The constant feeding / snacking of children

[Lordofthebantams]

At swimming lessons tonight I've sat next to two children chomping their way through a packet of crisps and a packet of chocolate biscuits at 4pm. ( No eating on the poolside but never mind that, the little darlings need some salty junk).

We had a day out with friends on Tuesday at a farm park and kids are being handed food every 5 minutes.

You go down the street and everywhere you look the toddlers in buggies have their little hands stuffed in packets of puffs or gripping a biscuit.

It's no wonder we have such chubby children everywhere.

Two words for you - Wham Bars.

People seem to think snacking is a modern phenomenon something invented by in the last 20 years or something...when snacking and eating between meals has been around for centuries.

Well, some children have bigger appetites. My dc would cry when young if I gave them only fruit at 3pm when they come out of school. They need a sandwich, fruit and something else like a biscuit or cheese. They still eat dinner. They are also play sports and thin. The older two are in secondary now so more independent and sort themselves out for snacks....but if they did not eat snacks they would be way too thin...especially my son who does sport 7 days a week. He still needs to put some weight and we try to feed him as we can. When they go to the in laws every summer for 3 weeks, they always drop weight and come back looking too skinny (less snacking there).

🏅

Raise you a Highland toffee bar and packet of Johnny’s onion rings

You win! Highland toffee was so good, I’m amazed I have any teeth left.

I’m also amazed I reached adulthood given my iron bru marinated early years.

These threads piss me off. You don't know what that child has eaten the rest of the day. Worry about your own kids. My dd had an eating disorder at age 11. Please don't put your attitude on to your kids and make them worry about eating the wrong and right things and if it's too much. My son is always starving when he comes home from school he has a couple of snacks, still eats dinner and he's really skinny, walks to and from school. To all those saying about not eating snacks it's not true. We were told by the ED clinic kids should eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day spaced out to ensure the hunger cues are listened to and working properly. I would never judge anither parent for what their kid is eating as I've been through hell on earth having a child that wouldn't eat.

Maybe but I don't think children not being able to sit at a table and use cutlery is a new thing. My DD is 18; and I can remember when she was at nursery her key worker asked if we ate at the table. I said yes and she said I thought so because DD was one of the few children who could sit to the table and eat properly so looks like this is a longer standing problem than people want to admit.
Snacks I'm not that bothered about. DDs would sometimes snack after school and sometimes didn't. DS goes swimming most days and will always snack after that and have a proper meal and hour or so later. He is autistic though and never stops moving apart from meal times so just burns everything off. He actually slightly underweight so I'm not going to turn in to the snack police yet.

I gave my kids a snack at swimming tonight, albeit not poolside. They had Greek yoghurt and a banana. Other weeks this may be cookies or crisps. I try to follow the 80/20 rule but if you saw me 20% of the time you would judge me….

YANBU.
It's lazy parenting, and yes producing unhealthy overweight children.
Not the childrens' fault - but they are the ones who will suffer.

I'm a dentist, my kids could snack but it had to be sugar free (including drinks)

I've taken far too many small children's teeth out to do anything else.

What sort of snacks did your children enjoy?

I bloody hate the word snack, and I hate the word snacking even more!!!!

OP I do think you have a point. Whilst I don’t think you can judge the people at the swimming pool, I do think kids eat too much shit.

My kids are older now but I can remember parents chasing round after little Tarquin getting him to eat a box of raisins or those disgusting puff things. Even if little Tarquin was happily playing!

I totally agree with you OP.
Our gym has an outdoor pool and usually kids aren't allowed in it on weekdays, but they made an exception in the heatwave (as it was also half term).
I was amazed at the amount of kids with rolls of fat protruding over swimwear, getting out of breath quickly, sitting on sun loungers cramming crisps and donuts into their mouths. It's disgusting.
Maybe I have a limited memory but we didn't have so many fat children when we were younger. I don't remember anyone in my cohort being porky.
We do have snacks as a family, mainly fruit and puddings are limited tow weekends and special occasions. My kids aren't allowed to constantly graze between meals.

I have a very active and very lean 4 year old, who will demolish her main meals, but also snacks quite frequently. Snacks to me are things like fruit, pitta bread, etc. etc. I wouldn't worry about how frequently other people's children eat, OP! Mine saw a consultant for months as she struggled with her blood sugars and eating little and often suits her much better. However, I do agree with you about the constant eating of packaged/processed food. I find it hard when I collect my eldest from school and she's hungry, so I give her some food... And lots of her friends are given giant bags of crisps, packets of haribo, etc. I'm not anti treat, but I feel it's important to teach children that there are some things you can eat that sustain you, and some are just fun and delicious. So better to eat a piece of fruit and some nuts and then a cookie if you're genuinely hungry than just a packet of biscuits!

No but her kids willl be in better heath.

I've been thinking about being able to sit at a table and use a knife and fork. When I was at school, in the 60s and 70s, almost every child ate a two-course hot meal at lunchtime. Few mothers worked outside the home and the norm was eating another meal in the evening, sitting at a table with a knife and fork. Food other than dry goods wasn't stored at home so you couldn't decide at 10pm that you fancied lasagne and have a portion defrosted and microwaved within 45 minutes. Biscuits or a bowl of cereal were pretty much the only choice.

Those norms have been replaced with more choice at school, with lots of children bringing packed lunches, and people eating separately in the evening because of different working patterns and the easy availability of ready meals, microwaves and delivered hot food. Unsurprisingly, there are children not taught to sit at a table and use a knife and fork. Katherine Birbalsingh at Michaela was quick to see that what was not being taught at home could be taught at school, in a partial return to what I was used to as a child.

It's not snacks per se that are the problem. It's snacks being given to children who are overweight. The low levels of breastfeeding in the UK don't help because a breastfed baby cannot over-eat so they learn to regulate their appetite and stop eating when they are full. If your child is a healthy weight or abit underweight like yours, snacks are not a problem.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here with regards to what is making kids unhealthy- it's lack of movement more than consuming snacks.

Two bits of evidence I think about.

1. in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, plenty of kids were scoffing down sweets after school. Penny sweets were the norm, and chocolate bars were bigger by weight back then too. Plus many children ate meals that were very basic and not that balanced- my dad commonly ate thick bread and dripping (beef fat) or jam.
   But these kids were very active and autonomous, walking home from school alone and biking to each other's housing. There was no "mum's taxi". You walked or biked in you were lucky enough to have a bike.

2. I live in Japan, the thinnest developed nation. Snacks are everywhere and super affordable. There are convenience stores all over the place and vending machines every 300m. It's normal for parks to have vending machines stocking soft drinks, but also sweet "soups" (red bean or corn potage), snacks like pocky. Bigger parks often have ice cream vending machines.

Again, compared with modern UK children, these kids are more active and autonomous. 6 year olds walk home from school on their own, meet up with mates, and go to the park. There's less of a culture of bringing people to your house, so the kids go out in public instead to socialise in free spaces like the children's hall where they can run around inside in the air conditioning, or the park.

Parks are really abundant too, with little pocket parks all over the place as most people don't have gardens. Crucially, many parks and convenience stores have free to use public toilets so kids can stay out playing longer.

Humans will always love snacking. It's literally how you function as a hunter gatherer, so baked into our DNA. We just need the movement to match.

Ooh a highland toffee bar takes me right back to the swimming pool vending machine in 1980

I’m with you op - constant snacking and far too much water (more than we had in the 80’s is good but it’s getting ridiculous)

🙄🙄🙄 have you ever tried to take your eldest to a swimming lesson and have the youngest two just sit nicely next to the pool for half an hour. Spoiler, it’s hell. Let that poor parent do what they need to do to get through it and leave them alone.

My children didn’t snack like that.

they were obese though. So it’s probably not the snacks

DC in my house are fed a home cooked meal 4pm or 4.30pm and they have supper 6/7pm if still hungry. We don't offer snacks in the afternoon.

Pointless.

That's because you give them a snack at 6/7 pm...

Supper is usually a bowl of cereal/crumpets / pancakes. Fruit and cheeses. Etc. Glass of milk.

They don't get crisps and biscuits as a supper.