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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Teens want some control over their lives, and for some, food is it. You won't be able to control "no junk food", so if you want to reduce the sneakiness, you should discuss it with your DS and agree on something reasonable. If there is no one else who will eat his food, set up a place in the pantry where he can store it. If he's taking it to his room to hide it from siblings - see if some sort of sealed container out of the dog's reach will work to keep it "safe" but not a hazard. Find a way to support his growing independence, while still managing the most important things to you (keeping the dog from getting sick, keeping the house clean.)[/quote]

What’s most important to me is a combination of things. I absolutely do not want food hidden in the house or consumed in the house outside the kitchen/eating areas. But I also want him to develop good eating habits. To that end, we don’t buy junk. When he has had things like Halloween candy or we have chips leftover from a gathering, those remain in the pantry until he finishes eating them. But we don’t stock stuff like that. I encourage him to shoot for 80/20 - 80% of the food he consumes should be nutritious, whole foods. 20% can be junk that he eats outside the house or when go out/have treats. I haven’t banned him from buying junk or consuming it other places, nor have I tried. I’m only truly hardcore about soda. Other than that, as long as he doesn’t forge on so much junk that he isn’t willing to eat a healthy dinner, it’s totally fine. And I emphasize that a good way to help maintain an 80/20 breakdown is by not keeping junk in the house and treating it as the exception, not the rule. The issue is that he’s unwilling (apparently) to accept what seem to me to be those pretty reasonable parameters. Instead, he’s hiding junk food in his soccer bag, tennis bag, school bag, closet, etc. Our dog finds it, even if it’s just the empty wrappers.

I believe he needs to practice money management and have the independence to make some food choices, and I’m trying to strike the balance between that and letting him create awful dietary habits that will plague him in years to come. He also has younger siblings who have not yet been introduced to a lot of the junk food DS can access, and I certainly don’t want them copying a junk food habit. The sneakiness does worry me very much, and the fact that he’s willing to lie, sneak, and hide for this crap makes me think it’s worse (read addictive) than I previously thought. Part of being a kid, even a teen, is accepting reasonable parental restrictions. Yet apparently crappy faux food product is worth the disappointment and trouble it causes. [/quote]

NP. I have preschoolers who have not yet been introduced to any junk food. I understand where you're coming from, and I actually think you're mostly being pretty reasonable. My suggestions: First, I wouldn't talk about an empty wrapper in a gym bag as "hiding junk food". It just makes you sound crazy. There obviously wasn't a trash can around when he finished, and he didn't want to litter. I'd be commending my kid for environmental awareness. Just tell him that he needs to walk through the garage or mud room before entering the house, put a trash can there (with a lid for the dog) and tell him you want him to clean out his bag before he walks in the house. Because you don't want rodents in the rooms. If he breaks the rule, he's in trouble. Also set up a cubby locker thing (with latch for the dog) where he can store his (sealed up) treats that he wants to take with him next time he goes out to a soccer game. No junk allowed inside the house. That sounds very reasonable to me.
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