Who gives a 16 month old chocolate every day?

DD's pudding at nursery and also primary school was subject to different regulartions than when I bake.

Her primary school had the food available for tasting at parent evenings and believe me - it was so bland and unsweetened, I didn't wonder that DD hardly ate it.

For example an apple crumble would be mainly cooked apples with a small scattering of crumbs, nearly unsweeten, and some low sugar custard.

Of course it makes a difference, You would be setting them up for a future life with diabetes, heart conditions and much else, as well associating sweet foods with love and approval - eating disorders almost inevitable! I can hardly believe anyone could think this is OK just because its easy and everyone else does it. To me its beyond lazy, and negligent too.

So 13% of these toddlers ate chocolate, cake, biscuits or sweets everyday. And 9% never ate them.

Its not just chocolate though is it OP? Its a treat. A bit of pudding, a fromage frais, a little orange juice. Theyre all treats.

"When asked about how often biscuits, sweets, chocolates or cakes were eaten, 38% of caregivers reported that they were eaten by children between 2 and 4 times a week. One in 10 (13%) children were reported to eat these foods every day, and a similar proportion (9%) never ate them."

That is from the survey and heres the link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eating-habits-of-children-aged-16-to-18-months/eating-habits-of-children-aged-16-to-18-months-report#background-and-methodology

Not really a shock. I think from an early age I was given home made puddling/cake most days (in the 80’s), chocolate and sweets were a weekly treat rather than daily. As most small children now attend nursery, many of them will get a home made pudding as part of their nursery meal? Or a yoghurt which is likely full of sugar.

I don't really remember what DD ate at that age, she was still heavily reliant on breastmilk. But she's 5 now and I guess she does have some sort of treat every day, either strawberries and ice cream, apple crumble and custard, or some other pudding after her dinner most days. Sometimes she'll talk DH into getting her a gingerbread man or a kinder egg in town. I grew up always having dinner and then pudding, with nothing off limits, and I'm a healthy weight and have a healthy attitude to food. I'd say that things were probably worse in the 90s when it was totally normal to have Frosties or Coco Pops for breakfast, washed down with Sunny D, and given weekly pocket money to spend on weird, brightly coloured novelty sweets from the corner shop. And when I was au-pairing in Spain the kids had pre-bought individually wrapped cakes every day for breakfast, but you rarely saw obese kids and they were just as happy with olives as with sweets.

There is banning treats and turning treats into a daily thing when they are no longer treats but part of the normal diet

treats - something perhaps at the weekend / a Friday trip to the sweatshop for one thing and a home made cake for Sunday.

Absolutely this👆I have a friend who was so obsessed about healthy eating two of her adult children are clinically obese !
Orhorexia is a huge problem with the younger generation as well .

I think this is where people will just fundamentally differ, because I’ve never eaten daily treats and it seems totally weird to me to do so. Surely if you have it every day it’s hardly a treat!!

I was a child who was raised never eating junk food - if I had it at a party or a restaurant or whatever else no comment was passed, but my mum would certainly never feed it to me. I’m so glad she raised me this way.

I’m now a healthy adult and I have a great relationship with food, in so much as I really do LOVE food - but the food I love is healthy and nutritious.

your daughter was 3, verbal and this was a party. You weren't shovelling it into her mouth when she was still spoon fed infant.

Years ago when I was living on the family farm, they hired a new ranch hand - they moved in to the house close to mine.
So to be neighbourly, I bought them a beautiful strawberry pie as a homecoming gift and walked it over.
The lady invited me in…… and there at their table sat the cutest little girl. Except she weighed 10 stone, easy. She was 4 or 5 years old.
I had to gather myself - and I felt stupid for taking such a thoughtless gift.
It was 4pm - and the woman was fixing “a snack” for this young lady — she pulled an entire cookie sheet of chicken nuggets out of the oven.
There must’ve been 20 nuggets on that pan.
”Just something to tide her over until supper,” the woman said.”
That little girl looked like she was about to burst.
And I think that woman showed she loved her by feeding her. All the time. Non-stop.
I don’t know, but that little girl was huge.
I was shocked.
Looking back, it’s heartbreaking.
And me with that stupid, f**kng pie.

That’s rubbish. I still vividly remember the look of horror on a set of parents face at DDs 3rd birthday party when they saw the party food, their kid was the first at the chocolate fingers and was hoarding food like she’d never see it again, they were ulling it out of every pocket and anywhere she could stash it as they left.

Moderation is the key, occasional chocolate/ice cream/biscuits aren’t bad, it’s when the balance is wrong that there are problems.

My mother did only I was a year old. Unforgivable.

Doesn't say what the treats are does it?

If they never try it they won't want it? Nonsense, of course they will want it. If denied as bad ALWAYS rather than a very small part of a normal diet they will crave them or binge eat them when out of healthy eating parents' view.
The Victorians tried this with children - not with food but with ideas. It didn't work. People still wanted sex and drink etc even when the world assured them these things did not exist or if they did, weren't nice.

My 17 month old wants what their older brother and sister gets. So they get a small piece of chocolate. It's really no need for alarm

I don’t think all the items you mention are equally as bad as one another… I think crisps (certain varieties!) aren’t equal to chocolate or haribo. I’d never give haribos. Crisps yes but not every day and only since he was probably 2yo

It often is. Because their attitude to food is so poor they try and mask and over compensate.

In my experience, it is always the fattest parents with the chubbiest kids who love to lecture everyone about how healthy they are all eating and how snacks are banned!

Well, one of any of those in suitable quantity would be fine with me. One can get obsessive about healthy food. Nothing wrong with chocolate, cake, ice cream (in summer, preferably actual ice cream!) or crisps. A diet of carrot sticks and hummus must get boring after a while and making foods 'special' increases their desirability. How about cheese?

Toddlers do not need chocolate, crisps, ice cream or any of that crap. If they never try it, they won't want it.

At 16 months they eat whatever you can get down them, surely?

My son lived on yogurt (probably the sugary type), chips and carrot cake on one holiday when he was about that age.

I agree with this. By withholding all treats and sweets etc you are causing a massive problem. You need to teach moderation.

obviously this is different from giving a 1 year old a mars bar a day (I don’t agree with that!). But it’s a balance.

I’ve seen kids brought up on vegan/organic everything and sat on a different table at parties. So sad.

and those saying they’ve never given sweets until age 3 - what about a bit of ice cream in the summer? Would you not do that?

I definitely know another mum who gives her son, 3, chocolate every day. Chocolate biscuit things mainly. But she is obese and I suspect has no idea on healthy eating. I was shocked when we went for a play date and she handed him chocolate biscuits straight away for lunch, not the sandwich, and no fruit at all.

But on the other side of the spectrum are the poor kids being fed excessively cleanly, who will rebel.

We try and aim for a happy medium, treats occasionally. DH and I often fall out about jam sandwiches and jam toast, and me and MIL may come to blows over sweets >.<

Mine didn't get chocolate until at least 16 years old. Gruel and nothing else. Joke.

Four children here, none have had fillings. Eldest 18yo. All eat treats when they want around 3 meals a day. I cook home made meals mostly.