[Codswallop]

I don't remember when I was a child (makes me sound like an old lady!) having constant access to food like children these days seem to.At our mothers group as soon as we get to the park, normally at 930am, the food comes out. This may be fruit, biscuits, muffins, popcorn etc.Now my daughter will have only finished her breakfast at 8am and will be having lunch at 12-12.30pm. Surely she can manage until then with a piece of fruit and thats it?! This is what she has every day but trying to insist on this at mothers group when theres a stack of snacks is impossible! Its not just my friends Ive noticed all the children at the parks have constant snacks.So is it needed this continual buffet of snacks and is this why chidlren are becoming increasingly larger? Dieticians please feel free to answer me honestly!

[ubermum]

No idea.
Mine get 3 good meals and can have fruit in between if they are hungry. I make sure that every meal has a serve of protein in it, and that there is vegies at lunch and dinner. I don't do muffins, biscuits and all that crap. Maybe I am just mean. It seems my kids get enough "sometimes" food from every person we come into contact with that tries to feed them.

[i-candi]

My kids are 10 and 13 and rarely snack! three meals a day here. Actually DS will skip breakfast if I let him on holidays/weekends.

If I brought out lollies/chocolates then of course they would happily eat them

We do eat dinner early though...

[NATPR]

Agree!

I arrive at mothers group with a piece of fruit for my 2 kids and on the table are sweat biscuits, coloured pop corn, dorritos and junk. Then I am called a meany because I ask them to eat the fruit first!

Same at park...tiny teddies, corn things...

Thats all fine, but then the parents wonder why their kids wont eat at mealtimes???

[jo074]

because at mother's group, everyone feels the pressure or need to contribute something to the group collective - hence the mountains of baked goods etc... So on those days kids eat stuff they would not normally get between meals.
My kids do need to snack between meals though, or they end up very hangry, but on days its just us, its something a lot more wholesome than on those sort of catchups.

[SCARFACE CLAW]

You don't go to mothers' group every day do you? Why not let the kids have a treat once a week / fortnight / month?

[Lil Chickens]

Agree!

I arrive at mothers group with a piece of fruit for my 2 kids and on the table are sweat biscuits, coloured pop corn, dorritos and junk. Then I am called a meany because I ask them to eat the fruit first!

Same at park...tiny teddies, corn things...

Thats all fine, but then the parents wonder why their kids wont eat at mealtimes???

I am like this too. DD and DS have to eat their fruit. Just recently at mother's group I have started buying DD a smartie biscuit after she has eaten her fruit but she has to share the biscuit part (not the smartie's) with her brother.

For the few months prior to that we started a treat where we would have a coffee (babycino for her) and biscuit while her brother slept in his pram after we grocery shopped. He stopped sleeping just as she started asking to have it at mother's group instead, perfect timing and she gets one treat a week like that.

[BeYOUtiful]

What age are we talking? My son needs a snack around 10ish then again around 2.30/3.00pm. He has fruit or yoghurt or rice cakes or cheese or muesli bar (wholegrain low sugar) or as a treat now and then a pikelet or a cheese/Bacon roll from bakers delight.

Jack eats fruit first he would live on it if I let him lol.

This post has been edited by ~Jane05~: 14/01/2013, 10:30 PM

[libbylu]

I think kids at certain ages (like maybe 18 months to 4yo) do often need to snack between meals - they are running around at a billion miles an hour and growing like crazy and they only have little stomachs, so need regular refueling. That being said, there is no reason why it need be anything more than fruit or yoghurt or something - no need to eat junk.
I remember DS went through a stage at about age 3 when after two hours he would have a blood sugar drop and go feral if I didn't feed him in that time.
It was similar to me in the first trimester - if I didn't eat every 2 to 2.5 hours then I would vomit! Different situation, but some bodies do need it at certain times.
Older kids not so much.

[JRA]

Well I know at 10 DS needs to snack, not on junk, or life is not worh living


But then I grew up on a farm and dad had 3 meals a day and Morning and afternoon tea every day of his life.