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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Toddlers
2 year old doesn't know junk food exists - bad/good?
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 2:11 am
I found this very interesting and would like to hear what other imamothers think.

My friend hides cake and candy from her son, he doesn't actually know the words even, and isn't really aware they exist. If she goes to someone for a meal she takes the kid away from the table for dessert, tries to hide things from him, covers things etc.

My son is still a baby and I also want him to have a healthy diet. As a family, we only have cake on shabbos and don't add sugar to anything. Even when I do bake it's mostly with real food ingredients (whole grains, maybe a slightly healthier than sugar alternative like raw honey).

On one hand, it sounds great to have a child that doesn't want to eat cake because they don't know it exits. I mean, then they won't crave sugary foods and they won't know what they are missing.

But on the other hand I feel that children should be treated with respect and taught to have self-control. If the adults have occasional treats, shouldn't kids be allowed to as well? A little bit of cake allowed on shabbos... Doesn't the saying go "forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest?" What do you think?

I'm curious to hear from people who have hidden junk food from their kids and it worked out in the long run.

I'm also curious to hear from those parents who managed to get their kids to understand what is good and bad for them. I love the idea of having an honest discussion about junk food vs. real food and involving the child in learning to make the right decisions. Or am I being totally naive here?
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Bitachon101




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 2:24 am
My older son didn't know what real nosh was and at 2 when someone gave him a lollipop he had no idea what it was or what to do with it. A relative of mine thought it was ridiculous and taught him about candy and he went nuts for it. I feel like maybe he'd crave it less of he was allowed to have it once in awhile. I started to buy a few noshes for shabbos only and now he knows he gets a few special treats just for shabbos and look forward to it all week and doesn't feel like missing out and also goes less crazy when he sees candy now. Sometimes not giving at all does the no t.v. to t.v. addict affect.
jMHO.
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Rutabaga




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 2:31 am
IMHO, that seems rather extreme.

In any case, avoiding all nosh is a tactic that only works for a first child who is too young to communicate with his peers. Once a child is old enough for play dates or school he will be exposed to nosh. And the more it's restricted at home the more he will want it elsewhere.

The best way to teach a child to eat healthily is to model good eating habits at home and to give treats in moderation.
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Iymnok




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 6:10 am
This is the child who will throw his whole wheat sandwich in the bin and beg his friends for their fruit-roll-ups and white bread with chocolate spread.
You can't control like this for very long. It would for sure backfire.
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33055




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 7:18 am
I gave my kids only healthy food when they were young. They never had sugar cereal until my parents gave it to them and they wouldn't take plain cereal after that. They were also exposed to Shabbos parties, rewards with food and sugar snacks by their peers.

My kids don't have normal cravings for snacks. They don't "need" dessert. They only ask me a few times a year for candy. They often don't finish candy they receive from others. Indeed they don't even open a lot of candy. Several times a year I end up dumping out nosh they received and didn't touch.

My kids learn different types of junk food from their peers. They still ask for healthy snacks. I don't forbid junk. Most important is that I never soothed with food unless they were hungry. They are have no cavities and they are thin.

IMO not teaching junk when they are young and not keeping any in the house creates healthier eating habits.
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amother
Oak


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 7:53 am
My 2 year old also didn't know what dessert was, really. We don't usually have in our house and he usually left the Shabbos table to go play before dessert time. We didn't go out of our way to hide these things but I'm happy he wasn't so aware.
Eventually he had candy, and he gets excited over it but usually loses interest after a few licks. He likes cake and cookies. If he sees it he wants, but again doesn't go crazy for them. He also enjoys plain unsweetened yogurt with maybe some fruit added so he is not used to excessively sweet tastes.
We don't say no but we also don't make it such a big deal. Because it's still not around so much he doesn't go crazy asking for these things.
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gp2.0




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 8:27 am
Lol. Of course 2 year olds don't care. But when they get a little older they care.

I think that mother is neurotic and she's setting up her kid to have massive food issues in a couple years.

My kids are allowed to have as much junk food as I'm allowed to have. I aim to fill the house with healthy food so that they like healthy food and choose healthy food because they want to, not because they have no choice.
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amother
Gray


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 9:41 am
My son didn't know about candy either until he was around 3. Came cookie and chocolate he knw and liked and but wasn't crazy about it and no nosh in the house eithe... Once he started school he learned all about it and all those sugar drinks too..but Bh he does not have a craving for it and after a few licks or bites of candy he doesn't want anymore and one little super snack will last 3 days.. He doesn't like any sugar drinks either even apple juice!
I dnt hold back it frm him now and we mostly make it for Shabbos treats.
If ur able to avoid it at a young age then by all means do! It's better that way in the long run of hopefully not having a craving for it his entire life..
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Scrabble123




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 9:44 am
amother wrote:
My son didn't know about candy either until he was around 3. Came cookie and chocolate he knw and liked and but wasn't crazy about it and no nosh in the house eithe... Once he started school he learned all about it and all those sugar drinks too..but Bh he does not have a craving for it and after a few licks or bites of candy he doesn't want anymore and one little super snack will last 3 days.. He doesn't like any sugar drinks either even apple juice!
I dnt hold back it frm him now and we mostly make it for Shabbos treats.
If ur able to avoid it at a young age then by all means do! It's better that way in the long run of hopefully not having a craving for it his entire life..


There healthy ways to not introduce children to "unhealthy snacks" and unhealthy ways. Avoidance of the word, and scenarios where he would otherwise naturally come into contact with snacks is inappropriate and unhealthy. It's simply avoidance and not parenting.
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amother
Gray


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 9:59 am
Scrabble123 wrote:
There healthy ways to not introduce children to "unhealthy snacks" and unhealthy ways. Avoidance of the word, and scenarios where he would otherwise naturally come into contact with snacks is inappropriate and unhealthy. It's simply avoidance and not parenting.

Huh?
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Scrabble123




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 10:01 am
amother wrote:
Huh?


Ehat are you confused about? I said that there are healthy ways of not introducing children to "junk" and unhealthy ways of not introducing children to "junk." It sounds like the OP's friend is not practicing parenting in this area and just engaging in many unhealthy ways of not introducing "junk." I was not calling your methods healthy or unhealthy at all. You didn't even say what your methods were and your comment sounded pretty balanced to me, unlike the OP's friend.
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 10:59 am
gp2.0 wrote:


My kids are allowed to have as much junk food as I'm allowed to have.


This.
I ate by a family where the adults all drank lots of soda but the kids were only able to have a bit in a cup if they behaved. The kids were going nuts for the soda the entire meal, and one of them actually exclaimed, "When I get big, I'm going to have as much soda as I want every day!"

If you want your kids to avoid soda or drink in moderation, you need to model that behavior yourself. This applies to all food.
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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 11:30 am
amother wrote:
I found this very interesting and would like to hear what other imamothers think.

My friend hides cake and candy from her son, he doesn't actually know the words even, and isn't really aware they exist. If she goes to someone for a meal she takes the kid away from the table for dessert, tries to hide things from him, covers things etc.

My son is still a baby and I also want him to have a healthy diet. As a family, we only have cake on shabbos and don't add sugar to anything. Even when I do bake it's mostly with real food ingredients (whole grains, maybe a slightly healthier than sugar alternative like raw honey).

On one hand, it sounds great to have a child that doesn't want to eat cake because they don't know it exits. I mean, then they won't crave sugary foods and they won't know what they are missing.

But on the other hand I feel that children should be treated with respect and taught to have self-control. If the adults have occasional treats, shouldn't kids be allowed to as well? A little bit of cake allowed on shabbos... Doesn't the saying go "forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest?" What do you think?

I'm curious to hear from people who have hidden junk food from their kids and it worked out in the long run.

I'm also curious to hear from those parents who managed to get their kids to understand what is good and bad for them. I love the idea of having an honest discussion about junk food vs. real food and involving the child in learning to make the right decisions. Or am I being totally naive here?


I have a very holier-than-thou neighbor who very proudly only serves her son brown rice. "He doesn't know about other rice, he asks for 'brown rice'!" she says. The son is four, and I can't imagine this will end well.
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alef12




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 12:00 pm
amother wrote:
I have a very holier-than-thou neighbor who very proudly only serves her son brown rice. "He doesn't know about other rice, he asks for 'brown rice'!" she says. The son is four, and I can't imagine this will end well.

I don't know about "holier than thou" but I dont think this is the same as the candy discussion at ALL. I grew up eating brown rice and don't even like the taste of plain white rice. My kids (some are teens) are used to it and think white rice tastes odd. It's all what you're used to!


Last edited by alef12 on Wed, Sep 02 2020, 3:43 am; edited 1 time in total
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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 12:25 pm
alef12 wrote:
I don't know about "holier than thou" but I dont think this is the same as the candy discussion at ALL. I grew up eating brown rice and don't even like the taste of white rice. I only cook with brown rice and my kids and husband all lIke it. I don't even have white rice in the house. My kids (some are teens) are used to it and think white rice tastes odd. It's all what you're used to!


She's not "holier than thou" simply because of the rice, there are other things as well. Why you felt you needed to point out that and tell me they have nothing in common at ALL, I have no idea. I'll chock it up to you not eating your Wheaties this morning.
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 1:54 pm
Thanks for the interesting responses.

(To the amother who has a neighbor that only gives her son brown rice, not white, you should go and tell her that brown rice actually has high levels of arsenic and recent studies show that white rice is in fact healthier. And that small children shouldn't have so much fiber anyway. Wink Oh, and if she is serving him brown rice, it should be soaked overnight with something acidic to get rid of the phytic acid.)

So, modelling good behavior seems like the winning strategy.
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Bruria




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 3:12 pm
I think it's perfectly OK for a 2 year old not to know that junk food exists, I mean, he'll have a lifetime knowing that it exists, there is no reason to "introduce "it to him!
That being said, I think it should not be avoided on special occasions, like Shabat, etc,situations where everyone is having cake , for example, why not give the little guy a piece, right?
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rachelbg




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 9:27 pm
I have healthy substitutes for more junkier food, and my toddlers are fine with it. We're whole-wheat, healthy people, but we are realistic in social settings, and allow our kids to have some sweets at kiddshes, a friend's shabbos party... They know that 'candy is only for special occasions.' I also have a bag of organic, vitamin lollipops that I bring places and give the kids instead of the complete-sugar ones. They love them Smile
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amother
Navy


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 10:03 pm
amother wrote:
Thanks for the interesting responses.

(To the amother who has a neighbor that only gives her son brown rice, not white, you should go and tell her that brown rice actually has high levels of arsenic and recent studies show that white rice is in fact healthier. And that small children shouldn't have so much fiber anyway. Wink Oh, and if she is serving him brown rice, it should be soaked overnight with something acidic to get rid of the phytic acid.)
So, modelling good behavior seems like the winning strategy.


I wouldnt quite call white rice healthier. Its just different. White rice does raise insulin levels, especially in the absence of plenty of healthy fats. Brown rice is actuay very hard to reduce the phytic acid content because there is very little phytase so soaking overnight doesnt do much. There are other methods that more effecrively reduce phytic acid such as sprouting or reusing the soaking medium several times over or adding a high phytase grain to the water. No matter what method is employed, the phytic acid will only be reduced and not completely "gotten rid of". Arsenic levels vary in different countries so foreign rice is slightly better. Brown rice also has very little fiber and I would not be concerned with a child consuming brown rice (Although since you sound like WAP follower, I would add that buckwhear or millet would probably be bettwr options for a child)
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Sun, May 17 2015, 10:13 pm
Bruria wrote:
I think it's perfectly OK for a 2 year old not to know that junk food exists, I mean, he'll have a lifetime knowing that it exists, there is no reason to "introduce "it to him!
That being said, I think it should not be avoided on special occasions, like Shabat, etc,situations where everyone is having cake , for example, why not give the little guy a piece, right?
This is where I think people go wrong. Junk food should not be associated with shabbos. What's with the shabbos parties and giving kids nosh so they aren't bored? This is destructive when we sooth with food. Junk food should not be used to entertain children. Also using food to reward is bad. Food needs to be for fueling the body - not as a reward or to entertain when kids are bored.
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