<<sighs>> So then, how should DC who have a propensity to be sturdy be fed/be encouraged to make food choices?

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

I would rather that my DC don't have sugar on their cereal. They have never been offered it and are perfectly happy to eat it without.

To me this is not banning sugar, this is making wise food choices, along with frilling food rather than frying, and only using a scraping of butter if necessary, and so on.

I am trying to educate them that the best policy is moderation.

It has been mentioned to me that if I "control" how the children eat then they will grow up to rebel and eat everything possible because of a restrictive upbringing (which I don't think I am doing).

So, how should I be feeding the DC so as not to damn them to a lifetime of sturdiness?

Yes Pag, that's good point - focused feeding.

All meals are at the table in our house except slovenly TV suppers when DC are in bed.

Thanks everyone for your input, it really helps - I've been in a dilemma about this for a while.

And yep, sturdiness is a euphemism for fleshy.

Dentist also told my 8y DD that she is better to have a small treat of chocolate than she is to have raisins and dried fruits. Apparently horrendous for your teeth.

I go with everything in moderation and balance, with no mention of bad foods, nothng being banned and with no reference to dieting. Lots of activity to go with it.

TBH I suspect it will all go out of the window was DD is a teenager and feeding herself of a weekend or at the school canteen. But hopefully she'll learn something.

Thanks twop - positiveness over benefits over dwelling on the negatives is a great attitude to encourage.

I'd love to see a scrap between a dentist and a nutritionist.

raisins/fruit juice are rotten for the teeth, but nutritionally pretty good.

So, who would win?

[wunk]

I think it's also important not to give children the message that food is NOT a reward and something to make one feel better when down/angry/sad.
Food is to enjoy at meal times .

It's tricky

The nutritionist should be fit but the dentist could bite.

I think nigella could take them both on, mind

i wouldn't fight with a dentist, they have drills!

nutritionist just have pamphlets of dietary advice!

Everything in moderation and lots and lots of exercise.

I was talking about this to someone the other day. I'm almost 42 and out of my whole Infant, Junior and Senior school I can honestly only remember 3 fat children...and one fat child in my street.

In those days (cos I'm ancient!) sugar, cakes, sweets and fizzy drinks weren't seen as the awful things they are now and most Mums used to cook with lard/dripping..even spreading it on toast was considered healthy in the Winter.

But all of us agreed that we used to play outside from morning til dusk because we only had 3 channels on the TV to watch (and even they were 90%) adult programmes. There were no consoles or computers to keep us indoors either.

So I'm a firm believer that if you're diet is halfway ok, as long as you get plenty of exercise you should keep the fat off.

When ds was little, he was happy to eat cereal without sugar. Then dh came back from the supermarket with coco pops and ds discovered the world of sugary, chocolatey gooey breakfasts... sadly dh 'forgets' that I actually write about effing nutrition for a living (amongst other things).

Actually a little sugar on cereal is no biggy but if you don't develop a taste for it in the first place, that's no bad thing. But the unhealthy breakfast cereals should definitely be an occasional treat. (And you need to read the packet carefully, it's not just the obvious ones that are unhealthy - last time I check All Bran was horrendously high in salt and museli is usually high in sugar.)

I try to feed ds a balanced diet that includes some treats. He does eat lots of fruit including dried fruit and juice but the dentist says his teeth are fine, thankfully.

we use food as a reward constantly. Whispering 'Cake! Cake!' is the way to keep small children going on long walks over the hills.
the theory is that then their love of walking over hills will balance out the love of cake we are developing
and we do often share a single bit between 5 of us (aren't slices of cake in cafes enormous these days?)

i have once encouraged DD to climb upstairs by holding some chocolate out in front of her

No-one's teeth fall out because they eat fruit juice and dried fruit. Your teeth fall out if you totally neglect them or if you have bad genes. I have great teeth though I eat all the stuff that's bad for them, my husband who eats nearly the same diet but not the sticky stuff has almost more fillings than teeth in his mouth. If you think it's childhood diets that matter, my sister is the same because her mother's teeth are awful too. She ate even less sweets and sticky food than me because of this and still ended up with a mouth full of holes!

The only tooth rule I pay attention to apart from brushing morning and night is to not brush soon after you've had citrus, sweet drinks or tomatoes because the acidity + abrasion is not good for your teeth. But I don't tend to brush my teeth after eating anyway so it's academic, really.

Also, no-one gets fat/diabetic from a sprinkle of sugar on their cereal. It's genes, fibre and exercise.

Just stop stressing out! Make sure your kids brush their teeth properly, use flouridated toothpaste or make sure they drink a lot of tea if your water's not flouridated, make sure they eat some veggies and take exercise regularly. There's no need to ban sugar on cereal or anything else. You say you believe in moderation but no sugar on cereal isn't moderation, it's banning. Relax! (

sethstarkaddersmackerel - we're the same here. The whole point of outdoor activity is the tea and cake afterwards

If you teach your children to brush their teeth after a meal, or at least drink water, then they residue from the fruit and raisins will be gone.. and no harm done to their teeth.

And I totally agree with Worra.

I grew up on a 1970's diet of fizzy pop, sugar, and sweets, and still have all my own teeth, healthy gums, and very few fillings at the age of 42.

Nor did I put any weight on until I discovered a liking for alcohol..

No sugar on cereal isn't a ban unless they ask for it and you say no. I don't give DD whipped cream on her bedtime hot chocolate, would that count as a ban?

I banned juice/squash at meal recently, that really was a ban, and actually they've survived. DD is sugar-obsessed, but she always has been, while DS lives for salad, apples and Brussel sprouts, so I'm deeply sceptical that I have any power to affect their future eating habits, all I can do is feed them a reasonable diet while they're under my roof.

My system is:

1. Hold out on unhealthy food as long as possible. Managed to get DD to nearly 4yo without her tasting Tomato Ketchup. Now she wants it on EVERYTHING!

1. Have some element of control over unhealthy food - again with TK, DD is allowed one reasonably sized dollop (if she is having fish fingers, sausages, that kind of meal). If she uses it all up on one fish finger, then tough.

1. Chose your battles - carrying on the TK example, a kids party is not the time to be strict about food. If DD wants a load of TK, followed by 4 cakes, that's fine. But its a super healthy tea later on, with plenty of fruit.

(btw, I do actually agree with the rebelling. My mum only eats/serves really healthy food. As a result - I believe - I crave unhealthy food. I only ever eat crap cheap white bread, as a result of being served home-baked granary loaf for my whole childhood! ).

You people are crazy. How is tomato ketchup unhealthy? Good lord.

squeakytoy - sure you arn't supposed to brush your teeth straight away or it can make matters orse. Need to wait a little while.

And reality is most children have thinkg like raisins as a snack when out, so liklihood of being able to brush after is not high.

Im a nutritionist and get on great guns with my dentist

rinabean ketchup is loaded with sugar and acid. It is incredibly acidic to the point where it actually makes for a really good cleaning agent.

Gah - 'sugar' meaning the refined white crap. Natural sugar is not an alien substance to our body and does not effect it the same way. Sugar is empty calories - it strips body of nutrients- it is addictive - it is a long term chemical poison.

I would say a good way to encourage a healthy diet are example, moderation, lack of negative association with eating and no focus on food as a reward or treat.

Oh god just had flashbacks. DS wouldn't go in his pushchair and wanted to walk everywhere, and would - for miles. I use to bribe him with buttons to get him in it.

I'm guessing though after the distance he'd walked it wasn't all that bad.

I can offer some perspective as I have 3 adult dcs and one teenage DS. We never had sugar on ceeal and semi skimmed milk once they were 3. No sweets. Cakes/puddings rarely and mostly home made. Biscuits- one pack a week, once gone, is gone. To drink, watered down juice (that was one thing I regretted, could never get them to drink just water). Food was never a matter for reward or punishment, but eg if st course not eaten, clearly yu are not hungry and therefore don't need pudding (fruit or yoghurt usually)Most food cooked from fresh ingredients and always eaten at the table with whole family until they were at the age to be out independently doing stuff.
So- end result- DS1 cooks most of his own food (veggie) drinks water, DDs both cook own food, pasta with tomatoe sauce that sort of thing....we have nver had the 'rebelling by eating crap' thing, I think, because, well, why would you want to eat crap?