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Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

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Original poster

"oh no I am never allowed chocolate it is ^really^ bad for you and rots your teeth and makes you fat"

124 replies

CrushWithEyeliner · 30/06/2008 10:23

I am a TA and this was said to me by a 4 yo girl when discussing favorite foods and trying new things.

I really felt sad for her to have been indoctrinated so negatively about a food that in moderation can be really enjoyable. I honestly believe this attitude causes eating disorders and I don't understand why some parents feel the need to drum in things like this. Are they scared their children are going to get obese or what?

OP posts:

snowleopard · 30/06/2008 11:27

Yes the only NFW I have are artificial sweeteners, because they bring me out in a rash and I don't like the thought of DS having them. Also avoid a lot of artificial colourings and preservatives. Chocolate (in small amounts, especialy posho quality choc) is fine IMO. In fact I love the joy it brings DS as we don't really have other sweets much, he knows it's a special treat and we love having a little bit to share. But, I am a bit shocked when I see parents giving a tiny child a whole massive adult-sized chocolate bar. I try to train DS to think of chocolate as something you have a bit of.

Also it rots your teeth far less than raisins, because it melts off.

FrannyandZooey · 30/06/2008 11:29

I agree pagwatch

I'm not giving 'everything in moderation' when so much of 'everything' contains things I regard as pure crap, especially the 'everything' aimed specifically at children

don't mind a bit of chocolate, though, it's a good food - in moderation

Pruners · 30/06/2008 11:36

Message withdrawn

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pagwatch · 30/06/2008 11:46

pruners - tsk tsk !

Stay behind after the others have gone home. We need to talk

Kewcumber · 30/06/2008 11:52

snowleopard - I've tried to explain to my mum that giving DS "just" a packet of choclate buttons is like me eating a giant bar of choclate and she does (finally) get it (ditto packets of crisps). No movement on the idea that he doesn't need apple juice to drink all the time. She comes from a generation that just doesn't drink water, at least it only a couple of days and he does at last understand that we don't have juice at our house.

I expect to change as he gets older though....

Pruners · 30/06/2008 11:54

Message withdrawn

sfxmum · 30/06/2008 12:00

what a sad miserable existence without chocolate ever surely a human rights issue

let them have plenty of fresh fruit and veg what harm can a bit of chocolate once in a while possibly do to them?

big fat no to forbidding

themildmannneredjanitor · 30/06/2008 12:02

i was when ds came home and said that cereal bars were full of sugar when i had given an organic, no added sugar one that has aonly a small percentage of fruit juice in as sweetener.

FrannyandZooey · 30/06/2008 12:04

to be fair most cereal bars ARE full of sugar

hammertime · 30/06/2008 12:06

Morloth

What kind of choc do you use? If its over 50% cocoa solids then it has a tendency to split and be gritty.

I use

100g unposh dark chocolate
200g+ hazelnuts
400g condensed milk

Mine is gritty because I don't blend the hazelnuts enough.

this makes 4 very small jars. It doesn't keep well out of the fridge and doesn't spread if kept in the fridge so its best to make a few little jars so you can keep one out.

Bumdiddley · 30/06/2008 12:06

Martianbishop - years ago I went to visit my aunt in Canada and the first night we had lasagne.

It was made with deer...

My uncle had found it on the side of the road....

It was delicious....

themildmannneredjanitor · 30/06/2008 12:08

yes but the one he had wasn't . and it was this sweeping generalistaion.

hammertime · 30/06/2008 12:09

I remember eating a deer when I was about 5 or 6. My uncle found it caught in a fence with a broken leg and shot it. I didn't like it. Love rabbit though.

snowleopard · 30/06/2008 12:10

My chocolate consumption is obviously another matter - I often have at when DS is at nursery or snaffle it quick in the kitchen when he's in the front room. Then he smells it and says "Mummy. What is in you mouth?"

Morloth · 30/06/2008 12:18

mmmmmm venison - yum. I find most meat is yummiest when it has had a chance to ahem "ripen"

Thanks for that hammer! Am simply too posh it would seem was trying to use really expensive dark chocolate!

It is just so hard to get those nuts nice and smooth - wonder if you can buy hazlenet butter - like peanut butter, anyone know?

GrumpyOldHorsewoman · 30/06/2008 12:23

Schools do have alot to answer for when it comes to policing foods. I remember DD1 being in reception, and one of the parents (who happened to be a GP) came in to talk about healthy/unhealthy foods.

These RECEPTION-age children were made to turn out their lunchboxes, and the food they had was sorted into 'healthy' and 'unhealthy'. DD came home with her individual finger of organic cheddar, as she had been told it was unhealthy because of its fat content. Nowt about the calcium, though - no wonder so many women suffer osteoporosis after a lifetime of dieting and avoiding dairy.

Obesity is a major issue now, and children are eating loads more crap and doing far less physical activity. We definitely do need to educate about food, but making it such an issue is the wrong way of going about it. We would be better off making sure they got enough energetic play time than obsessing about what they ate. Apart from which, most of us eat more when we're bored

OverMyDeadBody · 30/06/2008 12:26

That poor girl in the OP.

One day she will eat chocolate. And she will like it. Then she will either feel very very guilty and bad, or she will realise that her parents where wrong. Neither is a good thing to feel. Poor kid.

OverMyDeadBody · 30/06/2008 12:27

Morloth yes you can buy hazelnut butter, and almond butter, and others.

OverMyDeadBody · 30/06/2008 12:29

Meridian do it and so do Biona.

OverMyDeadBody · 30/06/2008 12:31

That is ridiculous Grumpy! I wish people would realise that the healthy eating guidelines for adults do not apply to children and there are seperate guidelines specifically for them. Particularly important is that they need more fat in their diets, and less fibre, than adults.

Morloth · 30/06/2008 12:32

Ta, OMDB!

PinkTulips · 30/06/2008 12:46

dark choc is really high in iron, and it produces seratonin so makes you happy.

yes of course you houldn't eat tonnes of it but some chocolate is good for you.

for the child in the op, i have 2 kids who can't eat certain foods because of intolerances, and it breaks my heart to tell them they can't eat things their friends are eating. to purposefully deny your kids food they could eat and enjoy seems barbaric

Kewcumber · 30/06/2008 16:31

a liver and pea smoothie would have the same affect and is much healthier

Blandmum · 30/06/2008 16:32

....and apparatly if you left it on the window ledge next to a pint of milk it would move towards it.....

pagwatch · 30/06/2008 18:46

my no fucking way list includes

aspartme
msg
hydrogeanted fats
sodium benzoate
anything that is a bright blue colour
most e numbers

mostly because they make my son bite his own arm.
(That was my clue that little brains don't like them.I'm quick like that )

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