How do you stop a teenager eating bucketloads of sweets?

[Allshallbewell2021]

Obviously they need pocket money. But it scares me the amount of sugar they all eat.

Any ideas from anyone who has successfully reduced the volume?

I don't want to send unhealthy messages around food either.

Mine grew up with the rule that one 'treat' a day was ok and they got to choose what it was (within reason). I hadn't given it much thought and understand I'd now be roasted for allowing my kids a sweet everyday but it seemed to work and even now as adults they generally follow the rule. Which makes laugh as the oldest ones are in their thirties.

I wasn't super strict when we went out for a meal or at birthday parties but still relatively strict.

I really emphasised the teeth health side of things and how bad grazing is for teeth. I generally didn't give my kids snacks.

I simply didn't keep treats in the house so there were no biscuits, crisps, fizzy drinks, sugary cereals etc to be had. I still don't but that's for my benefit.

I have no idea - we have a 12 year old who has ADHD and sweet/appealing food is a big dopamine hit. We have more control over his money but he's a lot less biddable than other children his age.
We do restrict heavily how much money he has (he is allowed to buy sweets at the weekend but only with the cash we give him for the purpose, as the rest of his pocket money goes into his building society account). He gets school dinners (they are just served up, no buying them, which is unusual for secondary I know - it's a specialist school - they do get some choice) and he doesn't take himself to/from school.
We don't keep them in the house but he also has cravings for savoury stuff so we find all the chorizo for tomorrow's tea has been eaten!
We have expectations to get screen time (homework done, no hurting anyone, eat what we give you permission to eat) so it's framed as a positive expectation rather than "if you eat that you lose screen time" but it's a BIG battle and we have to have a lot more control than other parents might do.
We usually say yes to "can I have a biscuit" unless it's five minutes to tea, and no to "can I have a nutella sandwich for lunch" but we have to restrict how much nutella we buy and keep it hidden or he eats a whole jar with a spoon.

As far as messages we go with "if you eat now you won't be hungry for tea" and "sugar is bad for your teeth" and "we need that for tea" or occasionally "it was pasta for tea, you still have some, breakfast is tomorrow" if he's just ignored his tea and is coming back for toast and jam.

The slight restriction on snacks and "are you done, OK, breakfast is tomorrow" is on the advice of a dietician (online, but she's properly qualified), (Thalia, Picky Eater/Family Dietician).

Sorry for the essay! It's an ongoing battle and I'm sure it would be 1000x worse if he had money!

We also rarely keep sweet fizzy drinks in the house (we have caffeine free Coke Zero, he has trouble sleeping and his sister is 9 so shouldn't have caffeine either), if he buys fizzy pop instead of sweets we keep it in the outside shed and bring it out at mealtimes (the dentist said sweet drinks were OK with meals!).

We do have a lot of "sacrificial foods" whether it's something we want to eat, we want to keep for meals, or we don't want him bingeing on - so we keep the sugar free fizzy in the fridge, the very large bottle in an easy to access spot and the cans for us at the back, and a small number of biscuits in the tin - if it's easy to access he can have it. DH has diabetes and needs sweet snacks on hand so he hides them in random drawers!

My 24 ds has lost his sweet tooth entirely.
People’s taste can change.

Nothing wrong with being honest and explaining that sugar and fizz will cause tooth decay and health issues. It’s a fact of life!

Are your teenagers overweight? Do they have dental problems?

If not, then I wouldn't worry about it. It's sugar, not heroin. It's not ideal but it's unlikely to cause any kind of long-term problem for them, really. And most teenagers really do grow out of it.

I think a lot of it is just them exercising a bit of control over their own choices, testing out making unhealthy choices just because they can. That's a pretty natural part of being a teenager and although it's annoying for parents, it's probably better that they're eating a family pack of Skittles every day than vaping or something!

Teenagers already know that.

We don't have any rules about sweet stuff in our house, but then none of us are sweet fiends

coke zero is really bad for children, even without caffeine,

artificial sweeteners are just as bad for weight gain and likelihood of t2 diabetes as sugar is, because they cause exactly the same insulin surge as sugar does

We've said we will double any savings from pocket money at the end of the year which reduces frittering.

Any research studies on this? On the chemical in Coke Zero that causes it?
Or are you just quoting Dr Google?

I don't know op, but if you succeed I'd love to know how you do it! 13yo ds has been brought up in a healthy eating household, fruit and veg in plentiful supply, knows about healthy eating habits etc. But he gets a monthly allowance, out of which comes his bus fare. The amount he spends on sweet stuff is horrendous. As a pp said though, he has adhd and I suspect this is how he gets his dopamine hit. He also chews a lot of chewing gum, which drives me mad. I hate it. He has been told off by his dentist for poor teeth brushing, but is not overweight.

@alloweraoway

what is your source for sweeteners causing the same insulin surge as sugar does?

(I actually just answered my own question by doing a quick Google Scholar search:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/association-between-sugarsweetened-and-artificially-sweetened-soft-drinks-and-type-2-diabetes-systematic-review-and-doseresponse-metaanalysis-of-prospective-studies/C69825BDE14CE0DE9AB7FF2026D18D1B

Sugar sweetened drinks seem to affect T2 by making you heavier.
There isn't a clear link between diet drinks and T2 so any link might be either because a) you switch to them after you have T2 or think you might have it or b) if you are the type of person who drinks a lot of fizzy drinks you may not take enough exercise, may eat poorly otherwise, or something else that causes an increase risk of T2)

I just checked and there isn't, but see my link/explanation.

Is it having an impact on their health?

Looking back I feel I ate quite a lot of sweets as a teen, and fizzy drinks although the latter less so. I had my own money and it was normal then for groups of us to go to local shops after school and buy sweets and pop! I certainly have a lot less of them these days as an adult.

Having said that all, my teeth were fine - I got my first filling at 19 and that was due to an impacted wisdom tooth. I was also never overweight (actually was often a little underweight as a teen) and I never drank caffeinated drinks in the few hours before bed as I already knew not to, so it didn't affect my sleep. If my DPs had told me to eat less sweets I would probably have been annoyed and doubt I would have paid attention to them. And tbh they probably didn't know how much I was eating as would often have finished them by the time I got home!

So I think apart from ensuring they know healthy options you don't need to worry too much unless there are demonstrable health impacts already. I grew out of it.

I think you just have to leave them to it. DS at 14 grazed through bucket loads of stuff (until his money ran out). At 20, it's more of an occasional thing. It's like he's worked it through his system. Plus he's realised he has more exciting things to spend his money on.

My experience of children with heavy restrictions is that you just move the issue down the road, as they then go mad as young adults once they are out of parental control. Or they eat sweets in secret, which isn't great either.

It’s interesting your response @drspouse as it feels like this is an under researched area. I was like this as a kid and grew into an overweight but really active kid. My siblings weren’t and stayed slim all their lives. Now fast forward my first child ate normally left food is now a teen very fit and healthy weight. My DD ASD & uAdhd youngest is a sugar seeking demon I tried the relaxed approach to access of sweet food as DD1 & DH not bothered but DD2 hit 10-11 and boom suddenly she’d happily eat 6 kitkats in a row if given access! Definitely 100% hormonal related and dopamine seeking. Luckily she’s still slim but I have to hide sweet treats and even then she’ll find them! It’s not an easy parenting fix at all when you have a child seeking this level of sugar fix despite years of heathy eating just seems to go boom when the growing hormones kick in. I’ve upped her intake of protein, veg and whole carbs where possible but it’s not easy!

Protein with every meal could help stop the cravings.

Is the eating boredom, emotional or hunger driven?

Thank you for all of these responses - I look forwarding to reading them later.

My niece ate packs of biscuits and is now a slim healthy forager. Extraordinary change of attitude.

ample research studies on this. This is mainstream science. well established that artificial sweeteners contribute to obesity and T2 diabetes as much as sugar. I am always surprised on MN when people don't seem to know this. Goes alongside the old wives tales of honey and fructose somehow being better for you that table sugar - no, it is a lot worse.

We don't give the kids pocket money.
We always make sure there are plenty of sweets and crisps in the house. But they can't have any snacks unless they ask for permission first.
I find kids are more likely to smuggle sweets and crisps if you try to limit the amount of treats you buy, so if you make sure they're always there, your kids will be more sensible around them and not rush to eat them all up

How old are your children? I think teens get to an age where it's important for them to have some autonomy over spending their own money, rather than having to ask their parents every time.

My kids are aged 6-13.
Even the 13 year old asks permission for snacks. It's the done thing in our house.
If we let DD13 have pocket money, god knows what she'd spend it on.

Source please!!