Marcia Cross bans her daughters from eating junk food

[Pippin]

My mother allowed me to have the odd bit of junk to eat when I was a kid, but she never kept unhealthy drinks in our fridge. She had milk, juice and water.

I had my first coke when I was fourteen!

[cmmdee]

Originally Posted by Mel1973

"I keep them away from junk food. They don't know about cookies yet so everything they eat is healthy. They've had a bite of an organic cupcake for their birthday but it's always healthy foods - especially now before they find out about junk food.

That's sad ... give 'em a cookie, you plastic faced whorebag!

^^ LOL.

And what kid doesn't know about cookies? That's depressing!

[sparkly]

She can't shelter them forever, and if she doesn't teach them to eat healthy while enjoying snacks in moderation, there's a good chance they'll go overboard with junk food when they get their first taste of freedom.

[KS71]

Kids who aren't allowed to eat "junk food" (in moderation) will either hoard/sneak it, or binge eat. This doesn't seem like a good idea to me

[Mrs P]

I understand , but IMO to avoid anything outright is unhealthy. I think that moderation is key. She's setting up her daughters for food related issues.

[Tati]

Hmm, I dunno. It could just be a simple matter of trying to establish their taste buds to appreciate more mildly sweet things instead of craving tremendous amounts of sugar. If they haven't eaten cookies or brownies yet, then they may find a peach or melon to be a deliciously sweet, yummy treat, and not miss the junk food, or feel like they're being deprived of anything. They're only two, after all.

That said, I agree with a lot of the previous comments, especially about creating healthier versions of treats so that the girls can still feel like they're having a "cookie", and don't form certain negative mental associations with food.

But I do think a lot of the crap out there is just wayyy too sweet, and I'd be tempted to avoid a lot of it with my own kids so that they don't start thinking that the only "treats" are those that knock them on their ass with the taste of sugar. Cheap grocery store bakery cakes, for instance - with that disgusting super-sweet icing - I'll give my kids birthday cake, but I'll make my own with more subtle sweetness and fewer artificial ingredients. I'll bake them homemade cookies and muffins, but I don't see why toddlers need to be eating Little Debbie and Sara Lee.

[aabbcc]

I am always cutting down the sugar in recipes. I was happy to make treats for my kids when they were growing up, but everything was always whole-grain and low-sugar or no-sugar [Seventh-Day Adventist cookbooks are great for this sort of thing!]. I remember making a cake one day and I was distracted and forgot to adjust the sugar in the recipe. My son wouldn't eat it because it was too sweet.

[nana55]

Originally Posted by LynnieD

I agree, everything in moderation.

My youngest is the EXACT same age as her girls---and honestly, my girl doesn't really like junk food (at this point). I give her healthy food, lots of fruit (which she loves) and maybe once in awhile a cookie. But honestly, she doesn't ask for it, so, no biggie.

Now the 5 yr old is a different story. Oy vey!!

My grandkids are the same. The little ones eat only healthy foods. As my grandaughter got older the cakes and cookies appeared. What with birthday parties and all it happens naturally. These are Marcia's first, she'll relax in a few years.