To think toddlers don’t need snacks?

[Cuppasoupmonster]

I was just pondering this when washing up. I’ve never really given DD snacks, she has her 3 meals a day and that’s usually it, maybe once or twice a week she will have a digestive biscuit or yoghurt if dinner is going to be later than usual. However it seems like when we go on days out with other mums and toddlers, they come laden with snacks that are whipped out every hour or two. AIBU to think toddlers don’t really need to snack and this might be contributing to the obesity crisis?

Interesting username for one so preoccupied with food and keen to tell us you’re slim. If you have issues around food, you should get help.

@scrivette DD doesn’t have free access to a fruit bowl. Is this going to become the thread myth that I said that 😂

I've been thinking about this OP, because I read the 'Why We Eat (Too Much) book, and the bariatric surgeon who wrote it writes about snacking, and pins it to the time that 'low fat' (ie more sugary/carby) became the way to eat, with the accompanying insulin rollercoaster, which means we eat more often to manage our insulin.

I've been looking at my children's diets with new eyes, and am going to make some changes. I think minimising snacking will be part of that.

Hadn't considered what a pp said about snacks being more appealing than meals too, and I think there is something in that as well.

Because of my username 😆 holy moly some posters on here are nuts.

I realised it wasn't you who said that, it was just a comment in general, but I think you might be right it will be a thread myth

@Speedweed I definitely think there’s a link between the amount of sugar we now consume, and our insatiable appetites. Sugar gives you a high that whole grains don’t, it’s actually addictive - I certainly find myself craving sugar at about 3pm every day when I have an energy slump.

It’s nuts to suggest that snacks are not needed and not realise all kids are different.

My 20 month old doesn't eat full meals as such, she's a little and often grazer. So yes, in my case, my toddler needs and has snacks. Healthy ones, I might add. I don't see any issue with that. Older children and adults also snack, so 🤷‍♀️

This is clearly a judgemental thread:

OP: "So, I feed my child 3 healthy meals a day and no snacks. Everyone else feeds their children snacks and their children are ... fat. Who is the best parent? (Me)."

It's not snacking that's making kids obese, it's the prevalence and reliance on ultra processed food. When small kids are consuming something like this daily;
Breakfast; rice Krispies,
Morning snack; kinder hippos,
Lunch; character ham in white roll, pack of pom bears and fruit shoot
Afternoon snack; mini pack of cookies
Dinner; Turkey dinosaurs, smiley faces, baked beans

that's the problem.

If their meals looked something like this, there'd be little to no obesity

Breakfast: boiled egg and toast and a banana
Snack: a babybel/ portion of cheese
Lunch; ham sandwich in a small wholemeal roll, cucumber, pepper and tomatoes
Afternoon snack; apple
Dinner; roast turkey, mash, carrots and peas

I don’t think adults should snack either!

My little one needs snacks as he eats little but often. I've tried no snacks before and he still ate little for his meal. He is very very energetic. My friends kids don't have snacks but they 5 x more than what my son would eat for a main meal and they are less active. Believe me I would prefer the 3 meals but every child is different.

Except she does give her kids snacks...

Reddit will be loving yet another mumsnet teeny tiny thread. 😂

Breakfast: boiled egg and toast and a banana
Snack: a babybel/ portion of cheese
Lunch; ham sandwich in a small wholemeal roll, cucumber, pepper and tomatoes
Afternoon snack; apple
Dinner; roast turkey, mash, carrots and peas

These snacks are similar to what my toddler has.

Meh. My kids are rake thin, constantly moving and yes they eat morning and afternoon tea.

Why not?

You NEVER need anything between meals?

You never get hungry or peckish or feel your blood sugars dropping etc?

@Cuppasoupmonster

Why don't you think adult should snack?

I have a tiny stomach and I literally can't eat a large portion. I might have half a sandwich for my lunch then be hungry again by 3pm, so I'll eat a banana or a yogurt as a snack. Then my tea will be a small portion of, say, pasta.

I've done this my entire life (I'm now late 30s) and I've never had a BMI over 23 🤷‍♀️

DD’s food goes something like this:

Breakfast - porridge with blueberries or chopped banana, or wholemeal toast with peanut butter or marmite and a yoghurt

Lunch - if she had porridge then usually a sandwich, like cheese and pickle, with a piece of fruit and packet of Pom bears. If she had toast then something like wholewheat pasta with tomato sauce and sweetcorn/peas and grated cheese.

Dinner - usually something pretty hearty like pie and mash with greens, chilli con carne, chicken and mushroom risotto, sometimes chicken and chips or similar with veg
Followed by fruit and yoghurt. Once a week or so she’ll have cake/ice cream or a proper ‘pudding’ like sticky toffee.

Not really no. But then I do always eat breakfast/lunch/dinner.

I still need to eat little and often as an adult, I suspect to do with maintaining blood sugar levels as I get shaky if I don't, my family is similar and all on the slimmer side.

DC are all similar, they get hangry if I don't give them snacks - which are normally veg / crackers / bread sticks as I try and avoid sugar. I used to have similar snacks as a child so it's not a modern thing!

Snacking is absolutely not a new phenomenon, I went to primary school in the mid 80's and we were given raisins or apple with our milk at first break and a good diet will include a couple of snacks (fruit, nuts, oat cakes). It's way too black and white to say toddlers don't need snacks.

There are multiple things relating to obesity but I don't think you're totally wrong, it's not the "yes vs no" of snacks that's the issue but the general understanding of what constitutes a healthy snack, the portion size of this healthy snack and hidden calories in drinks.

DS was a snacker and preferred 5 small meals a day. He was never fat but got the obese letter from school that went in the bin. He was head and shoulders above the other kids and 'solid'. He's a 6 foot plus adult without an ounce of fat and still 'solid'. He has a strong and powerful build, just as he did as a kid. Can climb a mountain or run miles without breaking a sweat.

When he was growing he was like the bloody hungry caterpillar

So even at your 3pm slump, being pregnant, knowing your blood sugars are low etc you still wait 3-4+ hours before eating? Just because snacks are the devil or whatever?

And why are you so anti snacking...yet give your kids snacks?

I always eat breakfast, lunch and dinner... And snacks if I'm hungry. I'm not sure it makes me a bad person, or unhealthy, or obese....

I can't understand why you can't see that everyone is different.

Quite, every kids was given milk at break time until the late 60s!