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!!)

Knittingdad - no you are completely wrong. It's due to raisins and carrots.

This has got to be a wind-up. Someone has read the 'things I'm fed up of seeing on every thread' thread and decided to do a spoof, surely? Especially with that username.

Next it'll be "AIBU to not be weaving my dc's clothes by hand from the hair of a unicorns mane"

Have i walked through the wardrobe? Where's Mr Timnus?

Yep, there are two problems with this diet I think, but not (mainly) because of the fromage frais. It's the combination of weetabix, sandwiches and pasta as their 3 meals a day. All pretty fast-release carbs (i.e. like sugar) with not enough protein to balance this out. So in this way your DH is right.

I would put in more cooked veg in meals (as that's where they should be getting their vitamins, not from regular intake of fruit - plus there's not much variety in what they're getting, and there are hardly any nutrients in cucumber slices, and uncooked carrots don't have useable Vitamin A). Have you tried making chilli con carne from scratch without the chilli? They should have more B vitamins in their diet so try with brown rice, which also releases its sugars more slowly into the bloodstream. Vegetable soups made from scratch are easy with a handheld blender.

Fromage frais does have a lot of added sugar in and so it's the kind of snack I'd use around 4pm when they're running out of steam rather than first thing in the morning, when I'd ideally give them an egg, brown toast and something with milk in.

Dentists find raisins a nightmare. They stick to your teeth. The latest advice I heard for children was to eat their whole daily fruit allowance in one sitting to minimise tooth decay.

Swap the raisins for veg and make sure there is veg in the evening meal.

Fruit is high in sugar and so are carrots.

I'd possibly add some sort of veg dip eg baba ganush and have some sort of veg to dip, spring onions, mange tout, asapagus etc.

Your husband is completely correct.

Your children have almost no protein in that daily diet you posted. There is a lot of sugar and fats - empty carbs. Yes that gives them energy, but they need protein and calcium.

They need:
Eggs
Cheese
Meat
Beans/ lentils
Vegetables

You could also add:
Nuts/ nut butters
Greek yogurt
Hummus

PCPlum, carrots are indeed high in sugar. When I had GD I was advised by my dietician to limit them.
www.myfooddata.com/articles/high-sugar-vegetables.php
They are not the equivalent of chocolate by any means, but there is about the same amount of sugar in a teaspoon of ketchup as in a single average sized carrot. If there is a choice between carrots and spinach, spinach is the one to go for.

I think it's fine on the whole. Personally if you are using a kids flavoured yoghurt I probably wouldn't add honey but apart from that I think it's fine. We use brown bread / pasta/ rice so you could always swap to brown if concerned. They eat vegetables every day by the sound of things and I wouldn't say the fruit is terrible. My little boy eats plenty of fruit aswell but I don't get worked up about it he eats lots of vegetables aswell. I think there is so much in the news ECT about food that it becomes confusing to follow everything as often the advice is different. People on here are saying don't give full day milk but I was always under the impression little children should have full fat. I tend to look at it like this if it's overall healthy and they are getting all food groups then I don't believe a treat does any harm sometimes it's a yoghurt for my little boy , sometimes it a gingerbread man or we really enjoy baking together so it's a piece of cake.

@PinguDance this is what Colgate has to say about apples and teeth "While the ADA recommends steering clear of most sweet foods, there are some exceptions. Fruits, such as apples, might be sweet, but they're also high in fiber and water. The action of eating an apple produces saliva in your mouth, which rinses away bacteria and food particles. The fibrous texture of the fruit also stimulates the gums". The same is true of carrots, which apparently also attracted someone's ire upthread.

Worrying about apples and carrots being unhealthy is verging on orthorexia.

Also, a lot of so-called health advice is probably nonsense. See for instance mucking around taking the fat out of milk - there's increasingly evidence that that isn't a great idea <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/09/low-fat-whole-milk-usda-dietary-guidelines&ved=2ahUKEwjTlof3t8vdAhUmOsAKHUScDfoQFjANegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw3UTX5QLURbx7eaAbsBo3F-&ampcf=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/09/low-fat-whole-milk-usda-dietary-guidelines&ved=2ahUKEwjTlof3t8vdAhUmOsAKHUScDfoQFjANegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw3UTX5QLURbx7eaAbsBo3F-&ampcf=1

I'm with Pollan too. I only struggle with the 'not too much of it' part

@PinguDance don't be ridiculous. nobody likes bran flakes

@PCPlumsTruncheon

Why do you assume that kids who are allowed junk have a healthier relationship with food that kids who are not?

My kids will eat everything they are given. How many people on here have angst and worry over their kid refusing to eat or only eat pizza, pasta, sweets etc? And how many posts have you seen saying "My kid loves vegetables... what should I do, in so worried".

Giving your kid healthy food doesn't cause any angst. My kids get sweets and junk if they're having a party or whatever but other than that, I simply don't buy it. We don't eat processed food at all. And they havnt been harmed. They don't ask for sweets in the supermarket, they don't stuff themselves at a party when they get the chance as they just don't care about eating junk... It's not on their radar because they've never really got used to having it. That might change as they get older, but this is how ice always eaten. I didn't change that when I had kids. They eat what i eat. It's the food they've always have, and they are healthy, happy and I don't have to worry when radio and t.v. adverts about sugar are thrown in my face during the day. Our diet and relationship with food causes no angst. But kids shovelling junk into their faces.... well their parents are always on here asking for help so I know which side I'd rather be on.

Anyone who says fruit is unhealthy must have a disorder.

That sounds like a reasonable diet. Unless your th has bought into the clean eating trend. Perhaps cut down on from age frais every day and have something savoury instead.

@ArcadePixie

No one has said that. What they have said is the fromage frais, with the carb heavy meals and the added sugar sauces add up to too much sugar. Cut out or limit the other stuff. And replace a fruit snack with cheese or nuts because the kids aren't eating much protein.

It's just an aside that they should have more veg than fruit, but the fruit itself isn't the issue.

Batshit is the only word for it. The OP is a sample diet not a menu they stick to doggedly on a daily basis. I'm sure they eat cheese/ eggs etc.

In terms of fruit being unhealthy dd1 at 2 had a phase where she only wanted to eat fruit, the point is balance.

Also there is nothing wrong with carbs anyway most healthy, non obsessed people who actually exercise eat plenty of them as part of a normal diet.

Jesus creepers.

50 out of interest what is your bmi do you exercise or believe weight/ health is all food related?

And as a previous poster said...orthorexis is a thing. And not a good thing.

Breakfast frosties with chocolate milk.
Snack chocolate mini roll.
Lunch chocolate spread sandwich on white bread, packet of hoo la hoops and a packet of whotsits so he can make finger in the ring, a handful of haribo.
Snack 2 oreos
Dinner chicken nuggets, oven chips, spaghetti hoops, glass of coke.
Supper big slice of cake, hot chocolate,

I'm howling at this and all food threads on here. What a load of navel-gazing nonsense. Agree with pallisers and PCPlum. Limit carrot sticks because they are sugary! I've heard it all now.

There's protein in the fromage frais and the milk. Presumably protein in the sandwich depending on the filling and protein in the bolognese sauce.

In answer to your original OP. No your husband has not lost the plot. I think he is right. Heavy on carbs and sugar. Light on protein and truly nutricious foods.

@Teateaandmoretea

I have a gym in my house. I also do several extreme sports. My bmi is 19.5. I'm not exercise obsessed, but I'm active as part of my everyday life. And had to buy the gym equipment because the only time I get alone is when I'm at work or when the kids are asleep so no chance to go to a proper gym.

Why would there be added sugars in the sauces? Op doesn't say they're ready made.

Lily that looks like a fab diet hun. I'd think about swapping the chicken nuggets for microwave pizza though. I'm sure my dc have never eaten that in a day

Well done you have a instead of a medal. You sound obsessed which is good for no one, especially children.