What is really stopping us from feeding our children healthy food?

[LilMissRe]

I saw an article today about obesity levels in little children and how it is increasing to dangerous levels. I'm intrigued as this is for a project I'm doing to graduate from university- hopefully this year!

The concern here is that, well, little ones (0-5 yrs) have the least say in what they can eat and drink, and as many don't start school officially till 4-5- schools can't really intervene and so a lot of experts place the blame entirely on us parents- especially mothers.

In my opinion I think time and marketing of unhealthy food is a big player here and is to blame, but I can't just use my opinion and would be very grateful for your opinions and experiences on this.

What is really stopping us from feeding our children healthy food?

Thank you!

Since being pregnant and having my little boy I have taken to eating very healthy meals, plenty of fresh fruit, fish and veg, free range, corn fed meat etc...by doing this my shopping has increased by roughly £25-£30 a month... I am just about to go onto maternity pay, so this increase is I'll afforded... Many people are in similar situations with rising council taxes, increased rent rates etc, they rely on food banks for their food to make ends meet and unhealthy cheaper options from supermarkets in order to still feed their kids... I don't necessarily think all fault should be blamed on people not cooking etc ..

In addition to this all the time that clothes now range in all sizes (think it was m&s that first launched school uniform plus sizes) people don't feel discouraged from being obese it's now just seen as the norm! Look back on shows like top of pops in the 80's and 90's and people were very different then too.. yes lots more people cooked but there was also less bad stuff available at our fingertips, click of a button etc... Dinner used to be about family time now it's about shoving whatever down your neck in front of tv and then snacking later...

Not everyone prioritises food, which isn't necessarily income related but is more likely the further you go down income levels.

I volunteer with families in crisis and was so shocked to see that many of them have really lovely homes but they say they can't afford to eat properly. They would rather buy latest clothes/furniture and pay it off weekly and be left with £2 (or sometimes less) per day for food. In one area I go into the children all get free school meals so the parents think they have already eaten so might give them crisps for dinner. The ones who do meal plan buy everything in Iceland and think that waffles, beans and sausages/burgers is a healthy meal because it's meat, potato and veg even though beans aren't.

I found out recently that my eldest uses dinner money to buy multiple chocolate bars and crisps from the pound shop beside the school. Pound shops have made chocolate and crisps very affordable; I was telling mine that Inused to get one chocolate bar a week, it was expensive and considered a treat, certainly not a daily occurrence of eating 3+.

Fresh food is expensive, I remember on holiday in Tunisia we ate lots of strawberries, peaches, watermelon etc that we could never afford (or justify) at home as it is very expensive here. The same for vegetables.

Pressed too soon...it is a bit short sighted to not understand why everyone does not want to cook a meal from scratch every day. The families I deal with are largely unemployed, but would say they don't have the time/money to cook. You can get a large family lasagne in Iceland for £5, why would they cook it from scratch (more time/money) when they think they are getting the same thing cheaper and ready made?

I also imagine that a big part of it has to be both parents getting home late. After school clubs and nurseries are open until 6pm. In the 80s there wasn't so many private nurseries and after school was unheard of.

Supermarkets have made cheap food. A homemade lasagne probably has more meat and veg in it than a shop bought equivalent, which is likely to have more pasta the cheaper ingredient.

They also encourage a sweet tooth by loading stuff with sugar. But now sugar has increase in price, sod the planet vegetable (palm) oil is sweet and cheap, and people dont know so use that instead.

stayathomer obviously I’m not watching every kid, every day, or asking for every kid what they eat for breakfast. But I have three kids in primary and I’m at school every day, at least twice a day. It’s certainly a pattern and a certainty that most kids we know are having a lot of sugar weekly.

This all seems very depressing, but I do see the occasional hopeful sign that perhaps we have passed “peak obesity” and things are starting to improve.
For example, I was recently stuck in traffic outside a large secondary school in a nearby (fairly deprived) city, at 4pm. I was there long enough to see the whole school come out. Out of interest (retired doctor, old habits etc!) I decided to count the number of obese kids.
Any of you care to guess the result?
I was amazed, and heartened, to find only 2 visibly overweight and 0 severely obese!
So perhaps the message is getting through. The “daily mile” initiative in schools, plus the sugar tax, are probably helping. Let’s hope the welcome trend continues.

Actually that's a good point. I teach secondary and I see far more children choosing something like a jacket spud and salad for lunch or eating a banana at break time than I did 10 years ago. I don't see heaps of obese kids either. There are a few but most are slim.

I think portion control is one of the biggest problems. I see children eating adult meals.
Also many people don't cook and children snack too much.
Food is everywhere and maybe for some is quantity not quality.
Our son is 13 this is a dinner for him.

Yesterday ds age 3 ate

Breakfast: half a slice of brown buttered toast, one of those collective squeezy yoghurts

Lunch: one small triangle ham sandwich, a few slices of cucumber, a couple of strawberries, a packet of pom bears

Dinner: pasta with tomato sauce. About 10 pieces of pasta

A cracker with butter and cheese before bed

That's loads for him. Yet MIL considers that hardly anything.

For me, time is definitely a factor. We all have to be out the door by 8.15 in the morning and by the time DP and I finish work, pick up DS and get homes, its about 7pm.

With dinner, homework and housework to tackle, we dont have alot of time to ourselves.

We don't tend to have nuggets and chips type meals but I tend to cook alot of pasta and pesto type meals and DS is too fond of unhealthy snacks.

I'm hoping to get into a better routine over the summer holidays when things are less of a rush.

I do think alot of people are never taught the skills to cook and plan meals on a budget. I grew up in a household where we were comfortable, parents decent cooks and I picked up from them without being actively taught. Also spent alot of time with grandparents who babysat 5 of us(!) during the school holidays and although I was young at the time, picked up how my grandmother would shop and alter things to suit everyone on a budget. Its only now that I realise how valuable this is and they need to teach more of it in schools.

Ive seen my mum roast a chicken, use leftovers for sandwiches and make soup with the carcass and have done the same in my own house.

I've yet to make "strawberry crunch surprise" for anyone using angel delight and digestive biscuits which is the kind of crap we got taught in home ec.

I think time is probably a big factor, I know that by the time I collect my son from after school care, get home around 5.45 and he is generally in bed around seven it's a squeeze. He is also monumentally fussy! I usually do a couple of nights of 'new' food but sometimes the crying meltdowns are too hard to take.
For context, he has a healthy breakfast and lunch but isn't a big dinner eater.

roundabouts I’m not being funny but that IS hardly anything for a three year old.

BazaarMum

It isn't, he is growing and thriving and hitting all his milestones. He could have absolutely had more than that if he wanted it. I put more pasta on his plate. He had two sandwiches there to eat. He didn't want them. He stopped because he was full.

That's my point. Children have tiny tummies. I have seen adult sized portions of spag bol dished out to toddlers.

And BTW I don't restrict anything either. I'm more than happy for him to have chocolate buttons and ice cream and happy meals etc.

I honestly think portion size is the biggest factor here.

I’m tired. That’s the answer here.
We both work and whilst we don’t eat crap every day; I do sometimes choose the easy option. Easily healthy options every day cost a fortune too.

The thing is what is "healthy". Pasta is perfectly healthy. Rice is perfectly healthy. Beans on toast are perfectly healthy.

Not expensive and very very easy to cook.

roundabouts does he drink a lot of milk alongside his food? There’s very little protein there. Is he low on the centiles? I don’t think that’s representative of ‘healthy’ portion sizes for most active three year olds. That’s a tiny amount of food at mealtimes (and all mine are beanpoles btw...)

He has a bit of milk, when he asks for it. Plenty of beans, pulses, fish and chicken for protein too.

Nope, he's 25th centile for weight and 50th for height.

He's perfectly healthy but thank you for the concern

roundabouts it’s not concern, I’m just interested if that’s his entire food intake for the day (or if he has milk, snacks etc. on top of it), and if his size means he doesn’t need many calories.

Glad to hear it’s working for him, over a week it probably looks very different in terms of overall intake. But that snap shot of one day really isn’t a lot of food (or protein) for a three year old...

I think people's expectations of children's eating are bizarre. DS3 is 3 and he's been to parties where he had food shovelled at him till he couldn't keep up. Sausage rolls, sandwiches, crisps, party rings, cakes etc etc. And after 5 minutes people saying "ooh, he's a slow eater isn't he?", "doesn't he like jelly?". And I'm thinking just leave him be, he's enjoying his food his way. I always have buffet type meals for parties so no one feels pressured (at least by me) to have or not have certain things and I allow more than 10 minutes from sitting down to the next part of the event starting. Wolfing down huge amounts of food in a short time doesn't encourage listening to your body or exercising any restraint. And I'm certainly not part of the "a whole bean sprout each, think of the sugar 😱" crowd either. In fact I'm actively losing weight at the moment because I admit I need to,

I don't think it's all down to food kids just sent allowed to play like they used to everything is dangerous, we recently had a lot of swings and climbing frames removed as they are no longer safe apparently. Alot of parents would rather have their child Infront of TV and a tablet rather than playing out. But convenient food is much cheaper and fruit has really went up in price imo I just filled up my fruit bowl and it cost me £12 and it will only last maybe 2 or 3 days

roundabouts I find it interesting you think your son self regulates at 3. Surely it’s just as likely he’s bored, wants to get on with something else etc?

My 4 year old eats like that some days and I know she can’t regulate because of the way she behaves around chocolate etc.

I notice that my son (aged 3) does self regulate. Not just with his meals but with snacks and treats so, for example, he had an ice cream at the weekend but only ate half despite it being one of his favourite things, because he was full. I wouldn't have the willpower to do that and I wonder when that natural instinct stops and children eat too much.

"Lots of parents don't want the argument. They make things they think their kids will eat/like. "

It's mainly this, in my own case.

I'm a good cook, I'm educated about healthy balanced diets, but I think I made the mistake early on of assuming that my children would only like quite a small range of fairly plain, boring (albeit home-cooked) foods. It would never have occurred to me to cook fish pie/sardines on toast/veggie curry/exotic salads for a family meal.

Maybe I just fed them the food we had growing up..? Meat, potatoes/rice, plus one or maybe two veggie 'sides'. Shepherds' Pie and peas. Lasagne and peas. I don't remember eating even the plainest salad as a child. On the plus side, we only ever drank water (pretty much the same for my kids), a Petit Filous was a treat, pudding/fizzy drinks were only on Sundays, and biscuits were a treat.

I used to only give my kids a piece of fruit for a snack, but friends who have 3/4/5 biscuits after school every day, plus maybe a small ice cream/waffle have now got mine expecting at least a couple of biscuits each day too 😖

Basically, it's all my fault!

There's a huge scale though. I think our family is definitely at the healthier end of it, but it's all relative to so many other, complex, interpolating issues. Relatively, I could and should do a whole lot better than I do