Children that are allowed to eat/graze constantly?

MarilynMonroe_2

Do you think its the modern rubbish diet to blame?

I was at school in the 70's and I'd say most if not all of us ate a good diet as you couldnt really deviate onto anything else back then, as in proper porridge for breakfast which would see us through till dinner time, no snacks - a hot dinner and a hot pudding, no snacks but a bottle of milk - then hot cooked tea and that was your whack. Now it's chips from the chippy at dinner time, its fast carb rubbish. Modern cereals are just filled with sugar.
Are snacks the answer though, it seems its just adding more calories and then they go on about size 26 skirts for school girls.

Torry_Quine

MarilynMonroe wrote: »

Do you think its the modern rubbish diet to blame?

I was at school in the 70's and I'd say most if not all of us ate a good diet as you couldnt really deviate onto anything else back then, as in proper porridge for breakfast which would see us through till dinner time, no snacks - a hot dinner and a hot pudding, no snacks but a bottle of milk - then hot cooked tea and that was your whack. Now it's chips from the chippy at dinner time, its fast carb rubbish. Modern cereals are just filled with sugar.
Are snacks the answer though, it seems its just adding more calories and then they go on about size 26 skirts for school girls.

I have been wondering much the same. I was brought up on three meals a day and never had snacks at all. Lunch was a snack such as a sandwich and no pudding and supper was in winter often home-made soup. In fact there was never any snacks in the house and no money to buy any either. I was a normal healthy child and genuinely can't understand why children need so much more these days.

jenhug

I was brought up on 3 meals a day eat it or go without. I mainly went without as I was a fussy eater (starving me didn't make me eat what I didn't like, I just went hungry) As an adult I have a weight problem. I let my children eat when they want, and one tends to graze, one is a 3 meals a day person. I am hoping that because they both eat when they need to rather than when they are told to they won't have the same food hang ups that I did/do and will find it easier to self regulate than I do now.

How we treat meal times with our children has a lifelong effect, I have had hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and still have hangups because of how meal times were in my home as a child.

andygb

Constant grazing equals lack of discipline or greed, or may be boredom.
Whatever it is, it need to be stopped, because the child is going to be very unhealthy and develop eating problems.

jenhug

As opposed to me who wasn't raised that way and now suffers from being unhealthy and has an eating problem.

pigpen

andygb wrote: »

Constant grazing equals lack of discipline or greed, or may be boredom.
Whatever it is, it need to be stopped, because the child is going to be very unhealthy and develop eating problems.

And denying a hungry child food isn't going to make them binge eat as whenever they get a chance and as adults and develop eating disorders? Forbidding foods also makes them want it more.. if a food is not allowed I do explain why.. but banning it means the second they get the opportunity they will go get it. This breeds just as many if not more unhealthy people.

Some people prefer smaller more regular meals and some have 3 big meals a day.. each to their own.. so long as they brush their teeth regularly to prevent tooth decay.

I eat when I am hungry regardless of the time, no one dictates to me when I should or should not eat so why would anyone force it on a child who has a smaller stomach and probably burns off a greater percentage of the calories tearing about than a sloth-like adult.

I suffer from hypoglycaemia on a regular basis so I actually have to eat several times a day otherwise I become unwell and have been known to collapse in a heap on several occasions.

Even my cats have access to food 24/7 !!!

My 20 month old has had 3 dinners this evening.. she had 2 helpings of chicken casserole and mash followed by a plate of pasta with honey and mustard dressing.. should I have sent her to bed hungry when she was asking for more?.. even though she clearly was hungry because she ate it.

I don't see the issue..

What would you do if you were hungry at 3pm, for example.. You ate your lunch at 12noon but dinner was not going to be until 5 or 6pm.. but at 3pm you are hungry, you've had a drink but you are still hungry.. but you know that if you wait until 6 for dinner you will heap enough for 10 men on your plate... is it not simpler to have fruit or toast or a light sandwich at 3pm and eat a normal sized/slightly smaller meal at 6?

Is that really so different to a child getting in from school and having a small snack to see them through to dinner? Especially if they are needing to concentrate on homework or have activities they do after school.

I couldn't spend 3 hours needing to eat, I'd end up eating half the food I was cooking for dinner ... and I have done it.. then I couldn't eat my dinner because I'd had yoghurts and fruit and toast to stop me from fainting in the food... then I'd be starving by bedtime again!

Everything in moderation.. apart from love!

pigpen

And.. OH (with a BMI of 21) walks in the room with his 5th meal of the day and the 2 year olds left overs!!.. seriously I want his metabolism.

Tenyearstogo

Just because my children are allowed to eat snacks when they want, it doesn't mean they eat constantly!

They are the ones with control. The children who only eat when they are told may not have that control.

mumps

Tenyearstogo wrote: »

I think part of the appeal for him is the lack of preparation!

Ah well, that foils that plan although there isn't alot of preparation. We would make a bowl a couple of times a week and then they would work out when they wanted to add to flavour it depending on whatfruit was in season or whatever.

I haven't made any for a long time but I do quite fancy some nice fresh yogurt now!

notanewuser

andygb wrote: »

Constant grazing equals lack of discipline or greed, or may be boredom.
Whatever it is, it need to be stopped, because the child is going to be very unhealthy and develop eating problems.

We're not that far evolved from cavemen. You think they ate 3 meals a day, do you?

The problem in the west is the reliance on fast carbs and the constant up and down of our blood sugar. Intensive farming methods have led to lower and lower quality protein, and people see it as an expensive alternative to potatoes and bread. This leads to poor concentration and weight gain for the sedentary. Look how many children can't identify where food comes from.

A child learns what we teach them, which can override their natural instincts. They won't normally overeat (unless they have a medical condition). Parents will usually put far too much food on a child's plate and then make them eat every scrap of it, teaching them to ignore their feelings of fullness.

I hate the obsession for routines and chopping the days up into chunks of time where certain things must be done. It's not how we humans work best!!