Honestly, how much processed food does your young child eat?

[FoodShame]

Yes, I watched the BBC documentary about ultra processed foods. I've felt guilty about my 3 year old's diet for some time, but it was the wake-up call I needed. I actually feel quite anxious about the amount of processed food she's eaten over the last couple of years. We started off so well, and she had a great diet until she was about 18 months old. Then as fussiness increased and our lives got busier, I seem to have got worse at feeding her a healthy diet. These days she lives off peperamis, cheese strings, frubes and cereal. I do cook at least one decent meal each day with plenty of veg, but she usually leaves it and just asks for toast instead (the only alternative she's offered). She won't eat any fresh fruit anymore, which she used to love.

I'm not really asking for advice, more reassurance I suppose? I plan to make some positive changes but feel so bad about what's already been done.

I wouldn't sweat it but I'd personally cut all those out as regular foods and focus on real food. Will she eat cubes of cheddar if she likes cheese strings? It's unusual not to like any fruits. What about smoothies frozen into lollies?

I give occasional convenience food but I've really tried to completely cut it out in the last year or so as they get given do much crap food elsewhere (school/parties etc). The sweets coming home are relentless in early primary!

To be honest I try to stick to the natural versions of things as far as possible (although he does get some processed food like baked beans). So I use natural yogurt, normal cheddar, ready brek or weetabix as cereal, fruit or breadsticks as a snack. He doesn’t eat many vegetables unless they are hidden though but that’s quite normal.

These days she lives off peperamis, cheese strings, frubes and cereal

My dc eat all of these things and I'm fine with that...but 'lives off them' is a little extreme. I'd just try and make gradual small changes like frubes for flavoured natural yoghurt, Peperami for strips of chicken, give only the healthier types of cereal.

Also if fruit is something shes stopped eating, I'd recommend a nutribullet. One of my dc has never been keen on fruit but will happily chug back natural smoothies. And they all have a banana milkshake almost daily (just milk and overripe banana, they're bloody lovely).

Dd definitely has too.much. she's lactose intolerant and a bit fussy. I am trying to make regular changes. Eg we now have a breadmaker and her toast or.sandwiches are from there. I am working hard to prepare fresh things like chicken or red meat rather than letting her and dh default to nuggets and sausages. She's probably having spaghetti bolognaise too often but rather that than more processed food!

She drinks oat milk so.have switched to the oatly.organic one which has no preservatives etc nor rapeseed oil.

She loves a burger and they are actually very easy to make so will be doing that at some.point. she already has chicken burgers made with chicken breadts although the buns are uhp. I might try making buns in the breadmaker soon.

Breakfast She still has weetos some days but we have upped the number of days I make banana or regular pancakes, smoothies or even waffles. On weekends she sometimes has eggs.

Slow and steady. That's what I am working on.

I have a very fussy three year old too. I totally get it. I have tried to make homemade versions of his favourite snack foods (like digestive biscuits or oat bars) and he won't touch them. I tried making some flatbread for him yesterday and he refused it (but ate a piece of normal bread). I feel bad but there are only so many battles I can fight and he seems to eat okay at nursery.

@SavBlancTonight

Just a word of warning about the organic Oatly. I was looking into using this for my DS, but it isn't fortified at all, so no calcium or iodine.

DS doesn't eat dairy, so I'm using the Oatly Barista right now for him.

Very little actually. I saw various documentaries the last few years and really try to keep it minimal where possible. It’s not 100%, but we try our best.

Ds is also 3 years and fussy. But I buy bakery non preservative bread if we have, he gets Greek yogurt with fruit/ honey, cheese is cubes, cereal porridge or wheetabix.
I make things like roast veg and tomato sauce, blitz so he can’t see ‘lumps’ and freeze in toddler size portions for fast pasta sauce or homemade pizza topping.

If we go out or to others houses he has free range to eat whatever they offer

I see it as just change one thing at a time if easier. Ie swap frubes for something else, see how that goes a week or so, before you try the next thing. No need to go extreme in one day, it’s a gradual lifestyle change and mentally

Oh, didn't think to check that. Will take a look. It's f###ing impossible to get right.

@SavBlancTonight

Tell me about it.

I'm trying to cut out UPF but my dairy allergic son's allergist tells us he should eat a fortified yoghurt each day and drink fortified milk and they all contain so much crap :(

My DS lived on processed beige food when he was that age. No chance to get him to eat anything else, and he was also super skinny, so I didn't really want to starve him. But I kept cooking healthy, varied food for the rest of the family and now he eats everything. Loves his veggies, will choose salad bar over junkfood, adores sushi and spicy homemade curries and stir-fries. As long as your family diet is healthy and you keep offering him to try, it will likely be just fine.

Mine eat loads of shite tbh and I feel like I do try hard with their diets despite that. There's never enough time (or money to mitigate for some of the lack of time), and eldest has always been fussy and youngest has some things theyve never eaten either and some things he dislikes, eldest likes and vise versa. Tbh honestly it causes me so much anxiety their diets.

I’d be swapping out gradually eg cut up cheddar, natural yoghurt, healthier cereals like shredded wheat. I’d really not be offering toast either. Give a variety of things as the meal so they can pick and choose (eg make your own fajitas and she can chose what to have in it).

I feel like my 3yo keeps Petit Filou yoghurts in business sometimes, but apart from that it’s not too bad. He eats a lot of toast too but doesn’t have cereal, beige oven stuff, sweets or chocolate, so that makes me feel a bit better

Far too much.

He's neuro diverse and relies on a very small selection of 'safe' foods.

Much preferable, though, to the time when he only ate yogurts and nothing else.

My DD is nearly 2 and I try to give her no UPF's after reading up on their dangers while weaning her (fell down a bit of a rabbit hole as I was initially looking into how best to wean her to reduce her exzema and early allergy signs)

I feel lucky that due to this I haven't really had to cut things out of her diet but it has been a big learning process

I've actually been thinking about starting to publish recipes etc. As I couldn't find much out there for raising kids to be UPF free

Can you post a link to the documentary please

Not that much. Bread is the main thing but I’m going to make my own before long. The processed stuff they have is some chocolate, sweets and ice cream but they don’t have that every day.
Ready salted crisps are non UPF so I buy those

We're quite neurotic so not much. The occasional fish fingers and chips and toast sometimes but we try to make our own bread. Oh and she had a magnum today but we do our best.

Processed food freaks me out!

Its hard but feeding them the same as you is the answer. Snacks stick to crudités, cheese cubes, hummus etc.

Worked for one of mine and not the other!

I think this is where moderation is key. If fortified non dairy alternatives are needed, so be it. You can focus on non uhp elsewhere.

I want to use less for dd but for the rest of us, the relatively small amount doesn't bother me at all.

Also, I have been reading a few things that suggest the uhp thing is overblown. I still want to cut them.down for dd - too many chemicals surely isn't good- but I am not beating myself up if I can't do it 100%.

Today Dd (3yrs old) some deli turkey, commercially produced bread, tomato out of a jar, some pretzels (I ran out of olives for her lunchbox and found some pretzels instead) and pasta

low upf foods were plain yoghurt, parmesan, mixed berries, mango and pineapple, butter. She refused to eat bolognase.

She’s quite fussy tbh, still can’t get veg into her, refusing milk (can’t use cereal as transport because she hates cereal too, dr said chocolate milk but she hates that as well). I really do need to start making my own sauces really, we are just a bit time poor.

TBH I found with DD that nothing will compel her to eat what she doesn’t want to. I didn’t see the point of veg till I was in my 20’s when I decided it’s quite nice actually.

do you have any links? I'd be really interested as also cutting back on UPF but only heard negatives so far.

I have a 14 month old and was finding it so difficult. But now she has more healthier home made foods. Today she had 1 slice of wholemeal toast for breakfast. Lunch was half a tuna sandwich (in spring water) raspberries & a few wotsits. Dinner was roast chicken, broccoli, potato & cheddar bites I found a recipe for online, with a few more raspberries and a petit filous yoghurt. She'll have the odd milk during the day, and milk before bed.

During the week if her dads working late and I'm shattered (32 weeks pregnant) I'll make fish fingers & beans or a little toddler spaghetti bolognese meal from Morrisons 🤣

If you're struggling to find quick & easy recipes I find tik tok/YouTube incrediblly useful.