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.

I think they outgrow it often. DS ate shitloads of crap, but now at 19 doesn't seem that interested in eating sweets. I offered him a Magnum icecream at the weekend, on a lovely sunny day and he declined, saying he wasn't hungry, which really surprised me and it dawned on me then that he'd stopped the constant eating of sweets and rubbish.

(I wasn't hungry either, but I had the Magnum)

I would stop giving pocket money.
You said he "needs it" but for what?
Clothes and toiletries should be provided by you.
If he needs bus fares then get a travel card/season ticket so he doesn't need cash for the bus (which again shouldn't be out of pocket money anyway).
What does he actually need the money for?
No money..... can't spend it on sweets.

Most teens want money for things like socialising, buying each other presents and buying random things that they want but don't need (which in my DD's case was unfeasible looking tops from Primark and makeup).

Yes, they can ask for money specifically every time they want something, but this isn't necessarily practical and doesn't help them learn the value of money or budget. And part of giving teens their own money is so they can learn from potentially "bad" decisions in a safe way.

Not to mention that a lot of teen socialising is "hanging out" with sweets/fizzy drinks/junk food. Do you really want to exclude them from all this?

Don't have it in the house, mine got pocket money by bank transfer and didn't take it to school

I agree with this my 17 year old had more of a sweet tooth even a year ago. If DS wants a sweet thing he will buy it with his own money, like if he wants a Burger or some other rubbish. Do people really control older teens in this way, I find that bizarre. My youngest is 13 and is super health conscious and I wish she would relax a bit about it.

But teenagers leave the house to do things other than go to school? Unless you ban them from taking their bank card with them anywhere (in which case, why bother with it?)

And did you read the meta analysis I posted where it says there isn't?

This is partly why we do cash and bank book. It's so much more concrete than a bank card!

Sounds a bit miserable, I want my DC to have some kind of social life and happiness.

Ours went crazy the first 6 months they had pocket money. After always having glowing reports from the dentist at their check-up, they came back rather subdued as the dentist had noticed they'd been eating and drinking a lot more sweet stuff. DH was fuming and said that if they ever have to have any work done, they will have to pay part of the bill. They're both much more reasonable now.

Big sugar is targeting kids and it is so enraging

This stuff is seriously bad for children's teeth...their gut health...even their mental health.

Stop stuffing your mouth first?😂

@Goldenbear @shepherdsangeldelight if the teen can't be sensible about what they buy then they lose the opportunity to be responsible for their money.
Going out with their mates and having money to spend is fine. Going into town or the cinema then the parent gives enough for that trip (which may involve some sweets) but for everyday they don't need money unless they can prove they are mature enough for it.
I see teens every day coming out of school and going straight into the chicken and chip place followed by the newsagents for massive bags of sweets and drinks. They must be spending almost a tenner a day.
Don't want them to spend that - don't give them access to their money (ie pocket money).

My DS is 17, I find this flabbergasting as he is a young man, I don’t control his life in this way. Doesn’t anyone recall life at this age, personally I didn’t have any such interventions from my Mum, we weren’t micro managed. Everyone I knew was thin:very thin, it’s the same with my two; I appreciate it is about the teeth but I think you can get away with loads in your youth and you are applying a middle aged worry about it. I remember one boy at first year uni, yes we were adults at 18 but for lunch he bought about 3 mars bars, smarties, lion bar and boosts, he was athletic, tall and had beautiful skin: I remember it because it was excessive but I’m sure he doesn’t live like that now. Sometimes I had a pack of Smarties for dinner if I could t be bothered at uni such is the luck of youth!

I don’t know with younger teens as my DD is really health conscious and I worry that she worries too much as she is tiny but one of her friends her Mum is always intervening if they say they are off to the shops to get a bag of sweets; they are doing it to go and do something but her friend tends to overindulge and I do think it’s the forbidden fruit thing!

@Goldenbear 17 is different to 13 though (although the OP didn't specify how old her child is).
I assume when you first started giving your child money you would have put a few rules in place.
The OP wanted to know how to stop her teen eating sweets - well the obvious one is don't give them the money to buy them.
Is that micromanaging? Maybe it is - but that's how you learn.

Oh my goodness, this would have worked so well on me as a child!😂

Yes, I agree hard to advise when don’t know the age and you’re right it is a way to stop any excessive behaviour when young.

Sorry, dd 15.

She needs to have a cash card with cash on it in this environment.

I've tried using reducing the cash on her account at school to decrease the rubbish food intake to force packed lunches but it was chaotic and didn't work.

@PeterJohnson "fuming" seems an over reaction, if child was already subdued after advice from dentist

I'd think better to be supportive and encourage better habits, rather than angry

OP, my main advice is to lead by example and have a healthy diet at home

And talk about making healthy choices for yourself, rather than telling children what they should do

Don't describe sweets as treats, as this reinforces the idea that they are desirable

We are more influential than our teens would admit

"The food our children eat" by Joanna Blythman has excellent advice on this

I honestly think (and no one on this thread has suggested differently) that there are two approaches

1. Micromanaging - which might be ok with a younger child or a even a younger teen, but by 15, I think it's more damaging to be controlling every penny your child spends than the sweets are! And what you want them to do is learn healthy habits, not only do something because you force it.
2. Lead by example. Make sure teens are aware of reasons for healthy eating if it goes in one ear and out the other; provide healthy meals at home. Let the teen make the mistakes and don't judge. IME telling a teen not to do something will make them dig their heels in more.

There is one slight medium between these two which is to tailor the amount of allowance you give based on their lifestyle - don't give them £50 a month if they literally spend all of it on sweets and nothing else. If they spend £45 a month on socialising, then that only leave £5 that they can spend. We found that teens went through a phase of mad spending on sweets but then started to balance up the other things they wanted to spend money on.

ultimately you can only do so much. They have to come to their own realisation.

We have an 18 Yr old. We've never ever restricted any foods. I cook a lot & we eat a lot of very healthy meals - loads of vegetables, lean protein & fruit.
Teen is very slim & has been since birth (1st percentile for weight all through childhood) so we've never restricted anything.
I always have loads of snacks in stock & teen goes through phases - some weeks eats loads of them, some weeks none. They're more inclined to cook a rice bowl with spices, Avocado & Sesame fried egg these days as a snack than scoff a bag of haribo.
Their teeth are perfect & imo they grow up a bit.
Don't worry alcohol will replace sweets soon enough!
From personal observation I think being strict & restricting any food types is simply storing up trouble & very often They're the kids who go mad on it when they finally get a bit of control themselves. Dc could take it or leave it & it doesn't have a hold over them.

There is absolutely no evidence for this at all.

If she's spending it on rubbish at school, then definitely a packed lunch (sandwiches made, cold pasta in put in pot, fruit washed - it can all be done the night before - that way you're in control of what her food choices in the day - she can have a small amount put on her card which would cover a treat say on a Friday.

I am pretty sure the habits learned in younger childhood come back around as they grow and mature as long as there was a balanced view in the first place, and I think what they observed parents doing daily also has an impact. Generally we don't eat many biscuits, don't have fizzy drinks at home except christmas, birthdays etc and it seems to generally mean good or OK habits for my young adults ( mostly). I do wonder if sweets are cheaper than they used to be as I could only buy one tube of sweets or one packet of crisps or a fizzy can with my pocket money in the dark ages.