I give my daughter lots of healthy foods, including those that have fiber in them. She gets veggies and fruits, proteins, dairy, she has a water bottle with her wherever she goes and yet this week she is waking up in the middle of the night hungry and honestly wanting food as well as needing something to eat almost every hour during the day.
Breakfast often includes eggs, sausage, ham or other such foods (often in an omlette, frittata or quiche. We do oatmeal a lot along with some fruit or a yummy shake and once a week or so we have muffins, pancakes or waffles (which almost always have a little flaxseed thrown in. She loves both the eggs and oatmeal and eats plenty at breakfast.
Lunches usually include a homemade burger (I have a recipe that includes blackbeans, soy and ground beef together I use), deli sandwich and/or some sort of soup or chili (especially this time of year). This is also when I might do what most people in the US would have for Dinner. Stir Fry (again, brown or wild rice or a mixture), Porkchops and root veggies, Meatloaf and mashed potato. We might also get something at McD's or Panda Express if we are out and about (she loves the orange chicken). Almost every sauce I make has veggies in it as well as what she eats on the side. One of her favorite veggies is broccoli so she often asks for half veggies/half rice when we are eating at Panda Express.
Dinner is often a lot simpler and might be rice (I never use white) and beans, a nutty cous cous concoction that is a family favorite that includes a little quinoa with the cous cous and pistachios or something more traditional like spaghetti (without all the extra trimmings though) and a side of veggies such as roasted squash or zucchini, green beans, peas and carrots. . . (you get the idea).
I don't do desert very often, but she does get chocolate milk some of the time (2%), has access to candy (but rarely chooses to eat it - seriously, I don't even tell her she needs to ask anymore) and when we are at the theater often gets the "less healthy" stuff for dinner because we are out OR I'll pack sandwiches with carrot sticks, jicama and fruit and a cup of pudding or yogurt.
She is six, tall and skinny, and pretty active, so this is not an over-eating thing (or an infant thing). I don't believe it is medical because there is no genetic history of such things and we've actually gone through similar periods of time before. The pattern often is that it lasts about a week or so. Then, she suddenly grows some (and we have to pull out the hand-me-downs in the next size) and then her appetite goes back to normal.
In the past, having some extra apples and grapes around (or other fruits) along with some yogurt or cheese and a piece of toast or crackers for her to grab has worked. She also can make herself a peanut butter sandwich at any time really (and I'll help with other ideas if she wishes for them). The getting up in the middle of the night so hungry she can't get back to sleep part is new though. I'm expecting it to pass any day now (and to suddenly need the new PJ's, shirts and leggings I got to put in presents under the tree sooner rather than later) but in the meantime I am starting to get concerned about her sleep.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Pre-bedtime snack ideas that are healthy to try? Tricks-of-the-trade for helping her sleep even after she gets hungry? A Snack that won't be bad for her teeth and gums she can just have by the bed so she doesn't even have to get up and can fall back asleep faster? . . .
UPDATE:
8:30am ate 3 servings of egg, cheese, sausage fritata that also contained zucchini, and summer squash. Along side had a smoothie with yogurt, spinach, strawberries, blackberries and a banana.
9:35 - "Mom, I'm hungry. Can I have some yogurt raisins and an apple?"
"Sure Hon. Do you want a bowl of peanut butter to dip your apples in?"
"Yumm. That sounds good mommy."
11:00 - "Mom is it time for lunch yet?" Daddy responds, "Do you want to go get a burger? - Have a little Daddy time?" Apparently she ate all but two bites of her cheeseburger and a sizable amount of fries.
1:30 - "Mom, did we have lunch? I'm hungry." She had a little chocolate milk and a pear with a small handful of crackers and a few slices of cheddar. Half an hour later we added a granola bar.
Just now - "Mom, I'm hungry again."
FINAL Update: without a lot of change, but with a peanut butter and jelly protein shake (and the diet outlined above) just before teeth brushing and bed - she slept Really Well last night YEAH!!!!. The shake had crunchy, all natural peanut butter, frozen strawberries, Greek Yogurt, spinach (I know - but she likes one I make with spinach and pineapple in it and when I was making it said, but mom what about the spinach?) and soy protein powder in it.
By bed she was SUPER tired anyway, and she has awoken with visibly longer legs (when viewing where the cuff falls) than the ones she started the day with yesterday morning. Can't really tell if its anything we did differently or if it was just time, but I'm keeping all the ideas in mind and getting some great ones on the cooking site too. I'm sure it will come up again.