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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

...to be a bit fed up with chocolate being seen as the root of all evil?

50 replies

Sarahjct · 01/03/2008 20:39

This was prompted by a thread that I've just read but it truly honestly isn't meant as a dig at the OP - I understand that it wasn't just the choccy under discussion in that thread.

No one wants their kid eating sweets 24/7 but honestly, is it really so bad every so often? Forbidding something always makes it more attractive and I can see a generation of serious chocaholics descending on us in a few years. Aren't there far worse things to eat? And where has all the fun in life gone?

Ban this, don't eat that. It all seems very miserable to me.

OP posts:

posieflump · 01/03/2008 20:40

I see what you mean but we have to tackle obesity in this country. Not sure what is worse than chocolate re. food, i guess sugary addictive filled drinks?

posieflump · 01/03/2008 20:41

oh and I do give it every so often though

MaureenMLove · 01/03/2008 20:44

I'm with you Sarah! Everything in moderation imho!

OverMyDeadBody · 01/03/2008 20:48

mmmmmmm I like chocolate, it makes me happy. And I like sharing my passion for it with DS.

FairyMum · 01/03/2008 20:48

There is a difference between never giving your child chocolate and trying to restrict the intake and keep it as a treat.

WestCountryLass · 01/03/2008 20:49

I think the problem is some people eat a lot of processed foods and also snack on utter shite, then there are parents who give their kids treats all the time rather than like we had in the good old days, sweets on a weekend but not every day/every other day so we (the Great British public) are just generally consuming too much rubbish far too frequently.

rantinghousewife · 01/03/2008 20:50

Chocolate doesn't make children fat on it's own. Eating an unhealthy diet combined with lack of exercise does.
Totally agree with you.

posieflump · 01/03/2008 20:51

agree WCL - ds still thinks of it as a treat
my fear is when he is of the age to have pocket/dinner money he will just buy sweets and choc instead of a proper meal

FairyMum · 01/03/2008 20:52

I think the thread you referred to was about children being given chocolate at school. It wasn't an OP who denied her child chocolate at all. I have never seen any threads on MN where a poster does not allow her child any treats.

CoteDAzur · 01/03/2008 20:53

YANBU. I didn't see the other thread, but agree with you that chocolate is not evil.

Sure you can go through childhood without chocolate. But why?

rantinghousewife · 01/03/2008 21:03

Pf, they do go through that stage but not for long and as long as you're feeding them a good meal at home and they're active, it's not a problem.

JulesJules · 01/03/2008 21:10

My Grandma says 'Everything in moderation' and she is 96, so she is obviously right! A bit of chocolate now and then is not going to do you any harm - and it is better than other sugary sweets because it has iron in it

ladette · 01/03/2008 21:28

I think we all want what is best for our kids, but we don't always know exactly what that means. I also think new Mums put themselves/come under extreme pressure to compete for the "perfect mum of the year award" (one chocolate drop and you're out). I was a no chocolate/healthy food only Mum with my PFB. Now I've realised that my children need to learn moderation for themselves, I won't always be around to control what they eat, and whatever I ban, they will crave more. I have a teen and a pre-teen who eat really healthily, even when chosing their own school lunches. But I no longer flinch if they choose to spend their pocket money on chocolate. I'd still step in if they were eating only sweet stuff, but it's balanced. I chuckled at the thread I think you're referring to, although I can see where they're coming from. Agree with you 100% tho Sarahjct, just trying to also express an understanding of the no-chocolate brigade, having been one for a short while.

fizzbuzz · 01/03/2008 21:31

.....and it is supposed to make you feel better, it releases endorphins, or serotonin or something. Chocolate Nazi-ism drives me mad, chocolate is yummy, and children deserve it too. I never get wound up about ds having it, she loves it too. I just don't give her loads of the stuff, just bits now and then.

2shoes · 01/03/2008 21:34

yanbu
dd has chocolate every day. she has cp and burns of all the calories her teeth get 10 ot 10 from the dentist and she eats all her veg(struggles with eating fruit but does eat some) so i don't care.
I do watch out a bit more with ds as he is 16 but let him have it most times.

taffy101 · 01/03/2008 21:34

Not seen the 'other thread' but my dd prefers pure chocolate to any other type of sweets which I am quite happy with! Agree with everything in moderation too and we always have more fruit in the house than we do choc.
Am worried about 1 yr old ds though, I think he is a chocoholic, if he sees big sis with some, he screams really really loud till he gets some!

Scramble · 01/03/2008 21:40

Chcolate is fab!!

Well as far as teeth are concerned its better than sweets and even raisens.

The root of all evil and obesity is over eating and under excersising. As soon as this country faces up to this and stops trying to blame in on genes, bottle feeding and everything else the better.

Oh and yes I do understand there are other medical causes of obesity before you all get excited.

BumperliciousNeedsaGlassofWine · 01/03/2008 21:43

My mum thinks it is cruel not to give DD chocolate...

...she is 8 months.

beansmum · 01/03/2008 21:44

ds doesn't have sweet things that often but I always tell him he has to have chocolate not other sweets. Less sugar and doesnt stay in his mouth as long as something you have to suck. That's my theory anyway. He gets a LOT of exercise too so it's only the sugar I really have to worry about, he's not going to get fat

Scramble · 01/03/2008 21:49

I think my two would fade away if they didn't get their regular chocolate fix at grannies .

Original poster

Sarahjct · 01/03/2008 21:58

Food that's worse, I was thinking fried food, takeaways etc.

I know we have to tackle obesity but I'm beginning to wonder what the point is. We can't eat anything nice, drink alcohol, smoke, drive the cars we want, fly anywhere for our holidays. I'm constantly reading threads on various forums stating that children aren't being given sweets because they make them fat, fruit juice because it rots their teeth etc etc. I wouldn't fancy being a child these days.

Everything in moderation!

OP posts:

fizzbuzz · 01/03/2008 22:01

Totally agree Sarahjct.

What gets me is people see sugar or chocoltae as the root of all evil obesity, but surely fat is the culprit not sugar. I,m not sure there are many calories in sugar.....

fizzbuzz · 01/03/2008 22:01

Totally agree Sarahjct.

What gets me is people see sugar or chocoltae as the root of all evil obesity, but surely fat is the culprit not sugar. I,m not sure there are many calories in sugar.....

Emprexia · 01/03/2008 23:27

my DS has a couple of mini jaffa cakes every day after lunch... everything in moderation i say.

If you forbid them, they'll want it all the more, and IMHO, probably be sneaky about it.

I say that because when i was younger i had a friend whos mom was a diet freak and banned sweets and chocolate.. guess what she always scrounged when she played at my house??

bluenosesaint · 01/03/2008 23:29

Totally agree!

Everything in moderation ...

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