AIBU to ask what you think of change 4 life’s two 100 calorie snacks campaign?

[Whichschool2020]

Just that really.
www.nhs.uk/change4life/food-facts/healthier-snacks-for-kids/100-calorie-snacks?gclid=CjwKCAiAhMLSBRBJEiwAlFrsTqs_fnt21P4WV_BemO5Y9dDhFcbwbqOSpokPT1KtNVQk2dNPmSD_ahoCS1cQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#yPkpO8E27jIrGUT2.97

...there was that thing somewhere (I forget where) where all the kids had to walk a mile a day and it was found to have so much impact on obesity rates. However there’s so much pressure on schools now in every sense that sadly there just isn’t the funding and resources etc.

My DS school does it once a week. He runs his mile usually. I wish I could do more physical activities with him, but I have chronic illnesses and when I do more physical stuff I make myself too ill for work. I dislike change4life because I believe in full fat in moderation and avoiding artificial sweetners (they give me blood sugar spikes and dips, and migraines). DS was underweight and his paediatrician advised he went back on a full fat diet. He's been on it for 3 years now and it's the only way we can maintain his weight.

A boiled egg is a perfect snack!

Raving too I disagree with you. Children's diets are appalling now.

Ineedmore so do you not give your children a first break time snack?

*Ravingroo

I think snacking is one of the problems.When they are small they need small snacks like milk and fruit to keep them going.When they first hit school they have milk midmorning but need some food when they get home(full tea like my DD then milk/biscuits before bed or snack it they eat later with the rest of the family).
When you get older you can manage with 3 meals a day but we have got into a snack habit,often high calorie but not filling.
My DD is about right but as a teen is scouring the fridge for foodMy only recourse is to make good list for main meals and stick to it but if I can reduce her habit now she will be well set for the future.
We do have full fat milk/butter/cheese ,I am happy with these as we have relatively little sugar and she is piscatarian.

Boiled eggs are a great snack, but showing people what 100 calories worth of different fruits/veg look like might be a bit more useful than some of the other snack ideas.

dontletthe no I don't I wasn't even aware that was a thing? They have never asked to take food in so I'm guessing their friends don't either. They have breakfast at 8 then school lunch is at 12:30 ish. If they can't go 4 and a half hours without food then breakfast was not filling enough. They have a water bottle that comes home nearly empty everyday.

Ds brought the leaflet home yesterday. Do they really think people actually take any notice of them? It's not like people don't know already that constant snacking and sugary stuff is bad. It's not news. And as for the pushing of low fat dairy and artificial sweeteners .

God it's stupid!

They should be advocating three meals and no snacks. We occassionaly have fruit or nuts but only if a meal is late...there's no need!

On special events I don't disallow a cake or chocolate of course but there's no crisps, crackers or anything like that.

Mine do take fruit in to school...an apple or something "for break" but it's often uneaten.

Frankly if your kids are obese then reduced fat snacks are a good idea, providing they haven’t had the sugar content jacked up to make up for the reduced fats. Nutritionally important fats, such as omega 3/6 can be provided as part of a main meal.

What age is this aimed at? I haven't had this leaflet but my dc are pre school age? I never give them low fat hummus, cream cheese etc, they always have full fat. The leaflet seems to advocate low sugar and low fat stuff but it looks like there are money off vouchers for petit filous at the bottom? It's quite hard to see on my tablet so I could be wrong but I thought they were full of sugar?

DS is 15, does a lot exercise, he has fruit, homemade cake, squash/water when he comes in from school then a cooked from scratch dinner at 7pm. We always use full fat dairy produce, although in moderation, and he is built like a string bean. If I restricted his snacks he would be hungry and skinnier. Everyone is different, moderation is key, exercise really important.

*FireCracker2

At this time of year children are at school for all the daylight hours . How are they suppose to get in an hours exercise if not at school?*

I'm sorry I don't get this. Can you not take your kids out when its a bit dark? Walk to and from school, walk a slightly longer route if you feel they've not had enough exercise. Take a ball, bike, whatever out to the park after school and let them have a run around. Or get them to do a bit of exercise in the house, it doesn't have to cost you money. It's not that hard. I agree schools need to do their bit too but so do we as parents.

I was very unimpressed with the low fat food advice as so many low fat products have a lot of sweetners in are less filling.

But I suppose the advice is geared towards people with an atrocious diet and really bad habits. Telling a family that drinks coke with every meal that they are now only allowed water isn't going to work. Telling them to switch to sugar free squash might be a more manageable step.

my childrens school do the run a mile a day - but they have a big enough playground to do sensible laps of it. They seem to fit it into the day fine as it only takes 15 minutes.

I am also unimpressed with the suggestions of low fat versions of food

Agree with ineedamoreadultieradult. Every class or activity I take my toddler to, so 45 mins max, the snacks come out halfway through and hardly ever fruit but more often than not, biscuits and crisps. I don’t feed my toddler snacks so usually try to usher her away from the snackers but she’s not used to snacking so never really asks thankfully.

I personally think snacking is a habit not a necessity and wouldn’t be surprised if it is leading us into obesity.

I don't get the snack thing either. The only time I give my children a "snack" is when meal times are going to be significantly later than usual (for example, they are doing a sporting activity at about 5, so tea is much later).

When we go out with friends for days out, they produce snacks mid morning and mid afternoon (usually bags of mini cookies or gingerbread men etc). I find it odd. Their children, incidentally, aren't so good at eating their healthy lunch or tea ...

Forget the healthy/unhealthy/ less than 100 calories snack etc. Change for life should say that snacks are not necessary for anyone. I know babies are fed on demand (which is good!) but it is fairly usual for babies to go 3-4 hours between feeds, so I'm not sure how older children suddenly can't manage this anymore...

I don't think the general advice for 2 100 calorie snacks is bad advice at all - just the foods quoted aren't great choices. However considering the general obesity rates, I would imagine that Public Health think it's easier to give parents easy swap outs (full fat for half fat) then getting them to change their children's diets entirely. I saw this posted on a Daily Mail Group magazine facebook page, and parents were saying things like 'a mars bar never did me any harm (from an overweight woman)', to 'my child eats 4 snacks a day and is skinny as a beanpole (without considering that it's unlikely that will remain the case in the future)'.

It is up to parents to limit sugar levels, limit portion sizes and snacks, and provide healthy diets for their children. With food labelling, apps like MyFitnessPal and general internet access parents should be able to do this and definitely should be taking responsibility. But unfortunately we need Public Health campaigns because that's no happening.

I agree BurnTheBlackSuit there’s really no need for snacks every day. The only time my DC have snacks is if they’re having a particularly active day, and even then I just give fruit. They’re hungry by meal-times but that’s how it’s supposed to be!

Everyone thinks they know about nutrition yet we’re getting fatter and fatter.

People are avoiding things without truely understanding why (artificial sweeteners) and talking about how reduced fat is bad. Artificial sweeteners and reduced fat cheese aren’t making us fat are they?

it’s hard to really criticise a public campaign to draw attention to low calorie snack alternatives

And the evidence for sweeteners overwhelmingly shows they are safe. They are amongst the most studied chemicals we know about. The risks of obesity and tooth decay are also very well studied, very real, and a huge issue and we have people bleating on about sweeteners??

The righteous middle classes are busy clutching their pearls about sweeteners and half fat cheddar when you have other parents smuggling chips into the playground as per that Jamie Oliver program. They are spectacularly missing the point.

I wish that there was the understanding that different children require different foods. My dd is recovering from an illness. She has always been thin, this made her worse. She now needs healthy, nutritious foods containing fat. My ds has ASD and is very particular about his foods. If he wishes to eat more than one snack that is great. These public health messages are thrown out in a one size fits all way.

Or whatanotherjaffacake said, significantly better than me!