Episode 70: Protein and Protein Powders in Kids

fussy eating
Episode 70: Protein and Protein Powders in Kids
Karina Savage | 19 August 2025

Episode 70: Protein and Protein Powders in Kids

Hello, hello and welcome back to The Easy Feed.

Today I’m diving into a topic that so many parents ask me about—protein.
How much do our children really need? Where should it come from? And are protein powders ever necessary?

As a paediatric dietitian and mum, I know first-hand how challenging it can be to keep lunchboxes nutritious, especially when dealing with a fussy eater or a child following a vegetarian diet. While most kids easily meet their protein requirements, the real issue is often the quality of that protein.

In this episode, I unpack the difference between dairy-based proteins and those rich in fibre, iron and zinc, and why focusing on variety is key to supporting your child’s long-term health.

We’ll also explore whether protein powders have a place in children’s diets, what to look for if you choose one, and why whole, real foods should always come first.

Links
https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Highlights:

  • Introduction (00:00.138)

  • Balancing Treats and Nutrition in Everyday Lunchboxes (02:15.98)

  • From Lunchbox Treats to Plant-Based Protein for Kids (04:33.89)

  • Lunchbox Choices and the Bigger Picture of Kids’ Nutrition (06:50.04)

  • The Lunchbox Upgrade: How Protein and Fibre Shape Kids’ Healt (09:09.848)

  • Protein, Fibre, and Gut Health: Smarter Nutrition for Children (11:29.986)

  • Moves into protein, fibre, and gut health (13:54.956)

  • Beyond the Lunchbox: Raising Healthy Kids with Protein, Fibre, and Plant Powe (16:12.438)

  • From Brownies to Beans: Rethinking Protein and Nutrition in Kids’ Diets (18:35.116)

  • From Brownies to Beans: Rethinking Kids’ Lunchboxes (20:49.794)

  • Protein Powders, Brownies & Beans: What Kids Really Need (23:13.486)

  • Brownies, Beans & Protein Powders: Rethinking Kids’ Lunchboxes (25:39.82)

Show notes
READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

Hello, hello and welcome back to The Easy Feed.

Today I’m diving into a topic that so many parents ask me about—protein.
How much do our children really need? Where should it come from? And are protein powders ever necessary?

As a paediatric dietitian and mum, I know first-hand how challenging it can be to keep lunchboxes nutritious, especially when dealing with a fussy eater or a child following a vegetarian diet. While most kids easily meet their protein requirements, the real issue is often the quality of that protein.

In this episode, I unpack the difference between dairy-based proteins and those rich in fibre, iron and zinc, and why focusing on variety is key to supporting your child’s long-term health.

We’ll also explore whether protein powders have a place in children’s diets, what to look for if you choose one, and why whole, real foods should always come first.

⭐ Highlights of the Episode

  • Protein needs made simple – How much protein children actually require each day and why most already meet these needs.

  • Quality matters – The difference between dairy protein and plant-based proteins rich in fibre, iron and zinc.

  • Gut health connection – Why fibre-rich protein foods support digestion, immunity, mood and learning.

  • Protein powders in kids – When (and if) they’re useful, and how to choose a safe option.

  • Practical swaps and ideas – Easy, real food ways to boost protein for even the fussiest eaters.

Supporting a picky eater or fussy eater can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to balance a healthy diet for fussy eaters with the reality of busy school days.

As a children’s nutritionist and paediatric dietitian, I know that parents often worry about protein. In this episode, I explain how to get enough nutritious foods into your child’s diet without relying on supplements, and when quick, easy food swaps can make a big difference to their nutrition.

You’ll also find inspiration for boosting fibre, iron and protein in a way that even fussy eaters will enjoy. If you’ve been wondering about children’s nutrition and the role of protein powders, this episode will give you clarity and practical solutions.

👉 Explore more nutritious and kid-friendly recipes here:
Healthy Recipes for Kids

👉 For more support, resources and guidance on nutrition for fussy eaters, visit my website at:
Nourish with Karina

📌 Show Notes

  • Introduction (00:00.138)

    You're listening to the Easy Feed podcast episode number 70, protein and protein powders in kids. Hi there. I'm Karina Savage and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learnt all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed podcast. Hello, hello. Welcome back.


    to another episode of the Easy Feed. I hope you're well and I hope that the term is going well for you. Look, I call it a term because my kids are at school age, but you may have babies, you may have toddlers who aren't at school yet. Soon enough, your life starts to be dictated and revolve around the school term and school holidays. Apologies if I, if I talk in school talk, but I'd the majority of you are on the same.


    routine as me in the middle of the school term. So I hope things are going well. I feel like this past few weeks, I've found a new found energy for lunch boxes. I don't know what's going on, but you know, they seem to be getting easier again. You know what it is actually? I think it's because my daughter has actually gone back to liking sandwiches again. And cause she can have peanut butter at school. She's just having peanut butter sandwiches. And do you know how much?


    Easier that is on me when she'll just eat the sandwiches because it's just such a pain in the butt when they don't like sandwiches. You have to constantly come up with other ideas and often it's leftovers to be honest, but sometimes it's not. And it's, I find a bit more of a challenge. So I think actually that's what's probably made the last few weeks a little bit easier because I just do them both at the same time.


    And do you know what's really funny actually? My son has now come home in the last few days and I'm sick of sandwiches, mum. I'm like, oh my gosh, seriously, what is going on here? One off, one on. So the last few days I've actually given him those rainy, I think they're corn cakes, the real multi-grain corn cakes, corn thins, I guess you'd call them.


    Balancing Treats and Nutrition in Everyday Lunchboxes (02:15.98)

    because he'll eat them. So I'm like, fine, I'll do them with Vegemite for you and I'll do the peanut butter sandwiches for my daughter. And then I just do the standard, you know, veggies and fruit. My daughter's been baking these high sugar brownies that my husband is absolutely loving. And so he's encouraging her to keep baking them. So every weekend she bakes his big batch of brownies. Not a big batch, it's like a, just a standard oven, a standard recipe. But it's meant that they have a


    brownie treat in their lunchbox pretty much every day. So they've been loving that. And look, I don't have a problem with that. The rest of their lunchbox is healthy and it's a good balance, right? So that's usually going in there. Um, what else do I put in there? I've been putting in, I have to admit, I have to confess in keeping it real, the Woolies muffins and, or the little mini choc chip muffins. So they're the little mini ones, but either a little Woolies blueberry muffin or a choc chip muffin.


    And then I'll put in, sometimes I'll put in the beetroot hummus dip and rice crackers, or we'll do popcorn or what else we're doing, like a muesli bar or, cause I do like those kind of crackery salty things as well. I just try and keep them as clean as possible. What else do I put in? So for example, today, my son, he's got a bag of popcorn.


    I put actually a couple of leftover Grain Waves from the bottom of the packet because yesterday when I was in Woolies, found Grain Waves were on sale and I know Grain Waves are a better chip option. So we opened a packet of them yesterday afternoon and so there was a few left. So I put them in his lunchbox. There was no brownie left, but he did get a Friday Tim Tam. I'm like, you're not getting a lunch order today. Okay. I'll give you a Tim Tam. But they never ever get Tim Tams in their lunchbox. I think it was that we were.


    supposed to be having people over for dinner last Sunday. They came over for drinks in the cat shop and I thought they were going to stay for dinner. So I'd bought a packet of Tim Tams to have after dinner, but then they didn't end up staying. And so I had this bare pack of the Tim Tams in the pantry. So today they got a Tim Tam. They haven't had a Tim Tam all week, but I guess they didn't have the brownie. So anyway, that was their chocolate treat. what else went in there?


    From Lunchbox Treats to Plant-Based Protein for Kids (04:33.89)

    Just trying to think strawberries, cause strawberries are coming down in price now. Strawberries were so expensive before. My kids love them, especially my daughter. I'm like, right, now I'll go back to buying lots of strawberries, apple. I think I put a banana in my son's lunch box today as well. So just the usual fruit and veg, but then the other stuff's usually, I prefer it to be homemade, but lately it's a homemade brownie. And lately it's been the little mini muffins and then rice crackers, dip, popcorn, muesli bar.


    There are extra salty, sweet things that go with the other plant-based foods. I did put half an avocado in my daughter's lunch today because I am trying to get the healthy fats into their lunch. Tuna is a great way to do that. And avocado is another good way, but it's not always easy to get the healthy fats in. Anyway.


    Lunchboxes wasn't the topic of conversation today, but I, was something that spring to mind as I started this podcast. And I think I was talking about the school day or the school day as a nice segue anyway, because today I want to talk about protein. And protein is something that I've always struggled with, especially in the lunchbox for my daughter. And since she's become vegetarian over the years, it's something that I focus on even more. And I'm almost vegetarian myself. And so.


    It's something that we need to be mindful of and do it properly because there is so much evidence to support the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. look, people are vegetarian for various reasons. My reasons are ethical animal cruelty, which are my daughter's as well. And some people just do it for health benefits. Some people do it for environmental benefits. So there's a whole number of reasons why people choose plant-based, but whether you're


    plant-based vegetarian, or whether you've just got a fussy eater who won't eat meat. Regardless of the cause, I find that good quality protein is often lacking in our children's day. Children, especially fussy eaters, love the white diet. They love the crunchy white or beige foods or liquids, including dairy. And they struggle with what I call the quality protein, which is non-dairy protein, protein that includes iron and


    Lunchbox Choices and the Bigger Picture of Kids’ Nutrition (06:50.04)

    fibre because dairy doesn't provide iron or fibre. In fact, it inhibits iron absorption. So this is why children may be at risk of iron deficiency, especially when they're thriving, they're gaining weight, they're growing, they're maybe 18 months old, maybe they're two years old and they have a huge dairy intake, but they're not eating much other iron rich foods. So their intake of


    Iron rich foods are low and it increases their risk of iron deficiency. Milk is very, what we call satiating. It fills them up. And if they're having too much dairy protein, they're meeting their protein requirements. Of course, most kids in Australia easily meet their protein requirements, but often it's to the detriment of other nutrients when they're getting all their protein from dairy.


    And if you're listening and you say to me, well, karina, we've got a really good meat eater at home. Then look, they're not likely to be at risk of iron deficiency, but it's the fibre that's the other part that we need to consider because that's another nutrient that 40 % of Australian children do not meet their fibre requirements. And fibre is absolutely crucial for gut health. Fibre is known as prebiotics and it feeds our gut microbes. It keeps them healthy.


    feeds the healthy microbes and it keeps the unhealthy microbes at bay. And what I mean by that is we need a balance of the microbes to keep our gut in what we call symbiosis in a very healthy place. So that means that it then keeps our immune function and the rest of our bodily functions working well. The center of our health, our systemic health is our gut. Our gut talks to our brain.


    All the time. It's a super high way from the gut to the brain via the vagal nerve. So we need our gut health to be as good as possible. It helps with learning. helps with concentration. It helps with mood. It helps with behavior. It helps reduce our risk of allergies and disease. And if we're not getting enough fiber, we're not feeding our gut microbes and we're not supporting our gut health to be as good as it could be. And we need to do that for our children.


    The Lunchbox Upgrade: How Protein and Fibre Shape Kids’ Healt (09:09.848)

    So if they're having too much dairy and too much meat and not enough fiber, then that's putting their gut health at risk. So we need to be looking at protein foods that ideally contain this beautiful combination of protein, nutrients and fiber. And there's plenty of them, but they're not talked about enough and they're not focused on enough. And that's where we can really make such a significant difference to our children's health.


    by focusing more on these quality proteins rather than just throwing them another yogurt pouch or having another glass of Milo and not to name and shame Milo, it just could be a hot chocolate. And don't get me wrong, my kids have these too, but we get into these habits, we get into these routines and it's just important to recognize when these snacks that are just happening all the time and not serving them.


    If your children's snacks haven't changed in years, then it might be time to rethink them and think about one change that you can make that will improve the fiber component and potentially the iron and zinc component of their snack. And if they are a rice cracker fiend, maybe it's the dip or the spread that you put with that rice cracker that can really boost the nutritional value. For example, putting a hummus dip with the rice cracker will significantly improve it or a pesto.


    or a peanut butter or a nut butter, for example. So as I said before, most children in Australia exceed their protein needs. We need about one gram of protein per kilo per day. So for an average child that might weigh 30 to 40 kilos, that's 30 to 40 grams of protein per day. And they easily get this protein from the foods that they eat, especially dairy.


    You even get protein in some carbohydrates. Kids need protein for a variety of physiological functions, whether it's growth and repair of their muscles or whether it's to support their brain function. Amino acids that are the building blocks of protein are also the building blocks for neurotransmitters in the brain. We need protein for our immune function. Antibodies are made of protein, so we need protein.


    Protein, Fibre, and Gut Health: Smarter Nutrition for Children (11:29.986)

    But we usually easily get our daily protein needs. It's more about the quality. And I talked about lunch boxes before, because lunch boxes for me have often been a challenge with you put the sandwich in and it's usually a Vegemite sandwich, or it might be just a butter sandwich if they're super fussy. And that's just basically then carbs. And then in goes probably some popcorn or crackers and that's more carbs. Then you put in fruit and veg and


    That's carbs and fiber, but there's no protein there. Then comes maybe yogurt or cheese, which brings protein, but not the type of protein that I'm talking about where you're getting iron. A muesli bar or a packet of chips. Again, no protein and no iron. And yeah, if you could send a nut bar, there would be a bit more protein and iron, but you can't do that with school. Most schools, I should say. And you might say to me, Karina, I have tried to put...


    chickpeas or hummus into my child's lunchbox, but they reject them. They don't eat them. So I've given up. What's the point? I'd rather them just eat what they're going to eat. And that's a great point. And if that is the case, then I'm not saying give up. I'm saying try different proteins. There's a million different options that we can try. And I talk about this all the time inside my membership with my members because it's about being creative, but it is also about exposure and repetition.


    And if children aren't familiar or trusting of these foods and you're expecting them to eat them in the lunchbox and they've seen them only a few times, they're probably not going to eat them. So sometimes it's about building exposure at home, elsewhere, over time, over years, and eventually they'll accept them in the lunchbox. And if they're not going to do that, then we need to look at increasing these protein rich foods at other parts of the day. And that's where...


    If it's after school or before school on the weekends or a supper, you can absolutely bring in those nut based snacks that are going to bring a lot of nutrition. So if you're a little unsure about whether your child's getting enough of these quality protein foods, just consider these types of foods and consider introducing them to them. Maybe on the weekends, maybe you're eating it and they're seeing you eating it and you say, do you want to try some? Or you maybe don't even ask them and they just come up and.


    Moves into protein, fibre, and gut health (13:54.956)

    want to try some because you're eating it, but I want you to consider increasing the amount of legumes in all of your day. So by all of your days, I mean you, the other parent in the house and the kids, because legumes are such underrated superstars for our health, for our gut health in general. Legumes are a rich source of


    protein, they're rich also fiber, they contain iron and zinc. They are an absolute super food. So by legumes are things like red kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, black beans. They're all beautiful, nutritious beans and you can have them in so many different ways. Edamame beans, for example, you could have in the pods that you send to school and they peel them. You can have them already in the little edamame beans themselves and you can.


    Either serve them up in a bowl with a bit of sauce or a little bit of salt or just plain, or you can mix them into dishes. Black beans, can turn into a brownie. Chickpeas, you can turn into hummus or you could dry roast them with some spices for extra flavor. Lentils, you can mix into Bolognese sauce. You can mix in make into dals and curry. Lentils, you can mix into Bolognese sauce. You reduce the mince by 50 % or completely swap it out.


    Or you can make dahls, some delicious curries with lentils and you cook them for so long that they can't even taste the texture of the lentil anymore. Soy products are phenomenal. They are rich in protein. They contain other nutrients such as iron and zinc. Tempeh is another one. Nuts and seeds, another area that we can really boost our children's nutrition, whether it's almonds, cashews or the seeds. So pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds.


    chia seeds, chia puddings, nut butters and other butters. So valuable for our children. I remember when I was studying to be a dietitian and I distinctly remember one time going out for breakfast for, I don't know, someone's birthday with fellow dietitians. And I can still remember the seat that I was sitting in, in the cafe that I was sitting in and feeling like it was a real decadent treat to be ordering peanut butter on toast.


    Beyond the Lunchbox: Raising Healthy Kids with Protein, Fibre, and Plant Powe (16:12.438)

    And it's just mind blowing to me that back then we were taught that peanut butter wasn't really the healthiest food because it was high in fat and salt. And I was made to feel really not bad, probably bad. did, I felt bad that I felt it was a treat. And so I guess I probably felt that I shouldn't be having it. Whereas now.


    I think from the rooftops, the nutritional value of peanut butter, who cares if it's high in fat, it's high in healthy fats. It's a great source of protein. It contains other valuable nutrients and the salt isn't at all high unless they add a bit of salt to the recipe. But most of the healthy ones don't really have much salt at all. So peanut butter is such a healthy food and you can have it on apple. You can have it on toast. You can put it into smoothies. It's so versatile. It's such a great source of protein. So


    Yeah, don't underestimate the value of all of the nut butters and the almond meal, which you can put into satay sauces and all sorts of things. You can put it into smoothies, you can put it into bliss bowls or baking. They're so versatile and so delicious. So all of these protein foods that I'm talking about, not only do they offer a great source of protein, often matched with the protein of meat in terms of the concentration, but they also bring all of those other nutritional benefits, the iron, the zinc and the fiber.


    So I just want you to have a think about ways that you could increase these types of protein into your child's day and kick some of the dairy out and bring more of this in because you will see a nutritional benefit to your child by doing that. And why this matters long-term is because they're going to see health benefits in the months and the years to come and the decades to come. They're going to have improved gut health. They're going to have a lower risk of constipation.


    At school, they're going to have better energy and better mood regulation, and you're going to see better behaviour at home as well. It's also going to mean that they are likely to stay a healthier weight and their palate will to appreciate a greater variety of healthy foods. It's important that kids understand that protein isn't just meat or cheese or dairy products. It helps them to understand


    From Brownies to Beans: Rethinking Protein and Nutrition in Kids’ Diets (18:35.116)

    the beautiful variety of protein foods that exist out there and how versatile they are. And you just look at the Japanese cuisine, so much delicious plant-based protein. And I'm incredibly grateful that my daughter started loving tofu on our recent trip to Japan. It's just made the vegetarian diet so much easier. Now, if you've got super fussy eaters, it can be a challenge.


    But it doesn't mean that you don't try and it doesn't mean that you don't role model eating these healthy proteins in front of them. And of course, if you need help with Fussy Eaters, I've got my own Fussy Eating program. So you can find out more about that on my website, nourishwithkarina.com. And I've got some very exciting news coming and hopefully I will be able to announce that in my next episode. Okay. Moving on to protein powders and do kids need them?


    Is there a benefit to them? As I said earlier, most children will meet their protein requirements very easily throughout the day. They don't actually need to take the protein powder to increase their protein grams per kilo to meet daily needs. Why kids may need a protein powder is if they are number one, vegetarian or vegan, number two, underweight.


    or struggling to eat enough food to meet their protein requirements. But as I said, they are the minority. The main reason, and this is why I also grabbed a protein powder for my daughter. And I tell you, we spent half an hour standing there in the chemist comparing a gazillion different options. And the one that I went for was a


    We found one that didn't have sweeteners. We found one that wasn't too high in sugar. And we found one that had very clean ingredients and didn't have a lot of thickeners, emulsifiers, flavors, colors, or anything like that. They are hard to come by. And it's about making sure that if you are going to use a protein powder,


    From Brownies to Beans: Rethinking Kids’ Lunchboxes (20:49.794)

    You're using it for the right reason. I wouldn't just get, unless your child was underweight, I wouldn't just get a milk-based protein powder and put that in because it's not really going to add any extra value compared to using yogurt, for example, which is also dairy, a good source of protein. And you're going to then add probiotics. So if you're buying a whey, like a dairy-based protein powder, it's not really going to add value, I don't believe, unless your child is underweight.


    In my past life, I was a sports dietician and we did use those in certain situations when I had very lean athletes who were needing to gain muscle mass. so there's absolutely a place for those whey-based protein powders or vegan-based, plant-based protein powders when needing muscle gain. But for the majority of children, the reason I would see protein powders being useful is to add nutrients such as iron and zinc.


    to a child who may not be getting enough and say for a child who's vegetarian, these plant-based protein powders, which this one has iron and zinc added, can be put into a smoothie to boost those nutrients and add good quality protein. And if there's milk or yogurt in the smoothie, it doesn't matter. It's just adding extra good quality protein and iron and zinc that may be lacking.


    because of the vegetarian diet. You just have to be careful with the likes of milk powders that also have a multivitamin in them because sometimes they're very, what we call satiating or filling. And if children are filling up on, it's pretty much like a toddler milk drink. If they're filling up on those, then that will displace their appetite for eating the good food, the nutritious foods. So you just got to be really careful with protein powders and use them.


    for specific situations, for specific needs. And where I see them really shining is if you are making a smoothie as the breakfast. So it's not to go alongside a bowl of cereal or some toast, but if your smoothie is the breakfast, then a protein powder may be useful there. But again, you're better off using real food. So if you eat dairy, use yogurt or use milk or use a plant-based milk. Put in nuts.


    Protein Powders, Brownies & Beans: What Kids Really Need (23:13.486)

    Put in nut butter, put in kidney beans, put in real food. Don't use the processed stuff. Like wherever possible, just use the real food. Put in a raw egg. Like I used to put in a raw egg into my daughter's milkshake when she was really little and low in iron. Put in the real food. Don't use the protein powders unless you need to. And we have bought this protein powder. We probably bought it about a month ago. I think she's probably used it three or four times.


    It's quite a, because it's got some spices in as well. It's fine, but you can't put too much in because that changes the taste. So you have to use it. I reckon about 50 % of the serving size at most because otherwise it's just too rich. So we will use it from time to time. look, in summary, protein powders are helpful for underweight kids that are trying to gain muscle mass that are training a lot.


    Or when you're using it as the main source of breakfast. Or again, it's a great addition to a supper smoothie for a child who's really sporty, who's just needing more, who has hollow legs, just can't fill up. So I feel like it's that type of child that would benefit. But if your child's a pretty average child and they eat really well and they're moderately active, there's not really a need for protein powders. I'd just focus on the real food instead.


    So I hope that was a little insight and gives you a better understanding of whether or not your child does need a protein powder. They're very popular. tell you marketing, there's one, I think there's so many people that feel like they would benefit from protein powder. Even the powder that we bought, it was labeled like slim in tone. And I said to my daughter, just ignore that. We're just picking this for the flavor.


    because she didn't want the chocolate coconut one. She just wanted the chocolate one. said, we're picking it for the flavor, not for what it says on the packet, because literally when you spin it around, the ingredients are basically identical. The nutrition panel is basically identical. They've just designed it so that they are marketing to the average Joe Blow, the Joe Blow that wants to lose weight and slim and tone. And then the Joe Blow that might want to help their bowels or whatever. was basically the same product. They're just slapping on a different.


    Brownies, Beans & Protein Powders: Rethinking Kids’ Lunchboxes (25:39.82)

    slogan on the front to appeal to a different customer so that they widen their net, they cast the net wider so that more people buy and more people spend money. So it's so interesting when you compare the products that really have different problems that they're solving, but at the end of the day, the core product is almost identical. So it just goes to show how much deception can go on with products on the shelves.


    So if you are interested in boosting your child's good quality protein intake, I want you to know that my new recipe book edition has over a hundred kids recipes and it has a ton of non-meat protein rich recipes, whether it's a protein rich, healthy lemon cake, whether it's a tofu schnitzel, whether it's the chickpea peanut butter banana dip that my daughter made up. She calls it the chick nut dip.


    plenty of innovative, exciting ways to bring these nutritious foods into your child's life. And you could check out my recipe book. put the link to the recipe book in the show notes. Otherwise you can head to nourishwithkarina.com forward slash recipe book. I will wrap it up there. I hope that's been a good one for you. If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave me a review. really helps the podcast to get out to more parents so we can help more and more parents.


    And if I can help one more parent every week to take the stress out of feeding their kids and give them some quick and easy wins, then I'm achieving what I wanted to with this podcast. So thanks for being here and I hope you have a great week. Bye for now.

I'm Karina Savage, and welcome to The Easy Feed Podcast!

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