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  #16   ^
Old Wed, May-01-19, 23:29
rightnow's Avatar
rightnow rightnow is offline
Every moment is NOW.
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Plan: LC (ketogenic)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Merpig
they were clearly the “canned beans cooked into mush” variety.

Nearly everything any government spawned or sponsored institution provides is going to be some unholy union of politics and corporate money, and school lunch is the perfect example.



Nutrition let alone taste doesn't much relate.



I still roll my eyes at declaring pizza a vegetable because it contains a sauce that contains tomatoes. (Which, humorously, are fruits, but I do get that the classification thing for the public is a mess at this point.)


PJ
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  #17   ^
Old Thu, May-02-19, 01:33
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
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More in the British media today:

Quote:
The Permissive Parenting Fat Trap: how becoming stricter can cut childhood obesity

“She won’t eat fish pie – sorry. Please can you give her Nutella on toast instead? And it has to be white bread, she won’t eat brown. And please cut the crusts off. Thanks! X”

This was a text message I received a few years ago when I had a friend’s 7-year-old daughter home for dinner, along with my own daughters, then aged six and four. My mother was also there and sighed when I showed her the text. “You and your brother just ate whatever you were given.”

It’s a scene played out in homes all over the country: modern, well meaning parents, trying to do the right thing by giving in to their child’s dietary demands, while the generation of parents before them look on wearily.
But could new ‘obesity classes’ that teach parents to be stricter with their children be the answer, and help reverse Britain’s childhood obesity epidemic? Since a trial of the classes was introduced in Leeds ten years ago, the city’s childhood obesity levels have fallen from 9.4 per cent in 2014 to 8.8 per cent in 2016. Elsewhere in England, meanwhile, childhood obesity levels barely budged during that time, and more than a third of British schoolchildren now leave primary school overweight.

The eight week courses cost £50 and are provided by the charity Henry, which stands for Health, Exercise, Nutrition for the Really Young, and encourage parents to take charge when it comes to their children’s eating habits. The scheme was set up after the city saw an alarming rise in overweight teenagers and realised that once obesity is established it’s hard to reverse, and that the time to tackle it is in the early years.
The scheme is aimed particularly at deprived areas, but Kim Roberts, chief executive of Henry, says middle class parents could learn a lot from it too: “Parenting is a great leveller. And while there’s a big association with poverty and childhood obesity, I remember a director of education once saying to me, ‘I’m running a multimillion pound department, but that’s nothing compared to getting my 7-year-old to eat their greens and go to bed on time.’ And as a mother of three myself, I know this is a problem that affects us all.”

Indeed, despite the long held - and convenient for some - belief that childhood obesity is more common among poorer families - a study from Leeds Metropolitan University of 13,333 schoolchildren found those from “middle-affluent” areas of the city were more likely to be overweight than those in poorer neighbourhoods.

A quick glance through a typical middle class lunchbox will offer up some clues as to why: Pure Fruit Yo Yos (my daughter’s favourite), yoghurt covered raisins and smoothies aimed at children may well be organic and look healthy (and cost a small bomb) but they’re all essentially high-sugar snacks.

“There is currently an abundance of food available to children that simply wasn’t there thirty years ago,” says Roberts. “Childhood obesity levels were low and static until the 1980s, when they began to rise. One of the biggest changes is our food environment: from the 1980s onwards convenience culture arrived. We had microwaves, ready meals, and processed food. Snack culture exploded. We were encouraged by food manufacturers and high street cafe chains to eat on the go.

“Parents also became less aware of what was in their child’s food. As all working parents know, there isn’t always time to cook a meal from scratch. Busy parents were given the message their child needed a good breakfast to start their day well, but when you look at most breakfast cereals aimed at children, it’s easy for a child to have their entire sugar quota in one sitting before 9am.”

But Roberts is quick to point out the parenting classes aren’t a form of finger wagging, or intended to blame and shame parents. “The classes get alongside them and build their confidence. After all, the world in which their children now live has changed and their environment has become an easy one in which to overeat and be sedentary. Children don’t play out in the street or on their bikes as much as they used to, but rather spend a lot of time strapped into cars or staring at screens.”

And then of course there’s the rise in what’s known as ‘permissive parenting’. Speaking from personal experience, us modern parents tend to be a rather eager lot when it comes to pleasing our kids. We don’t like saying no. We like to offer choice. And, whisper it, in a busy world we sometimes need to take the (speedier) path of least resistance and if that means a snack to keep them quiet here, or an hour on the iPad over a trip to the park there, so be it.

And then there’s our fear of seeing our children go hungry: “Feeding a child is an emotive thing for a parent, even if they don’t realise it,” says Roberts. “It’s a way of showing love and care, and it can be distressing to see your child not eating. But one way to tackle this is to be realistic about portion sizes [see box]. Parents often have an unrealistic image of what a young child needs to eat and override their child’s natural sense of fullness with comments like, ‘Come on, one more mouthful!’ And reduce snacking to just two small snacks a day - so they’re actually hungry at mealtimes.”

If this all seems like old fashioned common sense, Roberts says it’s unwise to over-idealise previous generation’s approach to mealtimes: “It wasn’t all rosy cheeks and milk in the past. In our classes we hear anecdotes from parents who, as young children, were made to sit at the table until everybody had finished, or forced to eat all their Brussel sprouts. And guess what? It didn’t make them love sprouts. In fact, we know a dictatorial approach to mealtimes backfires and is associated with higher rates of obesity later on.

“These classes take the best bits of the old-fashioned, eat-your-sprouts approach, and the permissive, what-would-you-like? one. And it’s an approach that can be applied to meal times, but also tooth brushing, screen time and bedtime. Most parents are doing a fantastic job, they sometimes just need to be steered back on course.”

Back to school: what parents will learn in obesity classes
  • Look after yourself: It starts with the parents: so look after yourself, get enough sleep, reduce stress, and eat well, and your child will be more likely to model your behaviour.
  • Limit treats (just don’t call them that): Children don’t need a pudding after every lunch and dinner, so if you’re in this habit, try to break it and give them plain yoghurt with fruit instead, with ice-cream being a twice a week treat. “And don’t call them ‘treats’,” says Roberts, “otherwise they’ll see their main meal as something to endure, in order to get to the sugary ‘treat’.”
  • Don’t ban treats: Similarly, don’t ban things like chocolate or Haribos, because then they become alluring forbidden fruit. Or, as Roberts puts it, “At the next birthday party, your child will go face first into the chocolate fingers.”
  • Offer healthy choices: Rather than saying, “Would you like carrots?” say, “Would you prefer broccoli or carrots?” Make children feel they have a choice, while you’re in control.
  • Get them outside: Young children can’t sit still...unless there’s a TV or screen around. Now the weather is getting better, get them outside as often as possible. “It may not be possible for them to play in the street with neighbourhood friends like you did, so you may have to plan it,” says Roberts.
  • Watch portion sizes: Henry classes offer this handy tip: use your child’s hands as a guide. A child should have their own clenched fist sized portion of pasta or mashed potato, a palm (no fingers) amount of protein, a cupped hand of fruit and vegetables and two forefingers of dairy. Make it fun by getting your child to compare their hand size to their portion sizes.
  • Accept fussy stages: “They’re normal in toddlers,” says Roberts, “and an evolutionary throwback to when we didn’t want our roaming 2-year-olds to wander off and eat a poisonous plant.” So allow for them, but persevere: “Keep offering a wide variety of food alongside their favourites, so when they go through fussy phases - typically in toddlerhood and the teenage years - the groundwork has been laid.”
  • Don’t ‘multi-cook’: Rather than cooking different meals to accommodate each child’s requests, make a meal that’s broadly the same but with some choice. “Lay out jacket potatoes, or pasta, with a couple of toppings or sauces, and a selection of vegetables, and allow everybody to self serve,” says Roberts. That way, children feel they have a choice, but the parents stay in control.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-...nting-fat-trap/



For anyone interested, I am currently reading First Bite: How We Learn to Eat by the British food writer, Bee Wilson, which talks about how we acquired our eating habits in childhood, why they’re not hardwired, and how you can change them for the better and teach your own children to eat healthy.

Quote:
We are not born knowing what to eat; we each have to figure it out for ourselves. From childhood onwards, we learn how big a portion is and how sweet is too sweet. The way we learn to eat holds the key to why food has gone so disastrously wrong for so many people. But how does this happen? And can we ever change our food habits for the better?

An exploration of the extraordinary and surprising origins of our taste and eating habits, in First Bite award-winning food writer Bee Wilson explains how we can change our palates to lead healthier, happier lives.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Bite.../dp/0007549725/

https://www.amazon.com/First-Bite-H.../dp/0007549725/


There's also a good review of the book in this NYTimes article:

Bee Wilson’s ‘First Bite: How We Learn to Eat’
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/...arn-to-eat.html



.
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  #18   ^
Old Thu, May-02-19, 05:07
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
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Here in the states, similar programs have helped young parents, though not with food. But it’s always a struggle to let people know about these interventions and keep them going.
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  #19   ^
Old Thu, May-02-19, 06:41
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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I was a member of the clean plate club too.

As an obese parent I refused to do this to my kids. They were offered good quality foods, vegies first as hungry mouths find vegies yummy. Once the meat hit the table vegies were ignored. lol

Also, required a small spoonful of the new " yucky" foods and even compromised if my child wanted a bit less to trial. I did keep a teaspoon minimum for everything.

My sensory challenged child became my one more willing to try new foods; until #2 learned he loved to cook, then his interest in foods increased. Both are good eaters now.

Both grabbed the kumquats yesterday!
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  #20   ^
Old Thu, May-02-19, 11:02
CityGirl8 CityGirl8 is offline
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I didn't mean it to sound like I'm a fan of parents served you, sit at the table until you're done, clean plate club either. But I'm perfectly fine with the try some of everything even if it's two bites school. If you're not hungry, you don't have to eat. But if you want to eat, you eat what's on the table. And you have to sit with the family and be social. (Again, I'm not talking about the very small percentage of kids with genuine sensory issues.)
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  #21   ^
Old Thu, May-02-19, 12:39
jschwab jschwab is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CityGirl8
I didn't mean it to sound like I'm a fan of parents served you, sit at the table until you're done, clean plate club either. But I'm perfectly fine with the try some of everything even if it's two bites school. If you're not hungry, you don't have to eat. But if you want to eat, you eat what's on the table. And you have to sit with the family and be social. (Again, I'm not talking about the very small percentage of kids with genuine sensory issues.)


I did not see it that way. I understand sensory issues, but 4 out of 5 kids don't have serious sensory issues which is where I think we've gotten.

One thing I noticed, too, is that there is a trend to start feeding regular food later and later. I had many friends who first fed their children food (as opposed to exclusively breastmilk) at 12 months or even later. And then those kids developed feeding issues. We have a lot of disordered thinking about food, in general.
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  #22   ^
Old Fri, May-03-19, 11:00
CityGirl8 CityGirl8 is offline
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Plan: Protein Power, IF
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To bad these parenting classes are still laden with bad dietary advice:

Quote:
  • Limit treats (just don’t call them that): Children don’t need a pudding after every lunch and dinner, so if you’re in this habit, try to break it and give them plain yoghurt with fruit instead, with ice-cream being a twice a week treat. “And don’t call them ‘treats’,” says Roberts, “otherwise they’ll see their main meal as something to endure, in order to get to the sugary ‘treat’.”
    ...
  • Don’t ‘multi-cook’: Rather than cooking different meals to accommodate each child’s requests, make a meal that’s broadly the same but with some choice. “Lay out jacket potatoes, or pasta, with a couple of toppings or sauces, and a selection of vegetables, and allow everybody to self serve,” says Roberts. That way, children feel they have a choice, but the parents stay in control.
Yoghurt with fruit has nearly as much (or as much) sugar as most ice cream. And ice cream twice a week?!? And a dinner of potatoes or pasta has very little protein and fat.

That buffet of pasta, multiple sauces and multiple veggies, still sounds like multi-cooking dressed up. I'm definitely behind the self-serve idea though. The "choice," to my mind, should be how much each person wants to eat. I think Ms. A's theory of being required to trial small amounts of "yucky" foods is a good one. I know other parents who have used the "two bites" rule for yucky foods. It's not excessive and helps avoid creating a habit of just refusing to eat more and more foods they don't like until all they eat are goldfish crackers, baked beans, or Nutella on toast.
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  #23   ^
Old Fri, May-03-19, 14:10
jschwab jschwab is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CityGirl8
To bad these parenting classes are still laden with bad dietary advice:

Yoghurt with fruit has nearly as much (or as much) sugar as most ice cream. And ice cream twice a week?!? And a dinner of potatoes or pasta has very little protein and fat.

That buffet of pasta, multiple sauces and multiple veggies, still sounds like multi-cooking dressed up. I'm definitely behind the self-serve idea though. The "choice," to my mind, should be how much each person wants to eat. I think Ms. A's theory of being required to trial small amounts of "yucky" foods is a good one. I know other parents who have used the "two bites" rule for yucky foods. It's not excessive and helps avoid creating a habit of just refusing to eat more and more foods they don't like until all they eat are goldfish crackers, baked beans, or Nutella on toast.


Yeah, who the heck has time for multiple sauces and a variety of vengetables. That's absurd.
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  #24   ^
Old Sat, May-04-19, 13:42
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Calianna Calianna is online now
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Quote:
Limit treats (just don’t call them that): Children don’t need a pudding after every lunch and dinner, so if you’re in this habit, try to break it and give them plain yoghurt with fruit instead, with ice-cream being a twice a week treat. “And don’t call them ‘treats’,” says Roberts, “otherwise they’ll see their main meal as something to endure, in order to get to the sugary ‘treat’.”
Quote:
Originally Posted by CityGirl8
To bad these parenting classes are still laden with bad dietary advice:

Yoghurt with fruit has nearly as much (or as much) sugar as most ice cream. And ice cream twice a week?!? And a dinner of potatoes or pasta has very little protein and fat.




They did at least say plain yogurt, rather than the pre-sweetened fruit flavored stuff that has a teensy tiny bit of fruit and lots of sugar to make the sour yogurt more palatable.



I definitely agree about the potatoes and pasta though - but then those are considered to be ultimate healthy foods - veggies (oh yes, potatoes are considered to be a vegetable these days!) and grains, with little to no fat! As far as protein is concerned, they're not really concerned about that - there's no longer any percentage of RDA for protein provided on nutrition stat labels.
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  #25   ^
Old Sat, May-04-19, 13:52
jschwab jschwab is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Calianna
They did at least say plain yogurt, rather than the pre-sweetened fruit flavored stuff that has a teensy tiny bit of fruit and lots of sugar to make the sour yogurt more palatable.


Yeah, I eat low carb, obviously, and I eat whole milk yogurt with fresh fruit in it every day (only berries, though). I don't think that is the worst advice.
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  #26   ^
Old Sun, May-05-19, 11:08
CityGirl8 CityGirl8 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Calianna
They did at least say plain yogurt, rather than the pre-sweetened fruit flavored stuff that has a teensy tiny bit of fruit and lots of sugar to make the sour yogurt more palatable.
Well, 1/2 cup of fruit has about 17g of carbs (of which 15g is sugar) and 1/2 cup of plain low-fat yoghurt (the type usually recommended in these schemes) has 8g of carbs, all sugar. So, that's a total of 25g of carbs. By comparison, 1 cup of Dreyer's (aka Edy's) vanilla ice cream has 30g of carbs (28g is sugar). Strawberry is 32g (28g sugar). None of these items have any fiber to net out. So, you're saving about 5 g of carbs. (Though, I should note that if you eat ice cream like Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Daz, or a gelato-style ice cream the numbers are a lot higher because there's less air mixed in--so the ice cream is more dense.)

Usually, "a serving" of ice cream is officially only 1/2 cup, but I wanted to compare the same amounts and also an amount that people might realistically eat.

It's not the yoghurt in this scenario that's the huge problem. Also, the type of yogurt most of us would eat--whole milk--has even fewer carbs with about 5g in 1/2 cup.

These programs recommend the yogurt-fruit replacement, because it's low fat, not because you're giving kids a lot less sugar.
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  #27   ^
Old Tue, May-07-19, 07:30
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Calianna Calianna is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CityGirl8
Well, 1/2 cup of fruit has about 17g of carbs (of which 15g is sugar) and 1/2 cup of plain low-fat yoghurt (the type usually recommended in these schemes) has 8g of carbs, all sugar. So, that's a total of 25g of carbs. By comparison, 1 cup of Dreyer's (aka Edy's) vanilla ice cream has 30g of carbs (28g is sugar). Strawberry is 32g (28g sugar). None of these items have any fiber to net out. So, you're saving about 5 g of carbs. (Though, I should note that if you eat ice cream like Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Daz, or a gelato-style ice cream the numbers are a lot higher because there's less air mixed in--so the ice cream is more dense.)

Usually, "a serving" of ice cream is officially only 1/2 cup, but I wanted to compare the same amounts and also an amount that people might realistically eat.

It's not the yoghurt in this scenario that's the huge problem. Also, the type of yogurt most of us would eat--whole milk--has even fewer carbs with about 5g in 1/2 cup.

These programs recommend the yogurt-fruit replacement, because it's low fat, not because you're giving kids a lot less sugar.

Yes, I'm sure they feel confident that recommending plain yogurt and fruit will mean the kids will be fed LF or fat free yogurt because it can be downright difficult (impossible in some stores) to find full fat yogurt.



The real difference I see is that if you buy a container of fruited yogurt, the whole container is a little less than 1/2 cup, and the total carbs is still going to be in the 20-25 carb range, because of all the added sugar. Assuming the parents don't combine standard serving sizes of plain yogurt and fruit (ending up with a total of a full cup of fruit and yogurt), and instead stick to the total serving of about 1/2 cup for the total of the combination, it'll still be a far sight lower in carbs than what most kids are being fed today, because there's sooo much added sugar in most everything these days.

Having said that, I think the main purpose they're trying to accomplish is to lessen the expectation that every single meal or treat needs to be sugary sweet - plain yogurt (of any fat level) will still be tart, even with some unsweetened fruit added to it. If the child eats yogurt that way from the time they're eating yogurt and fruit, and then tries a cup of commercially fruited yogurt, they're going to find the sweetened stuff to be inedibly sweet.

As far as the allowance of ice cream twice a week - of course that's not any better than providing potatoes and pasta at every meal. Obviously if the only carb reduction is switching from sweetened yogurt to a combined similar sized serving of plain yogurt and fruit, it's not going to result in what we'd ever consider to be a LC diet, but I still see it as a step (albeit a very small step) along the way to a better diet than a lot of kids are being fed these days. The wheels of progress turn slowly, very slowly, especially when it comes to changing recommendations about diet.
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  #28   ^
Old Tue, May-07-19, 09:21
tess9132 tess9132 is offline
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Quote:
Kids control what they can control if they are in an out of control environment and food is the easiest one to control.
I guess I'm what most people would call a permissive parent. I have very few rules in my house from the time kids join our family. First, treat others how you'd like to be treated (and apologize when you don't do that). There are a few other rules, but they change as the kids get older. For little kids, there are three basic rules: The only thing we draw on is paper, it's ok to make a mess but you have to clean it up, and we try to keep the indoor volume to a noise level mommy can tolerate. Now that my youngest is 12, the rules are more like expectations. I expect them to get their schoolwork done and get the best grades they're able. And the only outright stated rule at middle and high school age: They must participate in an aerobic sport at least 2 seasons every year.

As far as food goes, I have never forced my kids to eat anything and I basically let them eat whatever they wanted. I've always kept what I felt at the time were healthy choices in my home. But if they wanted chicken nuggets for breakfast and scrambled eggs for dinner, that's what they had. I tried to educate them into healthy eating. e.g. "Too many cookies will make you feel sick." The only time I'd restrict a treat is when I felt they weren't leaving enough for Daddy or a sibling who wasn't home at the time (still do that today). If I felt they were eating too many cookies, I just wouldn't buy them for a week or two. All my kids learned to moderate junk food before Kindergarten. Even the ones adopted from foster care, including the one who came to us with food hoarding issues. Beyond moderation, they recognize that sometimes there's no such thing as 1 cookie, so they'll pass on the 1, knowing it could lead to 50.

I know a lot of people were raised to eat what they were served, but I wasn't raised that way. If we didn't like what mom was making (boiled chicken and boiled vegetables most nights), you could always make yourself a bowl of generic Cheerios. By the time we were in 6th or 7th grade, mom just assumed we weren't eating boiled chicken and she'd stop buying it for us as soon as she noticed we were more inclined to make a grilled cheese or a can of soup. Only two of us ever got fat. Myself and one of my sisters. And we didn't get fat until our 30's after we'd had children. And I blame my former obese state not on my food-permissive upbringing or any deeply held psychological food issues, but on a perfect storm of difficult pregnancies and the Food Pyramid. I tried to only eat when I was hungry, but of course, following the Food Pyramid, I was hungry all the time.

My 22 year old daughter is very self-disciplined. Her diet reflects that. She lives on meat, vegetables, olive oil, and the occasional protein bar. She mostly eats within a 6 hour window. She exercises daily and will occasionally treat herself to chocolate or sugar. My boys (ages 12 to 21) are more relaxed about everything, including their eating, but I will hear them say things to each other like "too many carbs" when one of them suggests walking to Wawa to get a milkshake, or "Ugh! I ate too many carbs! I feel disgusting." My guess is their carb intake is under 100 grams on a typical day. Meanwhile, my 12 year old has recognized that sugar exacerbates his asthma and now orders water (as opposed to Sprite) at a restaurant.

Anyway, I see a lot of people here think controlling what our kids eat is the key to battling childhood obesity. I try very hard not to let my children feel they're being controlled, other than controlling what food I bring into my house. But beyond that, it's on them. They're all old enough now to earn their own money, and if they wanted to blow their money on junk food, I'd let them. But they don't. They mostly eat the food mom buys, although the boys will take a run up to Chick Fil-A with some frequency. I guess I'm babbling, but I just wanted to put it out there that there's another way to raise kids with regards to food choices that doesn't equal obese kids. And if my siblings and I and my kids in their 20's are any indicators, it doesn't equal obese adults.

Last edited by tess9132 : Tue, May-07-19 at 09:31.
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  #29   ^
Old Tue, May-07-19, 09:29
jschwab jschwab is offline
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Modeling makes a big difference. I raised my kids in a similar way to you, tess, although I was more restrictive about what we had in the house. I don't think I bought a bag of sugar for their entire childhoods. But they had plain potato chips to make "sandwiches" since we didn't have bread, etc. They had a lot of choices. They are not thin - they have genetics to thank for that. But they understand their food choices impact them and they make choices accordingly (as teens). They will definitely eat birthday cake, etc. but they don't buy candy generally.
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  #30   ^
Old Tue, May-07-19, 12:22
Zei Zei is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tess9132
I guess I'm what most people would call a permissive parent. I have very few rules in my house from the time kids join our family. First, treat others how you'd like to be treated (and apologize when you don't do that). There are a few other rules, but they change as the kids get older. For little kids, there are three basic rules: The only thing we draw on is paper, it's ok to make a mess but you have to clean it up, and we try to keep the indoor volume to a noise level mommy can tolerate. Now that my youngest is 12, the rules are more like expectations. I expect them to get their schoolwork done and get the best grades they're able. And the only outright stated rule at middle and high school age: They must participate in an aerobic sport at least 2 seasons every year.

As far as food goes, I have never forced my kids to eat anything and I basically let them eat whatever they wanted. I've always kept what I felt at the time were healthy choices in my home. But if they wanted chicken nuggets for breakfast and scrambled eggs for dinner, that's what they had. I tried to educate them into healthy eating. e.g. "Too many cookies will make you feel sick." The only time I'd restrict a treat is when I felt they weren't leaving enough for Daddy or a sibling who wasn't home at the time (still do that today). If I felt they were eating too many cookies, I just wouldn't buy them for a week or two. All my kids learned to moderate junk food before Kindergarten. Even the ones adopted from foster care, including the one who came to us with food hoarding issues. Beyond moderation, they recognize that sometimes there's no such thing as 1 cookie, so they'll pass on the 1, knowing it could lead to 50.

I know a lot of people were raised to eat what they were served, but I wasn't raised that way. If we didn't like what mom was making (boiled chicken and boiled vegetables most nights), you could always make yourself a bowl of generic Cheerios. By the time we were in 6th or 7th grade, mom just assumed we weren't eating boiled chicken and she'd stop buying it for us as soon as she noticed we were more inclined to make a grilled cheese or a can of soup. Only two of us ever got fat. Myself and one of my sisters. And we didn't get fat until our 30's after we'd had children. And I blame my former obese state not on my food-permissive upbringing or any deeply held psychological food issues, but on a perfect storm of difficult pregnancies and the Food Pyramid. I tried to only eat when I was hungry, but of course, following the Food Pyramid, I was hungry all the time.

My 22 year old daughter is very self-disciplined. Her diet reflects that. She lives on meat, vegetables, olive oil, and the occasional protein bar. She mostly eats within a 6 hour window. She exercises daily and will occasionally treat herself to chocolate or sugar. My boys (ages 12 to 21) are more relaxed about everything, including their eating, but I will hear them say things to each other like "too many carbs" when one of them suggests walking to Wawa to get a milkshake, or "Ugh! I ate too many carbs! I feel disgusting." My guess is their carb intake is under 100 grams on a typical day. Meanwhile, my 12 year old has recognized that sugar exacerbates his asthma and now orders water (as opposed to Sprite) at a restaurant.

Anyway, I see a lot of people here think controlling what our kids eat is the key to battling childhood obesity. I try very hard not to let my children feel they're being controlled, other than controlling what food I bring into my house. But beyond that, it's on them. They're all old enough now to earn their own money, and if they wanted to blow their money on junk food, I'd let them. But they don't. They mostly eat the food mom buys, although the boys will take a run up to Chick Fil-A with some frequency. I guess I'm babbling, but I just wanted to put it out there that there's another way to raise kids with regards to food choices that doesn't equal obese kids. And if my siblings and I and my kids in their 20's are any indicators, it doesn't equal obese adults.

For whatever it's worth I would not describe you as a permissive parent. That description to me brings an image of parents who are emotionally absent, who set no rules at all, just let the kids get into mischief without warning them of the dangers, etc. I've raised a big family and also set relatively few rules because who enjoys having their life micro-managed by others and it doesn't fit my personality style to do so, and the kids knew what was expected of them and just didn't seem to need a lot of detailed rules to thrive. I understand everyone is individual and some people may benefit from having more structure (both as a parent or child) in their home. My mom was one of those people; I'm not and found it challenging so did things differently in a way that worked for us.
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