Should children eat what they like or what's good for them?

Question

Should parents only feed their children healthy food or should they allow their children to eat unhealthy food?

Answer 1

Children don't have the presence of mind to make good decisions and as the parent part of your job is take care of them. They are growing and developing and need healthy food to make sure they grow up healthy. when they are adults it matters what they eat but at least they are no longer growing and deveoping and at that point they make their own decisions.
If you let most kids decide they would have cake for dinner and pizza for breakfast. They can't do that

Answer 2

It depends on many factors and there is not a sigle clear answer. It depends on how old the kids are and what they are expsoed to in ways beyond the control of the parents. I think it's important to not have the kids feel deprived because that is likely to back fire and you end up with kids who crave junk food. I think the best way is to allow junk food, in limited quanitities to be available around the house and have the kids be free to eat it just as they are any other foods. This doesn't always work well though because some kids hear so much advertising that they are really "programmed" to want nothing but junk food. Also some kids end up having so much junk food available to them outside their homes that it is incredibly unbalanced and they want nothing but junk food. I think it also has a lot to do with how the parents tend to eat as well. Chances are very high that the home is stocked with the kinds of foods that the parents want to eat. And the kids will tend to want to eat what they have available and what they see others around them eating -- also depending on the ages of the kids. It is very preferable to not get into battles over what's okay to eat and what's not okay and also to avoid the labeling of foods as "good" and "bad." It is also good to avoid using junk foods as rewards, for behavior or for eating heathier foods. Dessert is treated best as just part of the meal, if there is any at all.

Answer 3

What do you consider an 'unhealthy food'?
All food we eat nowadays is full of polution and pestisides anyway.
I believe that a happy being is a healthy being.
If a kid wants to eat something - there is a reason for it.
I would not force my opinions of healthy/unhealthy food on a kid. If a child is not overdoing on something - than what he/she wants is healthy for him/her.
We live in a very unhealthy imvironment anyway. So, when invironment changes, so people change, evolve to the present conditions. Main thing - keep your kid happy.
If from the beginning the child will have a good variety of foods - it's fine, so his/her body gets more or less everything needed. (Can't comment on baby food though - just simply don't know about it.)
I believe - a bit of everything is good for you as soon as you don't eat what you know or feel is bad for you. Just listen to your body and oblige. Had indigestion - learn from it and don't eat more of the stuff that caused it.

Answer 4

unless the parents want their children to grow up with rotten teeth,terrible completion and health problems in later life due to obesity then healthy eating is the way.My children dont get sweets or microwave meals and they only drink water or milk because they're hypersensitive to certain foods plus the fact i want my children to be fit and healthy and they enjoy eating their home cooked meals,fruit and veg.They have only been to McDonald's about 5 times in their life and have never even tasted a kebab,i would'nt feed that crap to my dogs let alone my kids due to the fact i know exactly what's in it.I'm surprised by the number of children in my daughter's class that have fillings already and they're only 5!So i think healthy foods are the way.

Answer 5

Everything in moderation. They shouldn't eat fast food every day but it is okay once in a while, just like sweets and any other junk food.

I think that since you are the parent it is up to you to set a example when they are little and start them off eating right. They will continue to do so. My kids favorite food right now, is Salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese..etc.) with Chicken in any kind of dressing but especially Ceaser. =) - They are 2 and 3!

Answer 6

It needs to be a mixture of both. Compromise with them, or sneak healthy food into their meals for especially picky eaters. I wouldn't recommend doing that for too long, as you want to build healthy habits and not rely too heavily on allowing kids to think that they are eating unhealthy. Another way is making it a game, they get to pick two veggies to have at dinner time, and if they eat all of them by the end of the week, they get a special prize.

Answer 7

As a parent you are responsible for the health and welfare of your child. That means a healthy diet. Children do not know what is good for them, as a parent it is your responsibility to teach them. Treats are fine in moderation and I don't mean use them as bribes. Use them as rewards.
Growing up if we didn't eat what was on our plate, and we had to have some of everything, not just the stuff we liked, we would not get dessert. We ate. My Mom makes great desserts!
Garbage in, garbage out!

Answer 8

children should be taught to eat junk only in moderation. a healthy diet is imperative to their growth, but the occasional treat is not bad. i make dessert every night, but try to make things that although they are sweet they still have some nutritional value, like blueberry muffins, banana bread, apple pie or crisp... as long as they eat a good protion of their dinner then they get dessert. this is what my kids are used to and on the rare occasion that i buy snack cakes they usually sit around quite a while, but when i buy a bad of oranges, apples, grapes or carrots they're usually gone within a day or two. i firmly believe that if children are raised with a healthy diet they learn healthy habits when it comes to snacking. i don't force my kids to eat everything on their plate, but they do have to at least TRY everything on their plate. even if its something they don't like, i still put at least a spoonful on their plate and they have to take one bite. taste buds develope over time so something you don't like today may be better than ice cream tomorrow. my youngest hates anything green, including green apples. but if i peel them before he sees it, he'll chow it down in under a minute and ask for more.

Answer 9

Both. I know a couple that literally fed their child only mac and cheese from 18 months to 3 years. They said it was the only thing he'd eat. I say its borderline abuse. If I hadn't made my kids try a variety of foods and add new things to our menus constantly, they would have become picky eaters. As it is, they'll try anything once.

Answer 10

Children should eat a balanced diet and that means they should eat what is good for them but they should also be allowed the occassional treat.

Nothing is unhealthy if taken in moderation.