To cancel the traditional sugar fest at Brownies.

[SoddingSoda]

I started volunteering at a Brownie unit around a year ago after moving back to the area. I absolutely love the girls and how enthusiastic they are, and also the other fellow leader/parent helpers are fantastic. In the summer term I took over the unit as the leader in charge stepped down due to family commitments but still continues to attend most weeks.

Last year when I joined the end of term party went a little like this:
-Girls came in with their contribution to the party food. Someone passed me a bottle of cherryade (I honestly thought they stopped making this stuff in the 90s!!) and I hid it under the table. Then another parent came in with another two bottles of pop.

i made the food into a spread and the girls helped themselves. But the pop was still hidden as I honestly thought that kids didn't drink that stuff/parents wouldn't be too impressed if I poured it out. I must admit I felt uncomfortable serving it when the leader asked what had happened to it (I did ask each child if they were allowed to drink it at home before giving them a glass).

The girls had piles of party rings, jammy dodgers, sweets, watits, skips with one of those nasty tinned dog dogs etc all washed down with a cup of cherryade and coke.

Que absolute mayhem, imagine an American Black Friday sale. Girls not listening to instructions, running around, back chatting, being nasty to each other, not just having fun but being absolute nightmares. An hour later the girls are whining, getting hurt (not listening and messing around), crying for no real reason (struggling with the craft cause two to burst into tears) and just having a total come down. It. Was. Hell.

Now, not wanting to go into detail the other leader's daughter is the worst behaved and her ADHD is easily aggravated by junky food. If it was any other girl at brownies i would have called her parents to pick her up as a) I don't want to be held responsible b) gets aggressive with the others c) is just a plain nightmare. On most nights she can be kept engaged with 'being the helper' but after tonn loads of junk it's impossible but so are most of the other kids. See this is the problem if I write a nice little letter asking the parents to only send party food with the first three ingredients being 'natural' and no fizzy/artificial colours the other leader just doesn't get it. I don't want to be the leader who comes from out of town and kills the 60 year tradition but I just don't agree of giving kids pure shit. I wouldn't eat that stuff, nor let my kids eat it so why would I let other kids in my care eat it. It's a small village, and it seems that not much has changed in the last 100 years. So in my opinion nothing will unless small changes are made for the next generation. I guess I've answer my own AIBU but if I am being AIBU please be nice haha.

@Animation86

Scottish units are subject to different laws. As you can see from the link English and Welsh units (don't know about NI) are completely different.

A friend is having real difficulties because of this (very common misconception) so I'm spreading the message far and wide.

Pyongyang- re your comment about 'sensitivity to sugar', have you a link you can share to your evidence source for this statement? Biologically speaking ALL our bodies need and use glucose, a sugar, to power ourselves. It's at the base of our biochemistry

Give them each a paper plate and ask them to bring it to the party named and covered in cling film with 3 or 4 party treats. Parents then are providing the treats for their own children and there should be less waste and mess. State no drinks and have a jug of squash. Definitely don't do food at the beginning of the session!

This is a party, right?

We have one at school every Christmas for our Y5's (all year groups do their own thing). There are any number of fatty and sugary shite type of stuff sent in by parents and we supply the drinks (water or sugar free squash). They dance, play games and generally have a good time and behaviour is rarely a problem. Just specify that you will supply the drinks and let them enjoy themselves.

I think you’ve got a discipline problem not a party food one!

And I absolutely agree with this.

wilberisomepig
I would be more annoyed at the sugar free squash than sugery drinks.
Can we please stop the nonsense about sugar, its not evil , does not cause hyperactivity etc and most of the scaremingering about is based on a poirly researched book.

What child doesn’t drink fizzy drinks at a party?

If you want to be food police, provide the food yourself. As pp have said, have the food at the end. And yes, you do have a discipline problem.

Agree its a behavioural issue not food
sugar at party experiment part 1

part 2

sorry meant "discipline" not "behavioural"

I would be more annoyed at the sugar free squash than sugery drinks.
Can we please stop the nonsense about sugar, its not evil , does not cause hyperactivity etc and most of the scaremingering about is based on a poirly researched book.

Fair enough, I'm just giving you an example of what most parents seem to expect and, as I said, water is also supplied. I didn't say anything about sugar being evil, I think everything in moderation is fine personally. Whatever it is, I couldn't get my knickers in a twist over a party.

When I was a child we all used to drink fizzy drinks for special occasions and eat cakes/sweets at parties.

There were never really any problems.

I don't routinely feed the kids on cheap sausages, cherryade and party rings. But as a one-off party event at the end of term it's fine.

For my unit I ask of a contribution of £1-2 per girl (depending on size of unit at the time) and do all the shopping myself. The parents appreciate it as it means they don't have to sign up to the list and bring x, y or z and I can ensure we have a reasonably balanced spread plus cater to the girls with allergies and intolerances. If there's a shortfall in funds from parents, the rest gets receipted to the unit.

I also only offer orange, black currant squashes or water. Never had a complaint yet!

It’s been scientifically proven that sugar does not increase hyperactivity in children so that’s a moot point.

Chill out. A one off of junk and pop isn’t going to do any child any harm. I cannot believe that people actually get stressed about this sort of thing!

I'm one of these very boring parents who doesn't (yet) give my kids fuzzy drinks.

I have no problem with cake and sweets at parties. However, one of mine becomes utterly unmanageable after significant quantities of sugar.
You can quote studies all you like at me - as her mother, I know her very well!

Anyway, I would be delighted if she didn't have fizzy drinks at s brownie party.

Now, not wanting to go into detail the other leader's daughter is the worst behaved and her ADHD is easily aggravated by junky food

Out of 15 kids four say they're not allowed it, four sheepishly say they've had fizzy before, a couple boast they have it every day and while a couple ask to taste it.

Please tell me that one of the girls who told you they weren't allowed it wasn't the one who had ADHD.

As in you gave it her anyway.

lady is yearly increasing rates of childhood obesity a concern for you?

Yes, one party won't hurt but at this time of year, there are constant parties and the amount of shite consumed staggering.

If kids get into a pattern if consuming fuzzy drinks regularly, and developing a taste for it then I have no doubt it isn't helping our obesity rates more generally.

If you look at riding obesity in the western world and its implications for future health it's quite frankly scary.

So would I bruffin. Sugar free squash gives me the most horrendous migraines.

YABU, Cherryade is the BEST for getting a good belch!

Yes, one party won't hurt but at this time of year, there are constant parties and the amount of shite consumed is staggering

So is all the shite consumed on Christmas day by families in general. Or does everyone make their kid sit at the end with a turkey sandwich in case a full meal, followed by a full sugary pudding, then cheese and crackers turns them into a 15stone 8yo overnight?

Kids burn their calories off a lot quicker than adults do.

What's your point Jon?

Parties are year round. Kids are sicker and fatter than ever before. We will see kids having shorter life spans than their parents. Type 2 diabetes is crippling the NHS.

Why can't we just drink water for gods sake?!?!

One of the reasons I stopped my 6 year old from going to rainbows was the continuous stream of crap she was given by the leaders. Every week they were given a packet of sweets on leaving, and it seemed they had a party every 2-3 weeks where they were given more sugary rubbish to eat, and more to be brought home.

Obesity, diabetes and dental decay are real concerns for a lot of parents, and I think this generation of children are heading for a health crisis.

It feels we are constantly being told how to feed our kids healthy options by schools and health care professionals, yet the message hasn't really sunk in to the people who run these groups and our kids are getting very mixed messages about healthy eating.

I am appreciative that these people give up their time to volunteer at these organisations, and I do believe in everything in moderation is a good approach to take with food, but recent research estimates our kids are eating TWICE as much sugar PER DAY as recommended, and as parents we need to wake up to this very real problem.

When I see threads like this I wonder why our parties in the 80s weren't just chaos. I don't believe if people can be sensitive to sugar now then they wouldn't have been then.
And I know several children who do react to artificial sweeteners so going for sugar free stuff can be just as bad.

I think the problem is much more likely that a couple of them got thrown by the change in routine combined with end of term tiredness, Nd set the others off.
Play some party games, ending with sleeping lions, then eat towards the end.

Type 2 diabetes is crippling the NHS

Wrong. That'll be funding cuts crippling the NHS.
Do you have the same opinion with regards to smokers and alcoholics who also put a big dent in the NHS or do you just save your horror for fat people?