Children that are allowed to eat/graze constantly?

notanewuser

andygb wrote: »

I am nearly 55, and when I was young things were obviously very different to today, and judging by the obesity levels and various allergies/food intolerances, the diet and discipline from the 60's/70's was obviously much better.
From a very young age, we ate what our parents ate, and when we were at school, we ate what we were presented with - no choice, no stupid pizzas or turkey twizzlers, hardly any chips. You couldn't go out at lunchtimes and raid the local chippy or tuck shop. It may have been bland food, but it was a balanced diet.
At home, our house must have been like ToryQuines, because you would not dare leave any food, or else you would stay at the table until it had gone. You certainly would not get an option of different food.
Our relation's children play the parents like utter fools. When they are out shopping the children start to cry when they are outside MaccyD's or Nandos, but mysteriously stop grizzling when they have had their fill.
It has nothing to do with hunger, it is just a childs mwthod of getting their own way, and the parent taking the easy option of keeping them quiet.

Food has become less nutritious, more plentiful and is marketed far more aggressively than it was in the 60s and 70s. More children have parents who both work, or live in single parent households. Don't get me wrong, there is lots and lots of sloppy parenting, but that doesn't make a regime worthy of the army the right thing either.

DD has never, ever had a macdonalds or food of that ilk. She eats the same good quality food that DH and I do. She is not forced to finish her plate, she isn't offered alternatives, nor is she placated with junk. She needs around 800 calories a day. Over the course of a week she eats a good selection of high quality protein, fresh vegetables, fruit, dairy, wholemeal bread/pasta. She has a very varied palette. She is very active, is growing and developing well.

Just because I don't tie her to a chair and force feed her 3 times a day doesn't mean she's off the rails!!

Lizling

I was at school in Sweden for a little while, and it was standard to eat 5 meals a day: the 3 we have here, plus 2 'in between meals' which were snack-sized but still eaten at the table. The morning one was crispbreads and cheese and the afternoon one was something sweet like fruit or a cake. It was considered very unhealthy to SKIP these snacks.

Really 3 meals a day is only what happens to be standard at the moment, in this country. There's no reason to think it's any healthier than any other way of doing things.

notanewuser

In Mediterranean countries its normal to sleep in the afternoon and eat dinner really late. Many people don't have freezers and live a very healthy life with all fresh produce. Why don't we do that here?

Lizling

notanewuser wrote: »

In Mediterranean countries its normal to sleep in the afternoon and eat dinner really late. Many people don't have freezers and live a very healthy life with all fresh produce. Why don't we do that here?

Judging by some of these posts, because having some tapas to tide us over would turn us into ill-disciplined fatties

lostinrates

It's also worth mentioning that the dentists on mse health forum write with passion about the negative impact of snacking and many drinks on dental health.

andygb

notanewuser wrote: »

Food has become less nutritious, more plentiful and is marketed far more aggressively than it was in the 60s and 70s. More children have parents who both work, or live in single parent households. Don't get me wrong, there is lots and lots of sloppy parenting, but that doesn't make a regime worthy of the army the right thing either.

DD has never, ever had a macdonalds or food of that ilk. She eats the same good quality food that DH and I do. She is not forced to finish her plate, she isn't offered alternatives, nor is she placated with junk. She needs around 800 calories a day. Over the course of a week she eats a good selection of high quality protein, fresh vegetables, fruit, dairy, wholemeal bread/pasta. She has a very varied palette. She is very active, is growing and developing well.

Just because I don't tie her to a chair and force feed her 3 times a day doesn't mean she's off the rails!!

I can see absolutely nothing to criticise here, except to say that food (basic food ingredients) has not become less nutritious, it is simply that many people choose to eat the wrong things - combinations, cooking methods.
You obviously choose to eat in a very sensible manner, and provide a selection of healthy choices for your children, unfortunately I think that you are in the minority.
I associate the word "grazing" with people who have their meals, and then seek to supplement them with junk food or high fat, high sugar foods - a very common situation. I should add, that the people who are guilty of this also have unhealthy main meals.

lostinrates

andygb wrote: »

I can see absolutely nothing to criticise here, except to say that food (basic food ingredients) has not become less nutritious, it is simply that many people choose to eat the wrong things - combinations, cooking methods.
You obviously choose to eat in a very sensible manner, and provide a selection of healthy choices for your children, unfortunately I think that you are in the minority.
I associate the word "grazing" with people who have their meals, and then seek to supplement them with junk food or high fat, high sugar foods - a very common situation. I should add, that the people who are guilty of this also have unhealthy main meals.

Many people do argue that food produce has become less nutritious due to soil depletion and types of fertilisers etc used and production methods. I have not looked at this myself, but its a current line of thought and fair to accept it exists as such in a discussion like this. Whether its founded in any fact I am afraid I just don't know.

notanewuser

andygb wrote: »

I can see absolutely nothing to criticise here, except to say that food (basic food ingredients) has not become less nutritious, it is simply that many people choose to eat the wrong things - combinations, cooking methods.
You obviously choose to eat in a very sensible manner, and provide a selection of healthy choices for your children, unfortunately I think that you are in the minority.

It is less nutritious. Take chicken for example. In the 1950s they were grown for about 26 weeks, were low in fat and a high quality, tasty protein.

Today's chickens live for 12 weeks, and are fed hormone-rich feed to fatten them as quickly as possible. They're no longer as low in fat, nor as tasty, nor do they provide the same level of protein quality.

peachyprice

andygb wrote: »

I associate the word "grazing" with people who have their meals, and then seek to supplement them with junk food or high fat, high sugar foods

You seem to be confused somewhat, what you describe isn't grazing, it's being greedy. Grazing is taking smaller meals througout the day rather than three big meals.

My skinny grazing daughter will ideally have a light breakfast, light mid-morning snack, light lunch, light afternoon snack, light dinner, and light supper, but will consume no more food throught the day than my skinny son who has three big meals a day without eating inbetween.

There are times when my daughters preferred eating pattern just isn't possible, but it isn't good for her, she gets lethargic, pale, lacks concerntration and is moody. If she only ate three times a day she would spend an awful lot of her life being miserable.

koalamummy

lostinrates wrote: »

It's also worth mentioning that the dentists on mse health forum write with passion about the negative impact of snacking and many drinks on dental health.

Though I think it may be the types of snacks rather than snacking that is the problem! I have a medical condition where to keep the medication and blood glucose levels balanced I am required to eat three meals AND three snacks a day. This has been ongoing for over 35 years now and I still have never required any dental treatment. My brothers and sisters ate mostly the same as me at the same times and they too have yet to have any dental work either and they range in age from 24 to 42, so we aren't young. My children eat the same things at the same times I do and our dentists compliments them on the fabulous state of their teeth. On the other hand my DH who grew up eating only three meals a day has required regular dental work ever from I have known him!