Who gives a 16 month old chocolate every day?

[456FTMCoffeeDiet]

Just read a recent government statistic that HALF of toddlers in the UK between 16 and 18 months old get a treat daily (i.e. chocolate, ice cream, crisps, cake). WTF? Who does that? I have every sympathy re weaning and feeding toddlers, my toddler has dairy, egg and a few other random allergies so my head is about to explode trying to cook food and snacks for him every day. It's a gigantic pain and source of stress. And I have nothing against an ocasional treat. But cake and ice cream daily when they're under 2?

I get there will be a small number of very fussy eaters and you just need to give them some calories ? But that doesn't explain half of toddlers, no way. Anyone here who does this, why do you do it?

AIBU to be shocked?

MN is a funny place.

Anything about toddler and children's food that is not 100% "healthy" is met with screams of shock and horror (and in this context, even tomato are seen as unhealthy because of their sugar content, that's MN for you)

but anyone who is happy with a soup and a yogurt for lunch or diner is laughed at for being a "performance under-eater".

I am not really that shocked, given some of the behaviour I have seen. Ex-MIL was horrified and unreasonably offended when I refused to let her give my newborn (yes, you read that right, NEWBORN) chocolate.

@Bitzee Not all nurseries are equal. The first, which I pulled DS out of for other reasons, took him to the co-op and bought him the dessert of his choice every day. They were delighted they were combining an 'educational outing' with buying 'supplies'. I would think it was too ludicrous to be true if it hadn't actually happened to me.

Does it include biscuits - as that would have been toddler groups for mine - a small biscuit and a drink- though honestly the raisns that sure start centers favoured were not really better - and some or their other snacks were very heavy in salt.

It's all very well saying don't let your child have then but then your risk them becoming forbidden food - and that's often worse.

Rest of their diet that age wasn't treat laden at all and I was very hot on as salt free as possible even when it annoyed wider family. They're all teens/adults - and none are overweight and eat okay diets even when I'm not around to enforce that.

As others have said, it’s to do with interpretation. The study even points this out and how the data is inconsistent:

”Nearly half (49%) of caregivers said they gave their child a treat once a day. This appears to be inconsistent with responses to an earlier question where caregivers said 13% of children had ‘biscuits, sweets, chocolate or cakes’ every day, and 14% had ‘crisps and corn snacks’ every day. This may be due to:

• differences in the way these questions were asked in the survey
• limited answer options in the ‘treat’ question
• differences in the interpretation of ‘treats’ by caregivers”

I’m amazed that 34% consider it acceptable.

People in general absolutely shouldn’t be eating processed sugary food everyday. My two year old is offered cake most days but it’s home made and low sugar (using a bit of honey or some dates to sweeten) I always add fruit or veg to my cakes too. This week is pumpkin cake and it’s delicious, I’m happy for her to eat it everyday. I hope the nurseries are serving something like this rather than a processed shop bought “treat”.

Most yoghurts are UPF and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweetener so not that great

That ridiculous! But there were new nursery/early years guidelines from this September that means they’re all supposed to be on the same page re healthy eating now. So hopefully the sweets from the co op as a school trip is now a thing of the past. And nurseries really should all be doing low sugar puddings now. DS was in the school nursery last year, currently in reception and his mid morning biscuit has gone and has been replaced with fruit.

I don't have orthorexia. If I did I wouldn't be overweight and only find junk food enjoyable.

She will grow up with a balanced view, what she won't be doing is having chocolate cake or crisps before she is 2, because that is what will undermine a balanced diet.

Done this since mine were babies. They got pudding on their dinner plate and it was never called unhealthy or demonised. I could leave a whole cake out for them and only 1 slice each would get touched lol. They are 6/7 now and barely ask for chocolate etc but if they do I allow them. They just know to eat it in moderation and that they've gotta brush their teeth extra if they have sugar, maybe it's why they don't ask for it much 😂

I did. ASD and ARFID dc. Food isn’t good or bad to us just units of energy (advice from the dietician to view it this way )

That’s funny. Mine was the same but she was about 2 months and apparently I was unreasonable as she ‘wanted a photo’.

I think weight is extremely complex and you can’t just focus on individual things. We have friends in Italy and they would give their children pastries for breakfast or Nutella on toast. I’ve seen adults eating ice cream at breakfast. None of them were overweight. But the overall quality of their diet is better and they are more active.

It’s not pure chocolate though. Often homemade cakes and biscuits. I’d they’re just having pure fruit and veg, how do you fill them up?

homemade cakes and biscuits are at least healthier than processed. I know my nursery used to use carrot and beetroot in cakes.

they also have custard and yogurt too. Shock!

Mine didn't get chocolate until at least 16 years old. Gruel and nothing else. Joke.

Four children here, none have had fillings. Eldest 18yo. All eat treats when they want around 3 meals a day. I cook home made meals mostly.

I definitely know another mum who gives her son, 3, chocolate every day. Chocolate biscuit things mainly. But she is obese and I suspect has no idea on healthy eating. I was shocked when we went for a play date and she handed him chocolate biscuits straight away for lunch, not the sandwich, and no fruit at all.

But on the other side of the spectrum are the poor kids being fed excessively cleanly, who will rebel.

We try and aim for a happy medium, treats occasionally. DH and I often fall out about jam sandwiches and jam toast, and me and MIL may come to blows over sweets >.<

I agree with this. By withholding all treats and sweets etc you are causing a massive problem. You need to teach moderation.

obviously this is different from giving a 1 year old a mars bar a day (I don’t agree with that!). But it’s a balance.

I’ve seen kids brought up on vegan/organic everything and sat on a different table at parties. So sad.

and those saying they’ve never given sweets until age 3 - what about a bit of ice cream in the summer? Would you not do that?

At 16 months they eat whatever you can get down them, surely?

My son lived on yogurt (probably the sugary type), chips and carrot cake on one holiday when he was about that age.

Toddlers do not need chocolate, crisps, ice cream or any of that crap. If they never try it, they won't want it.

Well, one of any of those in suitable quantity would be fine with me. One can get obsessive about healthy food. Nothing wrong with chocolate, cake, ice cream (in summer, preferably actual ice cream!) or crisps. A diet of carrot sticks and hummus must get boring after a while and making foods 'special' increases their desirability. How about cheese?

In my experience, it is always the fattest parents with the chubbiest kids who love to lecture everyone about how healthy they are all eating and how snacks are banned!

It often is. Because their attitude to food is so poor they try and mask and over compensate.

I don’t think all the items you mention are equally as bad as one another… I think crisps (certain varieties!) aren’t equal to chocolate or haribo. I’d never give haribos. Crisps yes but not every day and only since he was probably 2yo

My 17 month old wants what their older brother and sister gets. So they get a small piece of chocolate. It's really no need for alarm

If they never try it they won't want it? Nonsense, of course they will want it. If denied as bad ALWAYS rather than a very small part of a normal diet they will crave them or binge eat them when out of healthy eating parents' view.
The Victorians tried this with children - not with food but with ideas. It didn't work. People still wanted sex and drink etc even when the world assured them these things did not exist or if they did, weren't nice.

Doesn't say what the treats are does it?