Wow, some of you are rough on the kids lol. My teenage boys are completely healthy, not at all overweight and know enough about nutrition to realize this is the only time of their life they can eat what they want. I make them a bagel or waffle or toast every morning and they have plenty of pasta/potatoes and bread for dinner (with their meat and vegetables) I always have cookies in the pantry and ice cream in the freezer although they don't abuse it. There's nothing wrong (IMO) with 2 boys sitting down to cookies and milk. I don't eat cookies or like milk but there's no way I would deny them that. They usually have pizza or subs one day on the weekend. I don't feel they should be on MY diet, they don't need it. We made Italian on Sunday, I seperated my ground meat and rolled into meatballs (and marked with toothpicks) while we added cubed bread and breadcrumbs to the remaining mix. They had Pasta and garlic bread, I had mine with spaghetti squash and no bread. We all had caesar salad.
Funny side note-when we put the leftovers away I put my meat in a separate container with a little sticky note that said "Atkins" stuck on it (so if they came home from school hungry they wouldnt eat mine) Last night my son had Taco Bell leftovers and didn't want his brother to nab it so he put an Atkins sticky on the Taco Bell bag lol

I'd like to give an example from recent experience. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a bag of plain bagels because DDs was begging for them. They each had 2 halves of a bagel on separate mornings and then the bag sat on the counter until it went moldy about a week later and had to be tossed (4 out of 6 bagels uneaten). We have wheat bread available all the time; typically they each will eat 1-2 slices a day. Are they missing bread and bagels? Nope.
2 days ago, DH came home with a bag of store-bought Oreo-type cookies that were leftovers from a munchie day at work. Care to guess how many are left this morning? Zero. 3 people (1 adult and 2 kids) finished off the entire bag in 2 days. Now, granted, most of that was the DH but the kids both had their share too. And no, I wasn't the one who allowed that particular binge; most of it occurred while I was out of the house doing other things and DH was minding the hearth. Do they like sugar and overeat it when it's around? Yup. Would they continue to eat them at that rate if they were available and I allowed it? Yup (and I say this from past experience). And it wasn't for a lack of anything else to eat as treats, either. We had Gogurt, Edys Sugar-free Ice cream, fresh peaches, fresh pears, apples and bananas available as well and DH had taken them out for real ice cream on Sunday. They went for the cookies.
This is why I don't typically bring that sort of stuff in the house. Even when they are getting a regular amount of treats, they will go for the junk to the exclusion of other healthier foods every time. When it comes to sugar, there is no such thing as moderation for them unless I impose it for the time being.

I used to laugh at my nieces and nephew. Their Mom is a no-sugar nazi, so from the time they were old enough, they'd pedal their bikes in to town and buy candy and pop with their allowances...lol, I figure they're at LEAST getting more exercise that way! I've even caught her HUSBAND stocking up on Twin Bing bars and Mt. Dew when she's not looking!

I must be doing something right by having a FEW treats available and not making a federal case out of it, since her kids hit EVERY house in town on Halloween, and finish at least half before they get home, and the rest within a day... meanwhile I end up having the kids take most of theirs to school to share (or tossing it) since they get tired of it pretty quickly, and abandon their loot before they get rid of half...<shrug> Admittedly, I'm full of sadistic glee, since their Mom is my EX-SIL, and always holding herself up as a model mother...

i agree completely solamander, i think they can eat these things if they dont have weight problems, i weighed all of 96 pounds in high school until i was in my early 20s and lived on ice tea and junk. i think two kids later i have some pounds to lose, but i do wear a size 6 i am just not happy there myself, and i have very normal size children. i have the ability and the willpower to say no to these things, i just finished baking 3 batches of chocolate chip cookies and they arent calling my name. i have pizza in the fridge for tonights dinner for them, and a chicken breast for myself. we always have salad with pizza and so i just eat a little different than them, it doesnt bother me. my mom is the same way she cooks my dad what he likes, which includes potatoes at every meal. i think to live this wol you must have some willpower, and you will go places there is food there, it is no different at your home. but we are all different what works for me doesnt work for others, so we must all decide ourselves, how to handle these things so i support you all in your decisions.

i must admit, i have this low carb wol pretty simple, as i can have steak, burgers, roast, pork anytime as we raise them. helps on the budget also. although i must say, with this wol i have went back to alot of cooking from scratch and it is soooooo much cheaper on the grocery bill.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/dr...2208199,00.html

While I don't agree with the low fat recommendations, this article makes some very good points about how formerly adult diseases are hitting kids at younger and younger ages...and they don't have to be overweight to develop a problem.

Yes most teen boys can eat what they want without gaining an ounce, it is the best time in life for thier metabolisms. What happens when they reach 25, 30, 35 and so on though? You have had to relearn eating habits, and for many that is a struggle. Most adults eat how they were raised, having developed thier eating habits early on. I'm not sugegsting total deprivation at all. I think that results in kids binging when snacks are available, or spending any money they have on treats depending on the kid. Teaching them portion control, the importance of protien and veggies, and keeping plenty of fruits on hand for them to choose when they have a sweet tooth will help them to develop positive eating habits to carry into thier adult hood.

There are also more healthy ways to shop for the whole family with out depriving them. Instead of white bread looking for high fiber whole wheat breads. Children who are raised on whole wheat breads usually can't stand boring old white bread later on. Let the kids help choose what fruits they want to have. Learn to read lables just as carefully for them, getting whole foods and cutting back on processed sugery items. I've also discovered the wonder of hiding veggies. My 3 year old won't touch a veggie normally. Having spinich as a pizza topping, making cabbage stuffed egg rolls, and so on are ways I've learned to get a little green in him at least.

I think you're right to a degree. Completely depriving kids of treats and sweets may ultimately backfire. OTOH, my kids didn't know when to stop with candy and cookies even when I wasn't limiting what I brought into the house. As I mentioned before, one of my daughters actually ate so much candy at school on Valentine's day a couple of years ago she spent the whole night throwing up. Did she learn from the experience? Nope. She did the same thing on Easter at her Grandparent's house. This was at a time when we had a cupboard full of things like Oreos and snack size Milky Ways which they were allowed to have a couple of every day (and would sneak more when I wasn't looking).
It's interesting that this discussion is taking place now. I just heard a report on NPR this afternoon as I was waiting in line at school for the kids to get out about childhood obesity and eating behaviors. One of the experts that they interviewed point blank stated that most children, especially young children, will not moderate their eating behaviors on their own. Their parents need to set boundaries and guidelines and then stick to them along with educating their kids on healthier choices. He also stated that in order to get kids to change their eating behaviors, everyone in the household needs to participate in changing their eating behaviors or the kids will wind up feeling resentful and develop sneak-eating behaviors when they are being restricted and nobody else is. In other words; everyone needs to follow the desired eating habit or it won't work.
If anyone is interested, the audio of the program is available at WWW.NPR.ORG and the show was Talk of the Nation (Tuesday's show).

Wow, this thread really grew since last time I viewed it. So many different points of view.

You know, not one of my kids were born with an instruction manual. Each were born to my husband and myself as their "vessel" into life. I am certain that I do not do everything perfect and also as certain that I don't do everything wrong either. I use my best judgement based upon the values we would like for them to adapt.
Some of us were raised as children with very little food guidelines and others, with many. The bottom line for me is, once I left my home, I had to start taking responsibility for my own actions. I do not blame my weight as an adult on my childhood. What is that they say, when you knew better you done better? Well, as an adult, I am trying to do better.
If my children grow up to be obese or a healthy as possible, as adults, I will give them full credit for it. I can only make the best decisions today that I know of. And today that means that I will monitor sugars and excessive eating habits in the most loving and healthy way I can humanly manage.
I think my original post was to say ... only THAT parent of THAT child can make the choices they feel best. Every child is as unqiue as our opinions are, and I'll guide them through life with that always in mind. What I do for my children, might cause yours to binge eat. Maybe not. But ... we do the best we can.

Some kids have a more rebellious nature than others, parents would know, so it would be obvious that when they are being denied sweets, of course they'll gorge themselves when they sneak it or finally have access to it. Then, other kids may have restrictions, but when given the chance to eat snacks away from mom's eye, they can't be bothered to binge. Maybe they just don't have a sweet tooth. Perhaps the need to defy the folks is not so strong in them.

An observation I made is, if you've got a parent who is extremely mindful of what they eat & tries to instill the same eating habits in their kids, there's a lot of focus in the household placed on food. It's a fine line isen't it?: how to teach good eating habits without it becoming a food obsession or eating disorder. How many times does a young child have to hear something's bad for them before they start to question, "hey, is it really so bad? I want to know for myself! Let me at it!"
For me, this certainly was true with the boys I was warned not to date!

(but seriously.)

Kids are the same as adults - they learn that in life, many "bad" things are "good".

I have to say that my reasons for trying to get my kids to eat less junk and more healthy foods may be unique. Many adult diseases begin in childhood. The fact that we are beginning to see formerly adult diseases in progressively younger children such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, metabolic syndrome and diabetes really started making me think about whether or not I was doing my kids any favor by letting them eat whatever they pleased now and worrying about the consequences later. Eating habits are established in childhood and as many of us have found, are very difficult to change once you become an adult; the longer you've been doing something one way, the harder it is to change and do it another way even when we know that the habits that we are trying to break are bad ones. Add to that mix, inherited genetic tendencies. Heart disease and diabetes are very prevalent in my husband's side of the family, and diabetes on mine (I'm diabetic). Daughters of diabetics have a higher risk of developing the disease themselves.
I don't feel that we are obsessed with food in my home. In fact, we don't discuss it a lot anymore; they know what are healthy foods and what aren't. Not that there haven't been opportunities for education, either. When my blood sugar got out of control a few years ago, I had to really increase the number of times a day that I was testing my blood sugar and they had never seen me do that before since I usually tested before they got up or after they had gone to bed.
It led to a very good discussion about how poor choices about what I ate had resulted in my having diabetes (and no, mommy wasn't going to die!) and how making good choices about what you eat can keep your body healthy even when you haven't done so good in the past.
It's true that what they do when they become adults is up to them. The best that I can do is to try and educate them and instill healthy eating habits now and give them the best foundation possible to build on.