how much and what kind of junk food/drink do you allow your kids? and at what age?

[sugarbaby]

Over Christmas I was at a party, nothing heavy just family get together, there wer a few kids there. I was horrified when someone else at the party poured her 3 year old son a glass of coke, but later when chocolates were offered she wouldn't allow him to have any because "it contains nuts and children shouldn't be exposed to nuts until they're 5"? The double standard of it all struck me somewhat, although I didn't say anything.

So I was wondering, how much junk food/drink do you allow your kids? and at what age? Personally my DS will not be allowed coke until he is much much older, but I do allow crisps/chocolate/biscuits, but coke just contains too much cafeen/sugar and is in my view, highly inappropriate.

Just a general question though

well of course nut alergies are perfectly understandable and nuts are something that should be handled with care, although coke is potentially just sugar, one can of coke (340 ml) contains 12 tablespoons of sugar and the cafeen of 2 cups of coffee.

Ds is four and I don't let him have Coke - though he has tasted his 14 year old sister's.
I am fairly lax, though try not to give the children stuff with artificial sweeteners/colours and hydrogenated oils if poss.
I stay away from processed foods but am pretty relaxed about honey and peanut butter from a young age.

Jess (18 months) likes to take a sip of my diet coke every now and again, but i try to drink it when she is not around because i know she likes it.

She has chocolate buttons or a small milky bar nearly every day but that is all she has thats "nice".... she has weetabix for breakfast and a sandwich, fruit and yoghurt at lunch time and then whatever we are having for tea, usually meat potatoes and veg.... what harm is one little bit of chocolate a day when she has her teeth brushed twice a day too.

McDonalds/Burger King - Jess will eat 2 or 3 chips and the bread roll and thats it! She just isnt interested! We only go once a month anyway.

white coke is milk surely?!

BTW it's not right to say children shouldn't be exposed to nuts until they are five. The advice for older kids (ie not tiny babies) it to avoid whole nuts because of choking not allergy.

god crisps are the healthiest thing ds1 eats, and I was overjoyed when he went through a (gluten free) fish finger eating phase. First time he'd had meat or fish for 3 years (although now refuses them again).

In an ideal world I'd be wth Enid- all things in moderation- it's what we aim for with ds2 and ds3. Unfortunately ds1 is a bit of a spanner in the works.

Oh I'm fairly relaxed about most things as long as they don't contain too many additive/colourants. I think with regard to those though it depends on how a child reacts. I have a friend who doesn't give her child any sweets/chocolate at all because the sugar just sends her up the walls, and when she comes down off the sugar high she's a nightmare child. My DS used to be like with anything that had hundreds and thousands on it.

Thank you re boots..........

White coke is sparkling water, we have been getting away with it for years he is 4.5

Oh yay, will use white coke next time I want a brown one thanks.
My granny is nearly 99, and says her secret is all things in moderation.....

DS is 16mo and has a dark chocolate digestive every morning. No other junk food or drink. No processed food, other than the occasional Hipp or Heinz simply fruit desserts. And I plan to keep it that way for a very, very long time

my dd is 9months and i give her sparkly water, a few sips about 3 times a week. Thats okay isnt it?!

Do you think thats what we are going to do then Enid? DS has started asking to go to McDs (influence of Reception I suppose) and we have not taken him. Its DH that's got the big thing against it. We're not really that m/c either.

Also what is so bad about dairylea. I don't buy it but give them philadelphia occasionally. What's the difference?

Ds and dd have squash and ribena, but that's probably all the 'junk' they have, due to my appalling housekeeping skills! We occasionally have biscuits, but I usually forget to buy them! Don't usually have chocolate, but I don't forbid it iyswim, so they have it with friends etc.

Things I actively WON'T let them have are McDonalds/BurgerKing etc, fizzy drinks, sugary sweets

Both my ds, have crisps for snack every day at school, some kind of choc after tea, my youngest has nut, dairy & egg allergy, so has a fairly healthy diet with plenty of fruit EVERY day and has soya produce & only dairy free choc. My other ds is a fussy eater, but also eats plenty of fruit every day and also eats alot of shreddies and wheetabix, brown bread, goats milk, but he does have a sweet tooth, so is allowed sweets every Fri after school, and choc after tea every day (as long as he has a spoonfull of fishoil!)

I give mine sweets, once a week
and i also allow them to have a packet of crisps if they have eaten all their tea and some fruit.

ds2 has crisps most nights, i think thats o.k . In fact i sort of thought it would be good to let him have them as he's so skinny and needs fatteneing up a bit

am i wrong?

Oh, and neither drink fizzy drinks or mac donalds as they don't like them! They live on water or watered down cranberry & apple juice.

DD is 3.8 and junk-wise eats

digestive biscuits
ribena
smiley faces
fish fingers (bird's eye)
dairylea cheese spread

She gets the odd sweet and chocolate now and again when she's offered one or on the rare occasion that I buy her something.

Birds Eye finsh fingers aren't junk food! They are just 100% cod with breadcrumbs around!!! The fishfingers that are only reformed crap with a bit of fish are junk food.

No Birds eye fish fingers are good! Are digestive biscuits bad?

where do we stand on baked beans? (as it were)
and tinned spaghetti?

is it junk or is it permissible as part of a well-balanced diet?

My sons are 6, 8 and 11. We are vegetarian and cook "real" food. I wouldn't allow my children to drink Coke as it is notoriously bad for teeth, and by now they all know why they shouldn't so they refuse it if offered. They mostly drink water, with fruit juice at meals if DH and I are having wine or beer. They have never been to McDonalds as it's an organisation I do not wish to give my money to. However, I do not worry about the occasional crisp, chocolate bar or biscuit, though we do not have them very often. Nor do I concern myself greatly with what they eat at other people's houses, provided it's vegetarian. And I bribe them with Smarties to stay still at the hairdressers

Phew, 'cos I eat and give them to DD to eat quite often. And assumed they were healthy. (ref b.e. f.fingers, that is)

Mazzystar - there is no question that baked beans havbe LOADS of nutritional value.... however they also have lots of sugar and salt! Heinz do a tin with reduced sugar and salt (tastes pretty minging to me, but ds lurvs them).

Dunno about tinned pasta though.

I don't really think any of my list is "bad" btw - I guess I call junk food stuff that isn't made from scratch or is processed in some way.
She also eats loads of baked beans - they are good!