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?

OP you're clearly just being massively goady and enjoying it.

Feed your child whatever, parent however you choose. But I would suggest you stop acting so superior and smug.

How old is your child out of interest?

@AlonsoTigerHeart 😂😂😂😂 AMAZING!!

Statistically, 1 in 3 of the children of PPs claiming that "it's a biscuit, it won't do any harm" will be overweight or obese by the time they're 11. So I'd take the advice with a pinch of salt.

A thousand times this.

As for the thread about why British children are fat, well this debate gives good insight as to why.

There's no particular need for a snack at all. And mass produced, sugar and transfat filled crap should have an extremely limited role in a healthy diet.

Simple solution: stop going to the group. I'm surprised you lower yourself to be in the presence of such plebs.

Whoah ! OP we are slowly waking up to the obesity crisis

And some people are fast asleep clearly

A biscuit here and a biscuit there - all adds up

Fuck me this thread

The vitriol ! For having the temerity to suggest we don’t NEED transfats all day long

Truly shocking attitudes

Yup. So darn fat. Better put her on a diet.

To all those stating a biscuit a week won't hurt - the problem is that we've normalised the junk. Which does hurt - this is why we have an obesity crisis, and why our children will live shorter lives than ours.

Why is it so damn hard to swap a crap biscuit for a bit of fruit?

I do sympathise op. When I had my first, and he started preschool (he's 20) I was shocked he was given squash and a biscuit, as these were not things I gave him at home, and once he'd had squash he never drank water again! I was cross. These days, the preschool my son is at they are offered water or milk, breadsticks and fruit. Playgroups seem to be a different thing altogether and if it bothers you I'd just find another one. It does tend to be true that as you have more and become more experienced you chill out about certain things, and if this was just 2 biscuits a month that is moderation.
I've had good eaters and bad eaters, same method of parenting and weaning, there's no right or wrong. Some children are very fussy and others are not. If you don't want this for your child now, just don't go.
I've found schools to be hugely varied. We had a 'healthy' school, where no wrappers were allowed for snacks and no cakes of sweets for birthdays and then a school where cake is shared out regularly for birthdays and sweets passed round at the end of the day. Just work out what suits you and try not to stress.

Sorry but biscuits, crisps and cakes are NOT part of a healthy diet

It’s true . I have lost 2 stone and one of the main reasons was cutting this shit out .

I have had such a wake up call on this whole issue recently . It’s a mess how we completely normalise eating this stuff day in day out . A toddler group isn’t the time or the place

A birthday party IS

All playgroups I attended with myou three offered juice and a biscuit and no one batted an eyelid. I think YABU.

Why are people exaggerating and being overly dramatic? No one is promoting eating transfats "all day long".

The majority agree that a biscuit or similar can be an occasional treat (for eg at a casual weekly toddler group thing).
Throwing statistics around about obesity and type 2 diabetes just makes you look like a sanctimonious arse in this context.
And, as a pp pointed out- verging on being neurotic about food.

@rebelrogue it is funny how priorities change, my son had terrible reflux for years and just didn't eat properly at all. He just relied on milk, he was under paediatric care as he was so small. They said to feed him anything he wanted, give him pink milk, anything to get calories in, but nothing worked. One day in Lidl aged nearly 3, he spotted a pink doughnut and asked for it. I bought it thinking he'd never eat it and he devoured the whole thing in seconds. I've never been so proud and happy I bought a fair few more over the next few weeks!! Anyway, whilst not being the most adventurous eater, he does now eat a very balanced diet and is healthy.
But each to their own.
If is good to be concerned about eating habits at a young age.

@loopyloopy it's the prep and hygiene and washing up. How easy is it to open a packet of biscuits to cutting up 10 apples or oranges... it's easy.

@Boredandtired DD eats school meals everyday. Not always the whole things,and sometimes she might moan,but I'm so frikking proud about that.

Hate when she's ill though and won't eat much(at all) and I get flashbacks.

Just because you could possibly go to four playgroups a week doesn't mean you have to, doesn't mean a lot of people do either. So that's not really four days a week of eating junk. Also no the odd treat isn't going to hurt them. Teaching them moderation is going to help them develop good eating habits. Not allowing them can make them rebel (just because you didn't doesn't mean they won't) and it will be harder to police them as they go to parties or when kids are handing out sweets on their birthdays.
I allow my son to have treats and he has even handed me back a digestive and asked for a banana instead.
Treats aren't the sole reason for obesity. Lack of activity also plays a major role. Lots of children aren't as physically active as they should be. Surely a little treat once in a while isn't going to make them gain weight if they are spending most of the time running around...
Also as long as you encourage good dental hygiene I can't imagine how a child would end up without a full set of teeth just because of a small piece of cake once in a while...

I agree with you don't have to do these things. My youngest is 2 and we don't go to any playgroups. I hated them with my older kids and they just are not my thing. We are quite happy doing our own thing and she does love the odd choc chip cookie. But she eats loads of fruit, a balanced diet and is perfectly healthy. I've no idea what she weighs or anything but she's very slim and happy and brushes her teeth well twice a day. It's about the overall picture and balance.

Also, whowever said that a toddler should be able to wait for food between breakfast and lunch - I can't believe you've ever been around little children! They need a little snack to keep them going!

No they don't. It's a habit they get into and it's pretty easy to get them out of it if you want to. Just as it is pretty easy to stop them eating junk food if it's not on offer at every playgroup in town. In a two hour session there is simply no need for a snack. Maybe provide milk or water but if any child is that starving that they need something between meals then surely their parent can bring something.

I think you are all being mightily unfair to OP. She is looking at the bigger picture, and she is right to do so.

I run playgroups and only offer plain biscuits, raisins and water. The children don't expect anything else from me and are happy. I have many parents who request no additional sugar, and this is a happy balance for all of us.

At Easter I offer them a small chocolate bunny and at Christmas I make them a small
Gingerbread man and offer clementines.

And as for older kids, we lead by example. We don't eat much sugar because we just dont like it. During holidays the kids have an ice cream a day. We have fruit in the house but no yoghurts/sweets etc. If we want cake/biscuits, we bake them and rarely ice them outside of birthdays. They certainly aren't forbidden but they definitely aren't consumed daily or even weekly sometimes.

Yesterday on a school trip my 9 year old's teacher told me that he bought sweets, as did all of his mates and after he tasted them, put them in the bin except one lollipop because he said they tasted like shit. And at parties, this was my DD's spread from her birthday this weekend. All home made, the only processed sugar was the chocolate and sprinkles on the strawberries. The kids LOVED it.

OP, I think you sound sensible. Ignore all the name callers, you don't need approval from anyone.

You're going to be flamed for your raisins, MonkeyMummy...

I haven’t read the full thread but something that might be worth considering (not applicable to all examples of playgroup food given here but definitely to some).

There is an awesome playgroup near me run in a dedicated space. It runs every day, ran by an independent charity for the benefit of the local community, from 9 til 11:30 or thereabouts. It is a 5/10 minute drive away from my house (central London).

The first time I went we arrived at about 10 and at about 11 the snack came out. I was surprised because this seemed v close to lunch time. Also the ‘snack’ was crackers with cheese and some fruit. Another time we came it was a small bowl of plain pasta with some chopped up raw vegetables. I was really surprised at this and remarked to my friend. She pointed out that lots of the women who came to this playgroup were having a v tough time and she thought such a substantial snack was given so that those women had one less thing to worry about that day - giving proper lunch etc.

I felt really stupid for fussing about my children potentially not eating the lovey lunch that was waiting for them at home without thinking that some women / caregivers might sometimes find this a stretch too far some days whether for financial reasons or mental health reasons 😞 I always give a donation on top of the playgroup fee when I go there now, it is such an amazing resource.

If people can teach their kids to be vegetarian I'm sure you can coax your kids into not eating it and accepting rice cakes like good little children should.

Will be happily smug and judgemental while DS enjoys a full set of teeth, normal BMI and a lack of childhood onset diabetes

I ate some junk food as a kid and I still have all my teeth, a normal BMI, and no diabetes.

Also, wtf is wrong with giving a toddler cheerios?

I didn't mean to put the cake... But it's fitting

One of the playgroups we go to offer wholemeal toast slices and fruit bowls, it's safe to say the fruit bowls get ignored or uneaten. The toast is usually eaten by the parents I've noticed also.