To think children can go a couple of hours without eating

[OnlyFoolsnMothers]

Not sure if this is just the people I hang out with but every park play date I go on at the moment (there’s quite a few- child is 4), the other parent brings with them copious amounts of snacks.
I’m in no way a food nazi, my child has a morning snack, the odd ice cream when out on hot days, a biscuit pudding after her dinner - I always carry water and an apple- but even I think she can manage 2 hrs in a park without me having to produce a family size bag of crisps, popcorn, a fruit shoot, a haribo.
I’m really fed up of it, firstly because I’m the grinch who says “no” when my daughter asks if she can stuff her face 2hrs before dinner and secondly, because then (unsurprisingly) the other kid sits there eating rather than playing.
If you take a picnic amount of food to a 2pm play date- pls why?

@Goldbar

No, but you've complained about other parents "making you" disappoint your child.

Yes but second to the fact I think it’s ott and also a shame when we primarily meet up to play and it’s the first thing they do

If your child being a whinger is an issue teach them not to whinge.

This is mumsnet where a whole salad or half a tin or soup makes you a glutton, so not a surprise that people are effectively shaking and crying, maybe even headtilting at the thought of giving a child a snack. I do hope none of those posters have a waist larger than 30 inches, as otherwise they are one of those awful awful fat people who are destroying society as we know it.

It's always tricky to negotiate situations where other parents have different rules...I have a friend who allowed her dc to drink fizzy drinks...I dont. My ds would then think I was mean and I'd feel awkward if the mum offered him a can of fizzy drink and I'm left having to say no thanks without looking stuck up

@Comedycook. Similarly, my DC only drinks milk and water so no juice/fizzy drinks. It can be awkward to refuse but it's my choice what I give my child so I'd be a bit put out if another parent was offended.

Oh good, I'm one of those parents you hate! Because my toddler is unpredictable when he will or won't eat and I'd rather he ate something than nothing. Granted he's 1 not 4. I don't let him snack on shit though so he's offered healthy & nutritious snacks. Frankly I couldn't care less if he eats his snacks or his dinner, I'm happy that he has something nutritious to eat whenever he'll accept it.

Perhaps they hate you for being such a tight ass parent your child's not allowed a snack. Why do you need to judge them?

@dopeyduck

Oh good, I'm one of those parents you hate! Because my toddler is unpredictable when he will or won't eat and I'd rather he ate something than nothing. Granted he's 1 not 4. I don't let him snack on shit though so he's offered healthy & nutritious snacks. Frankly I couldn't care less if he eats his snacks or his dinner, I'm happy that he has something nutritious to eat whenever he'll accept it.

Perhaps they hate you for being such a tight ass parent your child's not allowed a snack. Why do you need to judge them?

The op said she gives her DC snacks...she doesn't seem to object to snacks just when the snacks are ridiculously sized, nutritionally poor and are turned into the main focus of the outing.

I clearly remember going to a childminders after school and she gave us just one biscuit each after school, very occasionally a second biscuit. She wouldn't let my mum provide us with extra food for fear of 'making the other kids jealous' even though we were last to be picked up at 5.30-6. By the time I got home I'd spent hours feeling like I could eat my own arm. I don't think kids are the same as adults with this as generally I can go hours without eating now if I need to.

I don’t have a problem with snacks per se, but I think it should be “real” food not a bag of Pom bears or something - essentially fatty air that suppresses her appetite for real food. If I’m with a friend and her toddler and we’re getting out snacks, I might get out half a peanut butter sandwich or similar, or fruit and cheese, and the other kid is having crisps then my child will refuse to eat the real food and just want the “straight from a packet” stuff. Whereas if the crisps were not in the situation they would eat the healthy snack. It winds me up. My toddler certainly needs a snack from time to time, during growth spurts or on very active days. What she doesn’t need is a bag of weird “veg stick” crisps with no nutritional value.

It is bizarre how many parents blame other parents and kids for leading their children astray and away from the no/"healthy" snacks altar.

It is fine to tell your kids no. It is a useful early lesson for children that they can't necessarily have something just because someone else is having it.

And as a parent you get to decide what your kids eat (and when they eat it) and other parents get to decide what their kids eat and when. You don't get to dictate what other people's kids eat.

My toddler certainly needs a snack from time to time, during growth spurts or on very active days. What she doesn’t need is a bag of weird “veg stick” crisps with no nutritional value.

Well, don't give her them then. No one's forcing you to. Your DC will eventually learn that she doesn't get them. No need to be wound up by your friend. She gets to decide what her DC eats just the same as you do.

Maybe. But she asked other people on mumsnet why they take copious amounts of snacks out with them. So I answered. Sorry if you don’t get that but it’s quite simple really.

You've focused on a specific sentence and ignored the overall tone of the post so you could make it all about you.

@MolyHolyGuacamole

Maybe. But she asked other people on mumsnet why they take copious amounts of snacks out with them. So I answered. Sorry if you don’t get that but it’s quite simple really.

You've focused on a specific sentence and ignored the overall tone of the post so you could make it all about you.

Not all all. Nothing about my child’s diabetes is all about me. Educate yourself. It affects the whole family!

You just don’t like the fact that I answered her question. Literally. She asked and I answered. Lol. Simple. 🙄

I think there's a balance. If they are constantly bringing crisps and haribo I agree it's nuts. However on an active play date I'll usually have rice cakes, a banana or a flapjack on hand and of course plenty of water. I'd rather that than grumpy children wanting to go home early.

Perhaps they hate you for being such a tight ass parent your child's not allowed a snack perhaps you should learn to read threads before commenting!

@dopeyduck

Oh good, I'm one of those parents you hate! Because my toddler is unpredictable when he will or won't eat and I'd rather he ate something than nothing. Granted he's 1 not 4. I don't let him snack on shit though so he's offered healthy & nutritious snacks. Frankly I couldn't care less if he eats his snacks or his dinner, I'm happy that he has something nutritious to eat whenever he'll accept it.

Perhaps they hate you for being such a tight ass parent your child's not allowed a snack. Why do you need to judge them?

One year olds and four year olds are very different beasts though. At 1, they're not long past getting 6 or 8 bottles of milk a day. By 4, really they ought to be eating most of their calories as meals at meal times (side eyes own 4yo...) seeing as school starts at 4, and on a school day they'll get breakfast at home (presumably), fruit and milk mid morning then lunch at lunchtime and that's it.

I don't let him snack on shit though so he's offered healthy & nutritious snacks

In that case you're not one of the parents the op is talking about

I agree it happens here, an hour before dinner other parents are stuffing their kids full of crap and offering it to my son....maybe their dinner is much later on..... but why they need crisps, biscuits and sweets to make it through a play at the park I don’t know! I’m with you OP, it’s crazy! And annoying as my son loves to take anything he can get ...not because I keep him in a permanent state of hunger but because he’s 4 and is unlikely to ever say NO to sweets and other rubbish! Also giving someone’s kids winegums just as they jump around on climbing frame is pretty stupid.... fun choking episode after child fell while on frame stuffed full of wine gums.....

@DroopyClematis

At the KS1 school , that I worked in, children were offered free fruit both in the morning and afternoon. Most of the fruit had to be thrown away as the children wouldn't touch pears, carrots, sugar snap peas, tomatoes etc.. parents sent separate snacks... popcorn, cheesy biscuits, those stupid processed winders, even hummus with wraps. Some children came in with those compartment lunchboxes with hummus, breadsticks, grapes, baby bels, cheese strings , pepperamis etc...

Come lunchtime, these children ate nothing as they were full up from their 'snacks.'

Parents would complain about their children eating nothing at lunchtime.

School policy was a piece of fruit at break time.
Parents just took no notice and felt that their child must have every snack they'd want, irrespective of the fact that lunch was 45 minutes after playtime.

So so much school dinners went in the bin. So many children didn't eat their packed lunches.

If ever a member of staff said anything, along the lines of ' you won't have room for your dinner, or, ' just eat the grapes' we'd get a rollicking from a precious parent for any comment that we'd made.

I despaired.

The children wouldn't even eat pears and carrots? Wow. At my DD's infant school we all loved the fruit and veg that they were given at playtime as we didn't need to send anything in. Now my DD is in Juniors I find it much harder as sometimes my DD is hungry but most times not. If I send in fruit or veg and it is uneaten it is then spoiled and needs to be thrown away. I've never heard of anyone sending in a full packed lunch as a snack - that's crazy!!

It isn’t other parents jobs to refuse their child fizzy drinks etc because you don’t allow your child them though. If you have a reason to refuse your child something then do so. The classic ‘I’m not Johnny’s mum, I’m your mum.’ Just because other children are allowed something doesn’t mean your child is allowed it, and just because your child isn’t allowed it doesn’t mean other children shouldn’t be.

@flatdisco embarrassing in what sense of the word? I'm not embarrassed at all. Adverts tell people they must constantly eat. I thought that adverts aimed at children and the magic of pester power was meant to be taken off air in their viewing hours (whatever they now are). The OP is talking about the tons of rubbish that children are given to eat - not about giving them actual food to eat. Obviously different ages will eat/sleep etc differently when thay are very little.

@shrodingersbiscuit

Oh there’s an awful lot of nutribollocks on this thread.

The insulin spike model of ob*sity has been disproven. High carb diets are actually linked with improved insulin sensitivity.

Homeostasis is a thing. You don’t oscillate wildly between low and high blood sugars or insulin levels - you’d die. Sugar doesn’t cause diabetes (1 or 2) and nor does body fat. Some fat distributions (visceral) are linked with it, but it’s multifactorial (type 2 - type 1 is pretty much genetic). Some fat distributions are actually protective, mainly subcut hip and thigh fat.

Hanger definitely is a thing! Your brain runs on pretty much pure glucose. If you aren’t giving it enough glucose it can’t work properly. That can manifest in lots of different ways - fainting, irritability, difficulty concentrating, tiredness etc.

A kid looking chubby doesn’t mean they are unhealthy. Fat is an endocrine organ, not an inert lump. Subcutaneous fat isn’t bad - It produces and stores a lot of things including growth hormones so it makes sense that children, who are growing, build up some fat sometimes and then use it (and it’s stored growth hormones) to y’know, grow.

One third of normal weight adults have a level of visceral fat that classes them as metabolically unhealthy - and at risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Bear that in mind the next time you’re berating someone with obvious fat store for ‘stuffing’ ‘guzzling’ ‘quaffing’ or ‘shoving’ the food you wouldn’t think twice about a slim person eating.

Oh, and BMI is a load of shite. Here endeth my sermon.

Sounds like bad science to me. Except for BMI being completely abitrary, it is.

OP, you want to read a book called 'French Children Don't Throw Food' by Pamela Druckerman. She talks about exactly this. Is a v amusing read.

I just think it makes it seem more like a day out if you take a picnic. Plus, when DS was younger, I was a skint student. You could guarantee the one time I forgot food would be the time he’d be really hungry or we’d be caught out and be out much longer than planned. Better to be prepared than spend money I couldn’t afford 🤷‍♀️

I take a snack to the school gate sometimes like biscuits, because I know my DC doesn’t really eat well in school compared to home. She’s a slow eater and doesn’t eat the kind of portion at school that she’d have at home.

Also, I carry snacks with me if we’re going to the park or soft play etc. They don’t always get eaten but at least the option is there if DC gets peckish. Running around really encourages an appetite. I laughed a little at the family size popcorn and haribo - sounds like me 🤣