What sort of snacks do you keep in the house?

[MyBaa]

I'm asking because my DC aged 14 and 10 are always complaining there's nothing to eat.

We have three meals a day and there is always a variety of fruit, crackers and cheese, bread, peanut butter and jam and usually some nuts.

About once a week I will buy a tub of icecream and I bake about twice a week. That means there's muffins or cake on 2 out of 7 days on average.

I buy biscuits very occasionally and same with crisps...probably about twice a month and it will be two normal packets.

Any things like biscuits/crisps/icecream is eaten within 2 days and I don't see why I should buy it all the bloody time if they're going to scoff it at that rate.

AIBU to only provide things like fruit and the odd peanut butter sandwich or toast? They're both slim to skinny but if I bought them icecream and biscuits at the rate they eat them they wouldn't be.

I used to be more like you, and then I decided that life was for living.

We’ve always got something like Penguins or Wotsits in.

No one who eats an otherwise healthy and nutritious diet is going to suffer by having a Freddo after dinner IMO.

Saucy I wouldn;t mind if it was one Freddo but it's ALL the Freddos. I did used to buy more than this but my DC must be a bit greedy!

Your snacks sound absolutely fine-plenty of variety there. Besides, it’s not like you have banned biscuits, crisps, ice cream from the house-you’ve said you buy them every month. I don’t see why there should be a supply of snacks available where the snacks are of the chocolate/crisps/bars variety. You’re giving your children good habits and I wouldn’t change that. Yes life is for living-but that life is better if it involves healthy habits that are developed at a young age. Re. the baking-would you consider freezing some of them so that they’re not all eaten in two days? My mum used to bake on Saturdays but that baking had to be shared among five children and two adults!

What about hummus and guacamole with pita bread or oatcakes? Quite filling but healthier than biscuits or crisps . Or get them to make a bowl of porridge.

Not a lot - always have bread so they can make toast but otherwise it's hot or miss

P.S. There’s plenty to eat-just not the rubbish they’d prefer!

We’ve always got crisps , fruit , pepperamis , yoghurts, chicken shack bites, sausage rolls etc in.

There are always plenty of snacks on offer, kids eat well rounded meals. dSS eats like a horse so we have to always been stocked up!

Blue why hummus when they can have organic peanut butter? Or nuts?

MyBaa

I think you probably just need to be a bit stricter about helping yourself to the treats then :-)

My oldest would eat a whole pack of anything if I let her (as would I).

But we don’t let her. Probably helps that there are 5 of here anyway- so by the time we’ve all one of whatever out the pack, there isn’t enough for any one person to eat the whole packet.

I think with my dd15 she would complain there was nothing in unless the cupboards were constantly filled with junk. I buy biscuits and crisps every week. They just get eaten v quickly. I hide any special treats for me.

Perty that's a lot of processed meat though...pepperamis, chicken bites, ,sausage rolls...

I have a 12 yo. We always have crisps, chocolate, biscuits and fruit. Often doritoes and salsa. There is usually ice cream. Sometimes nuts, popcorn or cake but not always. He will sometimes have cereal as a snack too. It is normal for us to have these things in so he does not eat them as soon as they arrive or every day. He has fruit and something sweet most days, as do I. He understands about moderation.

Mine have some kind of treaty thing every day so there's always biscuits and cakes in the house. They've never developed any kind of obsession with them as they are freely available. They have to ask and they are limited - no way would they be allowed to eat a whole packet of something but they've never asked or tried. So they come home, have a couple of biscuits/piece of cake, get on with their homework or playing or whatever. We have balanced meals and rarely have puddings, other than yogurt.

This is coming from a childhood of restriction and a subsequent lifelong obsession with sugary foods which I have to battle every day. Its worked so far. I marvel at how my kids can be happy with a 2-3 bourbons and not ask for anything else. I would have to eat the packet.

I Fill the biscuit tin once a week with biscuits from ALDI costs about £2. There's fruit and bread, bread sticks and cream cheese. I bake cheese scones, cupcakes, tray bakes, pizza swirls and flapjacks.

It doesn’t get eaten all at once though 🙈😂 I’m not hugely fussed as long as they eat a balanced diet.
Realistically they need to learn to ratio themselves as they get older , not have someone do it for them

I buy a couple of packets of biscuits per week along with 2 multipacks of crisps & a pack of cakes. When they're gone, they're absolutely gone & then it's the fruit, cereal bars (& yes, I know they aren't technically 'healthy' before anyone starts) ), crackers, yogurts etc for snacks. It teaches my 2 teens to spread out the so-called healthy/unhealthy stuff a bit more. I agree there's nothing wrong with a few treats & it leads to a healthier relationship with food & teaches them to make their own choices.

Also I brought a popcorn maker from amazon for about £5 and we keep kernels in so they can make that if they want.

@paddlingwhenIshouldbeworking I was in the same boat growing up with huge sugar restrictions that would become a huge issue for me when I would then have the ability to buy sugary products for myself.

I was restricted hugely as a child and didn’t know how to ratio myself, my DC have the ability to know what they should be eating and don’t go crazy near the sweets and chocolate !

We always have crisps, cheese, nuts, yogurt , bread, fruit and veg, rice cakes and crackers and some kind of biscuit. Most of the time also have ice lollies.

If they are boys and growing, they do need to eat a lot. But it doesn't have to be crisps and choc. Toast and peanut better is a lot better for them. I'd make it clear that there are some things they can have unlimited quantities of, and other things that are treats.

The more I bug the more they eat so I’m going to adopt the “when it’s gone it’s gone” method this week. And I’ve had a chat with eldest about troughing ALL the treats at once

My eldest doesn’t really snack other than cherry tomatoes, breadsticks and hummus but my three yr old is a monster for snacks. We always have Babybels, dairylea dippers, crisps, biscuits. I buy chocolate for a Saturday night as I’m terrible for chocolate and would eat it all the time.
I can take or leave biscuits so they’re safer!

mybaa I just suggested hummus as an alternative , perhaps they are just bored with the same things every day.

But who’s to say that having had limited access to sugary foods growing up has led you to having an unhealthy relationship with it as an adult? The opposite could have also happened-no interest in it.
I don’t drink alcohol (not for religious reasons or any other reasons, I just never developed a taste for it.) Consequently, when I used to go out socializing when I was younger I invariably drank soft drinks. (Now, thankfully, there’s mineral water available.) As a result of this, I never bought soft drinks for use at home-it was enough to have to drink them while out. Perhaps as a result of this lack of minerals at home, My now grown up children have never developed a liking for them. Therefore, lack of sugary foods while young doesn’t have to mean an insatiable appetite for them as an adult.
If all of these children have such great willpower with regards to sugary food, how come we have such a worrying growth of overweight and obesity -especially amongst our young population?
OP, keep doing what you’re doing and don’t feel pressured to give in to having cupboards of junk in your house. (As for hummus versus peanut butter-the shelf live alone would make me op for peanut butter every time!)

Opt!