How often do your DC eat 'treats'?

[UndertheCedartree]

I've moved in fulltime with my DC (13 +8) after 3 years of only seeing them at weekends due to me being unwell. I'm just looking at any changes I need to make to their diet. They were just eating cocopops for breakfast but I've added in some cereals for them to have.

I'm wondering how much other DC have 'treats' for want of a better word. I am some issues with food so my perspective on 'normal' can be skewed. I was suprised that most of my 8yos friends have a kitkat or similar at morning playtime.

I have biscuits, chocolate biscuits, cereal bars, nakd bars, crisps in the house regularly. There are also cheese strings/babybels, crackers, hummus and crudites/pitta, crumpets, bagels, fruit, natural yogurt and frozen berries and homemade bananabread/flapjacks etc available. I allow them to pick what they like for a snack. They usually have 2 snacks a day. They probably have a 'treat' everyother day roughly. Is this too much? They are perfect weight and their teeth are fine. Any advice appreciated.

People who say that if you restrict food it encourages over indulging obviously don’t have kids like mine. They would eat sugar 24/7 if we let them.
School days they have no sugar breakfast, school dinners (cake, cookies etc everyday) and no sugar in the evening, but might have crisps or salami or something salty. on Fridays and weekends they usually have a portion of ice cream or cake or something each day. Holidays and birthdays etc are often more of a free for all. They usually have more during school holidays as well.

I’d say once a day they’d have some form of what you describe as a treat.

Interested in everyone talking about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food. I have tried to treat all foods the same, but I do sometimes say no to biscuits when I never say no to vegetables! It is absolutely clear to them that some foods are more delicious and restricted than others. Surely no one is fooled by the story that there is no such thing as a ‘treat’, even if you avoid the word.

My kids have a cup of tea with a couple of biscuits every day.

@JanetJones

Interested in everyone talking about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food. I have tried to treat all foods the same, but I do sometimes say no to biscuits when I never say no to vegetables! It is absolutely clear to them that some foods are more delicious and restricted than others. Surely no one is fooled by the story that there is no such thing as a ‘treat’, even if you avoid the word.

With the drive for reducing obesity, etc, it does seem difficult nowadays to get away from what foods are 'good' and 'bad'.

Since lockdown? Fucking constantly

@JanetJones - it had a very bad effect on me hence not using 'treat' or labelling food 'bad'. I can't say that I find 'treat' food more delicious than other types of food and I don't think my DC do either. It took me a long time to get over that thinking, though.

@JustSaying101 - I think it is more about healthy portion sizes than labelling food 'good' or 'bad'.

I've never divided food in to treats and normal food, sounds like a recipe for an eating disorder. It's all food, you just eat more healthy food and don't eat too much food. I've not got much of a sweet tooth so rarely buy biscuits etc although I did buy more when the children were small. I'm also not a big snacker although children seem to need to snack more and then just have smaller meal portions. I think cheese straws taste horrible but don't see why yoghurt and fruit would be treats, they're just food.

Every day, more than once usually. I have an extraordinarily fussy eater so pretty much give her what she wants so she eats SOMETHING.

Biscuits, chocolate, crisps... she does eat healthy food to. She just won’t eat much of anything, even treats...

She’s a healthy weight...

My youngest is 13 and an average week day for him would be

Bagel with chicken or almond butter for breakfast. Few nuts. Apple. Smoothie

He'd have a wrap for lunch with salad and turkey. Pack of crisps. Cake or chocolate bar. Water and a bottle of oasis type drink

Biscuits and cheese when in from school. Or a chicken wrap. Or some cake

Dinner is always a big plate of fresh cooked food with plenty of veg

Then he has ice cream or biscuits.

Carrot. Apples. Hot chocolate. Cheese. Bagel with almond butter

And then thankfully he stops eating!

@UndertheCedartree I agree that labelling it as bad is very unhelpful. But it’s also my experience that children know ice cream is a treat, whether you tell them it is or not. I think it’s an unusual person who doesn’t find ice cream more delicious and exciting than broccoli!

@JanetJones - yes, I take your point and I'm pretty sure most would take ice-cream over broccolli!

Pudding every day, but seldom "treats" between meals.

Probably have a pack or half a pack of crisps as part of lunch once or twice a week.
Something sweet for pudding quite often - most days, I would say, though generally quite small portion size.

Something sweet for breakfast, again, probably every day, something like jam or Nutella on toast.

I prefer to limit snacks between meals, but be pretty relaxed about the foods available within mealtimes.

Every day (age 13 and 16) They have to take packed lunch now and have crisps/biscuits in that. They buy a tesco meal deal on the way to school instead some days. There is usually stuff available at weekends too. The 13 year old is slim and the 16 year old is very skinny. They get a fair amount of exercise, but should probably eat less treats.

In primary I sent fruit or carrot sticks for morning snacks, and on one day of the week I'd send a muesli/ Alpen/ cereal bar or similar because he saw those as a treat (which they are, let's face it!) He's just started secondary and he hasn't been eating his snack regularly so it's just a muesli bar in his bag in case he needs it.

He does get a chocolate (like a Tunnock's caramel bar size) in his lunch, and also a sweet thing of some sort after dinner.

He's slim to normal weight (honestly don't know his weight atm but having just bought too much school uniform, I can say he's in slim fit shirts with room to spare).

I have to be honest, I was never really taught what was 'normal' to eat as a child, had an obese parent who enjoyed buffets so I did too, and it took me a long time to recover from all of that. I didn't want to raise him to worry, but when he was younger I explained why I ate certain things, or why I try not to be in the habit of eating crisps regularly, etc. He seems to have taken it on board, but it helps that most of his friends have similar diets.