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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Uh. My kids are allowed to have dessert on Thursdays. One other day per week if we go out to a nice restaurant. I went into their school and had the cafeteria manager set it up so that they were only allowed to use their lunch accounts to purchase the main meal and no one-off snack or dessert items. I've attended lunch at their school and there are a bunch of kids eating nachos and cookies for lunch. THIS is what happens when you don't pay attention to children. Like it's a mystery how kids get obese.... calories in> calories out[/quote]
Not really. My dd and ds ate chips and nachos and whatever they wanted. They are skinny young adults and were always extremely skinny. Most of the kids I know have done the same, and very few are obese. Some are skinny, some are a bit chubby, and some are just regular weight. I find that most kids have the ability to self regulate eating. It is crazy parents like you who limit and forbid certain foods that cause the issues or who model unhealthy eating. If not right now, then when your kids have more freedom and personal choice. That is because they were never allowed to make their own choices and listen to their own bodies tell them when they are full or still hungry. You should stop your condescending smirking at OP and other pps here, you have no idea how your kids will turn out as young adults when it comes to weight.[/quote]

I think you just got lucky. My husband and siblings grew up like your kids. They were thin growing up but really struggle with weight as adults. They were not taught to regulate and do not naturally regulate--when they were younger and very active their metabolism helped ... until it didn't. I grew up in a house with one scheduled snack per day. The only option around if you wanted to grab something extra was fruit. We typically only had dessert on weekends or at grandparents. My siblings and I are all thin, not snackers, and don't really work at it.

I try to model healthy eating and just not have nachos and other junk food around. I disagree that "most kids have the ability to self regulate eating" and every study on US children would seem to disagree too. In a culture with so much crappy unhealthy food available everywhere, kids need to be taught how to eat in a healthy way.[/quote]

Perhaps you are right. My kids did grow up overseas until 11 years old. I cooked and most of the food offered was what I made. We would go out for Sunday lunch, but that was about it. We did allow cookies and chips, but not that I read your comment, it was not like we had piles and piles of snack or fast food.  I think my idea of allowing kids whatever they wanted is true, but they never had huge appetites to start with. Perhaps my kids got good habits prior to coming here? I did also find it harder once in the DMV not to grab fast food on the way home from school or work! I admit to that. It could also be genetic, dh and I are pretty slim people. 
Thanks for your feedback. I realize now that I projected my idea of unlimited snacks and how my kids eat to how I grew up and how my kids grew up. I also grew up with home cooked food, and like you we were not forbidden anything, but desert was crepes when grandma made them, (usually once a week, and I did the same with my kids) or asking mom or dad for money to go and buy a bag of chips or ice cream. My grandma followed the same schedule that it sounds like you had, we had a snack in the morning, none in the afternoon, but my snack was bread and some fat on it, usually pork lard(that we made from our own pigs) or butter. In season, we would have strawberries with sugar and home made tart cherry juice. Sorry everyone for generalizing based on my experience![/quote]

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