How often do healthy families have a dinner dessert or sweet?

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a family where we had dessert every night, and we are all fit and active and skinny. But they were homemade desserts, not purchased processed stuff, and the portions were quite small.

My own family eats dessert much less often as a formal thing, though the kids have ice cream a few times a week. They really don't eat any candy or soda, and I try to make very nutritious dinners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not like fanatic health nuts, just normal healthy maybe active joggers and kids might be student-athletes families. Also, do these sort of "normal healthy" families stock any sweets in the fridge/pantry? If yes, what sort?

I grew up with parents who never ever stocked sweets in the house and we maybe had dessert 2xs a month. As a result none of us kids has a sweet tooth. We can all even detect sugar in foods that are supposed to be savory. With that said, I also dont bring sweets into the house (mainly because I dont have a taste for them and I'm the shopper) we probably have dessert 1x a week. Since this really has never been a part of our daily lives, my kids dont have many preferences. They like berries and whipped cream and Halo ice cream. They also oddly like orange flavored dark chocolate.

I'm sorry but feeding your young kids Halo ice cream is disordered. That crap has a bunch of chemicals to make it "low calorie" regular full fat ice cream would actually be healthier. I don't understand people like you who think food laden with chemicals is better than actual real food just because of the calorie count.

I've never looked on the back of the halo at the ingredients, except when I accidentally picked up the vegan one and my kids hitched, so I have no idea what you are yammering on about. We just like the flavors and size, so that everyone get their own. Whatever is in it, I'm sure my kids will survive the chemical onslaught 2xs a month. No need for you to stress out over our health

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who grew up in a fanatic healthy family and learned to find a balance for my own life, I'd say have dessert every day. Not an entire pint of ice cream, but a daily treat w/ an overall nutritious, veggie/fruit heavy diet, is "normal healthy."

And yes, you should stock these things in the fridge/pantry. Not doing so creates more of a taboo and mental obsession with restriction, and can cause kids to overdo it elsewhere. If it's available at home, they know it's not going to go away, and they don't have to gorge the whole thing while they can.

I would agree with this. My house was junk food Mecca growing up and I still slim after 2 kids and favor a vegetable-rich diet. I try to be reasonable with my kids because many of my friends lived in homes that restricted junk food. They came to my house to binge and many are now overweight whereas I never felt deprived.

[Anonymous]

It's such a slippery slope. We don't deprive our kids but we don't have dessert every night. We all know the 10 year old who has never had an Oreo etc.. my kids know there are snacks in the pantry/freezer, but they don't ask for them all the time. We eat healthy most of the time.

[Anonymous]

Healthy eaters here - lots of fruit, veggies, nuts and legumes. My kids eat most things plain (no ketchup, sauces, etc. because I want them to taste real food. We love dessert though and have something most days. Today it was a small dish of ice cream. As someone who loves fruit and could survive on it, fruit is not dessert

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do have ice cream and candy in the house and have it as a treat, but don't do dessert after dinner. I would rather my child just have her sweets when she craves them than get into all kinds of negotiations about dinner and dessert.

I dont negotiate. You need to eat your age in bites of the main food plus your fruit/veggie to get dessert. Its not a negotiation its the same every meal. Take it or leave it.

This is why I could never be a social worker. I know that this isn't technically abuse, but this poster should never have had children. This is a lifetime of eating disorders in the making. You have to be truly a sick individual to count bites of food.

NP here. Disagree

[Anonymous]

Every other night - usually ice cream.

We all eat fruit with breakfast and lunch. DD always gets a cookie or whatever with her lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every other night - usually ice cream.

We all eat fruit with breakfast and lunch. DD always gets a cookie or whatever with her lunch.

Yeah, it's tempting but I never break down and pack sweets for school. The school even discourages it and sends a list of healthy snacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do have ice cream and candy in the house and have it as a treat, but don't do dessert after dinner. I would rather my child just have her sweets when she craves them than get into all kinds of negotiations about dinner and dessert.

I dont negotiate. You need to eat your age in bites of the main food plus your fruit/veggie to get dessert. Its not a negotiation its the same every meal. Take it or leave it.

I can't even imagine having such a strong policy in place. Do you not have any dinner conversation? There is no way I could enjoy my meal while trying to keep track of how many bite of the main food had been consumed? I want family dinners to be relaxed and enjoyable so my kids can open up and talk about their day. It seems as though that would be impossible if each person is keeping track of their bites of the main food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who grew up in a fanatic healthy family and learned to find a balance for my own life, I'd say have dessert every day. Not an entire pint of ice cream, but a daily treat w/ an overall nutritious, veggie/fruit heavy diet, is "normal healthy."

And yes, you should stock these things in the fridge/pantry. Not doing so creates more of a taboo and mental obsession with restriction, and can cause kids to overdo it elsewhere. If it's available at home, they know it's not going to go away, and they don't have to gorge the whole thing while they can.

+1. This is also my approach to it. so Far, seems to be working.

+2.

P.S. Tortellini, peas and pumpkin bread for dessert sounds awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every night. Dessert is yogurt or fruit. Cakes/cookies are reserved for birthdays and holidays.

I do not understand this mentality at all. I am fine with having dessert or not having dessert, but why have something that is part of a meal as dessert? Just eat the fruit and yogurt with the meal. Or do not have it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not like fanatic health nuts, just normal healthy maybe active joggers and kids might be student-athletes families. Also, do these sort of "normal healthy" families stock any sweets in the fridge/pantry? If yes, what sort?

I grew up with parents who never ever stocked sweets in the house and we maybe had dessert 2xs a month. As a result none of us kids has a sweet tooth. We can all even detect sugar in foods that are supposed to be savory. With that said, I also dont bring sweets into the house (mainly because I dont have a taste for them and I'm the shopper) we probably have dessert 1x a week. Since this really has never been a part of our daily lives, my kids dont have many preferences. They like berries and whipped cream and Halo ice cream. They also oddly like orange flavored dark chocolate.

I'm sorry but feeding your young kids Halo ice cream is disordered. That crap has a bunch of chemicals to make it "low calorie" regular full fat ice cream would actually be healthier. I don't understand people like you who think food laden with chemicals is better than actual real food just because of the calorie count.

You should be sorry. Did you get your nutrition degree from Trump University? I hope you enjoy patting yourself on the back for giving your kid full fat ice cream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who grew up in a fanatic healthy family and learned to find a balance for my own life, I'd say have dessert every day. Not an entire pint of ice cream, but a daily treat w/ an overall nutritious, veggie/fruit heavy diet, is "normal healthy."

And yes, you should stock these things in the fridge/pantry. Not doing so creates more of a taboo and mental obsession with restriction, and can cause kids to overdo it elsewhere. If it's available at home, they know it's not going to go away, and they don't have to gorge the whole thing while they can.

+1. This is also my approach to it. so Far, seems to be working.

+2.

P.S. Tortellini, peas and pumpkin bread for dessert sounds awesome.

It sounds like an American toddler diet...that is to say, full of empty carbs and not very nutritious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not like fanatic health nuts, just normal healthy maybe active joggers and kids might be student-athletes families. Also, do these sort of "normal healthy" families stock any sweets in the fridge/pantry? If yes, what sort?

I grew up with parents who never ever stocked sweets in the house and we maybe had dessert 2xs a month. As a result none of us kids has a sweet tooth. We can all even detect sugar in foods that are supposed to be savory. With that said, I also dont bring sweets into the house (mainly because I dont have a taste for them and I'm the shopper) we probably have dessert 1x a week. Since this really has never been a part of our daily lives, my kids dont have many preferences. They like berries and whipped cream and Halo ice cream. They also oddly like orange flavored dark chocolate.

I'm sorry but feeding your young kids Halo ice cream is disordered. That crap has a bunch of chemicals to make it "low calorie" regular full fat ice cream would actually be healthier. I don't understand people like you who think food laden with chemicals is better than actual real food just because of the calorie count.

You should be sorry. Did you get your nutrition degree from Trump University? I hope you enjoy patting yourself on the back for giving your kid full fat ice cream.

NP here. Halo is horrible for you.

FDA - “stevia leaf and crude stevia extracts are not considered GRAS [Generally Recognized As Safe] and do not have FDA approval for use in food.”

Erythritol - "chemical structure has been known to make digestion difficult ..."

There are several other ingredients that are questionable as well.

Compare that to ice cream. I make ours - milk, cream, pure cane sugar, vanilla.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not like fanatic health nuts, just normal healthy maybe active joggers and kids might be student-athletes families. Also, do these sort of "normal healthy" families stock any sweets in the fridge/pantry? If yes, what sort?

I grew up with parents who never ever stocked sweets in the house and we maybe had dessert 2xs a month. As a result none of us kids has a sweet tooth. We can all even detect sugar in foods that are supposed to be savory. With that said, I also dont bring sweets into the house (mainly because I dont have a taste for them and I'm the shopper) we probably have dessert 1x a week. Since this really has never been a part of our daily lives, my kids dont have many preferences. They like berries and whipped cream and Halo ice cream. They also oddly like orange flavored dark chocolate.

I'm sorry but feeding your young kids Halo ice cream is disordered. That crap has a bunch of chemicals to make it "low calorie" regular full fat ice cream would actually be healthier. I don't understand people like you who think food laden with chemicals is better than actual real food just because of the calorie count.

You should be sorry. Did you get your nutrition degree from Trump University? I hope you enjoy patting yourself on the back for giving your kid full fat ice cream.

NP here. Halo is horrible for you.

FDA - “stevia leaf and crude stevia extracts are not considered GRAS [Generally Recognized As Safe] and do not have FDA approval for use in food.”

Erythritol - "chemical structure has been known to make digestion difficult ..."

There are several other ingredients that are questionable as well.

Compare that to ice cream. I make ours - milk, cream, pure cane sugar, vanilla.

Milk makes digestion difficult for some too. You’re in denial if you think homemade ice cream is some sort of health food. “pure cane sugar” increases your chance of heart disease. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/eating-too-much-added-sugar-increases-the-risk-of-dying-with-heart-disease-201402067021