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

“ These public health messages are thrown out in a one size fits all way.“

Of course they are clank! How could a public health initiative cover the 2 very specific circumstances you’ve described?

I think the advice, as so much of their nutritional advice, is total bollocks.

I pump my kids full of any high calorie food they will eat (full fat milk, nuts, pastry) because they are both skinny and very active. I’m not delusional, they are skinny. Other kids I see are chunky and shouldn’t be having “2 x100 calorie snacks” at all. We’ve completely lost our senses.

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??

I agree when it comes to sugar (sugar -free squashes, for example) but there is a problem with 'low-fat' items for children, as they need a higher ratio of fat than adults.

It's a difficult line for a Public Health campaign to achieve, because as you say there are two very different opposing groups who refuse to meet in the middle.

For me, the worst thing about Change 4 Life is suggesting swapping sugary drinks for ones which contain artificial sweetener. No child needs to drink these types of drinks

This is aimed at the types of parents who are feeding their children full sugar coke for every drink.

Change 4 life isn’t airmen at educated middle class parents who already only give their children water or other drinks in extreme moderation.

My son snacks all the time, he's not a big eater and without snacks I think he'd become very skinny, just as a guide he is 9 and his waist is about age 7-8 in clothes but with long legs. Surely people know that snacking is healthy and keeps your metabolism burning? Many dietatihtions suggest 5 small meals a day over 3 without snacks? My son has a snack at school and we've recently got a letter home about the importance of this snack! Imo children are getting fat because they do not play outside so much due to gaming in the house and scaremongering about everyone being peodo or child snatcher. I was never at home at age 9 but my son is always at home as his friends parents are too busy for play dates and the kids are no longer allowed to room free. Also the parents I've meet and had dinner with seem to feed their kids adult portions. My son actually eats about 1/4 of what I eat at meal times and usually that's just the meat!

Yet another thread when people think they know more than the experts.
The arrogance on here - do you think this campaign has been dreamed up by someone who doesn't know what they are doing?
ALL MN children are always skinny and active, do intensive exercise every day, love healthy home-cooked meals and hate fizzy drinks. The campaign is not aimed at MN kids.
This thread will soon degenerate into a competitive healthy eating/exercise thread. They always do.

I'm not sure whether being skinny as a kid translates into being a healthy adult though. I see skinny kids eating carp and overweight kids.The skinny kids in my school -especially the girls-tended to turn into fat adults. I was never skinny, but an ordinary 80s style kid (albeit v tall). I have never had a weight issue as an adult.

My two are normal size. Ds verging on skinny. They don't snack, but their cm allows them crap for breakfast, which is a massive concern. We've tried bf at home, but they just end up eating two breakfasts then.

Wonderlime Obese kids do not need more fats. The nutritionally important fats can be provided as part of a main meal. Low fat snacks are a sensible way of reducing calorie intake, provided sugar content has not been bumped up to compensate,

These public health messages are thrown out in a one size fits all way

Well yeah, that’s kinda the point of them obviously!!!!

For me, the worst thing about Change 4 Life is suggesting swapping sugary drinks for ones which contain artificial sweetener. No child needs to drink these types of drinks

Well really we should all be drinking plain water most of the time, but imagine the outrage from the 'I don't like water' or 'my child would die of thirst before they would drink water' crew if Change 4 life said that?

NotAnotherJaffa - I was just addressing the reason why some people on here are very much against half-fat items. I agree it respect of obese children, and even as an adult eating half-fat products helped me lose weight.

When are you supoosed to fit these snacks in surely most kids only have to wait an hour or two after school for dinner and only had lunch between 12 and one

Hardly a huge gap. Why are we encouraging them to eat more when kids are already eating too much of the wrong stuff and not exercising enough.

If you ask me there should be a change for life campaign to remove all the highly processes nonsense kids food off the shelves instead. The sweetner/sugar debate is the least if the worries even even cheese is fucked about with just So kids will eat it

All this switching to low fat stuff and making people assume its better for you because its mot got sugar in it, when your body reacts to sweetners the same way is what got us here.

We need a campaign to get back to proper food. But then what companies would sponsor/finance it when it wasn't promoting their "healthy kids food"

Our kids are living in an obesogenic environment. They are also not moving enough.

The combination is a nightmare.

My DS has a tendency to put on weight along with having ASD and ADHD which both make him very impulsive about eating, being a teenager his food choices are shite

The only answer is to ensure he moves more (I've upped the swimming) and watch the kinds of food we bring into the house. So we have loads of fruit and veg, we also have very processed stuff which I tend to encourage as part of meals...if he wants to snack in between I suggest fruit.

It's kept his weight pretty stable

I ignore BMI which is a pretty narrow measure of health and do hip/waist ratio measurements instead.

For kids eating horrendous amounts of snacks then the 100 cal snacks twice a day is a start. It's not the only way though.

Slightly off topic but I do think we’ve become bad a judging what a child of a healthy weight looks like.

Absolutely this!!!! My DS is bang in the middle of what he should be in terms of height, weight, bmi and more or less fits perfectly in clothes for his age.

Yet I CONSTANTLY get comments from people about how he is "a skinny little thing" or "a bag of bones".

No, he isn't!!! He does lots of outdoor activities with me (fell walking and cycling mainly) and when he is stripped off he has visible muscles, including a bloody six-pack and those v-cuts on his hips that gym goers crave - gives me the rage

ALL MN children are always skinny and active, do intensive exercise every day, love healthy home-cooked meals and hate fizzy drinks. The campaign is not aimed at MN kids.

This with bells on ^^

It's absolutely ridiculous how many MNetters come on these threads to declare their micro kids don't have an ounce of fat on them and they do tons of exercise/sports every day.

In what universe can they possibly think this government campaign is aimed at them?

Surely it's not too difficult a leap to imagine it just might be aimed at you know... the alarming amount of overweight/obese kids out there?

All this switching to low fat stuff and making people assume its better for you because its mot got sugar in it, when your body reacts to sweetners the same way is what got us here.

I don't think that's true at all. I grew up on a very 'healthy' diet of sausage and chips - I ended up being a tubby teen and a fat adult. I clearly remember the adverts for Coco Pops and the like. I've spent the past decade unlearning poor eating habits.

We got fat due to to poor diets - not due to sweetners and diet foods.

its the lazy way out.because it should be about balance.about teaching us how to cook and feed well.sit together or take time and effort for food.to enjoy.but be sensible.and this would take time.this would take effort and care.the care we seem to have lost.
but by trolling out these new shcemes its a simple click and fix to them.to cut out the bad means they don't need to spend time or oeffort or money thinking of whos on the receiving end
its balance.of allllllllll foods.good fats bad fat.mars bars and lettuce.to teach kids that its ok to have the chocolate to teach them its good to eat veg and why and how it helps them run faster and think stronger.
to help them feel better about themselves. not make them feel fat or horrible if they have a burger.then they want to feel good with mr green giants sweetcorn.they want to find out how to eat healthier.if you help them feel proud and good inside there is a natural occurance then that comes to the out.help them believe enough to want to look after themselves.to find out how to eat more apple or put more veg on plate.
teach how to cook so you can make a good stew.
that egg and chip is ok but its not great for every day.
why would they care enough to try and feel good about food If we don't show them care or help them feel worth it.
fat shaming.food shaming.doesnt help
spend money on scheme to boost body confidence,boost awareness of nutriants.allotments.sport clubs.
oops no that would mean....care.money.time.
banning things is a quick fix.cheap.but I nthe end just put more kids and struggling people into their shells.they don't leanr.they don't bother.they just flitter away not knowing what todo.
they are taught that bad food are bad.then they feel guilty.then sahme.then more in on themselves.they then don't care of look out for themselves.and so the cycle continue.
balance.
veg.
carbs.
protein.
salad
chocolate
cereals
meals
time to eat
time to cook
fairy cakes
basic sauces
basic meal
cooking for mum and dad
with mum and dad
cooking In schools
teaching us how
learning to care
to love oneself enough to want to look after those precious bodies.
the obesity has come about the time of media and more focus on looks,more mental health problems and depression,more eating disorders.people don't feel good they wont feed right.

So one thing recommended was to switch to low fat yoghurt

take the brand I buy - it has 82 calories in the full fat version and 5.6g of sugar but the low fat version has 59 calories and 8.5g of sugar

and that's where I get so confused - I can see one has more calories so will make you fatter, but I also know it makes me feel fuller so eat less of it and I avoid having too much sugar in a day.

I don't think they do think it's aimed at the really Worraliberty, they just want to show off their superior parenting skills. That's what MN threads like this always boil down it, isn't it?

I'm not bragging about my son being skinny as I know full well he's skinny because he was a prem and his dad was skinny until he hit his mid 20s but what I'm saying is snacks are good. I'd always choose the snacks and small meals over 3 huge meals but I'm a keen snacked too, and no I'm not classed as over weight. I personally think that dismissing the Change for Life advice is silly but also I think it is aimed a parents that give their kids full fat Coke everyday and a pop tart for breakfast and pot noodle for lunch.

Snacker not snacked!!!

We got fat due to to poor diets - not due to sweetners and diet foods

There is also a degree of assuming because some is lower fat or low sugar etc that you can eat more of it. This learning of habits you talk about is an indirect consequence . Take school dinners. When i went to the first tasting session the muffins and cookies were huge.

Now they may well be low fat low sugar etc but the kids don't really know that do they. What they see is they have dinner then have a pudding that is a massive slice of cake. That's not a habit you want a kid to learn.

I'm not bragging about my son being skinny as I know full well he's skinny because he was a prem and his dad was skinny until he hit his mid 20s but what I'm saying is snacks are good. I'd always choose the snacks and small meals over 3 huge meals

The problem with snacking is it encourages poor eating habits that often won't fit around a normal day routine (think about working a job where you can't snack), and if you are only snacking it's incredibly difficult to get the right nutrition during the day unless you snack on chicken breasts, avocados and kale.

I grew up drinking low sugar squash, guess what.....I wasn’t overweight. I was also allowed chocolate and crisps at times. It’s all about moderation, don’t ban things completely. I grew up in the times of Findus crispy pancakes and pasta bakes, still my brother and I were healthy and active. People seem determined to carry on with the health one upmanship, “ooh, you give your children 5 peas as a snack? My DD only has 3 peas”! It’s really boring, and life would be really boring if we just drank plain water and ate broccoli florets!

I think the advice is there because they know parents are feeding their dc snacks they dont actually need so they are saying if you must, limit them accordingly.

Someone I know hands out their 3 year old a packet of milky way magic stars (184 calories) and a packet of mini cheddars (140) as snacks before lunch to get something into them. They seem afraid the child will starve.

This one is headed for childhood obesity by filling a 3 year old with chocolate, salty snacks and biscuits between meals.