Do you restrict your kids food intake for financial reasons?

↑ mha3484 ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:09 am

Yes. I buy them for certain kids of mine who really dont like a lot of lunch foods and look the other way but those kids are getting more open to taking a sandwich and I have been slowly cutting back on the yogurts. The amount of sugar is pretty crazy. I try to balance it out with the rest of what I send them for snacks being much lower sugar.

amother

Celeste ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:11 am

amother Calendula wrote:

If I was your child I would be hungry. I think it’s wrong to restrict things like chicken.
I’m worried for your children, it’s not good to feel so restricted. A yogurt is considered a treat?
Please rethink your approach, it’s not healthy.

Oh please. She said clearly that she doesn't restrict, she just doesn't want to make too much and have unnecessary leftovers. Obviously her kids don't need more even though you would have. Most children don't eat more than a full chicken breast. And for the ones that do, it probably evens out with the ones who eat less. And there's nothing wrong filling up a little on sides also, our current obsession with focusing on proteins is a little out of control.

amother

Bluebell

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:12 am

amother Narcissus wrote:

Half a chicken breast: - a chicken breast is the whole breast so half a chicken breast may be what people think of as one breast.

I think chicken anatomy is different than a woman's anatomy in which we have two separate but equal breasts.

I don't have 1 one breast split into 2 halves. I have 2 breasts and a chicken has 2 breasts as well Wink

amother

DarkGray ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:13 am

amother Razzmatazz wrote:

It’s takes one look at the lowest income population in this country to see that no one restricts food intake due to finances!

I could write an essay about obesity caused by malnutrition and lack of access to quality food. I'll spare you the rant but I'll give you this sentence: People are rightfully wired to prioritize immediate survival over long term health, so they tend to eat in a way that comes closest to giving them all the nutrients they need even if the foods available to them are not nutrient dense and have what is commonly known as "empty calories."

↑ Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:14 am

amother Calendula wrote:

If a yogurt is so sweet that it's like ice cream then it's considered dessert which isn't basic foods in my world.
Plain white yogurt without sugar or sweetener is basic food to me.

↑ Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:31 am

amother Yellow wrote:

Wow what a judgmental and rude comment

It’s no secret that unhealthy foods are cheaper to buy than healthy ones. Every restaurant you go to French fries will be cheaper than salad.

Not only cheaper but the profit one makes on French fries is probably far higher vs salad.
A teacher of mine in cooking school said all the cheap bakeries in Israel have a much higher profit margin vs a fancy quality bakery.

amother

Oleander ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:37 am

I was restricted as a child.
4 meatballs but if you're still hungry, doubles of spaghetti and carrot sticks.

1 drumstick at the Shabbos table but rice and potatoes and kugel.

Personally I feel like it really messed with my metabolism and ability to eat healthy
I struggled with my weight my whole life.
Yet my instinct is still heavy on the carbs because it's cheap and low on the protein.

I work very hard to do differently for my kids, even if it means more expensive food bills.

amother

Mulberry

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:38 am

We don't do any portion control at mealtime on the main part of the meal, such as meat, fish veggies, rice, fruit, pasta, and so on. We make enough that there are leftovers, which then get eaten as lunches or occasionally as an alternative dinner.

For individually packaged foods that also come in large containers, such as applesauce, popcorn, pretzels, we generally only allow the individual packaged versions when it's being taken to go. But if a kid wants to eat applesauce at home, they have to get the big jar and pour it into a bowl. Or popcorn, they have to take from a big bag at home.

↑ Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:44 am

watergirl wrote:

During certain times in my life, yes I did.

Some of my kids like to eat out of boredom, and they'd go for the really expensive things. I made sure to have a lot of cheaper healthy items available and tell them that the meat or chicken or cheese or whatever other thing is for a specific time. Even then, if I had only enough money for one chicken leg per person (thigh and drum), then that's what I had. BH those times are behind us now.

Adjusting is more important than restricting now.

My stepson loved to pour a full bowl of milk into his cereal and then he'd dump it. It was a massive fight every single day, and we lived in a location at that time where CY link was not a given and when it was there, if it was fresh, it cost a TON. We spoke to our rav who said it's better for shalom and also for finances to buy organic milk which was a lot cheaper. He said for us at that time, we can rely on the USDA organic certification that it's 100% cows milk. So we did that, and he could waste the milk as he wanted.

Some kinds of chicken is cheaper than others, for example boneless skinless chicken breast is more expensive than a pack of drumsticks. So I may make a lot of drumsticks for the kids who want to eat real food on YT as a snack and the expensive food is for the meal.

Thigh and drum isn't something tiny. Sometimes they can be pretty large and be considered adult portion.
A would have been furious with even cheaper milk to go to waste. I absolutely cannot stand wasting good edible food for no reason.

amother

Tangerine

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 11:53 am

My kids never go to bed hungry unless they didn't like the 10 options I offered them!
We have a large family and yes sometimes there's not enough to have double or triples but I don't think mothers should make unlimited amounts of food either to make sure that they don't run out.
Sometimes they'll have only one serving of chicken and have to fill up on starchy side dish.
I do not think in 2024 kids should ever go yo bed hungry because of lack of money. If they do its a sign of disfunction more than anything else.

I live in Lakewood, kids get breakfast, lunch and snack in school. There are multiple food banks and tomchei shabbos.
(And if kids are so picky that they're not eating it, it means they're rich enough to afford to be!)

amother

Candycane ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 12:04 pm

I don't restrict but I make sure to put aside food for my bochur who comes home later so that he has dinner when he getshome. Many times, there is more food in the pan besides for what I put aside for him, but at least this way, I don't have to monitor it.

I have one child who doesn't like carbs and will eat tons of protein - more than her older siblings. I have to remind her that she needs to take a portion of rice too or else she will still feel hungry.

I only let my 4 year old 1-2 bananas per day or else he gets constipated.

amother

↑ Nectarine ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 12:07 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Are they flavoured yogurts in the US *that sweet* that it compares to ice cream? Speechless

Yes - in my opinion as it is essentially jam mixed with yogurt.

Very high sugar content and there are better ways for children or adults to get dairy in terms of nutrition.

You can mix yogurt with frozen fruit - for example - and have a really delicious much healthier dairy and fruit "snack". I mention frozen fruit because when it defrosts it gets mushy and is generally sweeter than a lot of fresh fruit. And defrosted fruit generally has fruit liquid which is also very sweet.

Bananas are a naturally very sweet fruit to add to yogurt.

amother

↑ Nectarine ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 12:09 pm

amother Calendula wrote:

If you are feeding your child the equivalent of half a chicken, you are teaching them that abnormally large portions are normal

Adjusting portion sizes to what is considered to be normal isn't restricting food but educating kids in terms of how to eat appropriately.

Are they really hungry after a balanced meal consisting of a chicken breast or equivalent portion of animal protein); a large helping of vegetables and some form of starch in a reasonable quantity

amother

↑ Nectarine ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 12:19 pm

amother Bluebell wrote:

I don't have 1 one breast split into 2 halves. I have 2 breasts and a chicken has 2 breasts as well Wink

A chicken has ONE breast - if you buy a whole chicken.

Typically if you buy chicken breasts they are already split so the "one" breast is actually a half breast.

↑ Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 12:59 pm

amother Narcissus wrote:

A chicken has ONE breast - if you buy a whole chicken.

Typically if you buy chicken breasts they are already split so the "one" breast is actually a half breast.

Sorry Narcissus, you are not entirely correct.
Chicken breast consists of two halves and in the middle runs the breast bone inbetween them. When you cut an entire chicken you will end up with
two wings
two drumsticks
two thighs
and two breasts and in each breast there is a filet.
The only thing you and up which us single is the chicken throat and the skin.
Each breast is then cut open to create a schnitzel and hammered thin.

amother

↑ Nectarine ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 1:00 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

When I was a kid there used to be a very large thing which was a chicken leg - it was the thigh and drumstick but was actually very large - typically larger than a drumstick and thigh are now.

I think it might have to do with the way that most chickens are bred now. Chicken breasts are now more popular than dark meat and so chickens are bred to have disproportionately large breasts and tinier legs.

But now if you get a package of thighs or drumsticks, they are individually much smaller and I think even a child would eat at least two - if not three as a normal portion.

amother

↑ Nectarine ↓

Thu, Apr 04 2024, 1:02 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

I don't know why people are still attempting to correct my semantics.

A chicken has ONE breast until it is separated.

A turkey has one breast - a whole roast chicken has one breast.

I acknowledged that you don't get "four" breasts as a serving of chicken for most adults or older children

My "half breast" is your one breast.

My Bubbe used to serve very large roast birds which were capons and you would definitely get more than two adult servings from the breast of those birds just as you get multiple servings from a turkey breast.

However, you only typically get ONE serving from quail, squab or a rock Cornish hen LOL

Can we move on rather than waste time attempting to refute something that has already been explained ad nauseam - EVEN IN THE POST I EDITED TO CLARIFY.