to ask if your kids eat junk food?

[happylittlefish]

Surely its okay for kids to have one treat or so a day? Or AIBU? My ds9 is really thin and a typical day for him might be:

• Porridge, banana
• Sandwich/wrap, apple, grapes, crisps/choc biscuit
• Tea
• Malt loaf/yogurt/fruit

His diet isn't that bad is it? Since joining MN I've been doubting it... So do you let your kids have junk food?? What do your kids eat in a typical day???

That diet sounds fine. I'm not really sure what the definition of junk food is tbh. I struggle to see the difference between a school dinner pudding and a choc bar, and I can't get worked up by a kid having fish fingers, fries, carrot sticks and milk as a McDonald's happy meal.

I have a 3 year old. We will have something sweet like a biscuit, home made cake or an ice cream usually a few times a week and chips maybe every fortnight. I make pizza at home, I guess that could be classed as junk but doesn't seem like it to me.

I avoid fizzy drinks sweets like haribo though, as they can really bugger your teeth, and I don't tend to buy chocolate. We also don't really eat takeaways (or fast food like McDonalds), maybe 5 - 6 times a year total, and that's usually when we aren't eating with him.

But he's only 3, and I can imagine there being a very different story by the time he's 9, or even 6.

Mine have a fairly balanced diet; some junk, some good stuff, some stuff in between. I have friends who feed their children no junk ever (no crisps, sweets, processed food, squash, ready meals, junk food, takeaways, treats) and their kids just look sad and pale all the time, except for when they're at parties when they gorge on any old shite (and meat, they're also vegetarians) til they projectile vomit over the back of the mums car.

My kids are healthy despite me sometimes letting them have crisp sandwiches for supper. It seems a healthier way to bring them up; learning about nutrition and balance rather than simply cutting out all 'bad' food.

Worra I once read something that said "if you're regularly eating food you wouldn't give to a toddler, you probably need to take a look at your diet."

I think with the exception of very spicy food - and booze obviously - it's a pretty good rule.

Yup. We eat little processed food for main meals so pretty much everything home cooked. However, they have crisps, biscuits or sweets and it hasn't killed them yet. Now adult DDS are very health conscious - both a size 10 - and are good cooks.
Ds 14 would eat junk all day if I let him so have to manage it with small changes. Home made pizza rather than shop bought, discouraging too much in the way to fizzy drinks, hiding green veg in meals but yes, he gets sweets etc.

Yes, I believe in moderation. So my daughter has good home made meals but she also get to have some crisps and chocolate. As long as the healthy stuff is still happily consumed then I have no issue with her sharing a cake with us every now and then

Mine eat what they please, when. They've learned about nutrition and know choices and trade offs they make. I've found that by not restricting, they don't binge on junk food or sneak it (like I did at their age). I think they have a healthier relationship to food than I ever did (raised strictly with regards to junk food and sweets).

Mine have some junk, they're 6 & 4 and have a good balanced diet so no harm in a bit of junk food.

Everything in moderation is fine, food is something I'm not precious or controlling over, my DD (3) loves fruit and veg so I tend to let her have treats when she asks as she doesn't over indulge.

puglife (love the name btw!) I agree, that's a very good rule.

I suppose it depends on your definition of junk. Mine always had someting like a club biscuit equivalent in their lunch boxes. We have a homemade pudding a few times a week. We don't have fizzy drinks or sweets in the house, crisps are a occasional thing.

If we have a movie night or someting we might get a big bar of galaxy or kettle crisps or something to share.

All our meals are pretty much cooked from scratch.

I know the older ones at Uni have dabbled with convenience food, and largely not liked it.

Yes.

Far too much if I'm honest.

Mine are older now, just at secondary, but they have a decent balanced diet on the whole. I cook healthy meals at home with loads of fruit and veg but admit I don't have control of what they have away from me. I know DS1 for example, has a chicken burger almost every lunch at school. We also have a takeaway most Fridays and the odd Mc D's when out and about.
I do try and deter from fizzy drinks though, and never buy them in.

We definitely have junk food. I don't think junk counts as part of a balanced diet, but less healthy food is fine in moderation. Of course, this also depends on what your definition of moderation happens to be. For instance, we very rarely have crisps in the house. For me, eating crisps on a daily basis would not be moderate. We had also got into the habit of having a sweet dessert every day, but about a year ago made the decision to have these desserts (cake or ice cream or biscuits) only at weekends. No one seems to mind.

I am the least precious person when it comes to healthy eating BTW. Food should be enjoyed and a bit of junk food won't kill you.

From looking at the diet you have listed OP it looks fine to me and you have no weight concerns about your child so I'd keep doing what you are doing.

My ds is only 9 months so he doesn't get sweet or processed stuff yet but as he gets older a few treats a week is not a problem never done me any harm as a child. As long as you have an active child with a fairly decent diet it's fine IMO.

My nephew is 13 and he is allowed to just help himself from the kitchen when hungry and most times he goes for healthier options even when my brother has chocolate and things in. My nephew is slim and active so being able to help himself to fod hasn't caused any problems.

Yes they do. We've cut back on fast food though, as much for money as health.

Junk is too broad a term these days. The only things I would call total junk are your pure-sugar items.

I guess some ultra-processed things like Lunchables that have 700% of your salt intake or whatever, but there aren't many things I'd call total junk.

Yes have drummed into our kids that you have one biscuit, one moderately sizes piece of cake. The problem is gluttony, not the odd small taste of junk.

My teenage nephew will eat a whole bag of donuts. He has no concept of self moderation. It's very sad.

I live an exhaustingly middle class area. The children who eat the most crap are from this type of home.
It really makes me laugh & cheers me up.
My kids eat a bit of rubbish & masses of good food (cooked in olive oil) to balance it out.

Mine are mid and late teens, I love cooking and tried to feed my family delicious home cooked meals, we occasionally ate fast junk food, we never referred to it as a treat, it was just food we ate occasionally.

However, they now come home from friends/shopping/cinema and eat all kinds if crap. They know the basics of healthy food and one day, when they care, they will eat well again. For now it's a battle I'm not going to fight.

In the same vein, those of you who's children are relatively tidy and helpful. Ha! Wait until they turn 14.

I thought that olive oil wasn't great for cooking? Isn't it supposed to be used for salads, pasta etc? I wouldn't cook with it as it smokes too much and I'm not convinced that it is healthier.

I cook everything in olive oil, but I'm Italian. I have some sunflower oil but I only really use it for roast potatoes, and if I'm frying something at a really high heat.

DS is still a baby so I'm just lurking, I think I'll probably be an everything in moderation and treats only occasionally type as that's what my parents did and DBro and I both have a good diet/healthy attitude to food etc.

Durham yes, l've heard that - especially on MN. I should have put a
However, all my family have cooked with it (at high temperatures) for years and are doing very well on it..so l guess l'm quire :)

I think homemade meals with the odd bit of chocolate and bag of crisps thrown in won't harm anyone.

Living off KFC, McDonald's and takeaway will not do anyone any good in the long run.

And there's 'junk' and then there's 'junk'. Homemade cake once in while is OK, specially if it's date and walnut etc but processed cheap cake full of rubbish isn't ideal.

My DD (almost 3) gets a biscuit, or a few pombears, or an ice cream most days, but she also loves her fruit and veg and homemade meals, so I'm not twitchy about a little bit of 'junk' food. We had breakfast at McDonald's today since we were away from home and she was very happy with her porridge and fruit bag, so I didn't care about her having a small bag of Maryland cookies later.