Thursday, May 26, 2011

Kids and junk food

I grew up in a house where we ate dessert pretty much every night; whether it was 2 cookies, a small slice of cake, ice cream cone - we were allowed after our supper.  We weren't made to clean our plates, but we did need to have "enough" as deemed by our parents.

My mother loves to bake - and she is terriffic. This meant that we almost always had homebaked cookies, brownies, muffins, cupcakes or cake in the house.  As long as we ate our nutritious meals, we were allowed to enjoy the baked goods - in moderation.

Moderation - I think that this is key. I am like my mother, we always have junk in the house (normally home made, but sometimes store-bought) and I let my oldest son eat it. He has such a variety of food in his diet (grains, dairy, fruits, vegetables and meats) that when he has 2 cookies - I am ok with that.  He doesn't get dessert after dinner EVERY night, but I will be honest and tell you that he has cookies/cake/popsicles or the like pretty much EVERY day.  He also eats peanut butter, chicken, eggs, apple sauce, yogurt, strawberries, carrots, broccoli, rice, salmon(a favorite), tuna, garden salad, steak, potatos, asparagus (one of his favs).
He is not overweight; he has no health concerns other than asthma; and he is a VERY active soon-to-be 4 yr old.

When I think of 2 cookies and the rest of his diet - it makes up such a small portion of the food he eats daily - and it doesn't KEEP him from eating the rest of the nutritious food that is provided.


So, what is your take on the situation? Do you let your kids have junk food on a regular basis, or is it reserved for special occasions only?

2 comments:

  1. I think moderation is definitely key. We weren't allowed ANY junk food in the house EVER growing up (ironically my sister and I were just joking around making a list of all the "good food and drinks" we were never allowed to have) and so the second I got to college, my first stop was packing my refrigerator with every last bit of junk food I could find at the grocery store! It made it harder to say "no, this is bad" or want to eat more balanced then because I could finally get my hands on the good stuff all the other kids always had in their lunches! I think of this now that I'm planning for baby and I guess my parents re-thought about it, because they do the "moderation thing" for my little sister now. My mom bakes cookies once a week and sends two in her school lunches, etc., she may be allowed to have a bag of Doritos in her lunch once or twice a week, etc...whereas I didn't even know what a Dorito tasted like until college! Some things I agree with her on, like there was never soda in the house and I don't plan on there being soda in the house, either...but if my child wants to order soda in a restaurant once in a blue moon, I think it's something I can deal with.

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  2. Thanks for the comment Lindsay! I know a few ppl that their parents didn't keep juk in the house, and they would sneak down to the corner store and binge on it after school.

    Julien is starting to expect it daily, so I have slowly cut back, and what is around the house is now hidden away from where he will look.

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