Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't not allow them anything except for caffeinated soda (they are under 8). I don't buy a lot of things. And i worked on making sure their palates are good so many things like little Debbie taste too sweet to them anyway. They take 1 bite and thats it.

Oh you parents of young kids... The most comical thing about you is your endless ability to ascribe a causal link between your specific parenting choices and whatever desirable traits your kids happen to be displaying at that particular time.

Yea I had a similar pride when my son was about four and could only eat a few bites of a bakery cookie before abandoning it. He's older now and it didn't last. When they have any level of independence at school and access to candy things change.

Ha same. DS wasn't a sweets kid when he was younger. He would have a couple of bites of things (even ice cream) and be done. Then he hit 8ish and it all changed. Then we taught him moderation and portion and serving sizes. I grew up with a mom who didn't have a good relationship with food or body image and I think it is really important to teach kids how to consume things in a healthy way. I never want to make him think food is bad but we discuss why some things are better than others and why that is the case.

Same. My kids are now teens and they will still eat only one cookie, or one scoop of ice cream. We don’t forbid them from eating more— they actually tell us that eating more makes them feel sick afterwards so they don’t do it. Their awareness of how food makes them feel is what I wanted them to have, so I’m glad it’s worked out.

Hot dogs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not put these types of restrictions on any food. I try not to disallow any food.

What about sugary soda?

NP here but same philosophy as PP. We don't buy sugary soda but DS is allowed to get it if we are at a restaurant (he's 10).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe only allow in rare instances?

For me, bologna, Little Debbie cakes, and also soda. Every packed lunch from K-12 was a bologna sandwich, bag of chips, Little Debbie cake, and Hi-C juice box. I switched out the juice box for a soda when in HS. I never drank water as a kid. OJ at breakfast, juice box/soda at lunch, soda after school, and another soda with dinner.

My kids haven't had bologna or asked for it. They have had Little Debbie cakes before at parties and sports games but they are not something they ask for or that I buy. Only 2 of my 4 kids like soda. We don't normally buy it but if one of my kids asks for a 2-liter for when they are having friends over, I'll pick one up.

I mean we don’t buy these things but I don’t explicitly prohibit them. I think that just leads to issues.

+1
Our motto is everything in moderation. I'm shocked by how many overweight parents prohibit certain foods! That just leads to anxiety around food. I'm thin but siblings are not. My siblings are more controlling with their children's food and their children are overweight. I just tell my kids to make sure the good stuff (i.e., veggies) goes in first. My kids are slim and athletic. I see the same parenting behaviors amongst their peers at school too. Typically fat unathletic parents = kids who grow up to be fat and unathletic.

Now DCUM, tell me what a horrible person I am as I'm sure my thought offended many of you, especially if you're overweight. Oh, and I also don't believe it's genetic.... or I too would be fat.

Did it ever occur to you that parents who are overweight might suggest different dietary choices to their children BECAUSE they (and their kids) and overweight and need to watch their diet more closely?

By the way, siblings can have different gene expression.

I wouldn’t say “don’t allow”, but we’ve never kept soda in the house. My kids could drink it at playdates and parties, and now that they’re both old enough to work and drive I have no control over their picking some up at the store. We just didn’t encourage it. Other than that it’s more about moderation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don’t forbid anything but the food we buy and serve are MUCH different than I got when growing up.

A typical day for me:
- chocolate milk for breakfast (I didn’t like eating breakfast, still don’t)
- chocolate milk, pb&j, pack of Oreos and chips for lunch
- 3 chips ahoy cookies with milk for a snack
- dinner was generally pretty healthy except that it was served with a can of Coke and followed by some dessert every night


Seems crazy looking back on it!!

And yet, you're fine. We all are.

No, some of us have mouths full of dental work and are pre-diabetic, despite having cleaned up our diets considerably.

My parents were constantly binging or on Weight Watchers, and I usually ate their "diet" food. For breakfast I would eat a bowl of cheerios with skim milk and dump a packet of Equal into it. The only cheese in our house was fat-free American cheese singles, with each slice wrapped individually in plastic. Dinner would often include minute rice, or joy of joys, "taco salad" made with Doritos. Sometimes we would have dessert, which was usually fat-free puddings or freezer desserts made with cool whip, or Weight Watchers brand ice cream. When they weren't dieting it was still processed junk loaded with sugar and chemicals.

I blame this poor diet for the fact that I did not reach my full height potential. I will not buy my kids fat free or low fat stuff, or anything with aspartame. I get whole milk, real cheese, real butter, real sugar in moderation. Unfortunately, my parents have continued yoyo dieting with their "diet" foods, and they are obese and diabetic.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this is a 70s throwback. No one at my house worried abut nutrition. One saving grace was that my grandparents had a garden and gave us fresh veggies for dinner every time we'd visit. Otherwise, I was doomed.

Hungryman TV dinners
Boloney & American cheese on white bread with mayo
Frozen Morton's cinnamon rolls and doughnuts
Froot Loops and Apple Jacks
Fast food like Burger King, Pizza Hut and Church's friend chicken

Gross. No wonder my teeth are shot and I was plump until my 20s.

I was constantly drinking cokes and eating candy bars. I had so many cavities filled as a teen.

Anonymous wrote:Basically everything. But the biggest thing is I drank a lot of Coke, often with dinner. For my kids, it is a treat.

I still drink coke, my kids don't like it.

I love Oreos and buy them every couple of years as a treat. I basically eat the whole bag myself, sacrificing a few to my children. I have no self control with these addictive pellets, so I don't buy them.

Nothing is forbidden!

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this is a 70s throwback. No one at my house worried abut nutrition. One saving grace was that my grandparents had a garden and gave us fresh veggies for dinner every time we'd visit. Otherwise, I was doomed.

Hungryman TV dinners
Boloney & American cheese on white bread with mayo
Frozen Morton's cinnamon rolls and doughnuts
Froot Loops and Apple Jacks
Fast food like Burger King, Pizza Hut and Church's friend chicken

Gross. No wonder my teeth are shot and I was plump until my 20s.

It really is a wonder we survived.

-Seatbelts? Pfft. I have so many memories of us leaving on road trips at night where my brothers and I slept in the back of the station wagon trunk area and my parents packed the luggage in the back seats.
-Metal slides and metal swing seats in 110 degree heat-no biggie.
-One lifeguard at a city pool with around 100 splashing kids!
-A breakfast of high sugar cereal with OJ...no wonder we were able to play all morning without getting tired & grumbled about having to be home for lunch at 12:30
-The endless amount of juice given when we were thirsty. Water? I don't know her. How did our kidneys survive?!?!

Anonymous wrote:We don’t forbid anything but the food we buy and serve are MUCH different than I got when growing up.

A typical day for me:
- chocolate milk for breakfast (I didn’t like eating breakfast, still don’t)
- chocolate milk, pb&j, pack of Oreos and chips for lunch
- 3 chips ahoy cookies with milk for a snack
- dinner was generally pretty healthy except that it was served with a can of Coke and followed by some dessert every night


Seems crazy looking back on it!!

And yet, you're fine. We all are.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think I have forbidden any foods. I just don’t buy everything but if they wanted to try a Twinkie, I would get it for them as a one time purchase. We generally eat very healthy, don’t keep sodas in the house, etc. But if they wanted to try a can of Vienna sausages, I would not be opposed to it.

In fact, just last week we bought a can of spam so we could all try it. I don’t think I’ve bought a can of Chef Boyardee, but it would be a fun experiment now that I think of it.

I totally forgot about this! I lived on cans of this during the summer as a latchkey kid. My kid wanted to try some years ago after seeing a friend eat it at lunch. I bought a few different cans and heated them for dinner one night... a sampler of canned pasta, ha. Only 1 kid liked it and she only liked the spaghetti & meatballs one. I'm ashamed to say that I still loved all those damn canned foods!

I don’t think I have forbidden any foods. I just don’t buy everything but if they wanted to try a Twinkie, I would get it for them as a one time purchase. We generally eat very healthy, don’t keep sodas in the house, etc. But if they wanted to try a can of Vienna sausages, I would not be opposed to it.

In fact, just last week we bought a can of spam so we could all try it. I don’t think I’ve bought a can of Chef Boyardee, but it would be a fun experiment now that I think of it.

Anonymous wrote:I do not put these types of restrictions on any food. I try not to disallow any food.

What about sugary soda?

Basically everything. But the biggest thing is I drank a lot of Coke, often with dinner. For my kids, it is a treat.