Gwyneth Paltrow and avoiding carbs for kids - what do you think?

[JaneGMumsnet]

Hi,

You may have read news stories today about Gwynneth Paltrow avoiding carbs for the whole family, including her children aged eight and six:

"Sometimes when my family is not eating pasta, bread or processed grains like white rice, we're left with that specific hunger that comes with avoiding carbs."

We'd be interested to hear what you think about this story.

Does your own diet influence the way you feed your children?

Thanks,

MNHQ

As I said earlier, we live about 15 minutes from Italy so any pizza we eat will be made the Italian way - very thin crust, nothing fried anywhere. Good stuff on pastry, stuck in hot oven for a few minutes.

I was going to write that I have never seen a Pizza Hut in the entire South of France, but I just Googled and saw that there is apparently one in the next town about half an hour away. I can't imagine it being very popular, except with tourists, like the few McDonalds we have.

Pizza doesn't have to have vegetables, by the way. I don't think I have ever eaten a veggie one, except if you count tomatoes, I suppose.

My favourite pizza is rocket pizza.

I think that the danger comes in having pizza and chips which seemed to be the norm when I was on holiday in Cornwall a few years ago. (with very many overweight families on the beaches)
I think that is it is very dangerous to dismiss perfectly acceptable carbohydrates like potatoes, rice and pasta -they are not the things that are making people obese-if you are going to wean them off processed junk food they need cheap alternatives that will fill them up. It isn't the pasta-it is what you put on it that does the damage.
You need to be realistic-people can't afford lots of protein.

Hmm. Actually, exoticfruits, potatoes, rice and pasta are making people obese. There is a huge amount of literature/science to support that fact.

Yes, junk/processed food isn't great, but basic/easily accessible carbs are key culprits.

I feel I need to back up what Cote is saying as I am fed up of pasta/med food being blamed for obesity, it's ridiculous! Half the problem in the UK is massive pasta bowls, which should be more cereal bowl size and also the sauces! In Italy carbonara does not have cream for example. Passata is a base for many sauces. Very healthy. Pizza is indeed very thin and it has very simple toppings, it does not ooze in rubbery cheese and stuffed crusts do not exist! Italian food is clean and simple if it's cooked fresh and the proper Italian way, not anglicised. Something Italians do do is alot of walking......

Perranporth.

I do think that you all need to get realistic and start by giving cheap, easy alternatives that are filling. You will never change people's eating habits if you expect them to go overnight from steak pies and battered fish to shin of beef and sardines.

LittleAbruzzenBear shows the problem-it is not pasta or pizza-in themselves.

Yes, it's excessive volume of carbs, not carbs per se, that can be a problem.

But carbs are cheap.

Better than Newquay - the smell of frying chips at 5pm was sick making!
Perranporth was fine-we were up the hill in a cottage with nice views and the DSs were surfing all day. Nice easy holiday.
We were however shocked by the huge numbers of overweight people.

The key with pizza is that, rather than a whole plate of pizza, you have half a plate of pizza and half a plate of salad. Not only healthier than wall to wall pizza, but a lot more interesting.

The only one of us who doesn't do that is DS2, who has an extreme sensory aversion to such a lot of foods.

Last time I was in Italy I was shocked by the large numbers of overweight Italian kids. Maybe they are all eating a bit more pizza and pasta now.
I found Pizzas in Rome were thin based and delicious, pizzas south of Naples were doughy and inedible. Cakes, tarts, Nutella on dry Melba toasts were our only option for breakfast. Didn't feel very healthy, the food was really expensive too. We'd have found it so much easier to eat healthy food in the UK - we even ventured into McD in Rome looking for a savoury option for breakfast - choc muffins - that was it!

people can't afford lots of protein

The planet can't afford for people to eat lots of protein, either, not unless we decide to find insects acceptable as large parts of our future diet. Other protein sources are way too costly environmentally for everyone to get many calories from them.

Exactly lljkk. We need to eat less meat and I don't think it realistic to wean obese people off their junk food and expect them to start experimenting with pulses and nuts. Much better to stop frying potatoes and cook with other methods-they are cheap and filling.

There is nothing wrong with eating potatoes, just like there is nothing wrong with eating pasta and rice.

Some people may have made a conscious decision never again to eat those foods, which is fine, but that does not mean that those of who haven't are making a terrible mistake.

It is all about quantity. And how you cook stuff - with which oil, how much of it, and with what sauce.

I honestly don't believe carbs are the major cause of our Western World weight problems.

Junk food, yes, too much alcohol, too many snacks, too much sugar, and not enough activity.

Eating lots of carbohydrates is not a new phenomenon though. The standard diet of meat and two veg, sandwich or pasty at lunch etc has been around for a great deal longer than the idea of the 'food pyramid'. Look at old English cookery books, they are full of carb heavy meals like stews with dumplings, pies, doughy puddings etc. Mainly because carbohydrates have always been relatively cheap.

What is new is the availability of cheap processed foods, and I'm not talking about pasta, rice or potatoes. Portion sizes have got much larger and activity levels have gone steadily down.

Yesterday I did roast chicken with roast potatoes (just rolled in olive oil with a bit of rosemary) carrots and cabbage with gravy, the cold chicken was used up tonight by making a curry with rice, I have boiled up the bones and will make soup tomorrow.
Tomorrow I have a cauliflower that needs to be used up -I expect I will do something with a cheese sauce and a bit of macaroni and whatever else is around like tomato.
I am not trying to lose weight -merely maintain. This is perfectly healthy-I feel perfectly healthy from it. I have no intention of missing out potatoes, rice or macaroni from the meals.

People have always eaten carbohydrates to fill them up-e.g. Yorkshire Pudding so that you can have less meat. I can't see how people can afford to change. People seem to be missing the point that it is 2013 and we have a great need for food banks-in 21st century in the affluent western world.

Ds ate chicken with cauliflower cheese and broccoli tonight. No carbs apart from what was in veg. CC was made with dbl cream and cheese. Filled him up! Carb free.