To never buy snacks/squash/sweets etc again

[Fiera]

Every single time there is somthing remotely snackly in the house it just gets taken and eaten. The large double concentrate bottles of squash gone within 24 hours, any kind of sugary cerial gone the same day they come through the door.
I dont like to use the word 'steal' but tonight its the only word i can use because my daughter actually STOLE my can of coke.
We never usually buy coke or Fizzy anything, nut it was my eldest sons birthday and all the children had a can as a very rare treat. My daughter actualli hid my can up her sleeve (after having drank hers earlier in the evening) and went and drank it in her bedroom.
Even my toddler daughters 'treats' like 'GoGo' biscuits and 'Goodies' puffs just disapear before she even knows theyre there.
We have a full fruit bowl, two actually, every day and even they get emptied. They have hot meals every day so theyre not 'hungry' just greedy.
I just dont understand why they do it and im seriously considering just not buying again.
My toddler will happily drink water (theres hardly ever any squash left for her anyway)

I’m seeing people saying a locked treat cupboard is a good idea...obviously people are different but I grew up in a house like this and as much as I love my mum she really messed up my relationship with food. Chocolate and sweets were rationed so much that at parties I would eat more than any other child there and was obsessed with junk food. However I was only ever allowed one glass of lemonade on a Friday/Saturday evening and that’s stuck with me into adulthood - I never buy fizzy drinks or squash now. The adults I know with the healthiest relationships with food are the ones to whom it wasn’t restricted, or called “special treats” etc. It was just food.

Well, surely water is healthier for you than water plus artificial flavourings, saccharine, aspartame and phenylalanine?

You’re being obtuse. Obviously no one is saying it’s healthier, and it’s twisting it to your own agenda to suggest that. They’re saying it counts towards your fluid intake and that you still get the fluid benefits.

What do artificial flavourings do to your health then?

If it doesn’t have sugar In it then it will have artificial sweeteners. That being said, it’s much better to drink a glass of squash than a glass of coke (or to not drink anything at all)

Well, yeah obviously water is healthier - I drink it the rest of the day but have one glass of something with some artificial sweetener in it. Hardly the end of the world and does add to my fluid intake.

How is that being obtuse? I never said it didn't count towards your fluid intake, I just don't think that eight glasses of water with added artificial sweeteners/chemicals a day is a particularly good addition to your diet. There's no nutritional benefit to saccharin(e) other than it's sweetness, for example.

No, it won't kill you, but I don't understand why you'd encourage it to be a staple part of a child's diet. People are all over fizzy drinks, saying how unhealthy they are, but happily drink litres of squash. I don't really see the difference when it comes to your health.

It's not about one glass a day - we're talking about the amount some people have admitted to drinking. Eight glasses of squash is a lot of artificial sweeteners or sugar to add to your diet. Like mentioned before, a glass of Sainsburys Hi-Juice (only 250ml) is 14.9g of sugar. As a one-off, fine, but if you drink it regularly, that's a LOT of sugar to be taking in on a daily basis.

Almost all squash sold is sugar free, using sweetners instead (which has been extensively researched and not found it have an adverse affect on your health)

People (the adults referred to in this thread) drink squash because they like it. Maybe they don’t like plain water. Maybe they think squash tastes better so they’re more likely to drink more fluid if they have squash. Which is the most important thing.

True @adaline, fair enough - I'd never be drinking the amounts some people on here talk about.

I can't believe that some people are getting through two bottles of squash a day. That's some serious habit

Do people realise that 'no added sugar' doesn't actually mean it's sugar-free? Are people really letting their kids drink nothing but squash?

I can feel my judgypants hoiking.

*"Very rare treat" that sums it up. It's because these things are so rare that the kids are going into overdrive when they appear.

I appreciate and respect parents wanting their kids to be healthy. But....I think people take it too far.*

This !

Children can be greedy and not interested in the reasons why they shouldn't have an excess of unhealthy snacks. I was obsessed with pepperamis when I was a kid and left to my own devices I would have eaten them continuously! My parents set a limit of 1 per day max, and I'm sure there were occasions where I took a second one... I think what probably worked was fear of judgment/disappointment in doing something I wasn't allowed to, punishment/consequences, and literally not being able to (eg I would have had to sneak around my parents to get more pepperamis).

So depending on the age of your children, and their personalities you could try really open communication and empathy (I am really upset I don't have a coke to drink, I'm so disappointed you would be selfish like that, consider asking the kids for their ideas on solutions to the snacking), or consequences like having to go to their room, missing out on a treat, getting told off, or simply locking the foods away where they can't get to them and always have to ask you. Or a combination!

I dont understand what you mean Mavis- no added sugar means no sugar. It means sweetners instead. Of course the fruit juice part will have naturally occurring fruit sugars but pretty sure that’s not what you mean?

Have just checked Robinson’s ingredient list to make sure

If you want to find how much sugar is in something it's simple, look on the label to see how many of the calories are derived from carbohydrates, "of which sugars". If there are no carbohydrate calories, it has no sugar. If there are no calories from "of which sugar" it may be they are referring only to sucrose (table sugar), not sure if that would include fructose.

Naturally occuring fruit sugars are still sugars though. And that sugar passing through your teeth (or your children's teeth) all day isn't good for you at all.

No added sugar doesn't mean sugar-free

My children drink nothing but squash and have perfect teeth. They are healthy and slim. They brush their teeth every morning and every night, properly as they have been taught. Judge away!

Yanbu my dsd hoovers up everything in sight, I get she's a growing teen but she will have a good dinner, say she's full then 20 mins later she's at the cereal. 1ltr of fresh apple juice gets devoured over a couple of hours by her only. Fruit untouched.

I've stopped buying it the way I used to, I have tin that says 'lentils' on it inside is chocolate I feel like old mother Hubbard after dsd has left!

Why can't people just hold their hands up and say "yep, squash, load of sugar / sugar substitute with little or no nutritional value, but meh, we like it so there" instead of twisting themselves into pretzels trying to pretend it's not unhealthy? You're adults - own your choices.

A majority of adults in the UK are overweight or obese. Most of those people are not poor. They are people who are choosing to eat in a particular way and have no desire to change their approach. If they are also choosing to ignore messages about the impact that lifestyle has on health and roll the dice accordingly, that's a matter for them.

Firstly Adaline, I AM AN ADULT, I drink water all day at work, except for a cup of fruit tea after lunch sometimes I push the boat out and have peppermint. In the evenings I drink Robinson's no added sugar squash. Tell me that in today's obesity filled Britain that my fluid consumption is unhealthier than that of other adults? No caffeine, no sugar, no fizz destroying my teeth. SMH only on MN..

Everyone knows you should drink 8 cups a day of fluid

Well I didn't, which disproves your theory. What volume is a 'cup'?

@oohmavis yep so so much sugar......

The NHS even recommend adding no sugar squash among other ideas.

But Collywombles don't forget MN evangelists know better than the NHS 🙄