How much food should my child eat?

HEALTH How much food should my child eat?

Do you know how much energy your child needs each day? And how much they are actually getting? Although you usually don't have to monitor how much energy your child is receiving from what they eat, it can be helpful to monitor this for a few days and compare it to their actual energy needs.

Perhaps you are concerned because your child is a fussy eater and you think they may not be eating enough. Or you may worry that your child eats more than their body needs. Understanding how much food your child actually needs might help you worry a little less. It might also help you avoid overfeeding your child; it's common for parents to overestimate how much food their children need to get the right amount of energy and underestimate what they are actually taking in from the food they are eating.

Monitoring energy consumption is usually a temporary strategy to help provide you with more information about your child's eating habits. Most of the time, if your child is eating enough wholesome foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy protein and healthy fats and getting enough physical activity, you don't need to pay attention to calories at all

The amount of energy (or calories) that food and drink contains is measured in both kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal).

The UK government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition estimates the average daily energy requirements for children, but these figures are only a guide. Children may need more or less than these estimates depending on a number of factors, including how physically active they are. It is important to remember that while the amount of energy your child needs is important, they should also eat a healthy, balanced diet. Calories in food The energy content of many shopbought foods is stated under the Energy heading on the packaging as part of the nutrition label. It’s often given in kcals, which is short for kilocalories and also in kJ, which is short for kilojoules.

A kilocalorie is another word for what's commonly called a calorie, so 1,000 calories will be written as 1,000kcals.

The label will usually tell you how many calories are contained in 100 grams or 100 millilitres of the food or drink, so you can compare the calorie content of different products. A word on snacking It’s obviously not great if your child is eating little healthy food and getting most of their energy from unhealthy or sugary snacks.

Public Health England advises parents that sticking to 2 packaged snacks max a day and keeping them at under 100 calories (kcals) or 418 kilojoules (kJs) is really important for children. And you’ll be surprised at how high the energy intake is on some common snacks.

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