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?

@shrodingersbiscuit that may all be published in scientific journals but I like to see who is behind the science and both the diabetes and carb studies have long been superseded by recent studies. As usual with science you can pick whatever narrative you wish you push!

@MooBoom

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 🤣

This is probably a problem of having MAT's where out of necessity lunchtimes are much shorter. There is a lot to be said for more local and smaller school sizes. Being able to eat your whole meal without rushing being just one of those things.

It's difficult to speak to specific situations but in general I think a lot of parents have been given to believe that kids need food more often than they really do. And that in general, if a kid asks for food, they really need it. For a while grazing was pushed as a great way to eat, even for adults. Mostly though, it isn't.

My 2 y/o DS eats well at meal times, but if he’s not at nursery we generally give him a pain au chocolat or yoghurt at morning snack time, then a pear or banana or satsuma at about 3pm. We all eat dinner together at 5.15pm or so.

I don’t think children need crisps or sweets except as treats, and grazing constantly ruins meals, but I definitely think ensuring regular meals and healthy snacks is very important to stop toddler meltdowns!

My dc is nearly 2 and more of grazer, which I think is 'normal' for a toddler, so we always have a lunchbox of snacks when we are out. Grapes/tomatoes/strawberries/cheese and cucumber, that kind of thing.

All children are different, have different appetites. I'm sure most kids would be fine not eating for a couple of hours, but it really isn't something I could get bothered about! None of my business.

*Its a whole lot worse - every single snack causes an insulin spike, specific meal times are far healthier.

And yes, intermittent fasting would be more natural in evolutionary terms, much bigger meals, and far fewer of them*

Exactly this.
Constant insuline release from the body causes insuline resistance, which in the long term leads to weight gain and obesity.
And after a fasting period naturally you'll eat a bigger meal after.

My ex was like this with his children and I never understood it. He'd take a packed lunch for them every time we went somewhere, including short visits to people's houses! What this led to was the children expecting to sit and graze wherever we went. I found it awkward sitting in people's houses watching them eat yoghurt and peeling boiled eggs but there we are. He thought it was normal to carry a rucksack filled with food everywhere 😕

I really hate seeing kids graze on junk constantly and It's never an apple or banana with water.

I also really hate seeing toddlers on pushchairs with their little hands stuffed into crisp packets. No need.

Call social services!

OMG imagine a parent feeding a child a snack in a park.

What is the world coming to?

My DD has a hip and leg problems so her weight is closely monitored, if she's too thin/underweight she's likely to fracture her hip or leg, if she's too fat/overweight she's likely to dislocate her hip or knee so you might see me giving her high calorie/surgary snacks to bring her weight up, I've actually been told by her physio to give her flapjacks, bagels, and full fat milk and milkshakes. Her weight has to be just right or we have weekly appointments to monitor her weight which takes time away from her education.

You don't know other peoples circumstances, if you politely asked me why she has to have such high fat and sugar snacks I'd tell you and DD would probably offer to share too.

Its really quite a new thing this constant snacking. As children we had three meals a day and biscuit when we got home from school . We had walked the 2 miles home . That was that. We didn't ask for food because it wasn't provided.
I don't remember an over weight child. Now I see them constantly. But I was a chld of the 60s . (I'm not over weight now if that's relevant)

I don't think you are BU op. I've also witnessed the constant feeding of children if they looked the smallest bit out of sorts/bored/had a tiff with playmate/interrupted the Mum chat