Healthy breakfasts & snacks

[Anonymous]

Dh is convinced that our 9yo dd is overweight because she eats unhealthy things for breakfast. While I don’t completely agree, I am committed to finding healthier options and incorporating them into our routine. I’d love advice for healthy breakfast foods - I know there’s no “rule” that you need to eat certain things for breakfast but my kids won’t go for things like leftover dinner food.

Currently they have something from the following -

Eggs (scrambled, sunny side up, hard boiled)
Toast with nut butter or cinnamon toast (multigrain bread)
Cereal - Cheerios or Rice Krispies with 2% milk
Oatmeal
Sunbutter and jam sandwiches on multigrain slim sandwich rounds
Occasionally bread with Jason’s chocolate hazelnut butter.
On weekends we make some sort of baked treat one day and have a simpler breakfast the other

9yo detests all fruit except raspberries, blueberries and applesauce. She also doesn’t like most yogurts and won’t drink smoothies. She has a very sensitive sense of smell.

For snacks I give veggies, healthy muffins that I make, occasionally crackers or snap pea crisps, popcorn, cheese, olives, etc. My other kids eat a lot of fruit for snacks, but again, she’ll only eat a select few.

Since I’ve told dh I will serve healthier breakfasts (he doesn’t think any cereal is healthy), I’m looking for new ideas!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dh is convinced that our 9yo dd is overweight because she eats unhealthy things for breakfast. While I don’t completely agree, I am committed to finding healthier options and incorporating them into our routine. I’d love advice for healthy breakfast foods - I know there’s no “rule” that you need to eat certain things for breakfast but my kids won’t go for things like leftover dinner food.

Currently they have something from the following -

Eggs (scrambled, sunny side up, hard boiled)
Toast with nut butter or cinnamon toast (multigrain bread)
Cereal - Cheerios or Rice Krispies with 2% milk
Oatmeal
Sunbutter and jam sandwiches on multigrain slim sandwich rounds
Occasionally bread with Jason’s chocolate hazelnut butter.
On weekends we make some sort of baked treat one day and have a simpler breakfast the other

9yo detests all fruit except raspberries, blueberries and applesauce. She also doesn’t like most yogurts and won’t drink smoothies. She has a very sensitive sense of smell.

For snacks I give veggies, healthy muffins that I make, occasionally crackers or snap pea crisps, popcorn, cheese, olives, etc. My other kids eat a lot of fruit for snacks, but again, she’ll only eat a select few.

Since I’ve told dh I will serve healthier breakfasts (he doesn’t think any cereal is healthy), I’m looking for new ideas!

Are you vegetarians? This is very nut butter heavy, and it's very easy to overeat nut butters (especially sweetened ones like the chocolate hazelnut one) and pack on pounds. My child was underweight and we gave him nut butter to help with weight gain.

[Anonymous]

No, we aren’t vegetarians. My youngest (4) eats sunflower seed butter sandwiches for lunch because his school is kosher (dairy) and the others have one of those sandwiches 1-2 times a week for breakfast or lunch, and maybe the hazelnut butter once a week. We don’t have any sweetened nut butters in the house so they don’t have those except the aforementioned one which is a rare treat.

[Anonymous]

This doesn't seem like enough protein for active kids.

[Anonymous]

My kids basically eat Cheerios, eggs on toast, hardboiled eggs, and/or bananas. I’ve been trying to improve this and vary this. Not successful.

My kids aren’t overweight. I doubt your breakfasts have anything to do with your daughter’s weight. Maybe add more protein and fats to help keep her full? Some cheese and nuts? Even though she is already getting nut butters. Try whole milk instead of skim? That might seem like going in the wrong direction but is possibly might help.

And, have to ask, is she actually overweight?

[Anonymous]

She is a bit heavy - all in her belly, and I suspect much of it is pre-puberty weight gain. There are a number of other girls in her class with similar bodies right now. She’s generally a healthy eater at home, she does like sweets but we limit those to weekends and special occasions, and she will sometimes mindlessly grab a snack if she’s not actually hungry but I think she’s also recognizing that more.

We do 2% milk. I’m going to try to up the protein. Maybe some chicken breakfast sausage (though I keep reading about the horrors of processed meat so...)

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't think you need to change a thing. It sounds like she is eating a decent variety of relatively healthy, low-sugar food. She's still young and it doesn't sound like she's massively overweight, so this may be a "problem" that fixes itself as she gets older. I disagree with your husband: cereal can be a pretty healthy breakfast as long as it's a low-sugar variety, as they are often vitamin fortified. Just make sure your daughter is getting some exercise, but from your description, I don't think her food is a problem.

[Anonymous]

I would eliminate cereal or bring it to a minimum. I'd also cut back on bread, muffins and other carbs and instead offer more protein (but no processed meat) and veggies. Find new recipes. Roasted veggies are usually tastier than boiled.

[Anonymous]

I think a low/no sugar cereal served with milk and fruit is an excellent breakfast. grains, protein and fruit. I got ate steel cut oatmeal made with milk and a clementine. It will keep me full for the entire morning...offers whole grain, protein, calcium..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dh is convinced that our 9yo dd is overweight because she eats unhealthy things for breakfast. While I don’t completely agree, I am committed to finding healthier options and incorporating them into our routine. I’d love advice for healthy breakfast foods - I know there’s no “rule” that you need to eat certain things for breakfast but my kids won’t go for things like leftover dinner food.

Currently they have something from the following -

Eggs (scrambled, sunny side up, hard boiled)
Toast with nut butter or cinnamon toast (multigrain bread)
Cereal - Cheerios or Rice Krispies with 2% milk
Oatmeal
Sunbutter and jam sandwiches on multigrain slim sandwich rounds
Occasionally bread with Jason’s chocolate hazelnut butter.
On weekends we make some sort of baked treat one day and have a simpler breakfast the other

9yo detests all fruit except raspberries, blueberries and applesauce. She also doesn’t like most yogurts and won’t drink smoothies. She has a very sensitive sense of smell.

For snacks I give veggies, healthy muffins that I make, occasionally crackers or snap pea crisps, popcorn, cheese, olives, etc. My other kids eat a lot of fruit for snacks, but again, she’ll only eat a select few.

Since I’ve told dh I will serve healthier breakfasts (he doesn’t think any cereal is healthy), I’m looking for new ideas!

Looks balanced to me. I find with kids the largest contributor to being overweight is activity levels. I'm a SAHM and still send my youngest to aftercare at a taekwondo place. This way he comes home sweaty after a solid one hour workout. No kids to play with in the street, half the time the weather sucks and they draw towards screens are a very strong. My son has a little six pack and it is because he has 5 days a week of a hard workout and right now plays 2 sports. Many days he is doubling up on activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She is a bit heavy - all in her belly, and I suspect much of it is pre-puberty weight gain. There are a number of other girls in her class with similar bodies right now. She’s generally a healthy eater at home, she does like sweets but we limit those to weekends and special occasions, and she will sometimes mindlessly grab a snack if she’s not actually hungry but I think she’s also recognizing that more.

We do 2% milk. I’m going to try to up the protein. Maybe some chicken breakfast sausage (though I keep reading about the horrors of processed meat so...)

Not all sausage is heavily processed. There are some varieties of ground fresh sausage that are basically just ground meat and spice.

[Anonymous]

Sounds ok to me. Maybe add some meat to breakfast? How overweight exactly? I would think breakfast wouldn't really make anyone overweight, but daily intake of too much could. I would get rid of sugary cereal, that would make her hungry before lunch and might cause her to overeat at lunch time.
On weekends I make potatoes and eggs and bacon and sausage, and everyone is eating like nuts, and no one is overweight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not all sausage is heavily processed. There are some varieties of ground fresh sausage that are basically just ground meat and spice.

" The trouble, as Jill Pell remarks, is that most of the bacon labelled as nitrate-free in the US “isn’t nitrate-free”. It’s made with nitrates taken from celery extract, which may be natural, but produces exactly the same N-nitroso compounds in the meat. Under EU regulation, this bacon would not be allowed to be labelled “nitrate-free”."

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/01/bacon-cancer-processed-meats-nitrates-nitrites-sausages

[Anonymous]

Another important thing - why do you use 2% milk? It is now confirmed by numerous studies that full fat dairy is better for you, weight issues included.
http://time.com/collection/guide-to-weight-loss/4279538/low-fat-milk-vs-whole-milk/

Google 'low fat dairy obesity' and you'll see.

[Anonymous]

We can easily switch back to whole milk. None of them consume a ton of it so I don’t know how much difference it’ll make. We definitely don’t shy away from full-fat dairy overall.