain), plus frequent small amounts of protein and most importantly healthy fats. Including the protein and the healthy fats without exceeding the ideal # of calories is the challenge.

ETA - on another tangent - I have often thought to myself how mad we all are having our well-rounded dinners at dinner time. Surely it makes sense to provide that food earlier in the day when your body is actually active and using it?? Do you think your son might cope a bit better having a larger (ie non-sandwich) lunch and then having a smaller light-type meal at night?

[Rivlas]

What you say MD makes alot of sense. My mum, as a young child ate their main meal for lunch. They were farmers and the men then went back into the fields and worked off their huge lunch.
When DH retires we are going to try this and see what happens. I know when I have had a big lunch I only need something small for tea.

[wysiwyg]

ETA - on another tangent - I have often thought to myself how mad we all are having our well-rounded dinners at dinner time. Surely it makes sense to provide that food earlier in the day when your body is actually active and using it?? Do you think your son might cope a bit better having a larger (ie non-sandwich) lunch and then having a smaller light-type meal at night?

I agree we try to eat at lunch time (taking cooked meals to work etc.) and have lighter tea. We lived in Spain and this was normal and agreed with us far more - DH especially struggles with eating main meal at night finds he doesn't sleep as well. It is one of the reasons why I wish schools did school dinners rather than taking lunches in - I grew up with school dinners and wish they were available here more.

[Pholi]

I found this a really interesting thread, and the only thing I can suggest in addition to the wonderful advice above is to make second helpings not available - perhaps for anyone in the family.

[LuluHB]

The only thing I would suggest that hasn't already been said is add water to his meal times if you don't already. He has a glass of water with his dinner. He drinks it. If he wants seconds, he drinks another glass of water, then sits for 5 minutes. If he still wants seconds then the kid's hungry so give him some food (provided its healthy of course). My DD1 will go through stages of wanting enormous amounts of food and then will go back to surviving on thin air. I don't think you can regulate food for growing children the same way you can for an adult.

If you and your DH are trying to lose weight don't talk about it as "losing weight". Say you are trying to feel healthier and get fitter. The way you treat yourself and think about your own body is going to be an enormous part of how he thinks about his.