You can't eat too many crisps because....

[burgatroyd]

Well what should I say to my five year old? So far I've been saying you'll end up being unhealthy but this means nothing to her.

Eating too many sweets means her teeth will fall out but what do I say about chips and crisps? I don't use the word fat. Should i use a clinical term? I dont want her to then start hectoring other kids in the playground. Do I say something cutesy like she'll turn into a chip?

Honest advice needed please.

Mine are a similar age. I just say it's important to eat lots of different foods to keep us healthy and strong.

I don't talk about being fat or thin etc.

She's 5, don't give them to her if you don't want her to eat them. I practise everything in moderation and use the light system on foods to explain which are healthy and make us grow, strong, etc, etc foods and can be scoffed at will and those which we have as treats or just a little off because too much stops you growing, being strong, etc etc.

Cant you just say "no, youve had a packet today"

Why does it require a more in depth explaination?

Explain what a portion is?

DD (also 5) seems to have got the fat message from school but we talk about sometimes foods, and also about how if you ate lots of crisps/chocolate etc you wouldn't have room for all the healthy fruit, veg and protein you need to grow and stay healthy. We also say that'd you end up with tummy ache.

think because when she asks why I do like to explain. Personally I wouldn't like to be told 'just because'. Just wondering what has worked for others.

Our dentist hates crisps, says they stick to your teeth. So you could stick with bad teeth.

Our they fill your tummy up so you can't eat food with lots of vitamins in.

Gaining and losing weight is a normal part of life and therefore should not be a taboo subject imo.

However you could say that too many crisps will equal too much salt etc and that she has to leave room for healthier foods.

Bad for your heart? Too much salt, too much oil.

Say that if she has too much salt her kidneys will fail and she will die

I used to tell my dd - who loves salt and vinegar that she is only allowed a little bit of salt each week - its the LAW!! so she can't have any more - its a constant battle though - Also before she eats any 'Rubbish' ie cake, biscuits, sweets she must eat something healthy first - it was handy for when she thinks lemon drizzle cake is healthy, to compare healthy and non healthy food stuff.

My kids only had crisps as a special treat. I never gave them to them routinely. They are terrible for their teeth. I was more happy for them to have chocolates or sweets rather than crisps. Sweets are obviously a sugary treat whereas crisps are more sneaky and masquerade as a snack

My kids know about Sid the slug too.

YY what littleducks said, the coat your teeth and are worse than sweets (so I was once told!)

OK! I'm liking the teeth thing...

Keep them coming...

wherefore thanks for the slug! Just googled it.

Because they fill you up without giving you the things you need to grow big and strong. And then there isn't space for other good stuff.

But to be honest, I don't see much problem with saying that if you eat too much of some foods your body stores too much fat and that's bad for your body. So you should only eat small amounts of those foods. That's quite different from obsessing about whether someone "is fat" or not.

Surely 5 is old enough to understand healthy food choices?

They are salty and will make you very thirsty.

I don't know.

Just don't keep crisps in the house?

We say good energy and bad energy. So all food gives you energy, which is great, but some is 'bad energy' and doesn't help to make you strong, and some is 'good energy' and helps give you muscles and grow taller etc. simplistic but 3yo DS gets it (grudgingly!)

I tell my 5 yr old that his arteries (the biggest blood tubes) will get all stuck full of gunk and make him not be able to go to soft play.

If she's having them as a snack you could say they'll spoil her appetite? It's what my parents always used to say to me and I find myself saying it to DD now if a meal time is coming up.

Because you'll turn into a crisp

But no, I just say crisps are a snack food and we only eat a small amount at a time. That is the explanation. I do agree with explaining things to children, but sometimes little ones don't understand or want to know the complex reasons behind things. Sometimes it's enough to just say because that's what we do.

Perhaps if you want another explanation you could say - so there are some for another day, so there are some for everyone else, because they are expensive and we need to save them.

If DS asks for crisps for breakfast I just say because they are not a breakfast food. So that's the same kind of explanation. I don't want to go into "good" and "bad" foods, it's about balance.

why don't you make a healthy eating picture?

put the different food groups and examples of food she eats, then say how much of each thing she's allowed a day.

so i'd put crisps in "no more thsn 3 times a week"
etc etc.
you can make it into an educational game putting pictures or wrappers onto the chart when she eats something to see if she's filled her quota.

If you want to do the healthy eating thing there's now a Sesame Street episode where the cookie monster sings "Cookies are a sometimes food" it's much derided on facebook.

Liking healthy food picture!

Dd is not being insolent. She genuinely wants to know why but when I say healthy she's not sure what this means as I guess I've held back.