To think it's often impossible to get teens to eat healthily and the sugar tax can't come soon enough.

[Toomanytealights]

Mother of 3 teens. I have tried to teach healthy eating habits over the years- weaned on mountains of fruit/veg,restrict processed meat and red meat,restrict chips and junk. Haven't banned sugar or overly fried foods such as chips and crisps but kept them to treats. Have tried to educate them alongside, all healthy weights with no fillings. So happy days you might think except actually they eat far too much crap and getting the good stuff into them is nigh on impossible. Rarely eat 5 a day these days,love crappy junk food and they use their pocket money / dinner money( when they used to have it)to buy crap. Yes I could stop pocket money but they are 14 and 13, policing is impossible and they actually need some independence. I'm not worried about obesity or teeth but diabetes and cancer.

This weekend ds bought a 5 guys refillable drink cup with his mates and just bought 3 packets of sweets for £1 and a pocket of Oreos for 50p. I have confiscated the sweets alongside showing how 6 Oreos is his daily sugar allowance which means no weekend waffles or strudel for tea. We only have puddings at the weekend and I don't normally give him a complete sugar breakdown,I was trying to make a point.

They have packed lunches and I serve fruit/ veg with every meal. It gets left and they will happily go hungry. They get very little pocket money but I'm under no illusions they will spend it at school or before catching the bus.

So how do people get their teens to eat healthily,where am I going wrong and will this sugar tax help? How will they police crap offers like refillable cups and 3 for a £1 on sweets?

Just to say I have tried my best throughout and I'm in no way trying to sound smug. I have no reason to be,my way clearly isn't working.

My 2 eat the dinner dished up:
Steak and kidney pie, new potatoes, steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

Gammon and pineapple, mash, peas and parsnips.

I've never let my 2 not eat veg. My 2 eat all veg, all meals, fruit, crisps and chocolate biscuits aswell.

They both are slim and play football 3 times a week.

This just needs you to be firmer.

I still think you're being extreme here.

There's nothing wrong with overdoing it occasionally. Nobody eats the perfect diet all the time and that's just fine - so long as it balances out over the week you don't have anything to worry about imo.

Six Oreos and some Haribo once in a while isn't immediately going to lead to diabetes!

Ok... Perhaps try adding something 'fun' but small like chocolate or sweets in their lunch, maybe they'll be less inclined to buy their own?

Judging by the sales at work, all that's happened is people are paying more for the same things.

Op. do not do this!!!! One of my parents friends did this to her ds. He was seriously mucked up by his controlling parents and now aged 46 has had four break downs, never had a job and never been in a relationship. He still remembers the time his parents took off him the chocolate advert calender he bought with his own money as he wanted to be like other children. Doing this makes your dc hid things from you. You have a very unhealthy attitude to food. Dont pass it onto your dc please.

You’re just going to make liars out of your children. They will eat what they want once out of your sight and not tell you.

I can't force them to eat it. I'd be accused of child abuse. One eats the lot. The other two a year older have got worse and will eat the veg they like under protest( a few peas,the tops of broccoli,carrots and sweet corn). It's boring so I serve stuff we like to vary things( kale,cabbage etc) and then they'll just go hungry.I don't like/ can't afford red meat more than 3 times a week so they'll pick at anything interesting we like that is remotely veggie or fishy. We eat together once a day. Send veg sticks in lunch boxes,get left,they could easily dump them in the bin if I insisted they ate them. Drives me crackers they've been raised on a varied, interesting,vaguely healthy diet and they pick like 2 year olds.

I have educated. School is educating.Sugar is addictive.

I understand, but they are teens. They are starting to make their own choices. Part of being a teenager is rebelling against what they've been taught. Confiscating is simply saying "you're a child and you can't decide what you do with your own money, you're too stupid".

Leave them be, make sure your meals are healthy and let them grow up and make their own mistakes.

There comes a time when they have to make decisions for themselves. You've done what you can and they'll come back to healthier eating of their own accord. My two (DS18 and DD 15) have asked me to stop buying crisps and biscuits because they can't resist eating them and they want to be healthier!

Londonrach are you not reading my posts,I'm not extreme. I bought them chocolate advent calendars ffs. I can live with a single chocolate before school. Hardly any fruit/veg and only consuming a complete meal if it's pizza,crappy chicken or burgers alongside eating crap like a whole packet of Oreos and 3 packets of sour belts in one sitting I can't.

Pmsl that stopping my son from gorging on crap is going to lead to him not holding down a job. So I have the gov warning me that my dc will die from diabetes/ cancer and posters saying my dc will get eating disorders and never hold down a job.

So it's obesity/diabetes v an eating disorder.

Your looking at two extremes here. My two are in their late 20s now and I have never “policed” food like some people do. I always made sure there was a good, balanced meal for dinner. But yes we had biscuits in the house and the “devils drink” (according to MN, lol) squash too!

As most teenagers do, mine bought their fair share of fizzy and sweets. But as they got older they just naturally settled down and started buying that stuff more and more infrequently. A good few years ago we actually gave up buying each other Easter eggs and that kind of thing as they’d just sit in the fridge uneaten.

I wish people could just relax a bit over these things, and be grateful that you have happy, healthy kids.

When I was a younger teenager, I used to eat a lot of sweets. I'd buy them on the way to school, having walked to save my bus fare! Over time, I stopped doing it, and was actually quite skinny in my late teens. My weight has fluctuated as an adult, but I've never been overweight.

I think, sometimes, it's better to let teens figure things out for themselves. Occasional overindulgence as a teen =/= becoming overweight and getting diabetes.

Also, growing teens who walk everywhere can be genuinely hungry and need more calories than an adult who isn't growing.

It's hard.

I often used to get my young teenagers to tot up their fruit and veg consumption. If it was under 5 they would have some fruit.

There are so many temptations.

And the problem is so much unhealthy choice. The more fat, salt and sugar you eat the more you crave it and don't feel like eating salad etc.

You're quite right OP.

Teenagers eat more sugar than any other age group - fact!

I try to make sure mine have a good evening meal - nutritious and tasty with lots of veg. We are now having success with salads - can't believe it. I give them pocket money but I don't but biscuits or cakes or sweets and they get a can of Pepsi once a week. One dd takes homemade food to school for lunch - so extras and the other dd buys a school lunch - allowed main and drink or biscuit. They have decided now that sweets are for the weekend only.
It kills me to see them eat so much sugar but I do believe they need to decide this for themselves. Both dds are very skinny so it's not a weight thing, they both feel sugar makes their spots worse, so that's often a good angle as they both hate having spotty skin.

Off the point I know but the bloody sugar tax is ruining my occasional fizzy drink. I'd have a San Pellegrino once or twice a month instead of wine with dinner. Now they are all labelled 'new recipe' and have sucralose. Even Fever Tree! I'm gutted.

cathf it doesn't matter how well your primary child eats, and how sensible their choices are, and how well you have taught them about healthy eating. In 99% of cases, it will go out of the window some time between 12-14 and stay out until 17-21.
Spot on!
The same could be said for any post about teenagers whether it's eating habits, messy rooms, lack of chores (this is the one where posters come on to say how much their 3 year old loves dusting) .

OP Mine went through a hideous faddy phase. I resigned myself to serving peas at every meal because they were green and they got eaten. They do grow out of it eventually.

YABU. The sugar tax can do one. Why treat all the people who can control themselves like kids?

Agree re San Pelligrino - it’s the fizz I buy for the ‘weekend treat drink’ and it has some shite sweetener in it now.

I loathe the nanny state and totally disagree with the sugar tax. If, as an adult, I want to buy sugar that is entirely my business. You having no control over sugar consumed by your teenagers is down to you and them.

Oh and you have taught your son a valuable lesson; next time he buys sweets and biscuits I'm pretty sure they will be well hidden from you.

Oh no. Sans Pellegrino has artificial sweeteners iñ it now? Very disappointing.

That's some sort of flavoured San Pelleigrino I presume? Please tell me they're not putting sweeteners in plain mineral water!!

San pelligrino do really tasty citrus fizzy drinks. I assume it's those not the water

It's in the San Pellegrino lemon and orange as far as I can see. Not plain water. Boo hoo. 😞

Agree re San Pelligrino - it’s the fizz I buy for the ‘weekend treat drink’ and it has some shite sweetener in it now.

I buy Belvoir Farms cordial and sparkling water for my weekend treat. It's the only way I can get a decent drink now!

I’ve never really restricted either of my children’s diets. I prepare and serve reasonably healthy food, but I don’t get previous about junk.

DS1 is nearly 18 now and has a great diet. He has been able to decide what he eats at school and college for years and makes good choices. He never snacks, eats when he’s hungry and stops when he’s full. He’d rather have ‘proper food’ than sweets.

His friends are quite similar tbh. I’m not at all convinced that it is impossible to get teens to eat healthily or that the sugar tax will make any difference.

Maybe just take a step back OP. Don’t panic about what they’re eating. It’ll all be fine.