junk food - a question

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 :D

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

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

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! :rolleyes:)

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.

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.

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.

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they would rather sushi over mcdonalds.

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Same here, the kids love making it too!

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

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 :/

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?

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!!! :o

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.

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.

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.

Yep I agree!! My mum didn't allow us anything and I know we would go crazy at dads.. my brother in particular. So much truth in that! Also so much truth in too much of a good thing can in fact be bad. I allow the kids pretty much most things but as you say... in moderation. I have to admit that I do sometimes Oskar does get a "treat" as he calls it... for helping me at the supermarket instead of running around. I'm not sure why he calls it that lol but he's obviously heard it somewhere.

We also use the term 'sometimes' food like Elmo says on Sesame Street & tell DD why it is a sometimes food. We are hoping that when she is older she will then make a consciencious decision to choose more healthy foods. This is a huge issue for me as personally I don't believe my mum was a good role model and I struggle even today to choose more healthy foods.

We use the sometimes and everyday tags as well. I agree with the everything in moderation approach as well as I have a few friends/relatives who are so full on and strict about their kids NOT eating it that it has become a massive issue for them. These kids are the ones that stay glued to the food tables at parties and scoff the lollybags in the car on the way home from parties. I have been amazed at DD hoarding the lollybags but not eating them - it has surprised me.
The grandparents/other special people is a difficult one - I have tended to relax and let them do what they want as they really do not have extended periods of access to the kids so it is not so much of a big thing. Partly because I saw my SIL taking a hard line on food and it really made my parents upset and became a big issue that got way out of proportion and partly cos my kids are a little older and they will (amazingly) say when they have had enough.
That has been the general focus that we have taken lately - to ask if their tummies are full and offer some water first and see if they are still hungry when some time has passed.
The tricky part with food is that everyone has different ideas as to what constitutes junk - in extreme I would consider anything premade and would choose a souvlaki over sushi over Maccas but that is just me. Similiarly I don't give my kids juice at all when I know that would be considered as pretty OTT. But my kids have Maccas on occasion - so how I work home and out can be really different (maybe seen as inconsistent).
It gets harder as the kids get bigger as they have more outtside influence - especially if you rely on outside help that wants the kids to love spending time with them. I do beleive that they will be moulded by their immediate family more than anyone else.
As to how to avoid it being a treat - we do other stuff as treats, so outings, stickers, toys, games, craft and try to avoid the tags for food - so it is to get energy and keep us healthy not anything else!

Lol. I use sometime food too. Also we talk about raw sugar versus processed sugar. Looking at labels and if we find something we do not understand, we look it up.
Also look at stuff that is sometimes food and make it better...By adding mashed veggies or replacing something with something else. That way the responsibility of it
going into my dd's mouth is not just mine. She can own her food choices. : )

Sorry must of missed this post.

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These kids are the ones that stay glued to the food tables at parties and scoff the lollybags in the car on the way home from parties.

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I hear that one all the time, but with my dd she never had sugar until her first cake at 1! *she spat it out. Cordial *very very diluted at 4... She also still to this day, brings home the lolly bags from parties and offers it to me.. If I do not take it, it ends up in our baking drawer and I usually chuck it a month later. We were very strict with sugar intake when she was younger. So not the case all the time. Thank god. : ) I still get amazed looks when she orders water at a restaurant or says no thanks to dessert. Not to mention those that insist I am denying her of a childhood. HA. I just smile and nod... : )

Now she is old enough to make *most* choices on her own. She will never make the right choice all the time but as long as she makes the right choice most of the time, I am happy. : )

To clarify I was more full on with DD1 (cos I could be, lol) and whilst I think it is really important for as long as you can to minimise sugar etc it is a little unreasonable to still be trying to do this at events where there is heaps of stuff (like parties) and the kids are older, so 3+. ITMS??

Macca's (and similar) are 'eat occasionally' foods in our house. They don't have all the vitamins and good stuff in them to help your body grow healthy and strong. That food has lots of stuff, like salt and processed sugar, which your body finds really hard to digest. (Yes, they do know what digestion is! It's how your body makes poos...)

We drive past Macca's every day on the way to and from school. DS5 has been known to ask 'mum, is today an Occasion??' DD7 would rather eat a home cooked meal.

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 :D

thanks again :grouphug: