Open food discussion 👇 below:

My first thought would be if it’s for a child old enough to eat popcorn it may not be enough food? I would likely add some things. Maybe yogurt, hummus, and fruit.

Because we live in the United States I would be concerned about the dyes and if the chicken nuggets are real chicken at this point (being that plastic and other stuff have been found on store products). Depending on my relationship with the mother I would /wouldn’t say anything. People get offended very easily nowadays and it’s none of my business how another mom parents as long as the kid isn’t being neglected/abused. I also agree with the above comment. It doesn’t seem like a full meal. I make most things from scratch for my son, not because I want to but out of necessity since it’s either too expensive or hard to find good food for them.

I think it depends on the age. I have a 6 and 2 year old - cucumbers are easy, but how'd you get yours to eat lettuce? My only concern would be the popcorn. I let my 6 year old have popcorn but not my 2 year. Choking hazard and the kernels can be painful if they get caught in their teeth and my 2 year old might not be able to express that to me. I'm not viewing this meal in a negative light though. Maybe because I live in the states and think this is a pretty common meal.

I agree it doesn’t look like a full meal if they are old enough to have popcorn but I also know this is one meal for one day. Did they have a really big, balanced breakfast? Did the popcorn help them eat other things? There are a lot of factors. If it was me personally depending on so many other things I would try to save the popcorn for a snack and replace it with a carb like rice, pasta, potatoes or yogurt or cheese or avocado. Honestly I would say anything to any parent about what they feed their child and I’m only commenting because you asked for opinions but that’s just me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@GMF after reading your comment I asked my son (9) if that was enough food and he said he was still hungry so you’re right. Typically he is very vocal so I serve and let him tell me he needs more. I’m glad you said that I might just ask him more often now

@Zoi are your concerns for dyes and nuggets, prices etc based off of personal experience or has your knowledge of it all come from social media/media? I’m just curious and I’m in no way saying you’re right or wrong because I’m aware of this myself. I allow myself grace because I know how hard I work to provide the best I am able to for meals and foods and I take pride in my knowledge. Just having a discussion I appreciate your response

@Anjali I like that you say it depends on age. Because some parents will automatically judge with little to no information on the child themselves. I like that you viewed your situation when seeing this plate. My son has never been “picky” so lettuce or any food was never an issue for us which is why it’s served here.

Is that suagr sprinkles on the popcorn?? My first thought was that's too much dipping sauce for the amount of chicken and there looks to be just as much popcorn as chicken. Tbh my 2.5 year old basically eats just meat for most meals so I have no room to "judge"

@Ryann I like you mentioning that this is one meal a day and considering what else they could have eaten before hand. As well as acknowledging some foods are safe for children and need to be included in a meal. I think people forget to think about the entire picture that they don’t see when they jump to conclusions so harshly. I feed my son a very wide variety of meals. Almost every single meal is “balanced” with protein carb fat but sometimes I cannot do it all and his plate will look like this instead. Depends on the day. Appreciate your comment! I was thinking about social media and how mean people are which is where my question stemmed from telling a parent face to face or not

I would wonder where the carbs are, then worry about the chocking hazard of the popcorn.

My first thought is… well that’s probably going to end up mostly on the floor Then I went to the popcorn, it’s a choking hazard until age 5 and whatever those sprinkles are on it are not real food… but otherwise…fed is best

Popcorn is a choking hazard but I don’t know the child’s age. Other then that 🤷‍♀️

Thanks everyone I was just curious of peoples initial thoughts, and why you have them or where they stem from within 😃

I’m from Greece and the food there is very different from here. I grew up eating everything from scratch or from the garden and I’m very healthy (I truly believe it’s because I grew up eating really good food full of nutrients not because I take care of myself good today because I don’t) When I moved here, I noticed that a lot of people are sick and on the bigger side. Many nights I’m up just thinking of all the food around us that isn’t real food and I can’t sleep. We all grew up at a different time, with better products, less chemicals etc. Social media has made my fears worse for sure but also have opened my eyes on alternative ways of healing, preparing food, what to avoid and all that. I am worried about tomorrow’s world for our kids.

Yes we all try for healthy balanced meals but no one is going to have that at every single meal every day. Life is all about balance!

I like that the original poster was very respectful upon hearing other people's views. Thank you.

I would worry about the popcorn being a choking hazard, and I would probably voice it to the mum in person in a kind way like “I recently learned popcorn isn’t recommended for kids under 5 because it’s a choking hazard, did you know that?”. Because if I didn’t know it I’d be grateful for someone pointing it out to me. The rest of it I wouldn’t have issue with, if the kids eating - great!

I wouldn't serve food that way to a 9 year old (unless they were particular about placement on the plate). For a 9 year old, that's not enough food, where's the carbohydrates? There could be a bit more colour to the salad or even coleslaw or something. There'd be no popcorn on there either. I don't tend to follow social media per se, I like to get ideas from the food groups on here but, those were after I'd already weaned my firstborn.

@Sarah🦄 my son eats off a regular plate or a plate like this im usually just grabbing what is clean at the time. Also sometimes I’m just grabbing what I have available in my fridge hence why the salad is plain looking. This was my curiosity in posting this, what people may think or assume from one photo. His dinner tonight will look entirely different from this meal here and a lot more of you would agree with the majority of it. I was just kinda doing a little social experiment if you wanna call it that to see the way people interpret things

@Anjali absolutely! This was more for fun and to see if what I am thinking of others on the internet is valid in how they perceive things. It’s easy to judge these days not saying everyone does it but there is so much more to my story and child’s life than this one plate and I’m more than open to hearing what others say as I’m confident in what I do as a mom 😇

@Katrina that’s a great way to express a concern of yours but that isn’t over bearing

@Sarah it’s some popcorn my mom honestly bought my son I’d never personally choose it but he opened it in a gift and I’m just trying to mostly get thru it lol

Also I agree with a lot of you haha I made this lunch and was not my proudest but it’s what I have right now and he was fed. He is homeschooled so I had to work with what I had hehe ❤️

It looks fine to me for a single meal. If that's all the kid ever ate, I'd recommend seeing a dietician, but nutrition is a big picture thing. This picture has veg, protein, carbs and Fibre. I see nothing wrong with it at all tbh

It would depend on the age of the kid. I immediately think of my nephews (my son isn't on solids yet) and I know this would not be enough food for one but would probably satisfy the other. I think I would gently ask "is that enough for (kids name)?" If they said yes I'd just move on, bc they know their kid best.

I'd ask how old the child is because I have 3 boys who eat soo much. 😅 My oldest is 9 & when growing he can eat more then my husband. I'm extremely health conscious but I try really hard not to pass judgment especially when only seeing one picture into someone's life. I aim for an 80/20 lifestyle so while the majority of what we eat is made from scratch & as clean as we can afford, I still occasionally let my kids eat fast food & eat whatever at parties (minus dyes those are a hard no for us).

First initial thought is not balanced enough or enough food (for my kid anyway) buttttt I would not be judging bc I know how kids are picky and maybe that’s all they can get them to eat. My opinion is solely based on what I give my kids. And I would feel comfortable enough telling someone face to face IF they asked for my opinion. This isn’t something I typically feed my kids but I was blessed with a great eater. If I had a picky eater who’d only eat some cucumber, pop corn and chicken tenders, I’d 100% feed them that for the sake of feeding them something.