April's CR Diary

As a mom, I agree with *not* restricting the food choices of very young children. If nothing else, they're too young to understand why you're doing it. You can say "That's not healthy" until you're blue in the face. A toddler won't get it. It would just cause needless upset, imho. Certainly, a judicious "That's enough for now" is fine, but I wouldn't forbid any foods.

Forbidding foods, imho, is not a good way to go no matter what age your children are. The goal is to develop the child's capacity to make healthy choices out of knowledge and self-love. You don't do that by warning, restricting and judging them. You do it the same way you help them learn in every other area of life: modeling the behavior you want them to achieve, having reasonable expectations for them given their age, setting them up for success, and remaining positive and encouraging during the times when they don't make it, so they retain their confidence in their ability to make a better choice next time.

What about simply not presenting junk food to toddlers at all? If it's not something they have contact with, they won't know it exists. Sure, as they get older, other people will offer them gak; then, you do whatever you think best as a parent. But while they're still toddlers, why even have it around them? If you personally can't live without a bag of chips, have one when your kids are somewhere else. Another approach is to treat junk food like other "grown-up" things. Would you offer your little kids booze? Of course not! But once they're older, a tiny glass of wine on special occasions is a wonderful treat. The same can work with gak: chips, pop, deep-fried stuff and candy bars can be special treats consumed at birthdays, during Christmas or other such celebrations but not be part of the normal family menu. JD

Children do not undertsand what is real food and what is gak. It is our job as parents to teach them what and how to eat. When men were hunter-gatherer's it was the parents' job to teach their children what to eat and how to survive. Nothing has changed, other than searching for real food in the wild has been replaced by searching for real food in the supermarket.

According to research, a child's food habits and preferences FOR LIFE are largely determined by what they eat before the age of four. I would say this is largely true.

When my oldest son was born, I didn't do CR or real food, and we lived 300 yards from a cake shop. As a result, even though he's 12 now, he loves cakes above all else. O.K. so now they're healthy versions of cakes, but the habit/preference/craving for cakes is ingrained into him. On the other hand, my young daughter, just turned four, has been brought up on fresh fruit and veggies, high protein + healthy carbs and fats. A great diet. She won't touch gak. She doesn't even recognise it as food. You are what you eat, even at that young age.

Judith--with respect--toddlers who go to daycare, or preschool, or the grocery store with their mothers, or to a friend's or older sibling's birthday party, or generally live in the world in 2008, will know what Goldfish and cupcakes and crackers and potato chips and Kool-Aid are. That ship has sailed.

I think kids need to learn to live in the world as it exists. In my opinion, shielding them from "bad" foods is not a good idea. Learning to live with "bad" foods and eat them in moderation--then possibly make the choice to eliminate them as an adult--is the way to go. In my opinion. YMMV.

Why would I give junk to my child that I never eat or desire? That's not restricting (it's just never in my house--I agree restricting is a bad idea), that's *parenting*. Versus buying addictive junk to keep them quiet (until they want more!). What you give to a small child *does* play a great part in determining their tastes when they are older. Parents need to model appropriate eating behavior for their children and not use food as a bribe or award.

Yvonne, I see your point about day care, preschool & other kids' houses. However, how does the grocery store apply? One doesn't buy every single thing that is on the shelves! "I'm not buying that, sweetie, because we don't eat it in our family" works just as well for Brussels sprouts as for potato chips. The child may very well know what chips are and will get them from other people but I'm the parent/grandparent and he's not going to get them from me. JD

I agree with Judith: keep it away from them for as long as possible. I also agree with Yvonne: not restricting, but rather, teaching your children how to approach and sometimes enjoy such food is important. Kids are naturally rebellious, so if you try to enforce too much discipline, you might find you have (closet) junk-food junkies in your home (or even worse: kids with eating disorders, which thrive on secrecy and lies). I wonder how people who do CRON and are parents handle this issue, though. I imagine it must be impossible, almost, for CRON parents to not try to restrict junk food completely. I'm sure careful explanations to kids (rather than yelling and screaming at them to Not Eat That Crap!) is what a reasonable CRON parent would do. But if you catch your kids eagerly eating fries one day, or cookies or icecream, how will you deal with it?

If kids get their own gak, don't react. That is where the moderation comes from. Outside of the house, they can do whatever they want. They can even bring junk they buy into the house (I agree that encouraging sneaking is pretty awful). But only buy/provide money for real food. They will remember what real food is when they get older if they ever start to have interest in their health.

Tastes are formed by what you give kids as well. We almost never got soda and juice growing up, and when I moved to the dorms (soda fountains galore!), I decided it was disgusting and all I wanted to drink was water. Haven't had more than a sip since, and my siblings are not big fans either (including a teenage boy!). I don't think my friends who grew up with a 24-pack of Coke always available would make that kind of decision so early in life.