Are we too obsessed with “healthy eating” for kids?

[warrenettie]

I’ve noticed lately that so many parents (myself included sometimes) are constantly stressing about whether our kids are eating the “right” foods. Everything has to be organic, sugar-free, wholegrain, air-fried — and I’m starting to wonder if we’ve taken it too far.
When I was little, we had jam sandwiches, crisps, and ice cream without anyone panicking about it. Now, if a child brings a chocolate biscuit in their lunchbox, it’s practically treated like a moral failing.
Of course I get wanting to encourage good habits, but does it really matter if they have a few treats? I sometimes worry that all this focus on “healthy eating” might backfire — making kids anxious about food or sneaky about snacks.
What do you think — are we raising a generation of mindful eaters, or just kids who feel guilty every time they see a biscuit?

I would write like that! DS does say I write as well as ChatGPT though. Probably right though, since OP not been back. Who posts the AI stuff? Surely AI isn't posting by itself 😳.

I do sometimes think that kids food is too complicated.

For example, if you have pie and chips for lunch, you are full until dinner.

Instead it's a hummus wrap then you're hungry by 2pm.

To be fair the people talking about healthy eating on mn have regularly lost the plot and are championing diets that will leave them with osteoporosis and osteopenia, stuck for options at certain times of the year and spending money on foods that we shouldn’t have this side of the world at certain times of the year! I once had a lady lecture me (I work at a checkout) about fruit and tell the lady behind her she should put back the fruit she had as it wasn’t organic. I told her actually, with the state of the soil that year the organic fruit was as lacking in certain nutrients but we have to eat something. She sneered and asked how I knew- I actually used to work in a lab that tested soil conditions and was still friends with people from the lab. I also did a project on it that was later expanded on for nature scientific paper. She never came back to any till I was on again.

You don’t have to “stress” about it. Just don’t buy crap often.

The biggest problem is all the ‘healthy snacks’ people give their kids, especially infants - those supposed healthy type wotsits things, full of crap with no nutritional value at all.

This is definitely a thing. Many products are marketed as healthy yet they are far from it.

I think healthy homecooked food is important but it doesn't need to be organic and things like frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as well. However I also use things like convience food at times and make no apologies or feel guilt for it. Its about finding a balance.

I do think people on here get so obsessed about it and laser focused on it. While a healthy diet is of course important it is not the only component to a healthy lifestyle. Being socially active, fresh air, sleep, rest and keeping mentally active are all important components for all of us as children developing through to adults in being healthy

Yet I see people on here so obsessed with being UPF free that they neglect all other aspects of a healthy life. I've seen people write of spending entire days at a weekend chained to the kitchen cooking flatbreads and homemade stock, people getting up at 4am to make bread, people banning their kids from going to parties due to the food served, not eating out and making themselves ill with stress trying to keep up to keep up with what is UPF and what isn't and feeling guilt if they do use a upf product.

We might have a day where we've been busy and we have a frozen pizza or chicken nuggets for tea. But it's normally on a day where we've been out all day seeing friends or outside and we're late back. Yes the food might not be the healthiest but we've had a day of fresh air and socialising which is just as equally beneficial to health.

I agree with this. I remember a thread as well where a mum wanted to limit her child's contact with what appeared to be a loving grandparent as the were giving the grandchild oven food when they were looking after them once a week. And it was astonishing to see the amount of posters completely overlooking the benefits of the support of family and the benefits of a loving grandparent relationship and instead going on about how awful oven food once a week was.

And another post where a mum was boasting about how her four year son had never had cake or treat food and how if they went to a kids party, she'd take away any cake or sugary food her DC picked up. The health impact on eating sugary food at a party once in a blue moon is negligible but the impact of being the kid that's left out or the one with "that mum". That stays with you for a long time.

As you say some people have completely lost perspective.

A healthy diet should be encouraged but it is not the only aspect for developing healthy outcomes. The recipe section probably isn't the best place for this but lonlieness and social isolation are massive impacts on health. They are significant contributers to Alzhimers/dementia, poor mental health and higher risk of chronic pain and early death. It's been said it's the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Yet I never see the same uproar or concern about this from posters compared to UPF food. In fact I'd go as far to say the opposite. I see so many posts from posters almost proud of the fact they have no friends, going out their way to avoid any social contact, not letting their kids out to play with friends, embracing the fact teenagers socialise online rather than encouraging to socialise in person, actively avoiding playdates and looking to avoid any social interaction particularly at weekends for the fear it will intrude on "family time". Look at how many people were happy about the lockdowns and not having to spend time with people. No one seems at all concerned about how any of this lack of socialising will impact on health and wellbeing yet they are probably the same posters tying themselves up in knots about using a stock cube in a pot of soup and whether it's a UPF product or not.