To think playgroups shouldn't give out junk food?

[neonyellowshoes]

I go to one may be once a fortnight. The standard snack is fruit plus juice (don't agree with the juice) but there is always other shit 'just this once'. Chocolate, cake, iced biscuits today...

This is publicly funded.

It's a nice group but the shit food is putting me off.

Am I being precious?

I fucking love party rings, i scan the table at all kids party and if theres none i judge them.

I was mooching round home bargains last year and found mini party rings, made my day!

I sincerely hope I wasn't like this when mine were little.

I hoe you print this off and refer to it when he's 16 OP

The smug might have rubbed off by then

YANBU. That “a little bit won’t hurt” attitude is what develops childhood obesity. People get used to “treats” being more frequent than they’re really meant to be and it just snowballs from there.

Glaring example: British office cake culture.

Mine have had the occasional biscuit or cheap cake at a playgroup. They have healthy teeth, are a healthy weight and don’t have diabetes .
If you don’t like it, don’t go. Ours mainly serve fruit and water but they do sometimes offer biscuits/cakes etc too.

But a little bit doesn’t hurt. It’s just food.

So every child who has a treat as a child is an obese adult? I grew up eating a healthy mixture of Turkey dinosaurs and fish fingers and home cooked chicken casserole, roast dinners, salads etc along with yoghurts, fruit, lots of chocolate digestives and ice cream. I'm a healthy weight. My BMI is normal and the best thing is I absolutely love food. I enjoy salads, fresh fish and the occasional take away and yes a biscuit. I walk my dogs for exercise and enjoy slobbing around on the sofa watching soaps a few of times a week. Yes I'm feeling pretty smug!

PFB, OP?

No wonder so many kids are malnourished in middle class families.

They are??

I've worked in childcare for 25 years and it always been normal to offer a snack at playgroups. It gets the kids used to eating and drinking with other people, sharing, helping each other etc. It means they all eat/drink together at the same time, at a table, so you don't have kids cruising round with beakers of drink and bags of crisps which inevitably get spilt.

By "juice" do you mean squash, OP? If so it's generally made up pretty weak - actual fruit juice would be an unusual thing to serve a group of toddlers IME. Cake, chocolate and biscuits aren't especially healthy, I know, but heck, it's not crystal meth they're being served! And those snacks take no prep, unlike fruit, vegetable chunks etc which mean someone has to prepare it....have you seen the state of some communal kitchens?!

its food.its not good or bad its food.its had in balance its fine.its enjoyable.its food to nourish to nurture to enjoy.its food.its not the bloody enemy.

Nothing's going to "snowball" if OP is taking her son to this playgroup once a fortnight and he's eating a chocolate biscuit.

What on earth will you do when he starts going to birthday parties in reception? Mine went to about one a week as they seem to invite the whole class at that age.

I think it's more harmful to label some foods as "shit" or Poisonous.

You have to relax your attitude around sugar and additives when out of the home, otherwise your head might explode.

Following a healthy diet with occasional treats or snacks is the way forward, rather than making some foods taboo. They will become like the forbidden fruit which never ends well.

YABU - However you wouldn’t be being unreasonable if you were paying a fee to attend.

If you are not happy with the food, why not bring a packed lunch for you and your child?

Whenever we go out for the day I bring a packed lunch/pinic basket.

Kids eat meals together at home. Or school. At nursery they often have breakfast lunch and dinner there.

They don't need to sit down again in between and eat just so they "learn"

Have a role play tea party or picnic or do a game instead.

Don't just feed crap then make out you are doing parents a favour cos they are learning to sit down and eat. Its not a hard thing to learn.its sitting down not brain surgery

Don't think I'm going back. Will be happily smug and judgemental while DS enjoys a full set of teeth, normal BMI and a lack of childhood onset diabetes

Yes indeed. Shall I also be happily smug that DD who is now 11.5 has a full set of adult teeth, normal BMI and a lack of diabetes.

She also can self regulate food because I didn’t clench over a bourbon at baby group

And those snacks take no prep, unlike fruit, vegetable chunks etc which mean someone has to prepare it....have you seen the state of some communal kitchens?!

And doesn't anything involving food prep beyond opening a packet require someone to have a food hygiene certificate? I know of a group that wanted to put on a day event for adults coming up against this - they wanted to offer a sandwich lunch, but couldn't provide anything more than tea and biscuits unless one of the organisers was willing to do the training to get the certificate.

(I wonder how many adults going out for a morning socialising with friends and acquaintances would be happy with being offered water and fruit only.)

If you are that adamant he can't have it then either don't go or have some backbone and say no instead of preaching on here about "bad" food.My child eats occasional biscuits and is completely healthy with good teeth btw.

You are gonna get a shock when your kids start school.

He he clenching over a bourbon

My teens also have great teeth, normal BMI and no early onset diabetes despite having a biscuit (aka Shit) at toddler group and eating sugary treats at parties and so on.

Try not to be smug and judgmental OP you won't make any friends.

So your child has a biscuit once a fortnight at a toddler group and your outraged? You do know a biscuit once every 2 weeks won’t make his teeth fall out, make him fat or give him diabetes right? Eating sugary food regularly yes may contribute to these things but the odd biscuit or cup of juice will not.

As long as you feed a child a healthy diet the majority of the time, a biscuit or piece of cake now and them doesn’t hurt.

He didn’t stop at one or two chocolate biscuits though like he might have had OP not forbidden these. He would have eaten his lunch had he done it. My guess is Op’s son gorges on sweets and can’t regulate his appetite because she has banned them.

@ILostItInTheEarlyNineties

Sometimes it was a Chocolate Digestive.

Hahahahaha it’s a bloody biscuit. Good luck for when the onslaught of kids parties starts ....I’m not sure you’ll be able to cope.

You are gonna get a shock when your kids start school.
What will happen then? The OP will realise that most parents give food she considers shit tontheir dcs? And that means what? That she is wrong or that she can’t stop her dc to have some?

Sorry but I fully agree with the OP.
I wish I had stuck my gums when my dcs were little.
Theyve had packed lunches at primary (and secondary for that matter) so always have had some healthy lunch.
And whatever other parents are doing didn’t have a big influence.
The worst that happened? The cake stalls a couple of times a year to raise money for xxx.

I agree that food isn't necessary for such a short amount of time.

But YABU...it's just biscuits and cake. You don't have to eat it and you don't have to let your DC eat it. That's your choice. Quitting the group because they put out biscuits is ridiculous.