Ignoramus13806 wrote:

You see, I am not concerned with quantity. Let him eat however much he
wants. But I want him to eat during meals. Now if that's not a good
thing due to well established reasons, I could let him eat whenever he
wants, but it is not my preference.


He should learn to eat *something* at meals. If
he's snacking all day and refusing to eat at meals, that's
an issue (and perhaps one that has nothing to do with
food itself). But most kids his age can't really eat
enough at three meals a day to get them through the
whole day. They need some "top ups" in between,
hence the nutritious snacks. And really, my kids are
6 and 8 years old and *still* need at least an afternoon
snack. They can manage without a morning snack, but
would much prefer to have one (and it doesn't mess up
their eating at meals). I suspect as puberty approaches
that they'll be eating even *more* during the day.
There are, of course, practical issues to
consider. You shouldn't have to be a short order
cook all day. I don't allow snacks right before a
meal (because then they *don't* eat the meal). I
don't allow constant grazing (because it's just too
much work). If I tried to eliminate snacks, though,
it would be horrible. I'd have whiny, cranky kids
much of the day because they'd be *hungry* much of
the time!

Best wishes,
Ericka