How important is a child's diet to their health and behavoural development

[lookout]

..and then they wonder why society has a problem with obese children.

Indeed,and that's another argument Steve.
I'm a firm believer of what a child eats dictates their mental state when growing up,also the obesity problem.

[Jane]

Indeed,and that's another argument Steve.
I'm a firm believer of what a child eats dictates their mental state when growing up,also the obesity problem.

Part of giving inappropriate responsibility to a child is allowing it, at too young an age, to make decisions over what it eats. There are certain decisions that it's parental responsibility to make. Once these are set in place and boundaries are set, there becomes room for flexibility.

[lookout]

Part of giving inappropriate responsibility to a child is allowing it, at too young an age, to make decisions over what it eats. There are certain decisions that it's parental responsibility to make. Once these are set in place and boundaries are set, there becomes room for flexibility.

" You'll eat what you're given " was a " war-cry " that I remember well in our household. It worked !

[maggie]

Part of giving inappropriate responsibility to a child is allowing it, at too young an age, to make decisions over what it eats. There are certain decisions that it's parental responsibility to make. Once these are set in place and boundaries are set, there becomes room for flexibility.

Hi Jane, I have to say that I was a child who refused to eat anything but eggs, cheese and drink milk, I had a cousin who only ate bread and drank water, very embarrassing if his Mum ever took him in a cafe and ordered him bread and water!! 
I still remember my Mum trying to make ?encourage? Me to eat stuff I didn't like, had never tasted but was horrified by. If I tried to eat such stuff I was sick.  My mum gave up eventually and as I got older I gradually extended my diet, my cousin also eventually had a varied diet and was highly successful.

My children were picky eaters, think maybe the younger one copied her older sister but eventually they got over it. 
Think the childhood obesity explosion is due to laziness by the carer or lack of time, if a single parent or two parents are working all hours plus ignorance , the availability and cheapness of bad food which simply wasn't around in our day, Kraft cheese triangles, bread and butter, jam was staple food.  The lack of physical exercise because parents are terrified of letting their children out play because of the much heightened fear of paedophiles who were always around but tended to operate incestuously and were secrets kept within families. I remember my Mum always telling us not to talk to any 'strange men'. I can also remember seeing a few but we were always in a group and we always ran away.
The danger of traffic which was never really a worry back in the fifties when so few people owned cars.
Of course there are plenty of other things as well but the explosion of sugar in diets has had a highly destructive effect on all of us. 

Part of giving inappropriate responsibility to a child is allowing it, at too young an age, to make decisions over what it eats. There are certain decisions that it's parental responsibility to make. Once these are set in place and boundaries are set, there becomes room for flexibility.

[maggie]

" You'll eat what you're given " was a " war-cry " that I remember well in our household. It worked !

Didnt work for my Mum, poor woman. Not because I was being obstructive but because it made me vomit. What is the answer to that for a caring parent? It's very difficult.

[Jane]

Hi Jane, I have to say that I was a child who refused to eat anything but eggs, cheese and drink milk, I had a cousin who only ate bread and drank water, very embarrassing if his Mum ever took him in a cafe and ordered him bread and water!! 
I still remember my Mum trying to make ?encourage? Me to eat stuff I didn't like, had never tasted but was horrified by. If I tried to eat such stuff I was sick.  My mum gave up eventually and as I got older I gradually extended my diet, my cousin also eventually had a varied diet and was highly successful.

My children were picky eaters, think maybe the younger one copied her older sister but eventually they got over it. 
Think the childhood obesity explosion is due to laziness by the carer or lack of time, if a single parent or two parents are working all hours plus ignorance , the availability and cheapness of bad food which simply wasn't around in our day, Kraft cheese triangles, bread and butter, jam was staple food.  The lack of physical exercise because parents are terrified of letting their children out play because of the much heightened fear of paedophiles who were always around but tended to operate incestuously and were secrets kept within families.
The danger of traffic which was never really a worry back in the fifties when so few people owned cars.
Of course there are plenty of other things as well but the explosion of sugar in diets has had a highly destructive effect on all of us.

Maggie, I know there will be untold stories of childhood eating habits. I'm told that between the ages of 15/16 I refused to eat anything other than sausage, mash and beans. I have no recollection of this but I do recall that there were things going on that I couldn't talk about.

As a very small child, I was forced to eat whatever was put in my mouth. My nose was pinched to make me open my mouth, food was shoved in and my mouth was held until I swallowed -it was a way of enforcing "You'll eat what you're given". When that's done to a child for long enough it will eat anything. Simply put, I was never allowed the luxury of being able to refuse.

[maggie]

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Indeed,and that's another argument Steve.
I'm a firm believer of what a child eats dictates their mental state when growing up,also the obesity problem.

I agree Lookout, I am a health food bore, I am very careful about my diet and constantly annoying my children nagging about their eating habits but bullying and terrifying a child to eat what appalls them is imo cruel and also damaging. If a child wont/cant eat veg best to give them vits and minerals, keep them as much off sugar as poss .... medium in everything.... let them run and they will thrive.  I think a bullied over controlled child who does what they're told out of fear is more likely to catch colds and viruses and be ill than a happy, secure carefree child. 

[maggie]

Maggie, I know there will be untold stories of childhood eating habits. I'm told that between the ages of 15/16 I refused to eat anything other than sausage, mash and beans. I have no recollection of this but I do recall that there were things going on that I couldn't talk about.

As a very small child, I was forced to eat whatever was put in my mouth. My nose was pinched to make me open my mouth, food was shoved in and my mouth was held until I swallowed -it was a way of enforcing "You'll eat what you're given". When that's done to a child for long enough it will eat anything. Simply put, I was never allowed the luxury of being able to refuse.

I am horrified Jane,you poor little soul.  It brings tears to my eyes to think of but doesn't surprise me from other parts of your history you have shred.  Utter cruelty. 

[Jane]

Didnt work for my Mum, poor woman. Not because I was being obstructive but because it made me vomit. What is the answer to that for a caring parent? It's very difficult.

I'd suggest that rather than serving it ALL up on a plate, food is presented in serving dishes. NONE of us like everything, but, in my experience, if children can control the amount they take of certain foods, they're more likely to try them. I've actually HEARD mothers tell their children "You won't like that"!!!! probably because THEY don't like it!!!! They're making rods for their own backs.

[Jane]

I am horrified Jane,you poor little soul.  It brings tears to my eyes to think of but doesn't surprise me from other parts of your history you have shred.  Utter cruelty. 

Thanks Maggie. Thankfully it's now all in the distant past, but it's interesting to hear what our food tastes were as small children, and the possible reasons for them being so.

[maggie]

I'd suggest that rather than serving it ALL up on a plate, food is presented in serving dishes. NONE of us like everything, but, in my experience, if children can control the amount they take of certain foods, they're more likely to try them. I've actually HEARD mothers tell their children "You won't like that"!!!! probably because THEY don't like it!!!! They're making rods for their own backs.

I agree it's often about control Jane.  I also think we are all different and some of us eat with our eyes i.e.. we are more attracted by what we see than others.  As children the sight of many foods made me feel sick it had nothing to do with how it smelled or tasted, generally it was irrational but for all that it was very real to me. I have never eaten a tomato, I would still wretch and vomit if I had to because they look so disgusting, have the same disgust for some other foods but not many. Smell of garlic cooking makes me wretch which can be embarrassing but that's not visual.... maybe I'm just one picky bird??

[maggie]

Thanks Maggie. Thankfully it's now all in the distant past, but it's interesting to hear what our food tastes were as small children, and the possible reasons for them being so.

I cannot stand the smell of apples,my mum reckoned that when she was pregnant with me they had stored apples in the larder and every time she went in there she felt sick so that could be the reason for that.  So many different v reasons, think we v should give our children respect which means.not force feeding but allowing them to make choices without allowing them to just stuff themselves with sugar filled food. 
Children who are bullied and not allowed to make choices can grow into controlling, unhappy adults, who in turn bully their own children....  vicious circle.

[Jane]

I cannot stand the smell of apples,my mum reckoned that when she was pregnant with me they had stored apples in the larder and every time she went in there she felt sick so that could be the reason for that.  So many different v reasons, think we v should give our children respect which means.not f o rice feeding but allowing them to make choices without allowing them to just stuff themselves with sugar filled food.

It seems the power mothers have over their children's eating habits may be boundless. I think the practicalities could be hugely difficult of giving children alternatives when it comes to eating. A mother of three or four children could end up tied to the cooker if she's going to cater for their individual needs, PLUS provide food for her and her spouse

[maggie]

It seems the power mothers have over their children's eating habits may be boundless. I think the practicalities could be hugely difficult of giving children alternatives when it comes to eating. A mother of three or four children could end up tied to the cooker if she's going to cater for their individual needs, PLUS provide food for her and her spouse

I'm not saying I believe each child should choose a different meal but they should be allowed to say what they don't like and not be punished or force fed foods which they hate.  It can be worked round without too much stress on the mother imo.  My young children always ate much earlier than myself and their father so it wasn't really a problem for me.  If they would only eat the same thing day after day that's what they had, there's nothing you can do abut it and children never starve themselves.