A mother has asked for advice on kid’s portion sizes after her mother-in-law was ‘appalled’

What do you think?

A mother has sparked an online debate after posting a picture of her children’s food asking for advice on portion sizes.

The mother of two was asking for people’s opinion about the amount of food she was serving her son and daughter. Her reason for doing so was because her mother-in-law was apparently ‘appalled’ by the size of the portions.

She posted an image of the food on Mumsnet saying:

“My son is on the 75 centile for height , 20 for weight. My daughter is 50 for height, 25 for weight.
As a family we are very very slim (in 5’7 and weigh just under 8 stone). We’re very fit, gym, sport etc

My mil saw this and was appalled. Said it was way way too much. My children would be peckish an hour later if they didn’t have this kind of lunch (it’s the weekend, hence all the breaded items!).

My son is 6, my daughter 3.5”

Some people were agreeing with her with one person saying, “I think you should relax – if they are eating this amount and are a normal weight, it’s fine. And it’s none of her business,” and another saying, “Looks fine to me, plenty of veg on the plate. Kids are great at telling you if they are too full/don’t want it. Ignore, they’re your kids!”

But some others were taking up more of an issue about her choice of food than anything else. One person commented, “I would give some pasta or mash instead of the breaded cheese as it sounds fatty and horrible. Probably would do plain chicken and mash instead of breaded chicken but probably similar nutritional value.”

Another person said, “Not enough carbs. The children are underweight (certainly your son) and carbs should make up 50-60 percent of their meals. No wonder they are peckish quickly they need additional carbs for slow and fast energy release. Some mashed potato or sweet potato wedges would make that first meal perfect.”