What do parents think about children having sweets?

Question

Should they be rationed?

The Obvious aside: that they are bad for the teeth.

Are there other negative factors, like what do colourings and other additives do?

Are they bad for children's appetites in general for nutritious savoury food?

I control their consumption as an occasional thing when sweets are passed our way, and personally prefer to give good quality chocolate or fruit with yoghurt or ice-cream. Am I a stick in the mud?

Answer 1

No I don't think you are a spoil-sport.

My kids are now 11 and 9 and my own opinion is that sweets should not be readily available at all times. You should never get into a situation where your children are throwing a tantrum at you because you don't have a multipack of kitkats and 24 bags of walkers crisps in the cupboard. I tend to give them to my kids for a treat, or more often I will give them a more nutricious pudding after dinner instead. I am a bit old fashioned too I'm afraid. I'm not insistant on "clean plates" but if they are too full to eat all their vegetables then they can't have enough room for a pudding if you ask me.

Sometimes I buy coconuts or a pinapple for a treat and they love that.

If you do not buy it, then they can not eat it basically. it amazes me that some people really make a rod for their own back in giving their kids everything they demand as far as sweets and treats are concerned. It isn't a kindness.

On the issue of additives, a lot is said about colourings and things. I think that reactions to them differs from child to child but in the case of a young child, say under the age of 7- it can be very easy to overload thier little system with just one bag of sweeties. Really I think in the case of little ones it's best to ration them into small amounts as a treat.

My son gets a red rash on his face if he eats stuff containing a high amount of colours where as my daughter is fine with them. Either way I try not to let them munch away on this kind of stuff too much.

Salt and sugar are also an issue. If you look at how many cereals and other childrens food products are riddled with high amounts of sugar and salt it becomes alarming. A child's daily allowance is much less than an adult, and their bodies are not able to process it all. Especially when you consider that it has a drip drip effect and your child can consume an awful lot of hidden sugars and salts over the course of a day.

I think that really there needs to be more legislation about how advertising is aimed at kids as far as these unhealthy products are concerned. At least have ads removed from near schools and from childrens tv/cartoon channels.

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Answer 2

Ok.

My brothers girls where brought up with no understanding of what a sweet was until they went to school.

Also, no adverts on TV regarding sweets (that took some doing I admit).

He now has 2 beautiful, slim, 15 & 16 year old girls doing so well at school in everything and every man or boy they meet say's how beautiful they are.

I mean, if I was their age, I would think the same.

They are simply lovely.

However, being somewhat younger than my Bro, I have yet to have kids.

My daughters will be bought up on burgers and lard because I don't want them to have the attention his kids get from men, and have had from men since age 13.

My fat kids will happily live under my wing until they are adults, and I will decide when that is.

Ok, not all the above is true.

Children force us to make some hard choices.

I hope you make the right ones.

Answer 3

Rationed, yes. Used wisely and in moderation (do I hear an echo?).

Too much sugar will unbalance their system, giving them sugar highs which will rocket them out of control for a while and then let them crash, feeling cranky and drained. And then it will mess with their appetite.

If possible, let them have treats only after a good meal involving protein. And let the portions be reasonable to their size, not yours - about a half to a third of what would be an adult serving depending on the size of the child.

My 3 year old son likes those little 1/2 inch tootsie rolls, or a Dum-Dum sized lollipop, after dinner. Also 3-5 miniature marshmellows or gummy bears or pieces of candy corn is a nice, small, reasonable treat.

Cookies are also okay, especially oatmeal-raisin. Recently he's discovered mini-Newtons with whole grain, and he likes them. Raisins themselves make a tasty treat. See, not all treats need be unhealthy.

Answer 4

I think it depends on how old the kid is. If he's 2-3 then I don't recommend ice-cream or yoghurt or even chocolate. Small natural hard candy would be good as long as it's so small it won't choke the child. If the child is 4 or older he can have candy moderately maybe 5 pieces of candy a day at a max.

However, I was raised spoiled! I had candy whenever I wanted! I was never obese, on the contrary, I was skinny. I lived in Europe and there kids are active! Eating candy will not make you obese! Sitting at home doing nothing will make you obese. I just wish everyone would think about what they're saying before posting them on here. You can't enjoy being a kid without candy. It's just how life is when you're young.

Answer 5

My 14 month old son has white chocolate, but it is limited. I probably give him chocolate 2-3 times a week, but only a small amount each time. In fact I still have 5 Easter Eggs plus some chocolates left from Easter! I like to save them as a treat and not use them as something to pacify him when he is acting up. Yesterday we went for a walk to our local nature reserve and I found a bench to sit on and we both had a naughty bit of chocolate, but that was the first bit he had since Saturday.

Answer 6

Obviously you must set limits. One sweet after dinner or school. Of course taking them completely away will only make the child angry and anytime they are at a friend's house they'll pig out. Or if they're old enough...go buy a big bag of candy and eat as much as they please. But I see that you are already doing that. The chocolate and ice-cream won't be a problem. And if they like fruit and yoghurt than stick to that...if you can get a kid who likes fruit and yoghurt as much as chocolate and ice-cream more power to you!

Answer 7

Theres nothing wrong with people or children having sweets from time to time. Everyday isnt good. Cut out candy as much as possible. Big events like Birthdays and Halloween and so forth are good times to let them eat indulge a little. Too much sugar is bad for the teeth but can also cause stomache aches and bad food habbits. try giving them more fruit or using a low sugar sweetner like splenda.

Answer 8

I think moderation is good when it comes to sweets. However, if you totally restrict the sweets then the child may not know how to control himself when they are around. I saw this with my sisters kids. They wouldn't allow the kids sweets and when they went to a party where they were offered, the kids would gorge themselves. I see nothing wrong with preferring good quality chocolates, fruit with yogurt and natural ice cream. I don't think you are a stick-in-the-mud for desiring healthy treats for your kids.

Answer 9

Absolutely not...with the ever climbing rate of childhood diabetes and obesity...my kids will be lucky if they get to eat birthday cake once a year!

If you are going to give your kids sweets...then a smaller amount of superior quality is definately the way to go.

Perhaps if you help the child develop discriminating taste...he'll be able to exhibit some self control himself when faced with mounds of cheaper lower quality sweets, and eventually you won't even have to be the "bad guy"?

Answer 10

Everything in moderation.
I am not super paranoid about sweets consumption because my kids are really good eaters. They have their meals, snacks and the occasional sweets. No big deal.