junk food - a question

[peanutter]

hi there,

after seeing a realated thread, I have a question ...

I don't want this to turn into a debate about when different foods are and aren't ok, etc, but I would love ideas about the following:-

how do I stop "junkfood" from being perceived as a treat?

sooner or later, whether it's next Christmas at Grandma's house, or while Aunty E is babysitting, or at a birthday party or at kinder, sooner or later someone is going to give him food that I wound't choose to give him - I can't watch him 24/7 and sooner or later, it will happen.

so how do I stop Maccas and chocolate and icecream from being seen as a "treat" (and therefore highly desirable) and just another food - no better than yummy fresh veggies and meats and yoghuts and berries, etc?

would love any and all ideas

[sneakysparkle]

We say its a "sometimes" food
I think Sesame St says a similar thing!

[Astrid]

Sometimes food here as well. Don't think we use the term treat when it comes to food.

[krystals]

I'm not sure! But when you find out, could you please tell me!!! (not for kids, but for ME!!!!! I'd love to stop seeing junkfood as a treat! )

[kelsbels]

This worries me too.

We plan to use other things as 'reward' for good behavior etc, ie a trip to the beach. If there's one thing I don't want to do, it's to set up a bad association with food, ie you've been naughty, no dessert for you etc.

I will have the biggest battle with my mil, who likes to offer all her grandkids ice-cream every time they walk in the door to be the favorite grandma! It's going to cause big probs.

[Rouge]

We don't label it at all.

They just know with us its a sometimes food. Because it's not healthy and if you eat too much of it it will make you sick.

I think variety in food is very important. It stops food habits. We don't always have desserts, I don't always bake. We don't eat the same dinner/lunches or even breakfast. My kids understand what advertising is. Today I told DD that she needed to clear out the cupboard from all her party bags from parties she's been to in the last year. She never eats them, neither does DS. They go in the cupboard and are left there for weeks till they go hard an undesirable. When it comes to take away they would rather sushi over mcdonalds. That doesn't mean they are perfect or that they won't ask for the less nutritional take out but it's few and far between. And my kids won't eat if they are full even if it's cake or ice cream.

[toomanyshoes]

they would rather sushi over mcdonalds.

Same here, the kids love making it too!

[RockingBaker]

I think the other thing is not making a big deal of it IYKWIM

[toomanyshoes]

Here we don't use the "good food bad food" tags.

We have "everyday and sometimes food" but I also teach them what food is for, energy, for our bodies to run/work.

We have take away when we're running late, or are busy/etc rather than "oh you cleaned your room so you get a cheese burger".

I think it's a matter of having things "just because" rather than "it's your b'day" "you did well" "you weren't naughty" type of thing.

On a side note I also try not to label things as "fattening" but instead explain that if we eat certain foods we will have less energy to run around with our friends, ride our scooters etc.

[Liz]

Yeah we generally refer to it as sometimes food and even label it junk food. Ds said just the other day 'if you eat too much junk food you get man boobs!' I am yet to find who told him this.. But it made me lol. But they both know if you eat too much of it it can make you sick. They know that juice & fizzy has too much sugar etc that's why we drink water. We aren't strict or precious about what they eat tho. We are lucky I guess that they both eat pretty much anything so I guess our aim is to not ban these things but teach them moderation and what's good and not.

Must admit it went out the window a bit during my first trimester and even now sometimes :/ We had so much takeaway and greasy food to satisfy my yuck tummy.. The kids do ask for junk a lot atm. But we don't do too bad on the whole. I don't recall ever saying it was special or a treat to be eating that food. Think they knew I was feeling too sick to prepare food. They got hooked on the toys more than the food I think :/

[Rouge]

I agree. It's important not to make a big deal out if it either way as in it's so awesome, it's a treat or it's so bad and it's nasty. KWIM?

[MrsBexie]

Thanks for posting this thread!!

I have warned my PIL and my family that they are not to give DD ANYTHING unless I have cleared it first. I know my parents will respect that but I have seen my MIL give my niece ice cream when she was 4 months old!!!

I think the idea of not making it a big deal is great!! Also I am going to exlpain to her that sometimes that food can make our tummies hurt and our bodies sad whereas veggies and fruit make our body happy.

[Ozziehoffy]

We have done the junk food, healthy food thing... so Oskar is understanding that we need to eat healthy food more than junk food and he knows that too much junk food can give you a sore tummy... he saw that on either Sesame St or Yo Gabba Gabba. He knows that junk food is just sometimes and not all the time.

[Rouge]

The thing to remember is all foods are in moderation.

If you ate too many carrots it would make you sick. If you ate too much celery it wouldn't be good for you (the sodium alone is bad!). Same for meat and everything else.

We aren't supposed to eat the same thing day in day out over and over again. Variety is really important. And that means sometimes there will be meals that have higher fat content than others, and sometimes you will not eat much at all. It's better to teach your children to listen to their metabolism, focus on eating well rounded meals and drinking lots of water than it is to focus on bad foods. I've seen what that can do. Out of all the children that my kids are friends with, it's the ones that aren't allowed anything that go nuts and make themselves sick at the party table. Out of the kids I knew in high school it's the ones who's parents were strict that now have food related health issues. Yes you don't live to eat, but I think by making food a journey and allowing them to explore new things with their taste buds, you'll find that "junk food" will be an absolute turn off because there is so much more available to them. I know I'd prefer a 6 course degustation over McDonalds any day.

[peanutter]

thanks, all!!

so many good ideas.

at the moment, it's not too much of an issue (though we did have someone wanting to give DS mud cake - at five months old!!!) but I think there are loads of good ideas here to keep us going, and for us to find a good balance that works for us

thanks again