Eggs

[chadspad]

Not sure if this was the right place to put it.........

My son is an extremely fussy eater so I was dead chuffed when he started eating egg on toast. Now he wants them every day. I managed to get him to eat boiled eggs with soldiers instead yesterday (something which is a complete surprise in itself that he has tried something different). He only eats the yolk. Im suer ive heard that too many eggs are not good for you but cant remember why. My friend thinks cholestrol. He eats no meat except sausages. He has no veg. He doesnt eat sweets only the odd choccy bar. He does have lots of fruit juice, cereal & fish fingers or pieces and potato smiley faces. He loves yorkshire puddings and just recently pancakes. Can anyone advise me please?

[Annpan]

If you have a cholesterol problem the British Heart Fondation recommends that you should only eat 2 eggs a week.

I reckon battery eggs are worse than free range/organic though. - Don't know if its the white or the yolk that is worse.

I suppose you have to balance it up with the other high cholesterol foods that he is eating.

Annpan

[Millymollymandy]

Egg yolk sounds like one of the more healthy foods out of what he is eating! How old is he by the way? Do children suffer from cholesterol problems?

Don't worry about him not eating the white bit though - my brother, me and my husband couldn't stand the stuff when we were kids either!

[Dendrobium]

My Doc told me to cut down on eggs (and every other food it seemed) as I had high coelestrol and blood pressure etc, and the yolks the bad bit! However I think it is slightly different for kids as they're still building their bodies, at the end of the day if they have a ballanced diet with lots of healthy stuff in it then there isn't too much to worry about. I remember Magnus Pike saying exactly that about fish and chips - (he was one of boffins behind rations in ww2 I think) and said despite being fried etc if it's part of a ballanced diet there was no problem. To me it sound't like you're son is getting a pretty healthy diet, if he's not getting much/any meat then a little bit of egg is probably not too much to worry about

[the.fee.fairy]

Egg provides protein, and its one of those things that provides good cholesterol as well as bad (quite why they've got the same name, i don't know!!), so its one of those foods that is recommended in moderation.

Ask Dave though, he's the one who knows!

[chadspad]

He is 5 and a nightmare when it comes to food! He wont even try new things which is what annoys me most. Ive tried EVERY type of game or making faces of the food, pureeing it etc etc but nothings works and mealtimes were just becoming a battle of wills and not very pleasant. The egg interest started when we stayed at friends who own chickens and he collected it then had it cooked for him. Its a relief to me that he is getting the protein. Perhaps I will limit it to every other day and do boiled or poached instead of fried.
Thanks for the help!

[Jarmara]

my youngest daughter is autistic and is a really fussy eater she is now 11 and we have found if we put 1 new thing on her plate with food she does like and don't makes a fuss or say anything sometimes she will take a sneeky nibble if she spits it out again we leave it a few days before trying again, when we make salad or chop veg we try to get her to help and sometimes that prompts her to try new things, the secret ways i use to get veg into her was make a veg puree then add it to either drop scones (american pancakes) choclate pudding ,fish batter ,yorkshire pudding batter hope that helps you out :)

[chadspad]

Thanks for those tips Jarmara but I have tried similar things in the past and when he notices, because he always notices!, he wont then eat that thing again incase Im tricking him again!

[Jarmara]

Oh dear well i guess the thing to do is go for fibre drinks and supplements. the only way i get my daughter to eat fruit is if it is dried or hidden in a smoothie best of luck (((hugs)))

[red]

egg white is pure protein, so the yolk is the bad cholestrol bit. Sausages are probably pretty bad too. but really it not so much of an issue with kids. in your shoes I would be far more worried about the lack of veg than the number of eggs. does he eat fruit?
perhaps you should try making an omlette or scrambled egg together.. make him a tad more interested?
I do think its important to avoid battles at meal times.. it becomes a way of getting attention etc. and I dont agree with tricks either personally. I have always offered the food without fuss, but (with a few reasonable excetptions - most kids dont like liver) there are no alternatives.. leave it if you dont want it but thats that. Also a certain amount of negotiation at times is ok. " now everyone has to eat vegetables, which would you prefer?" before the meal is made

[Boots]

Eggs are a source of high protein. They are often eaten daily in drinks by body builders as they are a good source of convertable protein that is stored as a muscle fuel and will convert quickly with use.

Problem is - if you don't use it - it will store as fat...

I'm pretty sure the recommendation for average adults is 2 eggs a week, but that would depend a lot on what the average adult is doing. A pen pusher should probably heed that advice, but a tree lopper could easily double or triple that intake with good results.

Same goes for kids, I would imagine. What is your young un fuelling for? Is he active? If he is involved in gymnastics, or sports that involve his upper body, like swimming or field events then those eggs will be going to good use. (Even kids who play on the monkey bars each lunch hour are lifting their body weight for somehat lengthy periods)

To reduce the fat intake, poach the egg as opposed to frying it to go on toast. The egg white is the better source of protein and it holds no fat, the yolk is high in fat but is also loaded with vitamins and minerals. So much so, that an egg can represent about half the vitamins required in a single day. They also contain a vitamin that is pretty important for folks who don't get much sunshine, so if its been overcast for a while, don't be surprised if you suddenly get a craving for eggs.

Sometimes when our eggs are in abundance here we eat eggs in every conceivable manner for weeks on end... and none of us have had any ill effects. If my daughters mention that their nails are weak or their hair is poor - the first thing I do is put some eggs on. It is a good restorative food for when the body is down or we haven't been looking after ourselves.

If he is really digging eggs, then maybe you can start hiding them in fried rice... quiche... egg salad...potato bake... etc. He might have fun going on the search for his favo food, maybe? Eggs are, or can be in a lot of stuff.

You know, it really spins me out when folks say their kids eat no veg... there are so many vegies and they all taste so different, and there are so many different ways of cooking them that change the taste again. Kids don't even work out what the vegie food group is until about grade 5, so I dunno how they can choose not to eat any, if they don't actually know what they are.

I never liked tomatoes as a kid, and still don't. But I like tomato sauce, tomato soup and always cook with tomato paste. So, it would be fair to say it is not the flavour I object to. I do know what it was... my ma served me the soggiest, reddest, most over-ripe tomato with salt and pepper on it once, and it was absolutely gross. The whole mushy, hot, crappy thing filled my mouth and I wanted to vomit. She then insisted I swallow the rubbish. I remember it every time I see a fresh bit of tomato on a salad sandwich or whatever and just have to take it off.

oooookay, just slid off on a tangent there.... sorry about that!

[chadspad]

He doesnt eat fruit but he drinks multivitamin juice that has iron in it too. He also has apple compote (pretty much apple sauce) with says it contains Vitamins. Its difficult getting him to even try anything new so I would be extremely surprised if he would eat an omlette - like I said, I was gobsmacked at him trying the boiled egg!! He doesnt have sausages every meal, only twice a week, the other days he has fish fingers of some kind (only the 100% fish types). He eats plenty of brown bread with choc spread & cereal with milk.

[Annpan]

Hey boots

You've got a good point about forcing your kids to eat. It could stick for life.

I'd try serving veg in different ways, I hated carrots as a kid, but loved raw carrot sticks. same goes with raw turnip (ok. I'm a bit weird) I have never known a kid that won't eat grapes. If he likes dipping sausages and chips in tomato sauce, he could try dipping other stuff in tomato sauce.
Making your own food usually works too - Pizza can be loaded with stuff and is fun and easy to make with kids. I've got a recipe if you need it.

Just thought I'd offer up some ideas

Ann Pan

[chadspad]

I appreciate all the idea but I have honestly tried everything. Ive watched the programmes, Ive been on kids websites for ideas - u name it, Ive done it. He will refuse to eat it or try it if he doesnt want it, then he will scream or whinge and turn dinnertime into hell-time! Ive even made him the same dinners as us but after 4 days of him eating nothing Im afraid I gave in as I would rather him eat the things he does than nothing at all.

He doesnt do any particular sports Boots but he is the usual active 5 year old running about with his mates and helping in the garden.

I will reduce the amount of eggs he has and try to think of some other ways he might try them.

Thanks all

[Boots]

You know, I have just been thinking... and just thought I'd throw this in...

I see a lot of kids... teens... and their tends to be two types that I see. Young people that come to the gym and are keen to build and interested in food as fuel, and then young people who couldn't give two hoots about health, they just like hanging out at the centre.

Part of a training evaluation involves a review of what the young person has eaten in the past week.

I have NEVER had a young person arrive who is already eating close to a recommended or healthy diet. The average teenager has NO Breakfast, A can of coke and pie for lunch, some are lucky enough to have a meal served for them at night, and most have a total of about 3 cans of softdrink a day....

And they live like that!!! Quite Well!!! Quite Happy...

None of them are overly obese or skin-on-bones. Most are average size. They eat hot chips way too much... pies by the dozen... (500 calories in a pie, ya know!). When I talk to them about building they listen and their bodies soon respond and their energy levels increase, but what has just struck me - is that they all presented as pretty healthy looking when they arrived...

I remember a kid who lived near me who suffered allergies. Sometimes i swear he lived on air... but he was healthy looking too.

Maybe we just worry too much, or have spent too long with others telling us what we're sposed to do? Truth is, if human beings are hungry, they'll eat.... it is a natural drive. Like chewing pen lids... and finger nails... Is that a hungry person or a bad habit??? I may never know the answer to that...