Did anyone watch "What are we feeding our kids?" on BBC1

[MarchXX]

Here's link.

i astounded that there has been little to no research of the effect of UPSs on our brains and bodies. The results on Chris (after one month) were dire indeed.

Chris's brain scans before and after were shocking but not surprising as UPF food manufacturers spend multi££££millions on research to find the perfect bliss point to skewer and keep new addicted consumers eating their products again and again.

I was interested in the huge increase in our consumption of UPF foods since 1980 but would have liked to see the difference from 1970 or 1960 because when I was a child growing up (in 60s) there was virtually no UPF foods in our home, all meals were cooked using fresh meat/fish, eggs, veg and fruit with some dried/tinned goods and no ready meals/takeaways. Eating out (or takeaways) was a very rare treat indeed and snacking between meals was frowned upon and not encouraged.

The representative from the food industry was, not surprisingly, reticent about their role in the deteriorating health of our nation's population. Nestle's success in infiltrating remote communities with their UPF-packed supermarket-boats and creating new addicted consumers (and an obesity epidemic) was an eye-opener but not at all surprising seeing as their role in exploiting breastfeeding mothers in third world countries is well known, too.

Anyway, did anyone watch it. What did you think?

One of the benefits of covid for us is having so much more time to cook at home. As a result we barely eat any UPF foods. We used to eat a lot of sliced loaves and biscuits/cakes etc but now buy fresh bread from a local bakery and bake all our cakes etc ourselves as it’s something to keep the kids occupied. We have been cutting down on meat though for environmental reasons and having the odd veggie sausage or burger and those probably aren’t good. It has been really expensive though. Despite not having to pay for our commutes or buy lunches at work, we haven’t really saved any money.

I've found my palate has largely adjusted to unprocessed foods. Yes, I sometimes feel tempted by UPF outrageously unhealthy stuff but day-to-day I no longer find processed versions of what I'd make myself appetising. I'd never go back to tinned soup, jar sauces, frozen lasagne etc. I had a bag of crisps on a day out last week (the first since last December) and was surprised not to particularly enjoy them.

I thought it was interesting what the boy said about not being able to resist the fridge - I’m not saying it’s easy for parents in this situation, but I know this wouldn’t have been an issue for me as a child because helping yourself from the fridge was an absolute no no. The boy said he snacked a lot on pepperamis and cheese strings - I ate these too as a child, at school for lunch. Yes they were very moorish but they were also ‘lunch box items’, they were expensive and no way did I ever get to eat them at home and I certainly would not have dared to steal any from the fridge. My mum who isn’t from the UK found it to be a bit of a culture shock when she saw children to be constantly snacking on things like chocolate biscuits and crisps. I was never allowed to do that - but I still ate a fair amount of UPF, my mum made mash from a packet as well as bolognese with a powder (never mind a jar ). I’m a healthy weight, also really happy with my body - always have been - as well as never having any major health issues. I think these foods can be eaten in moderation and snacking is big problem so parents need to step up a bit more - and if they struggle supported in doing so.

Maybe we should do away with the notion that a dinner should always even be cooked/hot.

Do we put too much pressure on ourselves to produce a meal. If we relaxed that notion a bit we could just go cook an extra handful of pasta when doing dinner the night befire or hardboil a couple of eggs in the morning whike the kids eat breakfast. Then just throw together a salad with hard boiled eggs or some cold meat and a tub if hummus or something. Be ready in the time it takes to chop up some lettuce maybe toast some pine nuts if you have them.

There are lots of nutritious meals that are cold. Not everything has to be cooked. It's not a failure to get it together if there's not a lasagne served piping hot at 5.30.

I know this wouldn’t have been an issue for me as a child because helping yourself from the fridge was an absolute no no.

Yes - it just wasn't thought of to help yourself to food in those days. You wouldn't do it any more than you'd help yourself to money from your mum's purse.

My dc are 13 and nearly 16 and they still wouldn't take snacks without asking. Not because we have said they still have to ask, but because they never got out of the habit of asking from when they were younger! They do have quite a lot of biscuits, crisps etc, but they are both very slim, especially 13yo ds, who is like a little beanpole.

There was only ever one, maximum, overweight child in the class who by today’s standards absolutely would not stand out.

Gosh yes, I remember a girl up our road who we thought was fat. I couldn't believe it when I found a photo of her recently - she'd just be an average kid now. But mostly everyone was skinny in the 70s/80s, it's crept on without us noticing.

I'd never have taken anything from the fridge when I was a kid because there was nothing worth taking, only the ingredients for dinner 🤷‍♀️

You are right @Pinkblueberry, I would have never been allowed to help myself to the fridge as a child and my children are not allowed to either.

Parents give in to their children over food for all sorts of reasons, to bribe them, to reward them, because they feel guilty for not being there enough if they work etc etc. At the end of the day parents are the adults in the relationship and shouldn't be allowing the their children free access to the fridge.

@CoronaBanana

There was only ever one, maximum, overweight child in the class who by today’s standards absolutely would not stand out.

Gosh yes, I remember a girl up our road who we thought was fat. I couldn't believe it when I found a photo of her recently - she'd just be an average kid now. But mostly everyone was skinny in the 70s/80s, it's crept on without us noticing.

I'd never have taken anything from the fridge when I was a kid because there was nothing worth taking, only the ingredients for dinner 🤷‍♀️

Yes, you’re right - nothing in fridge but meal ingredients. Individual yoghurts weren’t a thing - only Ski, which my mum never bought.

If we were hungry, we were allowed to take fruit from the fruit bowl. But otherwise we just had to wait until the next meal.

I work as a support assistant in a primary school and see the multiple snacks some kids bring out into the playground every day. Not just a single item but two or three, for morning playtime. Then the UPF snack stuff filling their lunch bags at lunchtime. This stuff costs so much but kids seem to be indulged a lot more nowadays.

On a slightly different subject I was supporting a class who were doing a recount of what they did at the weekend and it was a real (shocking) eye-opener.

Basically they did what they wanted. Got up whenever, raided fridge for whatever they wanted to eat or were given money and let out for the day to meet friends and go up town to play around in the retail park, buy snacks and lunch, or maybe stay in their rooms online chatting or gaming with who knows what until midnight. There seemed to be little interaction with their parents at all.

There were a couple of kids who did do stuff as a family, which was very refreshing. One of which went to a local park with entire family to let free butterflies they had grown from caterpillars - wonderful!

Another child is allowed by parents to take the day off whenever we have outdoor learning (one day every other week) because they get tired/sore feet. Already obese .

All this indulgence is a far cry from my upbringing. Saturday mornings we were up early and chores before everything else, looked forward to watching Banana Splits when we had helped mum and dad around the house and garden.

I hope that the programme was helpful in highlighting just how we have all been manipulated over decades to accept UPFs as normal and part of our daily diet. Now we know how toxic they are to our physical and mental (brain) health, we can start to take steps to limit them. Not all at once, but view this sort of food differently, its not harmless after all.

Food manufacturers always try to put the blame of consumers for 'eating too much' and say that we must exercise more. However, exercise only makes us hungry (builds up an appetite) so that's not going to work. The UPFs also make us hungry (stimulate appetite for more) so that makes it harder, too. We've got ourselves into a vicious circle of addictive overeating of these UPFs and it is going to be a difficult struggle to let go of the Group 4 UPFs and return to the Group 1-3s.

I’ve just watched it and it’s nothing I didn’t know, apart from the brain stuff.

It has given me the kick I needed though. I eat relatively well but I have fallen into the trap of convenience with DS5, especially as he is gluten intolerant. For the first year of his life I insisted on being refined sugar free and he had an excellent, varied diet. Fast forward to now and he doesn’t like eggs, is quite stubborn and is at the tail end of being a mildly picky eater. He has a packed lunch for school and it usually consists of -

A yoghurt pouch
A baby bel
A packet of organix crisps/lentil curls
Carrot sticks/apple slices
Some sort of ‘healthy’ sweets like the bear sweets or yoghurt bites
A cheese or ham sandwich

It’s the lunches I struggle with. What do people give their children for lunch in lunch boxes?

Thank you @Happyschool and @beepbeepbonk I will give making my own a go. If I can make a large batch and freeze on a good day I should be ok.

@AlohaMolly when mine were little I used to include a chicken drumstick or a homemade pasta bowl in packed lunches.

I do like the idea of pasta but cold GF pasta is shit I did try rice and chicken and veg but he just won’t eat it!

Mind you, he doesn’t eat the sandwich either, so if he isn’t going to eat it I must as well put the rice in...

If you cook from scratch it matters much more if it is eaten up and not wasted.
Infuriating to waste something I've spent 40 mins making.

@AlohaMolly - I would just gradually alter what you give.
Could you use a less processed bread? Leftover cold chicken in sandwich instead of ham sometimes. Use Greek yogurt with frozen berries added ( they will defrost by lunch) instead of pouch - buy a little reusable pot for this. Make some mini muffins yourself as ‘sweet’ option, you would know what’s in them and they freeze well so you could make just once a month and take out as needed ( again mini size will defrost by lunchtime in box

AlohaMolly I give a tuna, mayo, sweetcorn pitta, a tub of cucumbers and a piece of fruit or two. Sometimes slices of cheese, brown bread and butter, chicken and mayo sandwich etc. Normal food that I would eat myself. I made a point when they were babies to never buy from the baby aisle ie the pouches, baby 'snacks' etc. Just gave normal food. I have a 9yo who'll eat anything (but has no off button) and a 5yo who has a narrow range but self regulates v well.. Did nothing different. What can you do. Both skinny minnies and food between meals would be fruit, tbh that wouldn't even be a thing so at least that's something. Tend to buy ice reams on days out or a choice of a treat from a shop on the weekend rather than stocking them which I think helps. I was an atrociously picky child and I was determined to do all I could for them. However variety in packed lunches has dropped massively. Can sort tho I hope.

Yes @TheoMeo I think the wasted home cooked food is definitely a factor for me.
While I avoid UPFs pretty much entirely in my own diet (food allergies), I give in to DD. She sometimes turns her nose up at the meals I've prepared and so I have gradually started adding in more UPFs for her dinners without realising.
Agree with the PPs that in the 80s, if you didn't eat your dinner that was it - no alternative option. I think I've become too soft and I need to provide a healthy home cooked meal (which I generally do anyway for myself and DH) and say that's dinner. If you don't want that take an apple from the fruit bowl.

Another child is allowed by parents to take the day off whenever we have outdoor learning (one day every other week) because they get tired/sore feet. Already obese

That's heartbreaking. If they are like this in childhood, what kind of adulthood awaits them? How narrow their world will become.

HeyGirl the terrible thing is, I would never buy processed stuff or anything from the baby aisle when he was an actual baby or preschooler I just seem to have fallen into the trap now he’s started school and I can’t for the life of me remember why?! I usually did my own baking - always two versions because DS is gluten intolerant and DP doesn’t get on well with GF products and now I’m suddenly filling my Tesco order with oaty bars and yoghurt drops and fruit winders! He used to have Greek yoghurt and honey and nuts for breakfast and now I’m buying pouches!

@Arbadacarba

Another child is allowed by parents to take the day off whenever we have outdoor learning (one day every other week) because they get tired/sore feet. Already obese

That's heartbreaking. If they are like this in childhood, what kind of adulthood awaits them? How narrow their world will become.

Where I live, parents are likely to keep their children off to take them on ‘outdoor days’ in terms of lifestyle, we’re really lucky to live at the base of a mountain with lakes and forests and quarries within walking distance. In the summers I take DS for walks and see the local teens in groups on their bikes, in wetsuits, making their way to the best swimming spots, and it’s lovely.

The flip side is that the area is poor, probably in poverty. We are in a food desert, with local supermarkets, big name and discount, a half hour drive or a 1.5 hour bus journey away, yet on the high street in the village there’s a hugely over priced spar where the alcohol section takes up a third of the floor space, an Indian take away, fish and chip shop, kebab house and a Chinese takeaway.

Alpha Molly it is hard to keep up those early standards and easy to slip into habits! Delete them from your order and back to basic food?

Another child is allowed by parents to take the day off whenever we have outdoor learning (one day every other week) because they get tired/sore feet. Already obese

I think children can actually get away with eating a lot of unhealthy food as long as they are active (not that I’m advocating it) - to be obese at that age means that they must be putting away huge amounts of food and then not move much - once you get to that sedentary lifestyle point it becomes a very vicious circle.

I haven't yet rtft so apologise if this has been discussed already - am a bit confused about some items and which group they should be in.

So in theory I understand that tinned fruit, jarred gherkins etc should be in g3 as traditional preserving methods. But looking at the tins/jars in my cupboard both the tinned fruit and the jar of gherkins contain firming agent calcium chloride. Obviously I wouldn't have this in my kitchen so does this mean that they are actually g4?

Where does cream cheese sit - mine has thickener locust bean gum and carageenan (the latter I understand from a pp is a common ingredient in ROI so that one is ok (?) but the bean gum? Does that make it UP?

Pitted black olives in brine also contain stabiliser ferrous gluconate - does that make them UP?

Does palm oil alone make something UP? My cream crackers are flour, palm oil, salt, bicarbonate of soda, yeast. Are they ok?

Is all chocolate UP because it contain soya lecithin?

I assume that raising agents such as sodium carbonates and diphosphates will be the same as what is in domestic baking powder - is that right? My BP has no ingredients listing.

Is citric acid ok or not?

I get dried mango as a healthier snack option for the dc but it contain preservative sulphur dioxide. Does that make it UP?

Are cornflakes containing barley malt extract and pantothenic acid UP? The bbc article linked way upthread lists cornflake as a non-UP cereal?

In theory it should be simple but (perhaps I'm in denial or a bit dense) it doesn't seem that simple in practice.

I cannot realistically removal all UPF from my families diets but I'd like to understand so that I can bring it down to a much lower level.

Just checked my plain flour - it contains calcium carbonate so that one must be ok?