Last week we watched the Channel 4 program Junk Food Kids where it was revealed that a third of British children are overweight or obese. The series asks how the epidemic happened and what can be done and I have to admit we were shocked by what we saw.
There was the mum who let her kids graze on everything from sushi to orange juice and chocolate as they did their weekly shop, another who attended a doctors meeting with her overweight daughter who spent the whole time playing on her phone as he tried to get through to her that she need to eat less and exercise more.
One of the things that surprised me the most were images of children as young as 5 years old having teeth removed and apparently there is a tide of childhood tooth decay and obesity levels that are rising as a result of poor lifestyles.
It is really hard not to be judgemental watching one shocking story after another and as we watched the program we were relieved that our children have fairly balanced diets. By no means are we perfect and the little ones would live on chicken nuggets and chips given half the chance, but we do ensure that they eat balanced meals and their lunch boxes contain healthy snacks rather than rubbish.
Last year, fed up with leftover food coming home with the teen and then getting hidden to rot under beds, in wardrobes and even just in his schoolbag we gave in to his nagging asking to have money to buy meals from the school canteen instead. Reassured that they served nutritional meals and healthy snacks we have been giving him his weekly lunch money with no thought about what he was really buying.
Yesterday the weather was rubbish so instead of having a day out in the fresh air like we had planned we decided to blitz the kids bedrooms, sort out their wardrobes and drawers and generally have a good clear out. What we found in the teens room was shocking.
Fizzy drinks bottles, sweet wrappers, crisp wrappers, cake wrappers and even a blue and green mouldy sandwich. There wasn’t just a few bits and bobs, there was three carrier bags full of rubbish!!
I have no idea how long he has been hiding this stuff but I did do a similar clear up back in October. I was really shocked by the amount of sugar and junk he has been grazing on and am now worrying about what he is spending his money on at school – just before Christmas he had his first filling too, but at 14 we didn’t think that was too bad. We have never given him extra money, he gets the right amount to spend that would get him a baguette and a drink and his allowance goes into his bank account where he saves for games for his XBox.
Of course Hubby came down on him like a ton of bricks, threatened to start making lunch boxes again and the teen has promised that he will eat more healthily in the future but it is so hard to police when they are older and more in control of their own decisions. We have insisted he takes a bottle of water to school and he is only allowed a squash or a fizzy drink with meals now.
We also saw the orthodontist a few weeks ago who has advised that he will need a brace to straighten up his teeth. Sadly the waiting list is two years but even they advised that he had to cut out the rubbish from his diet, especially when the brace is fitted.
Preventing tooth decay and encouraging a good diet is easier when the kids are little and here are my top tips:
- Introduce drinking from a free-flowing cup from six months and stop any bottle feeding by around 12 months.
- Start brushing you child’s teeth twice daily with a fluoride toothpaste as soon as the first tooth erupts.
- Children should first see a dentist when the first tooth erupts.
- Children should be supervised when brushing their teeth until age seven to eight.
- Keep any juices or fruit drinks and any sugary snacks to mealtimes only.
However, it does appear we have a junk food teen and despite access to information and starting them off with good habits we are really struggling to enforce them.
Do you worry about what food is available to eat in the school canteen?
Do you have any tips that have worked or do we just keep nagging?
Excellent post. I think all teens end up eating some amount of junk, even though we don’t want them to! My son is only 3 and so we’ve still got a few years to go with this… Our dentist wouldn’t see him until all his baby teeth had appeared either so it must be different in different parts of the country! X
Our dentist doesn’t really check them, it’s more to get them used to the dentist
Great post. I couldn’t finish watching the show because the images of the children crying in agony after having 8 – 12 teeth removed each were really upsetting. I found it very difficult not to be judgmental. It’s probably incentivised me to work on my own sweet tooth, so that my daughter doesn’t learn bad habits from me!
Great tips – thanks for sharing.
Bx
Thankfully we are not at the stage yet where our two can choose their own food and treats but I can imagine how hard it must be as they get older and you have to give them that freedom – I know what I was like as a teenager. I think it is very difficult to get the message through about how bad these foods are when they are still young. Good luck with it!
Did you watch it last night too? I agree that it is a shock tactic but I do think that the programme has a point in that a lot of parenting has got lazy. That no-one is allowed to question anyone else’s parenting because none of us are perfect. But comments such as oh but she didn’t want to brush her teeth she’d rather watch Peppa Pig, and oh after having 8 teeth out we gave them some sweets as a treat is shocking.
I used to eat a lot of chocolate etc at school and have been ok plus I think meals in schools have got better. The best advice is just to be a good example. The kid last night was going through her mom’s cupboard – if it wasn’t there she wouldn’t have been able to eat it.
Just watched it……..makes me shout at the TV……..how is it the governments fauly????
Great post and taking care of your teeth is a lesson I always remember as a kid, the fear of false teeth has also helped and in my 30’s now ive never ever had a filling x
You are very lucky – I didn’t have a filling until I had my first baby – have had one per child so not doing too bad. Hubby has none!
I meant to watch that programme but missed it (and can’t get replay in France), damn! Sounds like a shocker. I too have a teen who squirrels away chocolate wrappers and crisp packets and of course don’t really know what he eats at school, but luckily French school canteens are overall really very good and he likes his hot meals so I think I can trust him when he says he eats there. I would suggest that fruit juice and fizzy drinks aren’t just limited to meals, but only limited to treats. That’s how it’s done in France. You almost never see anyone drinking anything other than water (or wine obviously for adults) at meals here and the rate of obesity is a lot lower. Obviously there are other reasons but it’s certainly worth thinking about.
I couldn’t watch that programme even the advert made me angry and upset. Yes my children might get the odd McDonalds as a treat, every couple of months, but they have healthy meals and snacks every day. They both love fruit and veg thank goodness x
It’s a worry isn’t it? I am quite strict with H, but see other parents giving their children food, that H only has at parties or similar, every single day. We avoid sweet drinks and pudding is a once a day treat if all the main course is eaten up in the evening. That said, there’s a time for chicken nuggets and chips (5pm Friday usually).
I’d never deprive mine of the odd nuggets and chips!
Mine are younger so I have more control – they have school lunches and the rest of the time I’m aware of what they eat and it’s fairly healthy. It does really worry me when they have money of their own to spend and make their own choices.
This is a hard one isn’t it. My autistic son is a really fussy eater but luckily the things he does like are not particularly junk food. He loves his veg. I couldn’t personally sit back and watch my children become obese! Makes me mad how anyone can?!
I wish isaac liked veg!
I heard quite a bit about this programme though didn’t watch it and I have to admit I do like my junk food, I’m trying to get better with it though. x
Really interesting post. Must watch that show on catch-up. My kids are younger so I do have more control at the moment but who knows in the future? Hope your teenager listens to your advice.
I’m yet to watch this program. I hope when I have my own kids they will inherit my love for good food but if they don’t I’ll try to introduce them to healthy eating habit as early as possible 🙂 Great post!
I too watched the programme and it was so shocking to see the extent of what these kids ate and the damage it was doing to their health. We have had a big change in our house by going sugar free during the week with a day off on Sunday and we have all felt better for it, it becomes too common to keep having the sugary foods and we have tried to do a healthier swap, and all lost weight too. Watching the show confirmed to me that we were doing the right thing! It is hard with teens I agree and we too are on the waiting list for braces for our teen daughter and keep telling her how important it is to keep her teeth really clean, she watched the show with me and was shocked at the result of poor dental hygiene. Thanks for sharing this a really interesting read xx
Just watching the second one and am astounded by how the parents blame governments, shops and even the manufacturers for obesity and tooth decay – erm…..hello! Don’t give it to them
we had exactly this when Beth first started secondary school and it was only when i realised i had given her double the dinner money that week that i went and logged into the thumb print system that the school uses to track money that i found she had been buying 4 cream cakes in a day and in one day alone had spent nearly £7 on crap .. we were devastated, discussed it with her and told her we were going to keep an eye on it .. 3 weeks later we logged back on and found she was still buying fizzy drinks, sweets, cakes and pastries .. not a single item of what i would call food was devoured
Needless to say since then she has been back on packed lunches and we are more careful of helping her make better choices … however I know its not the school fault but why have it on offer?
Sadly they don’t have that system at Kians school – I wish they did as it would be easier to track
I was shocked when I first heard about the type of food sold at my teen’s school. My daughter complained when she was there…pizza and burgers at break time?!
I remember when my son had a brace and was gutted that he couldn’t eat sweets, although he didn’t eat them that much. I make sure my son has fruit with his breakfast when I can and always have a lot of fruit in the house for snacks. I agree though it is so much harder when they are older and they can choose what they want for lunch.
I remember when my son had a brace and was gutted that he couldn’t eat sweets, although he didn’t eat them that much. I make sure my son has fruit with his breakfast when I can and always have a lot of fruit in the house for snacks. I agree though it is so much harder when they are older and they can choose what they want for lunch.
Its very difficult to train children to eat healthy as now adays they can buy so much junk at school.
great ideas. I am worried about the future too! I only buy water for them and make our own juices but when i think i will not have control later on…
It’s so difficult with kids, we try to keep Fred eating healthy, but it’s really hard as my parents live on junk food and always insist on giving him treats, it’s caused many arguments xxx
no matter how much we try to keep kids eating healthy foods there is a lot of places they will get hold of junk food… talking to them and making them understand seems to be the only way forward