S/O portion sizes

juliedooley

Someone was talking about portion sizes in the 'stirring the pot' post below so I thought I'd post this in case it's helpful...I know a dr could say a lot more than I could, but I've been working on a pediatric nutrition project lately and generally it looks like recommended portion sizes for toddlers (1-3 yrs) are about 1/4-1/2 cup...for fruits, about 1/2 a fruit is a portion, and meats and beans, about 2-3 Tbsp. Recommendations for milk are about 24 oz/day, and max of 4-6 oz of juice/day.

That said, I actually have no idea how much DS really eats at a meal so I always worry about whether he's getting enough vs too much...I start out with about 1/2 cup of food but he might sample other stuff we're eating and not finish all of his stuff. Our pedi basically said to keep offering him bites until he starts playing with it and then ending the meal.

But to bring up issues, nutrition is one that's close to my heart, and I know there's a ton of confusion about portion sizes in America today. It's actually pretty shocking what a portion is vs what we're served and taught by restaurants to view as a portion! 

Rach21

juliedooley:

Someone was talking about portion sizes in the 'stirring the pot' post below so I thought I'd post this in case it's helpful...I know a dr could say a lot more than I could, but I've been working on a pediatric nutrition project lately and generally it looks like recommended portion sizes for toddlers (1-3 yrs) are about 1/4-1/2 cup...for fruits, about 1/2 a fruit is a portion, and meats and beans, about 2-3 Tbsp. Recommendations for milk are about 24 oz/day, and max of 4-6 oz of juice/day.

That said, I actually have no idea how much DS really eats at a meal so I always worry about whether he's getting enough vs too much...I start out with about 1/2 cup of food but he might sample other stuff we're eating and not finish all of his stuff. Our pedi basically said to keep offering him bites until he starts playing with it and then ending the meal.

But to bring up issues, nutrition is one that's close to my heart, and I know there's a ton of confusion about portion sizes in America today. It's actually pretty shocking what a portion is vs what we're served and taught by restaurants to view as a portion! 

Thanks for the info!

I think the portion size thing is why people in the olden days could eat fatback, chitlins, use real butter, and cook with lard or bacon grease and still be healthier than we are now. All of their meals were mostly eaten at home, and trips out to a restaurant were rare and appreciated.