My husband has lost the plot !!

[MyWonderfulbutcrazyHusband]

Ok, so hear me out here!!!

In my opinion, DCs (6 and 4) are pretty healthy kids! They exercise a LOT and their diet is, I think, pretty ok!

Example

Breakfast - weetabix with fromage frais, honey and grapes

Snack - milk and a some fruit (or occasionally Pom bears or a 'YoYo' bar for a treat!!)

Lunch - sanwiches with cucumber slices and carrot sticks

Snack - banana or raisins

Dinner - tomato pasta or spaghetti bolognaise or something like that! With veg sticks

So ... my (usually amazing, very sane, very sensible and completely gorgeous lovely he's reading this!!) DH said tonight he thinks the children have too much sugar and we need to cut out the fromage frais and honey in the mornings?

I think ... 'well at least they don't scoff chocolate, don't eat takeaways, and they deserve at least something they like (life is too short to cut out everything, right?)'

So - what do you think!?

Husband is reading this! So please tell him to leave their breakfast alone! They are good, healthy, sporty kids and a fromage frais in the morning won't kill them!?

(Sadly, I am prepared to be told IABU, but you do realise DH will not let me forget it!!)

Though she did let me eat all those raisins so it was all in vain.

That is why life expectancy is beginning to decrease, because we all (me included) stuffed ourselves with processed foods in the last few decades.

Do you seriously believe this? That decreasing life expectancy is down to eating weetabix and fromage frais? (the only 2 processed items on the list that I can see).

I go by Michael Pollen. Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much. OP is pretty much there - maybe she could drop the processed cereal and sugary yogurt but I doubt she is lopping years of her healthy, slim children's lives with that recklessness.

Food is the new religion. Hidden Sugar (the bastard) is the new lucifer. Salvation and eternal life is yours if you only eliminate Hidden Sugar. Does anyone really believe in this stuff?

I have only read up to page 4. I know lots of excess refined carbs and free sugars are not good, but sometimes when I read comments I think some people forget glucose isn’t only stored as fat but used for energy for our cells. Unless on a keto diet glucose is our form of energy.

Agree Pallisers.

@fiffyshadesofgreymatter not rude as I said the Ops DH would have a fit.

Breakfast she used to just have ready brek but I cannot remember how we ended up with a teaspoon of choc spread in it, but its stuck and the argument in the morning is not worth the stress to me, she will eat a cereal bowl full with a teaspoon of spread. Snack wise, she will eat a ham wrap (when I lie and say there's no choc spread but she's not stupid...) and loves her fruit bowls but then I think about natural sugar...swings and roundabouts to me.

I have terrible eating habits from eating disorders in my teens so I'm wary of her not eating iykwim.

On the whole though we get lots of fruit/veg/meat daily, she's very active, not overweight and no problems with teeth. 🤷‍♀️

I have only read up to page 4 - I didn't even get that far its truly hard to believe people think there is something wrong with what those kids are eating, and I almost feel like OP posted it so as to have something to worry about

Sorry OP - I agree with your DH really. It's a good diet, but a lot of hidden sugar there.

I gave my eldest 2 DS's a very similar diet - lots of raisins, sweetened fromage frais and similar as back then I didn't realise about all the hidden sugar, and compared to their younger siblings, they had much more trouble with their teeth.

I also didn't realise the amount of hidden sugar there was in seemingly innocuous cereals (eg unfrosted shreddies) things like tomato sauce, baked beans etc. Could be a coincidence I suppose, but may be worth cutting down on the sugar a bit just in case.

If OP's worried about the dcs' teeth, she could get them to brush their teeth after breakfast instead of before? Or even both?

Technically he is correct. Their diet is full of sugar- fromage frais, bananas, white bread, honey, milk, raisins, tomato sauce. Google them all to see how much you will be shocked.

Google them all to see how much you will be shocked.

why would I be shocked to find that a banana has sugar in it or honey (like seriously who doesn't know honey IS sugar) or a sauce made from tomatoes? Why would anyone? Who cares? This is food. We eat it to survive, have pleasure, and connect with each other. Eating no sugar at all will not give you the gift of eternal life - or even long life. Eating nothing but processed crap will probably make you obese and unhealthy. None of this has anything to do with the OP.

OP maybe you should go with the fabulous suggestion of the dolphin-friendly kale made earlier. Oh god, just thought - does Kale have Hidden Sugar in it?

OP I have been on Mumsnet for nearly 10 years and I can tell you that Mumsnet and reality completely part company when it comes to food - particularly children’s food.
The only foods that I have never seen someone describe as unhealthy are:
Porridge
Organic chicken
Fish - preferably caught that day and definitely not frozen
Free range eggs - extra points if they are from your own hens
Leafy green vegetables
Avocados
Nut butter.
Greek yogurt

That’s it. If you stick to those, you won’t go far wrong.
I have heard lentils, sweet corn (carb heavy), peas (carb heavy) described as unhealthy and all breakfast cereals referred to as ‘shit in a box’.
I have also seen a poster describe chocolate as ‘extremely dangerous’.
A PP described grapes as ‘little pouches of sugar’.
FWIW, I do try to make sure that my DC eat reasonable healthily but I honestly don’t think that obsessing over the carb/sugar/salt content of every micro gram of food that passes your DC’s lips is a healthy way to live and just sounds bloody miserable. Food isn’t just about nutrition- it’s about socialising and celebrating. It’s supposed to be a source of pleasure, not constant angst.
I am sure that there are many countries with much lower rates of obesity who are not populated by people producing spreadsheets on the nutritional content of what their DC eat.
I am sure there are some zealots on here who would deny their DC a slice of cake on their birthdays as it’s ‘full of sugar’ and ‘empty calories’.
I grew up in the 70’s and I remember eating a lot of sweets and crisps not to mention Angel Delight. We had a Tuck shop at school selling iced buns and sherbet dips among other delights.
Funnily enough, very few of us were overweight.

I'm with your husband. Fromages frais is full of sugar AND they're getting a yo-yo. See if you can wean them on to plain yoghurt instead of fromages frais.

I have even seen a poster saying that carrots 🥕 are full of sugar

I would democratically devolve all meal planning, shopping and meal prep to him for 90 days, telling him you are 100% behind him.

Fuck this ‘you should swap in X for Y’. Send him off to the shops to buy for the next seven days.

Food isn’t just about nutrition- it’s about socialising and celebrating. It’s supposed to be a source of pleasure, not constant angst.

Food doesn't cause me angst. I just buy the food I want to feed my children and then feed them. Just like you. I just so happen to buy less things containing sugar. My children have a great relationship with food and they eat fruit every day. They're not particularly bothered about sweet things but will eat crisps/sweets at parties and dessert/ice cream if we're eating out.

You're free to make different choices for your children of course but I'm not sure what makes you think anyone who doesn't make the same choice as you is angsty or obsessively tracking their kid's food intake.

I am sure that there are many countries with much lower rates of obesity who are not populated by people producing spreadsheets on the nutritional content of what their DC eat.

Do you honestly think anyone posting on this thread does that? Or was this an attempt at humour?

Akana I refer you to Frangipani’s post at 21.26.
Fair enough, it’s not a spreadsheet but it is a
pie chart. I think the same mental process applies.

The MFP pie chart was simply a tool used to answer the OP's question. There's nothing in that post that suggests they obsessively track their kids' food intake in the way your post suggested.

boo hiss boo... dont take away the honey!!!!!!!!!!could you maybe swap it for the spensif manuka type so it ups the benefits?? you didni say what his alternative suggestion was ?replace with what?? /would they agree?

Akana I wouldn’t have the foggiest about where to go on the internet to track my DC’s fat/carb/sugar/salt intake. It just isn’t on my radar.
I don’t fill my DC with KFC and McDonalds but there is a middle ground between not giving a shit what your DC eat and the orthorexia which is clearly evident on this thread as it is with every MN thread related to food.

@pebbles pony lold, scrolled back lold more.superb

@funnys in la jardin. why rescue hens then eat eggs? ? im not sure i get that.

But of all the posts on this thread, this may be my favourite

I can't get past the carrot sticks. While something to nibble on can be a good thing, the reality about carrots is they do more for you if they're cooked.

It could certainly be worse, but fromage frais do contain lots of added sugar (one reason I find them so tasty) and to combine with honey for breakfast is overkill.

I do agree that in the grand scheme of things it's not a major problem, but it would be a marginal gain to rein in the sugar at breakfast.

That is why life expectancy is beginning to decrease, because we all (me included) stuffed ourselves with processed foods in the last few decades.

I was fairly certain that the latest on that was that it was opiate prescription in the US and cuts to social care in the UK that have caused the declines in life expectancy in those countries.

Op, my immediate reaction when I’d only read about their breakfast was that has quite a bit of sugar in it.

Think I'm suffering from irony failure here. Where's the codebook? Most disturbed that a couple are composing a post together, that's given me IBS.