To think there is no such thing as childrens food

[Willowtree7]

I believe children do not need "childrens food" just smaller versions of... well... just food. It makes me so sad to think that children have fish fingers and chips for dinner followed by a petit filous yoghurt and washed down with squash because that's what we have been led to believe children should have.

I'm totally in favour of an ice cream on a hot day and the odd treat but not coco pops or cheerios for breakfast. It's like people recognise you shouldn't give too many sweets but beyond that don't see nutritional value in meals.

Our diet affects our learning, concentration and health. It's the most vital thing we all need to get right and yet we feed children processed rubbish that is so bland it needs sugary ketchup to give it flavour and this is considered normal.

Before anyone says it's about money and crap food is cheaper, i think A) that's a vop out for people that buy it and B) that's not the main reason people feed children poor diets. It's about lack of understanding of what food is. People that feed children wholemeal bread, humous and porridge are considered to be the unusual ones on some circles!! How did we get to this?

DS gets food, sometimes it's simple and easy to prepare. Quite often he will eat with us in the evenings and we just give him a small amount of what we are having. I don't see fish fingers as unhealthy really, they're breaded and oven cooked, served with veg and mash. Maybe if they were served every day but they're not.

Whilst in the throws of morning sickness I served my husband waffles, beans and chicken kievs, no one seems that concerned about his diet! :D

Actually I've just realised DS has had pasta and cheese sauce three days in a row, I'm a terrible parent.

I wish a restaurant would just do plain food for kids. Eg list 7 things on menu; plain pasta, potato, peas, cucumber, tomato, chicken, cheese and kid has to pick 4.

Mmm how exciting. You get to eat out as a treat and have what you want but your kids are only allowed plain chicken cheese and veg.

It's the kids who are deprived of anything relatively unhealthy that are the ones buying crisps and chocolate for breakfast when they get to high school and therefore have freedom

All this harping on about shit children's menus... how often do you go out? One day every what two weeks? Month? Isn't going to make your child obese fussy or unhealthy.

In my personal experience there's usually a couple of more adult options anyway! Someone mentioned spag bol on a kids menu earlier- why is that shit?

I agree to an extent too.
I've always given ds whatever we are having, however as he's gotten older and fussier we do have to put some thought into what we have. So we have "grown up" food, but from a limited list. We have the stuff he doesn't like on the days he's in nursery as he eats tea there.

The exception to this is if we want a takeaway on a weekend, we tend to give ds something simple then we eat after he's gone to bed.

I'm 36 and drink orange squash. So there.

Not all children like quinoa for supper or acai berry bowls for breakfast

Oh come on, it's not as though the options are that ^ OR processed frozen food only!

I don't think most people are suggesting no one should ever eat nuggets or fish fingers, rather that it's far from ideal to feed processed "kids food" as their standard diet. Which unfortunately plenty of people do. Then you get "he/she will eat nuggets but wouldn't touch sliced chicken breast" or "eats fish but only in breadcrumbs" and "they love tomato soup" to discover that's only if it's from a tin... I think the over reliance on processed food for dc turns quite a lot of them into fussy eaters tbh!

I'm the one who mentioned spag bol- it isn't necessarily shit but when it's on every single menu it gets boring. We certainly don't go out often but while we were away we didn't have much choice.

I at no point said that they should never eat beige food. I just find it bizzarre that it's normal. I guess if everyone you know feeds children freezer food and cocopops regularly then it's normal to you and it seems strange and boring that others would think of feeding children fresh food.

I agree with a lot of people saying it's not just the children and that is very much another factor. If the parents eat chips rather than pasta or rice and breaded food rather than fresh meats and think a lentil is exotic then why would you not find it normal to do the same for your children.

To the op that mentioned Tarquin - you make a very valid point that to some extent there is a class divide on this. Nicer restaurants in more affluent areas have a better range of small portion foods whereas the stereotypical cheap pubs often have poor quality childrens menus. It also seems more normalised on some sections of society to feed children well than in others where squash and white bread is a stsple in the diet.

If my kids eat fish fingers we are all eating fish fingers . same as when we have chickpea and spinach curry. Or spaghetti hoops on toast or a boiled egg with asparagus soldiers etc. Variety is the spice of life. Control too much and they rebel

Everything in moderation is the rule in our house and no "eat x amount or no pudding rule"

I think that's some restaurants offer better food for children that others but again if dd doesn't want fried food we generally order her a half portion of an adult meal or a starter and some sides generally we manage.

We also all eat the same food every night sometimes that's a frozen pizza some times it's a paella just depends we're fortunate though that our working day allow this

Any decent restaurant (even pubs to be fair) will do a smaller portion of adult meals surely? Just ask!

Op you're very condescending and it's clear you're only here to have a go about poor uneducated fools that only feed children white bread because they don't understand head tilt

When the reality is it's not always a lack of education at all. You've ignored pretty much everyone else's opinion and are fixated on the fact you must be thick if you feed your child freezer food.

Again

even though my mum was eating avocados in the early 90s before they became fashionable

Think you'll find they were pretty fashionable in the 70s love.

My very good eater has just come back from sports training and requested alphabetti. 😃 She's getting it, because she doesn't have it very often and wants something quick and comforting. But tomorrow it's salmon and veg. Moderation... balance...

I'm with you OP. I think it's a cultural thing, fuelled by advertising. In most other countries, kids' menus / foods simply don't exist.
I'm amazed at the number of requests on our town's Facebook page for 'places to eat out that must do kids' food' and BIL once was horrified when I served us the same food for all 10 of us - adults, kids and a 7-month old baby (mine), asking why I hadn't done any 'kids' food' (his kids were 8 & 6 and the meal in question was lasagne, salad and garlic bread). Likewise, I don't get why so many children eat off plastic plates, as though 'grown up' crockery might bite, but each to their own.
We've never let the kids menus (or lack of) dictate where we eat out. If there's no kids menu, the kids will just share our food (they're now 7 & 5 so typically we'll order 3 dishes between the 4 of us). Don't get me wrong, we also eat out at the likes of Harvester etc. where our kids love a fish finger meal as much as the next child. But equally they're happy eating 'grown-up food' in a more upmarket restaurant and we don't buy 'kids' foods' at home because I'm too tight to pay for it.

There shouldn't be childrens food, I love a nugget or two.

I agree with you in a way op. Obviously not all children will eat kale or quinoa, but I lived with a girl in uni aged 21 who only ate beige food, and I do wonder how she came to be introduced to turkey dinosaurs in the first place. No one is perfect of course, and I completely understand time issues and fussiness. No one wants a child to go hungry. But then on the other hand take a look at slimming world on instagram and there's loads of people who make homemade food/snack on fruit/eat grilled fish and rice/drink fruit infused water yet give their children ice cream/nuggets and chips/sugary fizzy drinks. It's quite common in RL too - adults eating healthily but buying seperate for the kids. I'm on the fence I think

I agree.

Sometimes my kids eat nuggets and chips, but mostly they experimented and ate what we ate. I love cooking and exotic foods, thank goodness they have embraced this. We get excited and passionate about food.

When ordering from a menu they will always choose something they've never tried before (sometimes is pays off, sometimes it doesn't)

Once in a while they'll have a maccies though, or fish finger sandwich. I think a laid back attitude towards food is the best way.

My dc do eat different food to us, but I think in the complete opposite way to how you've described in your op.
By that I mean they're healthier than us.
For example, for tea tonight they've had plain prawns, cucumber, tomatoes, baby corn, green beans, carrots, peppers and rice.
I've stirfried the same fresh ingredients and added ketchup, vinegar, sugar and tin of pineapples to turn it in to sweet and sour.
It's always thus in our house, I see no point giving them the same as us when they eat healthier.

What you think is what you think... but this is a nice case of you just being sanctimonious to try to look superior to other people by posting it on here - you're after a little cheerleading crew really.

This

Well the sanctimommies are out in force tonight!

Fair play to the sensible posters, I'm a big fan of moderation and balance too.

My dh would eat fish finger sandwiches but not my 2 DC. Both eat most things and I have taken them to 'posh' places where I've been told there isn't a kids menu. But they've both eaten starters off the main menu without any issues, followed by icecream. It's never been a serious issue.

I agree to an extent. Most restaurants will, or should at least, offer small portions of the menu. If all kids are offered is beige food, then that becomes what they eat.

Of course not all kids will eat all things, whether or not they are offered them. And of course some kids have sensory and other issues.

That doesn't mean that children's food/menus should consist of bland, mainly fried food.

If worrying about the culinary habits of other families is all you've got to feel sad about, count yourself lucky and keep your sanctimony to yourself. (If that's not too much for you to stomach)

I agree that ideally there shouldn't be "kids food". In our house the adults eat almost the same as the kids, l especially the haribo... However there are definitely "adult foods" that kids shouldn't have. 70% dark chocolate with raspberry bits for example. Mine are in bed now and the secret stash is coming out.

Children do need a different diet to adults, given that they are growing, but that doesn't mean they should just be given rubbish.

Of course, it isn't doing them any good at all if it doesn't go in!