"Processed" food and toddler

[Hopeisintheair]

I keep seeing threads on Mumsnet about how dreadful UPFs are. I think a lot of it is the current trend in eating. There always seems to be some buzz phrase in around food.

I didn't think we ate too much processed foods but maybe we do by UPF definition. Shop bought bread and cereal is UPF. Does anyone struggle with this feeding toddler/children? Does it bother you? I'm trying to embrace the balance as I'm not about to start baking my own bread daily quite frankly and feeding kids is hard enough sometimes.

As an example this is what my toddler ate yesterday and today...

Yesterday
Breakfast: Cheerios and whole milk
Lunch: cheese toastie (warburtons seeded loaf) and Heinz tomato soup
Snack: rice cakes with humous. Raspberries and strawberries
Dinner: tuna sweetcorn pasta (we had ours with spinach leaves etc which he didn't want) Cup of milk. Yoghurt.

Today
Breakfast: porridge with mashed banana, ground almonds and chia seeds
Snack: fruit salad
Lunch: chicken soup, cheddar cheese cubes, mini pretzels, humous, yoghurt, raspberries and strawberries
Dinner: half chicken burger with humous on brioche bun, corn on the cob, green beans hot "chocolate" (warm milk with a sprinkle of cocoa powder on top)

Tomorrow I'm making a curry from scratch but he'll likely only eat the rice and poppadoms 🙄 I'll also make Bolognese from scratch this week which he'll eat with pasta.

I think this is pretty good going for a toddler. What's everyone's opinions on things like bread, pasta, cereal, tinned tomato soup etc?

I mean it’s obviously all up to you, but if your toddler likes and eats porridge for example, I don’t know why you have to give him processed cereal at all? He could have porridge every day and it would be healthier for him and also cheaper for you.

He loves porridge. So do I. Neither of us wants to eat it every day. He gets cereal usually on the mornings when he sleeps in late and we've got to get dressed and off to nursery. Sometimes it's Cheerios, sometimes it's Rice Krispies or cornflakes. On weekends I often make pancakes. If someone fed me porridge every morning I'd get pretty bloody fed up.

I would say the same about microwave rice. If you can cook things on the stove why are you microwaving them? I don't want micro plastics leeching into food.

I'm not looking for reassurance. From reading the comments I'm keen to buy some new appliances when we move house and make my own humous and bread. But I really don't need reassurance about a bowl of Cheerios a couple of times a week. It's a far cry from what I grew up on- ricicles every day of the week.

I don’t microwave rice - I was just letting you know that it wasn’t upf because you seemed to think it was.

My point is there are loads of non upf breakfast options - weetabix, shredded wheat, overnight oats as well as porridge (which can have loads of toppings) - you do not have to give your child processed cereals, even if you are in a rush.

Im not sure why you did post if you didn’t want to hear about non upf alternatives or want reassurance that your upf choices were fine, but you sound very happy with what you’re doing currently so that’s great for you.

Yeah I agree. Breakfast is probably the easiest way to stop using upf

The bakery I work in isn't bought in. Made from scratch as is the pies and sausage rolls etc

OP, I use my food processor daily, without exagerration. I make my own tomato sauce, veggie sauces, soups. I use it for chopping veg if I make one pan dishes predominantly based on veg, think your curries, veggie stews etc. Honestly, it's the most used appliance in my house, especially since DS arrived as it saves me a bit more time. I really recommend it.

Hands up, I don't make my own hummus or pesto, but I could. And I think this thread has motivated me to do it. In the words of my DS, "Why not!" 😊

@Mumoftwo1316 and we had the opposite my daughter refused to drink anything except water and milk (as we stuck to that as recommended by hv etc) only to end up in hospital 3 times in a year because her blood sugar drops when she is sick and point blank refused to drink the diluted juice/ diaoralyte/ apple juice needed to raise her blood sugar. We have spent the last year teaching her to drink fruit shoot and eat haribo - there really is no right and wrong when it comes to kids and eating. Everything in moderation is great. I mean my daughter prefers meat, veg and potatoes will cry if someone else eats the last piece of broccoli but needed to be taught to eat haribo and drink juice to avoid hospital stays (and literally catches every illness and virus under the sun) and my son lives on butter pasta and cereal and recent win margarita pizza (with not too much sauce) and is rarely ill which the dietitian says is fine because at this point it is about calories not healthy food 🤷‍♀️

Sorry that happened to your dd and I hope she's on the mend!

Not a child but similar happened to my dh's gran many years ago - the Dr told her husband to go on a low salt diet and so she did too. Then got lots of dreadful symptoms and everyone thought she was very ill but it was just salt deficiency!

It's so difficult isn't it.
My husband & I try to eat healthily, and do try to avoid UPF, we're really conscious of just trying to make small improvements etc
But my daughter will hardly eat a thing unless its 'snacks' (all the fully organic kids snack brands so I try to tell myself they're not too bad but I hate it), or 'chicken poppers'. We sometimes get something 'healthy' in her but very rarely.
I worry about it so much, but if she doesn't eat enough during the day she's up in the night crying with hunger. So we can't really win at all.
I can't force feed her the food that I want her to eat, but we honestly caved with snacky things etc because the nights are so horrendous when she hasn't eaten enough during the day. She's so stubborn and there isn't really any help or support as the Health Visitor just says that she's fine as she does sometimes eat a banana or apple, or yoghurt or cheese so she's hitting the different food groups.
I really want to build healthy habits for the future but it feels impossible. Though that being said, my parents often fed us cereal for 3 meals a day as a child and I've made a decision as an adult to eat differently. So maybe she will grow out of it but it doesn't feel good at all.

Food is food
this ‘ultra processed’ is just another fad to beat parents with
Eat a variety of stuff and everything in moderation

Actually, UPFs aren’t really food - the definition is “an industrially formulated edible substance derived from natural food or synthesized from other organic compounds” - and that’s the problem with it.

It’s not a fad. I’d suggest you read up on it before dismissing it as such.

You’re right that eating some UPFs is probably ok, but we eat far too much in this country and they cause very serious health problems.

Food is food
this ‘ultra processed’ is just another fad to beat parents with

No it isn't. UPF is filled with things that are substances rather than real ingredients. Food companies spend a lot of money for scientists to find new ways to make foods as addictive and cheap as possible. Look at the ingredients lists. Half the stuff even in a 'normal' loaf of bread is not actual food ingredients. Food needs flour, yeast, salt and maybe a bit of sugar. That's it.

Remember this is mumsnet, only this week a poster was scalded for admitting they had eaten a banana.

The diet looks fine, its about balancing over all, not every meal being perfect.

@JumpinJellyfish

Im not sure why you did post if you didn’t want to hear about non upf alternatives

I do want to hear about alternatives. I've been interested to hear about preservatives in some brands of humous. I appreciate recommendations about food processors and will definitely be buying one.

But I also don't see the problem with some processed foods. That's the point of my post: I'm trying to embrace the balance

I don't mind my toddler eating Cheerios once or twice a week. I don't care. He also likes porridge, haggis, black pudding, bacon, French toast, pancakes...

I don't care about the Cheerios anymore than I care about pom bears and quavers.

@PurplePansy05

Fab! Definitely going to buy one.

I find it strange that someone would care enough about UPFs to want to reduce them, to the point of considering buying new appliances in order to make their own houmous and bread, while also being happy to regularly give their toddler entire meals of UPF when the alternative would be simply swapping one box of cereal for another (ie no extra effort or cost needed at all).

If balance is what you’re aiming for then breakfast is a meal that is almost always eaten at home and so one where you can make good choices. It is much more likely that you will need or want to give your child UPFs as snacks, or that they will be given them at nursery/school, so a non-UPF breakfast will balance that out.

Im only trying to help you and your child by pointing these things out but it seems to have annoyed you. That or you are sponsored by Cheerios! Good luck with it all.

I find it strange that someone would care enough about UPFs to want to reduce them, to the point of considering buying new appliances in order to make their own houmous and bread, while also being happy to regularly give their toddler entire meals of UPF when the alternative would be simply swapping one box of cereal for another (ie no extra effort or cost needed at all).

Because he likes them and I don't see the dire harm in him having them now and then. Sometimes we go weeks and weeks without Cheerios in the house while he makes his way slowly through the cornflakes box. Fucking hell I don't give it that much deep thought 🙄

I don't know why you are so baffled that I don't mind my toddler sometimes having Cheerios. "Entire meals of UPF" sounds like he's having a bowl of Soylent green. He enjoys Cheerios sometimes, cornflakes, Rice Krispies, and yes, he has porridge the vast majority of the time.

Christ almighty it's just a bit of grains blitzed and moulded into little O shapes. I also won't stop letting him eat the following:

Fish fingers
Ice cream
Biscuits
Mini cheddars
Baked beans
Tomato soup

🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes I will buy new appliances when we move and have a bigger kitchen. I'll make humous because we eat so much of it that it's worth a go. Sometimes I'll have a bash at making bread. I'm not going to stop buying warburtons seeded either. If he has a peanut butter sandwich on warburtons seeded bread for lunch is that an "entire meal of UPF"? The peanut butter is 100% nuts, the milk in the Cheerios is whole milk. How far do I take it? I don't buy organic milk all the time either.

I think it's strange that you think it's strange that I'm happy to reduce some things but am also happy to let my toddler eat Cheerios now and again. A whole back and forth about bloody Cheerios. Christ.

Crack on with your pom bears- have you tried them in milk of a morning?

@Hopeisintheair why are you so cross that you’ve resorted to making passive aggressive comments about pom bears?!

A bowl of processed cereal for breakfast is a UPF meal. Of course your child likes it - UPF is designed to taste nice and be addictive. And of course you can choose to give your child whatever you like.

Forgive me for trying to suggest an easy switch for you in response to your original question.

That or you are sponsored by Cheerios!

I eat porridge every day. I mix it with different things so its different, sometimes some peanut butter, or dried fruit, or cheese, so it changes each day.

Nutella is also nice in it

Chill out @Hopeisintheair - to be fair breakfast is the best place to make non UPF swaps and it’s actually shocking how many cereals (including cheerios!) are green on the traffic light system but actually really bad for you.

Like pps have said, the tricky thing with UPFs is not when they look like snacks (like crisps etc), but when they look like whole grain healthy-ish foods. I guess as long as you know that you are giving the equivalent of a snack at breakfast time and make sure that the rest of the day is healthy that’s ok.

I love porridge with Nutella. I eat this when he's not around 😂

We also have different things in porridge every day: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, honey, banana, peanut butter etc. But I still don't fancy it every single day (most days, yes) and neither does my husband or toddler who are equally bonkers for it.

I have a 3.5 year old and I honestly think she has eaten porridge every day of her life! We joke that she is made of porridge.

A good alternative is Greek yoghurt or kefir with berries (we buy frozen - much cheaper) - I have that in the summer when I don’t fancy something warm.

He has plenty of non UPF breakfasts and all the rest. I'll be sticking with the occasional bowl of cereal/biscuit/cheese cracker and leave others to lead the crusade against cheerios.

At not yet 3 I'm just glad he's eating a half-decent variety of foods.

Yeah my kids get a variety pack in their stockings as they love it.

The main thing is knowing that the processed cereals are unhealthy - fine for an occasional treat but shouldn’t be a mainstay of the diet.

I actually also think it’s more important to be more militant when they are younger when their tastes are just forming and you have more control over what they eat. Mine are school age and school dinners are horrendous plus all the birthday parties etc…you lose control over a lot of what they have whereas now is a great opportunity to set up good habits for the future.