to let dd have chocolate every day?

[missmoopy]

dd is 5. She loves chocolate and would eat it all day if allowed!
She has healthy diet and is a healthy weight, and she is very active.
I let her have a chocolate treat every day. Am I a terrible human being?

It's absolutely fine. She is 5. She is not overweight. Her diet has been assessed by a dietician. Just make sure she is having the chocolate at meal times, and brushes her teeth. Fruit juices and dried fruits are far worse.

I am a fellow terrible human being (and ex dental nurse who has allowed her chocoholic dd to have chocolate every day since she was about 6 years old. She doesn't have any fillings & she's now 12. The deal is once a day only. Chocolate isn't nearly as harmful to teeth as sweets or even fruit juice. She otherwise eats a healthy diet & drinks only water 90% of the time. My stance is that if you deny them such treats totally then they become like the forbidden fruit. My friend did this with her son the effect was that he would grab any chance to eat "naughty" things. I remember watching him at a birthday party when his parents had dropped him off, plaguing the birthday boy's mum to have his party bag NOW!! He then proceeded to miss most of the fun while he sat down & ate everything in the bag in one go I think moderation in all things.

How does anyone have the time or energy to care what other peoples children eat? I barely care what my children eat, you all could be feeding yours arsenic and coal for all the interest I could have.

What are you doing on MN then BPB?

I wasn't aware that MN was solely concerned with the diet of unknown children? Thanks for clearing that up for me, I must have imagined all the other posters on a myriad of topics. I'll toddle off now then, will I?

No food is intrinsically 'unhealthy' - just the amount you eat.
I let my dd (6) have chocolate every day - after meals as her 'pudding'. She's pretty self regulating actually, she'll have half a Cadbury Caramel or 10 smarties or a packet of buttons and she's happy with that. I think restricting something they like makes them just pig themselves when they get the chance.

Also dentist told me choc is actually better for teeth than sweets or raisins as it dissolves away quickly rather than sticking to teeth for a long time.

Yes, my dd is very happy with that deal but that' her only sugary treat. We don't eat desserts/cream cakes etc & apart from that she eats 3 healthy meals a day. I really don't have a problem with it.

Well on this thread then. MN is basically all about using up one's valuable time taking an idle interest in other people's children/parenting/whatever.

happyflower I beg to differ. Plenty of foods are intrinsically unhealthy and it's definately not just about amounts!

My DD loves to have one 'chocolate milk' at breakfast and will sometimes have a square or two of chocolate for pudding after eating or if she is in dire need of a pick me up and we are out.

She doesn't drink any juice, only water, and is good at brushing her teeth thoroughly two-three times a day.

So I think that's OK. It's all part of a balanced diet, otherwise she ate good cereal today too, with pear, then rice, tuna, peppers, corn and courgettes for lunch and pasta for dinner followed by banana bread.

DD's have some form of treat every day, whether its a couple of chocolate buttons (am too skint to give them a whole pack a day) or a chocolate biscuit. Or we buy mix bags of sweets every so often and they are allowed to pick one or two a day.
I was never allowed sweets or chocolate as a child and I pigged out when I could get my hands on them so they know sweets are just a snack, and not a veyr filling one, so they get a few sweets and then something sensible.
Works for me anyway.

We don't have lollies or sweets, as they are very bad for teeth

So is chocolate.

It is true that chocolate doesn't stick to teeth as say, sweets & raisins, but it still causes an acid attack which is the process that creates plaque & damages teeth & gums.

Incidentally, OP...why is your 5yr old on a low fat diet?

I also allow DD something every day if she asks for it, she's 3.5. (I say if she asks for it, I don't mean every time she asks for it! That'd be a different story!) It'll either be a mini size bar/bag of something or it could be a biscuit at lunchtime.

She goes through phases of eating well and being picky, but generally her diet is otherwise varied enough for now.

On balance, I'm strict on toothbrushing, I encourage her to try new foods and involve her in food preparation when possible and offer alternative snacks and treats.....I'm happy with my choice.

I think as long as someone is paying attention to their childs diet and it's a case of everything in moderation then YANBU.

My 6 year ds has a terrible diet caused by his sn, he has had to have 5 teeth removed under GA. Not a nice experience for a child. Anything sweet is bad for teeth. Be careful.

Low fat dairy products (semi skimmed or even skimmed) and a diet low in saturated fat is recommended for children aged 5 and over, Differentnameforthis

So the OP is probably just trying to ensure her DD has a healthy diet in general.

It is a myth that children of the OP's age still "need" full fat milk and yogurt, and white bread, etc.

Differentnameforthis - in general teeth can withstand a certain amount of acid attack. The advice is no more than 4 acid attacks a day but you have to count drinks as well. Eating a chocolate bar in one go = 1 acid attack. Having a bag of sweets and casually grazing on them throughout the day = several acid attacks. Drinking juices (including pure fruit juice) also counts as an acid attack so if they are sipping these throughout the day this can also do huge damage. I make sure my dd's teeth are brushed thoroughly with fluoride toothpaste twice a day & as I mentioned, my dd is 12, visits the dentist every 6 months & doesn't have a single filling.

Didgeridoo, thats the same advice i received. Any food which contains sugar 'attacks'teeth, so get any 'attacks' over and done with in one go.

So juice and sweet after/with a meal and avoid grazing.

I don't give DS chocolate/sweets every day but if we go to a cafe or visiting and there's cake or something on the table then I won't stop him from having some. He's only 2 but his ability to recognise crap on a table of food is striking!

I don't like the idea of there always being chocolate/cake in the house purely because that's what my parents did. We had the "sweets" cupboard which was always full of cake, crisps, etc, and we had free access to it. It was terribly habit forming and I have an awful sweet tooth now and am overweight (surprise, surprise). My family all operate the same way and we all have weight issues but nobody else seems to think the two things might be related and I have actually been criticised for NOT having biscuits or cake available for unexpected visitors...

Obviously, I'm not suggesting that's what you'll do missmoopy!

I had chocolate every day as a child. A small fudge (remember those!) milkyway, or buttons. Everything else i ate was healthy and home cooked and I was an active child. It did me NO harm. My teeth are good, i have been slim all my life, and maintained my love for chocolate throughout!

I'd carry on but cut back if you see her gaining weight or getting dental cavities.

Enjoy!

Wow, I am surprised by the response and the variety of opinions.

I think we had best all agree to disagree before this gets ugly....

didgeridoo, I know thanks....I am a dental nurse too

Consuming almost anything will cause an acid attack, so you have several in a day.

Was just trying to point out that chocolate is no better/worse than lollies/sweets in theory!