How do you teach your children not to eat junk food

How do you explain to your children that some food like chips is not good for theit health.If it taste good and its look nice they shurely will like the junk food.Also they see the other children to eat it and they also want to eat it.

You can give it in moderation, just as a treat every once in a while. Let your child know that it is a special treat that we don’t eat every day. If your child has a fit or begins to beg, then I would eliminate it all together for a while.

When my 28 month old DD was younger, I’ve never given her any candies or junk food. The snacks that I gave her are usually low in sugar if there is any at all. Juice (only freshly squeezed and usually diluted) is a treat and not a very frequent treat. Now, when she sees other kids having candies, she may ask what they are but so far (fingers crossed) she is ok if I told her that they are sweet and is full of sugar, colouring etc which are not very healthy to eat. I guess if she has never tasted it before, she will not miss it.

As for chips … well, my husband let her try once and she got hooked. She will take from his plate without asking. What I did is give her home-made baked sweet potatoes seasoned with olive oil, rosemary and a bit of sea salt as a healthier alternative to satisfy her craving.

There is quite a lot of brain-washing and explaining why certain food should not be taken too much/too often. She does have her occasional sweet biscuits and she even tells me that it is ok to have a little bit but not too much of them. I think it is easier to handle the situation now. But it is a different matter when she starts school (which will be very soon) when I will not be around to remind her. I read that kids who are not used to eating junk food and sweet stuff in the first 3 years are less likely to develop a craving for them later (although they may still eat them). This is exactly what I’m trying to do. Hope it will be work for me.

Although we haven’t introduced things like chips, chocolate, candy or soda pop to our son, at some point he will discover the delight of french fries…mmm…those salty and greasy little bites of heaven… And at that point, we’ll really have to push the “moderation” theory :slight_smile: I think (read as “I HOPE”) we’ll be okay, though, as we use moderation in everything he eats. He LOVES berries of any sort and if left to his own devices, he’d figure out how he could get his little hands on every one in the house! We use the phrase “save it for later/tomorrow” and only give him 5 raspberries a day. I should say that he gets plenty of fruit, but we have rules for things we know he’d o.d. on!

A new friend of mine told me that with her first child she kept sugar from him until he was older than two. Now he couldn’t care less about sugary treats…he walks away from it. His younger brother, however, got treats much earlier and, apparently, it’s constantly on his mind…begging all day for something. That factored into my decision to be so tough in this area.

At music class a few weeks ago the teacher gave everyone plastic easter eggs with jelly beans in them. We called them coloured rocks and put them in our bag to put on the ground at home (devious mommy that I am). He didn’t think anything of it…maybe because he thinks mommy never lies…hmm…I may need to rethink my approach. :slight_smile:

What surprises me the most is how it is the adults who try to pressure me into giving my son sugar!

My older child eats chips or popcors but not every day.I give him to eat it after meal.When he was 2 years old every person that was coming at home was giving him something sweet or snaks.BUt I was taking that things away from him.I put them in place where he can not reach them.So when he was a little boy he didn’t eat so much junk food. He will be student in autumn and I am not so sure what he will eat at school.I can see a lot of children eating chips and snaks in the school yard when i pass by.Of course I will make him sandwich and will give him a fruit.But you can not control what your child is eating all the time because he/she is not with you during the day.I can olny hope that he will not eat it too much.My little child want to taste everything that we eat,but I will try to protect her as much time as I can from tasting chips and snaks.

Try to find experimental video in internet about fast food harm (experiments with people who eated just this food). I saw once and it is shocked me. Give him to watch.

my 2 years son do eat candy ocassionally. he did not like chips like hing. he likes to eat home made food. i try to give him yoghurt and a pachet of milk in da snack time.

I never hid candy and chips and things like that from my daughter. We have these foods in the house, but my husband and I only eat them in moderation. Dakota is given some as a treat. Definatly not all the time. But I never hid it from her. If she asks for chips I give her an option: offer a healthier food instead. Sometimes she chooses the other option. And when I do give her the chips it is a small amount. I have told her, in ways she understands, that chips and candy are bad for her body. And healthy foods gives her energy, makes her grow strong and things like that. I let her make her own decision. I grew up that way. My mom was always baking goodies. But now as an adult I am health concious and choose the right foods on my own. I can eat all the candy I want, but most of the time a bowl of strawberries sounds better!! And I always make sure to have fresh fruit and veggies, and canned, for her to choose from as a snack.

My daughter started day care for you (two afternoons hence two lunches a week) and I struck me to see how she just did not care what she was eating and was more interested in fitting in and imitating her peers. Childcare is a good option to have them eat the good food they refuse at home :slight_smile:

I always say him thats not good for his health and growth. Now he understand :biggrin:

Some times he get sweets, candies from relatives.we give him chips too, but very few.

i have 3 kids and i never hide junk food away from the kids but they are well discipline where they will not take it when they din got the consent from their father.

i learned a (may b wrong) theory from my sis, who is mother of 4 kids, if u dun let the kids tasted the junk food, by the time they try it they will easily got sick cos of the junk food. because her youngest have the said problem when she started to let him taste cookies (home-made by herself) around age 2 and he fell sick with fever and soar throat.

and my the other sis, never gave her sons ice cream, and around their age 4 - 5, let them have ice cream and cos asthma…

i dun mean to give them all and everyday, i just gave them a few pieces of chips or candies each time. somehow junk food is unavoidable especially after they go kindergarten joining friends and school mate , they will then start demand for it, by thinking of how long i could protect them thus i rather let them growth with it.

Child #1 has a sweet tooth… Child #2 couldn’t care less… Child #3 is all sugar, all the time. He’s very aggressive about it, too. So, we just don’t bring junk into the house. When he comes home ravinous from school, there is fruit, nuts etc on the table. This seems to do the trick, though I know he gets candy occasionally from other kids.

It really is easier when they are younger. My youngest won’t even try to eat most candies & I’m trying to keep it that way! Even my 7yo can read a label & see what ingrediants food contain. She knows that juice with no added sugar is better than those with added sugar, & artifical flavours & colors. She also does not want to go near a McDonalds again after I found a picture of a 14 year old McD’s burger on the internet that looked like it was just made. :ohmy:

This is something we as a family need to work on. I try my best to provide good wholesome meals, but boy oh boy Mcdonalds is a quick fix when we had a busy day. But we are getting better :slight_smile: Now just to tell Mama and Papa when there ONLY grand baby comes over he does not need to sit with a TUB of gummi worms and chips(breath in and out)