Were prior generations just not aware of sugar/processed food issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is 10:05 again. OP, just give the baby the junk food. Please don't spoil a relationship over this. You are a good parent and your child will be fine nutritionally. These relationships are so important to children.

Do you mean 10:09? I'm OP.

Nope, I'm 10:09. That wasn't me.

[Anonymous]

You know this is all bunk, right? Not everyone ate crap in the 60's or grew up on it. Health professionals were talking about the perils of cholesterol, salt, sugar THEN. Why do you think people were drinking TAB soda? Not because it tasted good!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know this is all bunk, right? Not everyone ate crap in the 60's or grew up on it. Health professionals were talking about the perils of cholesterol, salt, sugar THEN. Why do you think people were drinking TAB soda? Not because it tasted good!r

Mostly agree with this, but my mom didn't know about high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated fats and preservatives in the 70's. Eveyone thought margarine was better for you than butter and that eggs and shellfish were evil. About the only crap food my mom allowed was Campbell's soup about once a week, bologna and hot dogs (oh the bologna sandwiches) and fish sticks about twice a month. We never had TV dinners or casseroles make out of soup. In general I think we ate a healthier diet. Portion sizes were way smaller, people weren't always trying to shovel "healthy" snacks down our throats at every turn and people were generally WAY more active. Most kids watched very little TV during the week (and of course there were no computers) and were turned out of the house to play outside on weekends (and I mean basically all weekend) and during the summer. Lots of kids walked or biked to school and everyone had to help with raking leaves, shoveling the driveway and household chores. I do remember adults drinking like fish though - it was kind of Mad Men-esque.

[Anonymous]

Food was healthier back then, and the science of making food taste irresistable was not as advanced as it is today. Our food is full of tasty additives and extra caleries that start food cravings. In the 1970s that was not as clearly understood, and used to our disadvantage like it is today. Not everyone's mom gave them the awful foods of the 1970s --there were health food "fanatics" back then also.

[Anonymous]

It's not going to kill your kid to eat junk food a few times a year.

[Anonymous]

I am over 50 and my now 88 year old mom had us on low sugar diets back in the 60s and 70s and guess what I trned into - a sugar junky. Use some moderation - a treat now and then will not kill your kid.

[Anonymous]

Trned = turned

And we were not allowed to watch tv and I became a tv junky. Moderation folks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trned = turned

And we were not allowed to watch tv and I became a tv junky. Moderation folks![/quote

So true. My 19 year-old had two friends when she was small who used to raid our pantry and refrigerator when they came to the house. They weren't allowed to eat cereal, ice cream or cookies. So while my daughter might eat one cookie I'd have to closely monitor them or they would eat handfuls of cookies. One kid at five gobbled down half a pizza in about 5 minutes. They'd even sneak away from my daughter and eat handfuls of cereal (leaving evidence on the pantry floor). I also remember one girl from the 70's whose parents kept padlocks on the kitchen cabinets. She returned from Yale after freshman year with about 50 extra pounds. Deprivation makes for crazed behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Food was healthier back then, and the science of making food taste irresistable was not as advanced as it is today. Our food is full of tasty additives and extra caleries that start food cravings. In the 1970s that was not as clearly understood, and used to our disadvantage like it is today. Not everyone's mom gave them the awful foods of the 1970s --there were health food "fanatics" back then also.

Thanks to my parents influence of healthy eating we have maintained weight and moderation. We are in our 50s. Children also healthy eaters. We do eat sugery things from time to time --all things in moderation! My DH has never had a soft drink and does not want to start now. I have gone years between soft drinks. Years between snack foods. We don't do fast food. It is an extension of how you were brought up with regard to food. After some time, it is a habit. There are such things as good habits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Food was healthier back then, and the science of making food taste irresistable was not as advanced as it is today. Our food is full of tasty additives and extra caleries that start food cravings. In the 1970s that was not as clearly understood, and used to our disadvantage like it is today. Not everyone's mom gave them the awful foods of the 1970s --there were health food "fanatics" back then also.

Thanks to my parents influence of healthy eating we have maintained weight and moderation. We are in our 50s. Children also healthy eaters. We do eat sugery things from time to time --all things in moderation! My DH has never had a soft drink and does not want to start now. I have gone years between soft drinks. Years between snack foods. We don't do fast food. It is an extension of how you were brought up with regard to food. After some time, it is a habit. There are such things as good habits.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Food was healthier back then, and the science of making food taste irresistable was not as advanced as it is today. Our food is full of tasty additives and extra caleries that start food cravings. In the 1970s that was not as clearly understood, and used to our disadvantage like it is today. Not everyone's mom gave them the awful foods of the 1970s --there were health food "fanatics" back then also.

Thanks to my parents influence of healthy eating we have maintained weight and moderation. We are in our 50s. Children also healthy eaters. We do eat sugery things from time to time --all things in moderation! My DH has never had a soft drink and does not want to start now. I have gone years between soft drinks. Years between snack foods. We don't do fast food. It is an extension of how you were brought up with regard to food. After some time, it is a habit. There are such things as good habits.

I would say that you are very unusual. YEARS between snack foods? Never, ever, had a soda in 50 plus years? Wow, that's discipline. Or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grandparent thing.

My parents were doing the no sugar, grow your own food, feed your kids carob-thing in the 70s. Now my mom loves to take my daughter out for ice cream and give her cookies.

+1. My mother grew almost all of our food, and we ate ridiciously healthy growing up. And she was the one that couldn't wait to give DS ice cream (and gave him ice cream for breakfast as a treat when I was in the hospital with DD2). Whatever. Let her spoil him, I say. He eats well otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Food was healthier back then, and the science of making food taste irresistable was not as advanced as it is today. Our food is full of tasty additives and extra caleries that start food cravings. In the 1970s that was not as clearly understood, and used to our disadvantage like it is today. Not everyone's mom gave them the awful foods of the 1970s --there were health food "fanatics" back then also.

Thanks to my parents influence of healthy eating we have maintained weight and moderation. We are in our 50s. Children also healthy eaters. We do eat sugery things from time to time --all things in moderation! My DH has never had a soft drink and does not want to start now. I have gone years between soft drinks. Years between snack foods. We don't do fast food. It is an extension of how you were brought up with regard to food. After some time, it is a habit. There are such things as good habits.

I would say that you are very unusual. YEARS between snack foods? Never, ever, had a soda in 50 plus years? Wow, that's discipline. Or something.

I wouldn't say she is unusual. At all. There is a big difference between being a food control freak and allowing your kids to eat whatever junk they wish to have (or what most of you seem to call "moderation"). It's called food education, nurturing healthy eating habits, or whatever you want to call it these days. I find it amusing how, on this board, most parents who don't believe in teaching and modeling good eating habits will just dismiss those of us who do by saying that our kids will just grow up going wild the moment they have the freedom to try snacks and sodas. I didn't have fast food until I was 19. Twenty years later, I have it maybe twice a year. We kept our son away from juice and sodas at home, but once he was in school around other kids, we readily let him have both. Guess what. He hates soda and will only take a few sips of juice. When he's thirsty, he wants water. This is what I call moderation, as in "we don't really like to eat this way, because we don't think that's actual food, but you're welcome to try and form your own opinion". And oh, yes, it works.

And going back to the grandparents argument, we let them spoil the kids the rare times they're in charge of them, but we have no allergy/intolerance issues, so that's obviously easier for us to do.

[Anonymous]

I can understand wanting to monitor your child's food intake when you are young, but as your child gets older, you have to loosen up.

We eat relatively healthy at home. I don't care so much about organic- we eat it when we can- in so much as I care about feeding my family a balanced diet.

So, for example, at home, for dinner, its either milk or water to drink.

However, if we're out to eat at a restaurant, or we are over at the grandparents, the kids are allowed to order a soda if they want, or have Sunny D with dinner. If grandma and grandpa are hosting the kids for a sleepover and feed them pizza and rootbeer floats for dinner, and then go out in the morning for breakfast and let them have milkshakes- so be it. It's fun for them, and is the special "thing" they do together. And the kids know at home not to expect those things.

Your child is going to be exposed to a ton of food you can't control- through family, through kids at school one day, etc. So baring a major medical condition, just do your best to control what you can at home, instil good eating habits in your child, and hope for the best. You'd be suprised. My kids often order water when we go out to eat rather than a soda, or tell me (or their grandparents!) they are too full for desert. If you do it right, eating can be an empowering process for children, and a fun way of exploring the world, rather than a process fright with dangers...

[Anonymous]

great post, PP