To be concerned about 'snacks'

[dayoneoftheschoolholidays]

So it's the first day of the school holidays for us.

My daughter (9) is an absolute nuisance for asking for snacks every waking minute of the day, it's manageable at the weekend, but 40 solid days of this incessant mithering is going to finish me off.

We have been to a play centre today and out and about running a few errands, so not bored lazing around the house.

But all she's done is mither about food and snacks, slushies at the play centre, vending machine, etc...

She got slushy, and we had a McDonald's lunch for a first day off treat, but since getting home it's the usual mithering for junk food.

She's a healthy size and weight, fits into clothes for her age with plenty of room, plays football, swims, does gymnastics, so I'm not concerned about that side of things, but obviously if I allow her to stuff herself silly it could become an issue in the future.

She eats well, three decent meals a day and plenty of healthy snacks available whenever she wants such as fruit, rice cakes, water, vegetable sticks etc. But she constantly wants biscuits, crisp, chocolate, sweets, fizzy drinks.

We don't not allow it. She is allowed maybe 1 or 2 small things a day, the odd fizzy drink when we eat out, we don't have a ban on this stuff, I just want her to enjoy it in moderation and not gorge on it for the sake of it.

I've explained it isn't healthy for her, she needs to have a drink if she feels like she might be hungry, or grab an apple or something, not constantly pester me for crap food, but it goes in one ear and out of the other and before I know it she appears again mithering for 'snacks'.

How do you/would you manage this?

Give her a box with the day's snacks in. Have fruit as well as crisps and stuff and once that's all gone, that's it for the day. My nephews get a boiled egg and cheese too, to keep them full.

Same while you're out, give her a budget and once that's gone, no more.

Honestly I don't remember snacks when I was little except the tuck shop at school break mid morning and some biscuits when we got home from school. Set the times when snacks are available and explain them in advance. Anything else is a big fat "no" and mean it.

Or just don't buy them hide your own .

It's ridiculous

People can't do any activity without incorporating food 'snacks'

Cinema...more like 3 course meal with nachos/popcorn/slush/pic n mix

Shopping....hot choc/muffin/coffee
Park....bag full of snacks
Car journey...as above
After activity snacks
Before activity snacks
Swimming...vending machines everywhere

Going out means food.... staying home seems to be the same now

I would offer a multi vitamin and mineral supplement each day to ensure she is nutritionally covered and also try to find out what her favourite foods are and offer them more regularly. Like: does she truly enjoy her supper? Does she tuck into breakfast with relish? Or is her palate a bit under stimulated? Perhaps you like plain food and she has an undiscovered palate that sits in the spicy side?
id also get her involved in cooking and making snacks with me.. let’s do seedy toast with homemade hummus and basilytomatoes for lunch, for example. And she can add garlic and lemon to taste, to see how her palate reacts.
it’s just a possibility that she’s mithering for flavour .. maybe she’s going to be a good cook?

My youngest two snack snack and snack! I am over half way through these holidays now and just wish they were back at school already 🙄

We are an active family, they don't get access to screen time until after a morning trip outdoors. So it's not like they are wandering into the kitchen constantly in boredom because we aren't there all day.

No idea what the answer is. Never used to be this amount of snacking years ago.

Not sure about my children but I think I need to make myself a snack box and remind myself that once it’s gone, it’s gone! 🤦🏼‍♀️😅

I'm controlling with snacks too. My dc bother me incessantly for snacks or more now they are older just steal it. It's easier to seek forgiveness than ask permission.

Seeing as I don't trust them to self regulate then I'm stuck with it. You can go down the route of not having anything in. That works.

At that age my DD was going through puberty (period at just under 11) and she was the very hungry caterpillar for sure! What worked is giving her 3 solid meals with protein and no snacks just water between each meal.

Lunch would be salad or soup, main, pudding which might be a bowl of fruit salad or an ice cream. Admittedly I was doing it to reduce acid and sugar exposure on teeth so just 3 meals a day maybe a snack at a push if they had gone swimming or something but give a very solid meal and then that's it.
We also stopped buying junk or greatly reduced it and portioned it with the meal rather than as a snack.
I think your DC might be thirsty and bored.Daily junk is not a good idea even if she is a healthy weight it's not a good habit.

We do snack boxes. I’ve now got them into the habit of having their snacks for the week in there and they space them out.

Twin 2 (boy) spaced them out slightly better than his sister, but mainly used the sweet stuff to annoy her with (waving chocolate in her face long after she'd eaten hers)

I have zero tolerance on this kind of thing though.
Anyone doing that would be classed as not old enough or mature enough to have a snack box.

I hate to be 'that' person who says this but...

I grew up before the snacking culture really took hold (I'm mid 50s) and we just simply didn't have snacks in the house. If we wanted anything between meals it was fruit or toast.

That was fine. We didn't feel hard done by or think anything of it at all really.

I'd think my mum had taken leave of her senses if she provided us all with 'snack boxes' 😁

I do exactly this and it's saved my sanity and taught them to space out their snacks really well. Fab comment

I brought snack boxes in mostly to stop me eating all the treat stuff as it wasn’t fair on the kids.

Not solely from that, but partly from it and the healthier habits I’ve formed I’ve lost over 10 stone.

I've noticed the trend for constant snacking with friends and their DC/DGC. My own DC didn't snack as we couldn't afford it. They had 3 meals with a eat it or go without in their ear, no fuss but no options. Pudding was a treat at nannys house.
If its not in the house they can't snack, they will stop mithering when it doesn't work.

The cost of living crisis will adjust a lot of parents buying habits.

I don't like the idea of controlling food access by putting it high up or making them come and ask me so I just don't buy it or buy a little bit occasionally and say it's pudding with the meal, everyone will have some and will wait until it's time and really make a show of it savouring it, placing it on a nice plate and taking the time to enjoy it together. We also try to save the sugar and calories for stuff that are really worth it.. not the multipack horrid cheap chocolates but a really nice gateau or some fancy chocolate or good quality creamy ice cream that is looked forward to.

My DC is younger but now off from nursery for the summer. Usually at weekends we are out and about a lot so not so much of an issue, but now we're spending more time at home, the 'snack, snack, snack' chorus has begun.

I've dealt with it by sticking rigorously to nursery/post-nursery snack times. So breakfast at the usual time, morning snack at 10.30am, lunch at 12.30-1pm and afternoon snack at 3.30pm. If DC asks for any food the rest of the time, they are told 'No, it's not snack time yet'. If I think DC is actually hungry, I'll offer a bowl of plain cereal or some toast or porridge. I'm not sure how well that would work with an older child, but maybe ask DD to choose some snacks for the week ahead but she can only have them when she would usually have a snack at school.

The cost of living crisis will adjust a lot of parents buying habits.

Yes, I really think this too.

Same here🤣

It strikes me that the snack options you're encouraging aren't very filling - fruit, rice cakes, veg sticks, slushies etc. I'd maybe introduce some options with more protein / healthy fats, e.g. cheese, nuts, full fat greek yoghurt etc. Or combinations of things - breadsticks dipped into Philadelphia / hummus is usually hit in our house, or crackers with peanut butter.

Just stop buying it. It’s crap, they don’t need it daily, don’t keep it in the house. Buy it when you’re out and about if you want to or let them have the occasional McDs like you say but I really don’t see the need to have a house full of snacks that are not healthy. That way, whenever she asks for a snack you can just say “you know where the fruit bowl is”.

Its not good for them to be eating every 5 minutes. “No” wont hurt them.

My two were absolutely terrible for snacking, and it didn’t help that we had too much stuff in the house. We decided to make a big change to all our lifestyles as I am pregnant and had a GD scare, and we now literally have no junk in the house. We have fruit, peanut butter, granary bread, the odd pack of Nairns lower sugar oat biscuits, cheese, salted popcorn, unsalted nuts etc but no biscuits, crisps, chocolate, (have a couple of bars of dark chocolate for the week), ice creams, sweets, sugary breakfast cereal, white bread etc etc.

They have not complained. The older one (13) has her own money and if she wants to buy junk she can, I never make any comment and she is really sensible- the odd ice cream or a treat from the newsagent but nothing crazy. The younger one (9) has become so much more independent in making healthy snacks, he will now toast a piece of bread and spread with no sugar peanut butter instead of opening a Kit Kat and a pack of crisps.

He also has pocket money and if he so wishes he can go to the shop near us and get himself something, but he doesn’t often.

When we go out I never comment if they ask for pudding- they can have it if they want! Same for if we are on holiday- they might be more likely to get an extra ice cream or have a sugary breakfast cereal, and that’s fine. But balance. And not habitual snacking on crap. It has made a huge difference to all our lives.

I have teenagers and we have always had a routine/rules based approach to snacking which is (amazingly) still holding up.

Snack time is 3.30ish. Two days a week (set days) they can have sweet biscuits, the rest of the week it's ricecake or oatcake only. Fruit can be eaten any time. Sweets are after lunch on Saturday. Two meals a week have pudding after them (but yogurts are allowed any day. I buy boring yogurt so people will only eat it if actually hungry). Crisps and fizzy drinks are one a day with meals (slightly too often IMO but it's the compromise we've arrived at)

DH is the problem. He helps himself to snacks indiscriminately, and often gets a packet of crisps mid morning.

Sometimes they break into the biscuits at other times, sometimes their father leads them astray and quite often extra treats get negotiated in for spurious celebratory reasons.

Everyone goes completely bananas for hot cross buns and there is no self control to be had. It's like living with a family of elephants.

I would try and limit the snacks. They don’t need them. If they are really hungry it’s fruit or toast/sandwich. If they don’t want that then go without.

Agree with this.

Me too (I’m 57). Snacks were unheard of (you got a glass of squash if you were thirsty). I certainly don’t recall being starving hungry either.