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

Some teenage kids I know will snack on sausage rolls, chips, McDonalds, pot noodle etc between meals, and I think this is the problem, as you can easily double your calorie intake with the snacks.

But I hate all the low fat products as they will not help the issue at all. Cheese and humous are healthy and filling, and in moderation a great thing to encourage, but the low fat versions are not nice and I would rather eat unhealthy snacks than eat these! Children need full fat healthy food. There is no point eating a low fat yoghurt, and then having a chocolate bar after.

Yes there are many factors obviously.

But I do think that advertising should be less misleading.

The whole idea that a product can be processed to a point where it is unrecognizable from its natural state and needs colour and flavourings added to mske it resemble what it's supposed to be and then be able to advertise itself as high in X even it had to be artificially added just seems wrong to me.

Whether a child needs fat in their snacks will depend on how much fat there already is in their diet surely? If they are already eating plenty of fat then the last thing they need are fatty snacks ontop of that.

Yes I agree toffee it's all extreme, the key is balance obviously.
My child's packed lunch of pasta/bread & ham, fruit, yoghurt & crackers, still has sugar but is more filling (she tells me this herself) there's not much substance to a chocolate milkshake, or ice cream. Or just water and fruit. Both choices are poor for a child.

My daughter does have a play time snack. I feel she needs this as (although she does love breakfast at weekends) she sits for a good 45min with any breakfast I give her and rarely finishes it so I think she needs a boost come 10.30am. Usually banana, or crackers or carrot fingers.

Both my children are sitting eating crunches from their selection box the now

I don't think advocating calorie restriction to kids makes sense.

The vast majority of kids is slim, skinny even

Teenagers can need up to 3000 cals a day

My teens often have sandwiches or pot noodles or McD as a snack, as well as 3 normal meals a day (they also eat fruit and veg, it's just that at 13 and 15 they are bottomless pits

2 teeny snacks only would likely see them keel over

Children need full fat healthy

Your children. That's what works for you and your children. It's a massive leap to assume that because you feel more full with high fat that everyone does.

I prefer to snack my way through the day. I lost 4 stone of weight snacking through the day. Low calorie options were a god send for me. Cheese and humous had to be such small portions they left me starving.

One size definitely does not fit all. Which is the problem with campaigns.

No they are not. If they were this discussion wouldn't be happening.

My teens often have sandwiches or pot noodles or McD as a snack, as well as 3 normal meals a day (they also eat fruit and veg, it's just that at 13 and 15 they are bottomless pits

See this is where I start to get confused again.

I was a teen my friends were teens once as were the people I work with.

None of us were these fridge raiding bottomless pits constantly advertised on MN.

When did all this walking around with food all the time become so normal and accepted?

If I'd have emptied the fridge on a daily basis id have been grounded and sent to bed with no dinner.

None of our parents woukd have put up with it.

I only know about 3 overweight kids

Almost all kids I know are slim or even skinny

(Am in SE, if that matters)

This obesity crisis....I just don't see it where I live

These threads are always so depressing.
Every parent has an excuse for their child. Some blame their children for their sugar intake “I told you not to eat all those chocolates”
Some justify it as their children are Olympians who get dizzy if they don’t eat a tuna sandwich. Healthy people are able to maintain their blood sugar levels.

Fucking hell, the advice is intended to help people who don’t realise how much they’re feeding their kids; sometimes parents can use it as an aid to changing the habits of their family: “look, the doctors/government/school say this, shall we give it a go?” Small steps on the way to habit change.

The absolute ignorance on here of any sort of lifestyle that doesn’t have the knowledge, reading ability, space, stability, time, lack of substance dependency, or money to knit every meal from scratch and send every kid to school with carrot batons every day is appalling.

Have some empathy people.

Mrsmorton, Ex Dentist. Trainee in Public Health.

Giles, my brothers and I were bottomless pit teens, as were our friends

We'd often buy our own snacks though

So maybe, again, my "normal" isn't everyone else's normal (and that is why I read MN)

Maybe it's a tall people thing (we are all between 6 1" and 6 5"),

IMO our current 'snacking' culture is part of the problem. Kids don't need 100 calorie snacks any more than any other snacks.

Call me cynical, but I suspect this is how the government think they can be seen to be tackling childhood obesity without actually upsetting confectionary/fast food giant businesses by saying don't buy snacks altogether

The vast majority of kids is slim, skinny even

Sadly that isn’t the case and I think the fact so many people think that shows just how much we have lost sight of what “normal” is when it comes to children’s weight.

daily

I guess I mean this actually having money thing didn't happen I had this and up in 5ps from my bus fare change

Didn't even have a canteen for the first few years at school and if I forgot my lunch I'd go without. None of this driving down to to bring it or schools providing emergency lunch.

And I sure as well had to wait til dinner

Was same for most my friends too

If have been told off for being common munching crisps and red bull on way to school

Hello MrsMorton. From fellow trained Health science & promotion person Although I've been out the game for four years since having Dd2.

I discussed the new guidelines with my dd1, we're trying to make changes. But I was more asking her if she'd noticed any changes at primary school since being back in the new year, and she hadn't. Still same things sold at tuck shop etc, which she goes to on a Friday. Do people think the schools will be advised to change tuck shops etc, after the new advice? Genuinely wondering this, if it will mean changes in schools where they usually can control what's sold and eaten.

2 snacks A DAY as government advice? Wow. As a society we really have lost the tolerance to feeling "a bit peckish" for a bit - being hungry before a meal is fine and normal for otherwise healthy children and adults.

After reading Michael Mosely's books I've tried to stop snacking entirely during the working day, and only drink water between meals - not easy as we have a constant supply of chocolate, biscuits, cakes thanks to a feeder manager. I've managed to lose 10lb over 3 months with no other lifestyle or diet changes - still a few stone to go, but I'm hoping that small changes made gradually will be sustainable over the long-term.

Dontletthebastardsgrindyoudown

I think we will have to agree to disagree on most of what the other says. Crackers and pasta are empty calories with little nutritional value. Taste good though. I dont find a packed lunch terribly filling. Icecream and milkshake are packed full of calcium and vitamin D. As a nation, we are probably chronically short of vitamin D.

In the end chances are it won't be diet that causes the biggest health concerns for either of our kids.

But you did used to snack during the day littlebrown? Your post suggests only in last 3 months you've stopped. Just because you've given up very very recently doesn't mean everyone else has joined you!

I don't know what to think. I think the advice caters for the lowest standards I.e. For kids drinking coke every day, maybe Diet Coke is a slightly better, albeit heinous, choice!

Maybe the government thinks if they say "actually, avoid all fizzy juice" people will just ignore.

I don't agree with this. I think we should be honest how bad diets are now. The low fat crap pisses me off too. Why won't the NHS consider the latest evidence? It's like they can't compute that not all saturated fats are the same

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/water-drinks.aspx

The NHS does say just avoid fizzy drinks.

Although even that advice is wrong as there is nothing at all wrong with plain sparkling water....

Yes Dontletthebastardsgrindyoudown, I'm a greedy bastard and if there is free chocolate available, I will eat it. Stopping snacking at work was my first step towards trying to be healthier. I'm under no illusions everyone else has joined me. Just that I realised how much I was eating, and what I read suggested that constantly snacking and high blood sugar levels can be unhealthy for some people over and above the excess calories consumed.

It's working for me. Next steps include tackling my Costa problem and portion control.

Toffee yeah we'll need to agree to disagree.

My children eat too much sugar, I'm working on it. But I'm always going to prefer them eating a banana over chocolate ice cream

Ikea no longer serves fizzy drinks in its restaurants. I think that is a piaitive change.

A chocolate chip muffin after school isnt awful if the rest of the day is just 3 healthy meals. The problem is many kids are having 3 meals, a chocolate chip muffin, packet of crisps, chocolate bar, ice cream, biscuits and fizzy drink in a day. In that sense, the new guidelines make sense to tackle over-snacking which is a very real problem.

I meant positive change.