Who gives a 16 month old chocolate every day?

I agree, and this is how it was when I was growing up in the 80’s, we had dessert almost every day, things like rice pudding, sponge and custard or apple crumble. My mum always had home made cake in the house too for people visiting or for our lunch boxes. None of us were ever over weight (I was quite skinny), we were all pretty active. Things like chocolate bars and sweets were a treat, we were allowed to buy something each Friday after school. I did have a friend that had a drawer in the fridge full of chocolate bars and they were allowed to pick something each day from it, I loved going to their house.

But yes, dessert is and was a part of a meal, which is why schools/nurseries serve 2 courses, they do try and make things with lower sugar content. I don’t see sugar as a bad thing, everything is fine in moderation.

Well, my parents, in their 90s, have always had dessert every day, as do I. We are all very slim. It seems very odd to just have a main course and just…stop. There’s a reason why schools and nurseries have dessert - because it’s part of a meal. Likewise, children in France have three courses, I think, for school lunch. If you are invited to eat at a friend’s, surely you are offered a dessert. Or going out to eat in a restaurant?

When I was a little.girl, everyone bought me sweets, we were allowed sweets at school, I had a cupboard full of sweets, we had antuck shop at school. I wasn't particularly bothered about sweets. I was allowed sweets whenever I wanted. I was as skinny as a rake.

DH and his sisters lived in a worthy, church going home where ITV was frowned upon and sweets were a big deal, counted out and generally rationed.

DH's sisters are very greedy with food, one is obese, and to this day, he's 64, I still find crafty Mars Bar wrappers in DH's pockets. Whereas I can't remember the ladt time I ate chocolate.

All.good things in moderation.

They weren't fat at playgroup, just fed badly. They are fat now, 15 plus years later.

Lol this thread. You can have a daily treat AND be healthy. It's stupid to ban all treats until age 3 or whatever. Treats are everywhere. It's more important to learn about moderation. I personally want to teach that all foods are okay, we just need different ones in different amounts. Most adults have a treat everyday. In an otherwise balanced dietary, a bar of chocolate or a biscuit each day is absolutely not going to harm you, FFS.

Today my toddler had:
Porridge with honey and fruit, cucumber and cheese, a jacket with tuna and sweetcorn, a banana soreen, and then spag bol (with mushrooms and carrots added) and a yoghurt for tea.
Yesterday she had: Wheetabix and fruit, crackers and cheese, Avacado and egg on toast, an angel cake, sausage casserole (made with mixed beans, chopped tomatoes, rice, onion) and a yoghurt.

She eats a healthy, balanced diet, but most days one of her snacks will be some cheese snips, a small cake, a biscuit, or etc. She loves all those things, but equally is obsessed with fruit, and will always pick up veg first from a plate (she can't possibly be related to me 😂)

She doesn't have chocolate, but it would bother me if she had it every now and then. Her treats are more a little rice pudding pot, a biscuit, a handful of quavers, strawberries and ice cream, etc.

As she gets older, she likely won't have pudding, as we don't eat it, but at this age I'm keen to make sure she's getting enough calories and pudding is part of that 🤷

I was very careful with DC1, but DC2 had health issues and couldn't digest fruit or veg until she was 3. Her main source of nutrition until she was 18 months was breastmilk, and she wasn't completely weaned until she was 3. The NHS dietician told us to pop in a couple of chocolate buttons several times a day, as they melted in her mouth and were a digestible source of calories.

She's in her 20s now, fit, healthy, excellent diet and has never had a filling. Obviously it's different when you are giving chocolate on the recommendation of a dietician, but it really has not done her any harm.

Mine go to nursery and have dessert daily there. It doesn't really bother me, especially as it's not like it's a massive chocolate cake.

Anecdotal of course. Much like your point was too. Nobody I know has dessert everyday.

I didn't but as long as their diet is balanced overall I don't see an issue. Having pudding after a main meal is not a new thing. You might argue that regular snacking is a new thing and is a problem.

DS had a cow's milk protein allergy, one of the milks he was prescribed (by the NHS) has glucose syrup as the first ingredient. Not only did I feel shite about not being able to breastfeed him, I then felt extra shite that the formula I was giving him tasted disgusting and was made with awful ingredients (we went from Kendamil to Althera then Alfamino.) The latter two are yuck and he refused to drink the Althera for ages, I was mixing it with Kendamil for weeks, all while worrying about making my baby ill but not wanting him to starve.

And unless you're making everything from scratch (including bread) then there's going to be a bit of added salt or sugar in things. I was told (by an NHS dietician) to not buy the sugar free oat or soya milk because DS needed the calories from the ones with sugar. (I used oat milk until I got him onto dairy, he now refuses to drink milk at all though.)

Strange.

All the parents I know with overweight kids go on about how a sausage roll won't hurt them. Obviously a single one won't but a sausage roll habit will!

Sure, but that's largely a matter of personal preference. I'm a pretty moderate eater, I like a Michelin starred restaurant, but I also like sweets. My husband doesn't have a sweet tooth. My kids had some junk and mostly healthy food and are all good eaters. But going overboard on demonising and banning some foods is like teaching abstinence in sex ed, bound to fail.

What you really want is to help them become people who can walk through the world of temptations self-moderating and making good, healthy choices.

Honestly, though, I don't want to rain on your winnings parade, it sounds great...but...
I was brought up in a similar way, mostly because sweets were expensive. I very rarely had them, but it turns out it did nothing to prevent my sweet tooth.

The minute I had my own money, I got sweets. Ate them in secret at home, etc. it's stayed with me for life. I am 51 now, and sweets are still the thing I struggle to give up. It's still my favourite thing, desserts are the thing I cook the most.

I don't know, I'm not expert, but I think some folk are just sweet and some are savoury, regardless of what you get at home. My sister is savoury and we had the same restrictions.

I still think it's right to do what you and my mother did, I just don't think it quite creates the habits we think logically it should.

I don't know about you, but procreation is the very last thing I use sex for 😂

Depends, while I don't understand why having a pudding at the end of every meal is such a big deal - who cares if you finish with a yogurt or a fruit salad or a slice of cake?, I also don't understand why people must reward themselves with food, and the most unhealthy and processed the better.

I get booking a Michelin star restaurant as a treat, but having "cheat days" and demolishing a bag of crisps or a box of Krispy Kreme is weird.

Food should be fuel, not a reward, not a treat.

Yeah, and sex is for procreation, but it's fun, so people like it for more than that. With both food and sex, surely healthy moderation is possible?

At that age my son didn't have snacks or sweet treats of any sort because if I did give him them he wouldn't eat his meals. And I wanted him to eat nutritious things and not rubbish.

there’s a middle ground though personally I wouldn’t bother introducing until they’re old enough to be aware they’re missing out on what other kids are doing so no chocolate as a baby but no making them an outcast by demanding they don’t eat the party food at another kid’s birthday and have a carrot instead.

The same way I wouldn’t give a toddler an iPad but there’s a middle ground between that and those who don’t let their 17 and 3/4 year old have a phone

isn't it both?

If you think start using food as some kind of weird reward, instead of just grabbing a banana or a piece of chicken because you are hungry, you end up with a very unhealthy life.

You can easily "deprogram"yourself, remove most of the sugar and you will soon find it very unappealing. Eat healthy food and you soon will have no interest in junk food and cheap takeaways.

Put 4 or 5 sugar in your tea. Some people might love it, but most will find it undrinkable. I honestly do. Same thing with junk food, it's genuinely not appealing to everyone.

no wonder if people are fat when they believe that food is "treat food".

Include it in celebrations as you want, most of us do, but food is fuel. It doesn't have to taste "celebratory" most day. It's not a big thing, and it really is not the centre of your day or life! Unless you are a chef.

Mine didn't eat sweets or chocolate daily at that age 😳 I wasn't particularly anti-treats but we just didn't really have that stuff in the house and snacks tended to be slices of apple or a banana, not often though as they ate 3 decent meals a day and didn't really need anything inbetween meals. I wasn't averse to the occasional bag of chocolate buttons or an ice-cream once in a while!

I will fully let you have your win :)

I was only allowed coke twice a year as a teenager and now I drink way too much of it every day 😩😩

Evidence for that?

That is a really unhealthy attitude. Food is much, much more than just fuel. It’s pleasure, joy, community, culture, celebration, festivals, family, friends. The whole of life has food at its centre.

As much as I understand this logic, the reality is that humans crave fat and sugar and it really does give you that ‘hit’. And for a lot of, especially in this current climate and the stress of modern parenting (and ease of these treats compared to other niceities) it’s what gets used. Ill be honest, my chocolate gets me through the day.

That’s probably it then! I never have sugary drinks so my kids have only ever had milk and water and that’s all they want. Im terrible for actual snacks though.

The thing is, as a kid I wasn’t allowed any crisps or chocolates ever, nothing. I would genuinely have dreams about other people’s lunch boxes. There was so much longing. It was ridiculous. And now my main meals are very healthy but I adore those sweet treats.