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Original poster

Sugar free breakfast for my children, any suggestions?

39 replies

HinnyPet · 13/04/2010 22:31

I have just watched the BBC tv programme on Alder Hay Hospital, I am now kicking myself and feel bitterly ashamed of my childrens diet.

My two have either weetabix with a sprinkle of sugar, readybrek with sprinkle of sugar or Oats so Simple which has sugar in it, or cheerios. They share a sliced banana.

They have sandwiches for lunch (cheese or tuna mayo usually) and they share some organix crisps.

For tea they have pasta with bolognese sauce (make it with handfuls of frozen veggies, cherry tomatoes, tinned tomatoes and herbs) or sometimes cheese and tomato pizza. They love toast and anything, beans, hoops etc.

I need to get rid of this sugar. I need to get our diets back on track, I am really ashamed

What do your DC's eat? Any advice would be great. Thank you.

OP posts:
emkana · 13/04/2010 22:33

It doesn't sound that bad really? Not quite sure what your main concern is.

LovelyDear · 13/04/2010 22:33

your diet sounds pretty good to me, though I didn't see the program. try eggs and toast for brekkie, or porridge with the banana mashed into it.

Katz · 13/04/2010 22:34

what you've listed sounds like a sensible diet for children to me.

thisisyesterday · 13/04/2010 22:34

some sugar in your diet isn't bad!!!

sounds liek your kids are just fine tbh. much better to have a bit of sugar than artificial sweetners like aspartame and stuff

as long as you brush teeth morning and night, and don't allow them to snack on sugary things a lot throughout the day you're fine!

my dentist is BIG on preventative dentistry and she reckons small amounts of sugar are fine for children, just make sure they have them at one sitting. so that it isn't attacking the teeth constantly throughout the day.

owlsa · 13/04/2010 22:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
HinnyPet · 13/04/2010 22:37

Do you all really think it's healthy though?

OP posts:
IMoveTheStars · 13/04/2010 22:38

apart from the sugar on their breakfast, it sounds fine!! Just stop sprinkling sugar on ready brek (why do you do that btw?)

If they want sweet breakfasts you could always make apple sauce for them or something? DS (only 2) has apple and pear puree on his breakfast and that adds plenty of sweetness without being refined sugar. (he won't eat fruit, only chance to get it in him)

Why spag hoops? Just cook some pasta? Pesto pasta is great, if they're having baked beans there are low sugar versions.

I'm assuming your kids are a lot older than mine, but I notice a hell of a difference in behaviour when I practically cut sugar out of DS's diet.

HTH

bosch · 13/04/2010 22:41

The only (added) sugar I spotted in the diet was at breakfast - as long as they brush their teeth after breakfast, I wouldn't think you'd have anything to worry about.

Switched on prog as they did a big close up of that boy's teeth and promptly switched over to watch Great Ormond St prog. That boy's mum must have been advised for years by dentist that she was causing him massive problems.

(My ds1 has fillings because I missed a dental appt and they stopped reminding us and I forget for a year/18 months - and didn't realise combination of raisins, apple juice and poor teeth brushing was causing decay. Felt like worst mother in the world when he had his first filling. Lad in liverpool was having something like 8 truly rotten teeth removed - years and years of bad diet and poor teeth brushing, we're none of us in that league I'd think)

HellBent · 13/04/2010 22:42

Sounds ok to me, but how big is a sprinkle of sugar? And do they have beans on toast more often for dinner than the pasta/sauce(that is really good base for a meal, and you can use the same for chilli/rice or sausage casserole/potatoes)

HellBent · 13/04/2010 22:43

A tip my mum used with us was if you are giving a snack like apples or raisins then chop some little cubes of cheese up as well. This neutralises the acid or something!

bobthebuddha · 13/04/2010 22:52

That diet sounds okay to me - do they eat much in the way of sweets or chocolate? Regarding breakfast, you can go 'sugar free' as other posters have said with scrambled eggs and the like, but if you're busy it might be a bit of a faff. As a general rule of thumb though, when you're buying cereals try to choose ones with 12g or less of sugar per 100g. Anything more than that is classed as 'high sugar'. Obviously Weetabix & the like doesn't have any in so if you're only adding a sprinkle you may well be under that threshold anyway.

bobthebuddha · 13/04/2010 22:55

...mind you, tinned baked beans and hoops have a fair amount of added sugar and salt & unless you're making your own pizza, that will probably be quite high in salt too. Try and get as much fresh & frozen veg in them as you can, but overall their diet's probably healthier than most

Original poster
HinnyPet · 13/04/2010 23:01

Frozen veggies okay then?
Mine are 2 and 4.
Both pretty well behaved until they get chocolate, then dear me, mad house!

OP posts:
bobthebuddha · 14/04/2010 08:54

frozen veg is fine

Original poster
HinnyPet · 14/04/2010 13:14

Ok. Seems to be working.
I gave them weetabix with no sugar this morning and they never even noticed!
Is there anything else that could be improved in their diet?

OP posts:
notcitrus · 14/04/2010 13:25

You can get no added sugar/salt baked beans/tinned spag.

Cinnamon on cereal/porridge instead of sugar might also work (and ordinary porridge oats microwave with milk just as well as OatSo).

Have to admit I'd be delighted if young ds was eating that range of food - he's going through a fussy phase of wanting sweet stuff. Which he isn't getting...

Mirrorball · 14/04/2010 13:35

When my two go to MIL she buys those little holiday packs of cereals - cheerios, chocolate things etc and gives them TWO each - my boys are 3 and 5.... if they have cheerios or weetabix she'll also put honey on top - it drives me bonkers but as yet I haven't plucked up the courage to say anything - she does help us out and it may sound unappreciative?...

I try really hard to give them a good healthy breakfast and have been using little bits of agave nectar here and there - a fantastic sugar substitute, low GI and unrefined.

I do the cheese cube thing, my mum did the same with me...

longbay · 14/04/2010 15:00

I watched the program too. It was awful seeing the types of treatment those children were having to have because of their diets/ habits.
I don't think your diet sounds bad at all. Just stop sprinkling sugar on their cereals and swap it for fruit instead.
As long as you/ they brush their teeth properly there shouldn't be a problem.
It's not like they're sucking on lollipops day & night like the 3 yrs old buy in the program! [shocked]

activate · 14/04/2010 15:03

dentally fruit sugars are still sugars - as are dried fruit

stop obsessing

minipie · 14/04/2010 15:20

doesn't sound that bad to me

maybe a little low on protein, do they eat meat?

Original poster
HinnyPet · 14/04/2010 15:45

They won't eat chicken (unless at mcdonalds) but they eat beef if it's minced or been cooked for hours in a stew. They eat fish fingers..
But I hate fish, can't bear to be near it so I don't make anything fishy!
I have to obsess. I am not working in honeymoons now so it's my only outlet for getting stuff Virgo and perfect

OP posts:
Horton · 14/04/2010 16:25

You could add some grated cheese on top of the spag bol for a bit more protein (and calcium is never a bad thing). How about pasta carbonara for a change? I do a quick and easy version where you chuck the hot pasta back in the pan with cream, chopped ham, grated cheese, and cooked peas and just stir it all about until the cheese melts a bit. You can also add a bit of squished garlic if liked and the veg could be anything - cooked mushrooms or broccoli go really well, as does sweetcorn. It's v popular in this house.

But generally, that sounds pretty healthy, and a tiny bit of sugar now and again is not anything to fret about.

Cheese on toast is a good quick filling breakfast for a savoury option. Or eggy bread is pretty quick.

Original poster
HinnyPet · 14/04/2010 20:54

They do like their cheese and the carbonara is a smashing idea, thank you!

OP posts:
Horton · 15/04/2010 12:56

If they like cheese, they might like savoury fritters. I make them with an egg, some flour and a bit of milk to loosen the mix, then grate in courgette or add other veg and masses of grated or crumbled cheese. Shallow fry in spoonfuls quite gently until golden on both sides. They are delicious, particularly with feta and courgette. You can also add any herbs or spices you like or chopped cooked meat. If they'll eat something like carrot and cucumber sticks with this, it makes a really nice meal and it's really quick to do.

Horton · 15/04/2010 12:57

All my standbys involve cheese because DD won't eat it on its own or drink milk so I am constantly trying to get calcium into her!