Originally Posted by LLV:
Same here. My son (7) gets them as a rare treat only. But what's really funny is he doesn't want McDonald's kid's meals anymore because they're made with the "bad fat", lol. I think I've warped him.

I didn't see the show everyone is talking about, but I agree with most of the points. These kids don't have a chance if the parents keep giving them junk.

I've given up even taking the kids to McD's even as a treat every once in awhile...ALL THEY WANTED WAS THE TOY!!! I wind up tossing out 99% of the food...I dont even bother anymore...I've never eaten it for probably the past 10+ yrs so I dont think the kids will miss it. The food actually stinks pretty bad!!
Luckily my kid are very good about food...correction, my oldest is VERY good..My youngest is working on it....he only likes few very things...but at least they are the RIGHT kind of things....apples, carrots, broccoli, bananas, watermelon, red peppers.....

You know what gets me about happy meals...

they are too much food for ME. When we were road tripping this summer we did have a fair number of fast food stops. I gave dd an age appropriate portion of fries from her happy meal, then I would keep the rest and just order a sandwich for me and it was STILL too many fries.

And I was pregnant! How many fries must that have been for a preggo to think "that is just too many".

Originally Posted by Justme33:
I've given up even taking the kids to McD's even as a treat every once in awhile...ALL THEY WANTED WAS THE TOY!!!

Well I can't argue that McD's definitely has the better toys, lol!

Yeah..dd still plays with the dancing princess she got in one. And she loved the little build-a-bears they were doing when we were road-tripping.

I work in an elementary school and it breaks my heart to see some of the kids and know personally what they face as they gain more weight... We so need to educate our kids and parents on healthy eating and exercise. Reading your posts encourages me because it shows me that some of us do care what our kids are putting in their mouths.

I don't know about in your area, but here the schools are not allowed to serve high fat, sugar filled foods at lunch. In fact, even the snacks that the kids are allowed to bring to school are limited... is this needed? yes. Now, are the lunches perfectly nutrious? No... we still have pizza... and such... but the schools do not have fryers...so fries and such are baked... there is always a fruit and salad available, the main entree and then a side. Sandwiches are on white wheat bread. Occasionally, they get single servings (1/2 cup) of lowfat ice cream or sherbert- that is maybe once a month.... a menu from the other day was salad, pineapple, baked corndogs, chili, 1/2 baked potato (plain) and brocoli. Perfect nutrition? no... but the kids are offered new things... a couple of weeks, they had kiwi. Some tried it and like it, others did tried it and didn't like it... some didn't try it... they are kids! the milk is all lowfat or no fat, and oj.

Is there a vending machine? yes, it's in a storage room only for teachers and staff to get to.

We are limited to what we can do for class parties... I think part of the education is to teach kids that to have that treat once in a while and to learn portions is important too... if we forbid a food, then they will want it that much more... I know that is true of me... if I forbid chocolate, rather than a piece of chocolate, I will go buy a huge bag and eat it all.

do we need to do more? yes... but it's a start

I work in 1st grade and we have a child that is probably 40 inches tall and
175+ pounds? she's as big around as tall. She tells us she watches tv in bed with her mom eating ice cream and candy. This child, 6 or 7 years old, has diabeties, high blood pressure and other meds. When her teacher asked her dad about special diet etc, he said he gives her what she wants- parents have separated this year. It breaks my heart to watch this child. It's not what she eats at school...it's outside of school. Yes, we need to educate the children, but the parents need the education as much if not more. They are the ones that buy the groceries at home....

off my soap box now...

Reba

Originally Posted by :
I've also babysitted kids before that wouldn't eat anything in my house. It is because they never had it before.

I've had some kids snub their noses at what I serve too,but tough luck to them...thats all I served,lol.Most of the time though as soon as they'd see my son eat it,they'd try it and like it.

It floors me what some people feed their kids at such a young age though.My husband and I agreed that even though we were overweight,we would do our best to make wise choices for us all when we had kids.No candy before a certain age,no fast food and pop until a certain age...and even then,only on occasion.My kids love fruit and fresh veggies,more so then any of the junk food.I loved it when my youngest turned down some cake for a yogurt instead at his Grandma's house :D

Originally Posted by :
've had some kids snub their noses at what I serve too,but tough luck to them...thats all I served,lol.

My mom would like you. I wan't say that I grew up with "perfect" nutrition - the only veggies I knew until I was living on my own were corn, peas, and sometimes broccoli - but there was no catering to my or my brother's whining for junk food. If we didn't want to eat the meal she'd made - we'd just do without, and damn breakfast was good the next day! ;)

oooh my dd had 2 bites of lettuce tonight (that was her entire dinner) guess I owe her a twinkie :p

Speaking of Twinkies, even as a child, I never understood the appeal. I was kind of grossed out when other kids brought them to school. Baked goods filled with cream that can be kept in a plastic bag on the shelf for a year just kind of freaked me out. However, I've never eaten a Twinkie or Ho-Ho, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing!

Twinkies aren't that great, but I do enjoy the occasional Hoho.

yeah, I think they are gross, hohos and dingdongs too.

Now one of those "fruit pie" things...that was my treat as a kid

twinkies really are gross. I saw a show on them once and the filling is made of pure Lard and sugar. Now, that is just plain nasty.

I've started to get grossed out by Poptarts lately. Loved them as a kid - ****, all the way up until recently. Today had been a crappy day for me, and I was at the convenience store on-campus debating what to buy myself for lunch, and I thought about letting myself use food to salve my train-wreck emotional state for the first time in awhile, and I saw the poptarts and was going to get them, but...some part of me went, ew, you're not gonna eat THOSE, are you? That's so gross. They're nothing but pure sugar, artificial sweetener, and white flour. So I didn't buy them...

...although the donuts are still a threat from time to time. ;)