Food choices for children
How do you make food choices for your children?
How do you make food choices for your children? What are the main things that influence your decisions? Has this changed over time?
The discussion ran from 10 May 2018 - 05 July 2018
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Log into your accountKNIGHT
Community Member 5 years agoIf I had my children with me, I would try and make sure that when they are at home that the food is of good tenter and that they were invovled in the cooking of this food and where it comes from. You need to implant about food into children...
Show full commentIf I had my children with me, I would try and make sure that when they are at home that the food is of good tenter and that they were invovled in the cooking of this food and where it comes from. You need to implant about food into children at a young age and then keep it going in school and bring back that I call H.E. Also it would be a good idea to stop serving burgers and food of the sort to school children in schools. If the parents give them food thruough the gate then have them finded and state that this is for your childrens health, DO YOU WISH TO BURY THEM?
Julia PASCAL
Community Member 5 years agoI eat almost no red meat. My diet is fish, vegetables, eggs, plants and a great deal of top quality olive oil. I never eat take-away food.
Nutrition and exercise are essential to our better health. I am shocked by the level of obesity I...
Show full commentI eat almost no red meat. My diet is fish, vegetables, eggs, plants and a great deal of top quality olive oil. I never eat take-away food.
Nutrition and exercise are essential to our better health. I am shocked by the level of obesity I see all around me. It is a huge cost to our society. You also need to look at smoking. Why do I see children smoking in the street? Does nobody educate them about lung cancer? Good health has many components.
Show less of commenttalk_london_us…
Community Member 5 years agoThe children should be given choice of healthy food. The change in food choices starts at early age and parents do play a big part.
I am not all happy at most schools, and not to offend certain cultures, halal meat is sold and servesd at...
Show full commentThe children should be given choice of healthy food. The change in food choices starts at early age and parents do play a big part.
I am not all happy at most schools, and not to offend certain cultures, halal meat is sold and servesd at most supermarket and schools.
Non halal meat eaters should also have a choice
mikerainer
Community Member 5 years agoBalance is really important to me. Sugar and fat are fine, but in balance with protein, carbs, fruit, veg etc. I don’t approve of snacking, unless in response to extra activity. A good breakfast and a decent school lunch should see them...
Show full commentBalance is really important to me. Sugar and fat are fine, but in balance with protein, carbs, fruit, veg etc. I don’t approve of snacking, unless in response to extra activity. A good breakfast and a decent school lunch should see them through the day. Eating immediately before going to sleep provides unnecessary calories.
Show less of commentguardian
Community Member 5 years agoWe love McDonalds and I each visit, about once a week, I delight in refuting the dietary agony aunts who warn against trash this and that. We also love pizza which is less bashed (probabaly becasue it's not American - th home of all trash...
Show full commentWe love McDonalds and I each visit, about once a week, I delight in refuting the dietary agony aunts who warn against trash this and that. We also love pizza which is less bashed (probabaly becasue it's not American - th home of all trash of course) Our 7 year old loves this food is in terrific shape and loving life. He's top of his class so no immediate brain damage there from eating meat - lovely stuff and very nutritious.
More seriously, and with considerable experience of food and the industry, I urge parents to keep the diet broad and ignore the uninformed advicec splattered in the media. There is no trash food - only trash advice and narrow diets - beware of both! Bear up and stay cheerful.
Show less of commentJade D
Community Member 5 years agoTeaching my daughter to cook as play was the best way of educating her palate. Also feeding her home cooking meant she didn’t prefer the fast food meals as an option, because she wasn’t used to loads of salt and sugar added. We played Ready...
Show full commentTeaching my daughter to cook as play was the best way of educating her palate. Also feeding her home cooking meant she didn’t prefer the fast food meals as an option, because she wasn’t used to loads of salt and sugar added. We played Ready Steady Cook (with a bag of healthy ingredients) almost every mealtime for a while!
she now eats really well.
Show less of commentremrock
Community Member 5 years agoThere was no food provided at school in Africa where I grew up. I am gobsmacked that it is provided here. I had to make my own sandwich and take a banana or orange. What is wrong with you people who think that this is something that the...
Show full commentThere was no food provided at school in Africa where I grew up. I am gobsmacked that it is provided here. I had to make my own sandwich and take a banana or orange. What is wrong with you people who think that this is something that the school has to worry about? I want a school to worry about teaching properly. I'll worry about feeding my kids properly thank you very much. If this has gone on for generations then there is no wonder people are fat, lazy and don't know how to cook or tell healthy food from bad. So the solution now is to ban stuff? Ban fast-food advertising, ban chip-shops from opening near schools, ban, ban, ban. Regulate, legislate. That'll fix the problem. How long now before we make the whole street get up at five for 30 minutes of Jane Fonda piped through speakers mounted on all the lamp-posts?
Seriously, take some personal responsibility and don't be so pathetic. You just give authorities more excuses to dip into our pockets and take over our lives.
Show less of commentLmjhoney
Community Member 5 years agoUntil schools etc are given enought cash to feed children properly and kitchens in which to cook food the situation wont change. NHS ought to be running Good Food classes in schools etc.
iamroxy
Community Member 5 years agoI'm quite concerned with desserts at school lunch. By cutting dessert, schools could put those funds towards improving the standard of the rest of the meal.
Our nursery struggles to provide the fat dictated by the government without doing...
Show full commentI'm quite concerned with desserts at school lunch. By cutting dessert, schools could put those funds towards improving the standard of the rest of the meal.
Our nursery struggles to provide the fat dictated by the government without doing a dessert because they can't afford good fats like avocado, coconut or olive and of course nuts are pretty much unacceptable due to the rise in kids allergies.
The cook doesn't have the food knowledge to know basics like the amount of sugar in a tin of beans. It means our kid is bombarded by sugar even when people mean well.
Fermented foods like saurkraut are so necessary for kid's bellies (especially with the amount of antibios they're on), but you never see them on school menus.
It's like schools cater for the pickiest eaters instead of working towards raising those kid's standards and educating them.
I worry about the amount of pesticides, chemical fertilisers etc that get into my kid via the food prepared elsewhere.
I think if restaraunts market "kids meals" the standard of those meals should be high.
Our child also has health needs that land us in hospitals often. I'm shocked by what the NHS serve as healthy food. I mean how does processed cheese with butter on white bread and a side of jelly even constitute food? What is positive about hospitals is that we're now given a bit of choice via a menu, but when the kid in the bed next to you gets crisps, etc it's hard to say no to yours, especially when they're stuck in hospital. It'd be better to just have a no junk food policy.
It'd be great if ice cream wasn't allowed in the playground in parks. It's a fun to have but people should eat it out of the eyesight of kids who are getting exercise and playing. Eat it in the park, then go back to the playground. Besides unhealthy, it's rude!
Show less of commentNerl01
Community Member 5 years agoWe eat freshly cooked food with the whole family almost every day. This is certainly not always easy with the usual constraints we all face in terms of time and expense. That said we feel eating a freshly prepared meal together is important...
Show full commentWe eat freshly cooked food with the whole family almost every day. This is certainly not always easy with the usual constraints we all face in terms of time and expense. That said we feel eating a freshly prepared meal together is important from a social as well as the health perspective.
My main issue is with school food. Why do kids get a desert option every day they eat at school? One of these options is always a sugary "treat" which is insane given the massive issue around childhood obesity in this country. If the school feels the need to serve a desert, make it a healthy one (fresh fruit, yoghurt etc). Give them a "treat" perhaps one day a week so it really is a treat!
My other other issue is fast food outlets near schools. These should be restricted in number and distance from school gates.
Show less of commentMKeen
Community Member 5 years agoLess than 1 minute's walk from our local secondary school (Plumstead Manor School) is a fried chicken shop. They sell 3 wings and chips for 99p. Every day the kids come out of school, go straight into the chicken shop, and eat that...
Show full commentLess than 1 minute's walk from our local secondary school (Plumstead Manor School) is a fried chicken shop. They sell 3 wings and chips for 99p. Every day the kids come out of school, go straight into the chicken shop, and eat that rubbish. They also often blight the are by littering bones and chicken boxes, attracting pests. Many of the kids are already obese. There should be a limit on how close fast food shops can be to schools. This shop should be forced to close.
Show less of commentsudly
Community Member 5 years agoAlthough I'd agree the adverse effect of fast and junk food, I think to make the correct "life choices" is usually easier for the affluent. I do not think any of those kids who buy a fries and pizza want to buy those specifically in their...
Show full commentAlthough I'd agree the adverse effect of fast and junk food, I think to make the correct "life choices" is usually easier for the affluent. I do not think any of those kids who buy a fries and pizza want to buy those specifically in their minds. They buy it because it's the cheapest option and probably their main meal of the day. Without tackling the source of the problem first; poverty and deprivation, the question about "food choices" sounds well intentioned but doesn't resonate with reality.
Show less of commentsudly
Community Member 5 years agoAlthough I'd agree the adverse effect of fast and junk food, it's easy to make "life choices" for the affluent. I do not think any of those kids who buy a fries
Beatrice
Community Member 5 years agoReduce children's intake if pesticides at school to reduce risk of obesity.
Go organic wisely.
See the study published in EHP:
"Metabolic Effects of a Chronic Dietary Exposure to a Low-Dose Pesticide Cocktail in Mice"
.
brunomichela
Community Member 5 years agoI always read the ingredients and where the food comes from. I stay away from already prepared food in the supermarkets and too many preservatives and sugars in cupboards products. I cook everything from scratch and fresh everyday. Making a...
Show full commentI always read the ingredients and where the food comes from. I stay away from already prepared food in the supermarkets and too many preservatives and sugars in cupboards products. I cook everything from scratch and fresh everyday. Making a plate of spaghetti or vegetable soup doesn't take more than 15min so I can do it even when I come back late from work. I buy organic as much as possible an locally sources products so I'm sure all the nutrients are still there. I don't buy fizzy drink and we never go to fast food, pizza or cheap restaurant chains ever. When your chidlren are used to home made food and understand what's in the ingredients of bought products they are the first who can tell the difference and make the right choices.
Show less of commentBeatrice
Community Member 5 years agoI would love it if schools could work with nutritionists to develop meals according to the current knowledge stand. Not that of 15 years ago.
Beatrice
Community Member 5 years agoI would like schools to cut the sugar And keep the (good) fats.
Beatrice
Community Member 5 years agoI would like to see ice cream vans and fast-food outlets banned within a 400m radius around schools AND playgrounds on weekdays.
I would like it to be mandatory for ice cream vans to offer refined sugar/artificial sweetener free...
Show full commentI would like to see ice cream vans and fast-food outlets banned within a 400m radius around schools AND playgrounds on weekdays.
I would like it to be mandatory for ice cream vans to offer refined sugar/artificial sweetener free options.
Show less of commentSomeone
Community Member 5 years agoI would like local councils to do something about the ice cream and fast food vans that park on the street, especially outside schools. The councils could stop them if they wished. I'm sure they all have policies on children's health, but...
Show full commentI would like local councils to do something about the ice cream and fast food vans that park on the street, especially outside schools. The councils could stop them if they wished. I'm sure they all have policies on children's health, but they don't actually do very much.
Show less of commentBeatrice
Community Member 5 years agoI would like to see schools:
- Reduce meat and spend the money on better quality meat or veg.
-never serve juices and sugary drinks with meals.
- serve sugary pastry desserts only for special occasions
-offer fermented food or miso...
I would like to see schools:
- Reduce meat and spend the money on better quality meat or veg.
-never serve juices and sugary drinks with meals.
- serve sugary pastry desserts only for special occasions
-offer fermented food or miso soup regularly.
-stop offering sugary breakfasts (jam, sweetened cereals).
Show less of commentTalk London
Official Representative 5 years agoThanks everyone for joining in this discussion.
For newer parents, do you feel like you have/had enough information on how to provide healthy food for your child?
For those of you who have older children, how do their food choices get made? Do your children prepare food for themselves? What do they like to eat and how has this changed over time?
Talk London