Do you give your child cakes every day? Our nursery does - need help to change it.

[robd]

Our son attends Leapfrog nurseries. Been concerned about the menu and was sent a copy of the 6 week menu. Out of a potential 60 afters choices (6 weeks x 10 meals - but he 'only' attends half a week) there were 30 biscuits / cake choices and only 5 yogurt choices. The rest were fruit and more traditional dessert such as custard and pudding.

Discussed this with Leapfrog HQ - they didn't seem to recognise the problem with 50% of the desserts being cakes. Personally I feel that this does not promote a balanced diet.

Parent power is the key to change - if any one else has concerns, could they raise it with Leapfrog or the central office. Can give contact at Leapfrog HQ if needed.

DO you think I am being over concerned?

no, I don't think you're being over-concerned. I would much rather my ds was given fruit or something healthy than cake or even traditional custardy puddings.

can't help you because we don't use leapfrog nursery, so would be a bit odd if I complained- but just thought i'd let you know I think you're being entirely reasonable

Robd, I don't know about the menu at your nursery, but as a childminder who provides parenst with a menu I am overly concerned with a balanced diet.

My children have a 'proper' pudding each day after dinner - usually with fruit in it, but occasionally without plus a yogurt after tea. My children average 7 or portion of F&V a day.

30 cakes does seem a lot, but how is the rest of the diet? is it balanced?

Rest of diet seems fine - balanced main courses and afternoon tea. They do offer fruit as well.

But there is generally 1 cake / bisuit offered in the afternoon and our little boy has learnt that even if he doesn't have any main course, he can still have a cake / biscuit.

We then get caught in the Catch 22 of telling nursery not to give him dessert if he doesn't eat his main (and he then feels different to the others), telling them to offer him a more healthy choice or going with the standard nursery menu.

Just don't understand why they have to give biscuits / cake so often when the rest of menu is fine.

just to reply to thread title, yes they get a cake/biscuit every day

my dd old nursery

got a pudding ie cake and custard,

or fruit if they hadnt eaten all there very balanced dinner

Yes, my kids probably eat cake or biscuits every day. Mine are homemade and are our standard snack for after school.

I think your real problems are the geting cake if main course not eaten - we have yoghurt or fruit for dessert but my kids don't get if tehy haven't eaten main course well.

And also what sort of cakes/biscuits? I suspect there's a big difference between the types of cakes I feed my kids (carrot, apple, courgette) and the processed sugar filled stuff a nursery provides. You might get further if you work on the quality/behaviour issues rather than the principle of a sweet, non fruit/yoghurt dessert

Well if my children don't eat their meal they get fruit - shouldn't be penalised for not eating, but fruit seems an acceptable compromise (usually the fruit they would have had otherwise - banana if banana custard, stewed apple if an apple sponge iyswim)

Similar thread running here and yes I agree, it's unnecessary. Hope people responding aren't as negative to your concern as on the other thread

If you offer fruit over cake when they've not eaten their dinner will this not make fruit seem like a punishment and cake the more desirable treat?

just wanted to add- I wouldn't do the witholding pudding just because dinner hasn't been eaten.
that just gives the message that pudding is a treat and something special. Like a prize. it's not. it's part of a balanced diet.
ds gets his pudding regardless of whether he eats his dinner- but then it's nearly always something healthy.

Can I just point out that I only say no fruit/yoghurt to my 3 year old ds when he has refused to eat any of his main course - so I'm punishing his behaviour and messing about. This is a boy who would happily exist on apples, yoghurt, bread and butter and ham, hardly a balanced diet. I don't make him eat everything, but I do make him have at least a few spoonfuls of the veg laden food that I know he will tolerate before he can have the things he loves to eat

We've decided that if doesn't eat main course, he can still have pudding (but only 1 portion).

And yes - we are trying to ensure that he does have a balanced diet.

Agree that don't want him to see fruit as a punishment - but on the other hand would be very upset if he got into the habit of getting a cake / biscuit every day when he didn't eat his main course.

But questions still remains - why do they have to be on the menu daily? It is not rocket science to have more yogurts instead of biscuits.

I've only read the OP, and yes and I think your being overly concerned.

Kids eat cakes. They always have done. They like 'em.

We're not even allowed to send cakes in their packed lunch at dds pre school.Was pleasantly surprised to see some at the Eid party yesterday though.

Cakes are not and inherently bad food. Kids need significantly more carbs, sugar and fat in their diet than we do. So a slice of my apple cake for example (apples grown organically in my own garden, butter, unbleached sugar, eggs, flour, cinnamon) is as healthy for a child as anything else. It's not cakes per se you need to worry about, it's if tehy ae feeding them processed hydrogenated crap

But isn't sugar just a v. simple carb, that get used up in all the running around that toddlers do? And what about fruit sugars - some fruit are practically pure fructose - does that make them unnecessary? (genuine q? btw, not being arsey)

If nobody needs sugar, why is breastmilk full of it? Could it be that it's an easily accessable food source for the very young?

I think the issue is what type sof cakes are they getting. They do need lots of stodge at that age (bearing in mind it's only a small portion) As long as they are getting lots of fuit & yoghurts(good quaity ones) it should be OK.

I recently had to swap yoghurt brands at our nursery as the sort I buy used to be full- fat yoghurts & then they swapped to low fat. FGS at that age they need Ffat!

Unfortunately people get confused between low fat & low sugar. The low fat brands of lots of products are full of sugar to make them palatable!

Fresh WI/farmers market cakes can be very healthy stodge.