Nina In New York: Got A Kid Who Loves Sweets? Don't Worry, You're Probably Not A Terrible Parent
A lighthearted look at news, events, culture and everyday life in New York. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
By Nina Pajak
Get ready, parents, because here comes one of those science news items that'll make you feel negligent, powerless, guilty and hungry all at once.
According to a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics, kids who prefer sweet snacks over salty ones are at a higher risk for excess weight gain and obesity. Basically, they took some hungry kids, gave them a tray of cookies and chips and told them to go hog wild. The ones who picked the cookies were more likely to have put on too much weight by the age of three. What to look for, the researchers say, is the kids who are still interested in dessert after eating a filling meal.
Oh, you mean like how my (not at all overweight) kid can eat a dinner that would satisfy an adult and invariably requests a "treat?" And then I offer her fruit and she eats it and she still demands the treat she feels she is owed? Yeah, I'd say we fall into that category.
It's often a genetic predisposition, they say, and simply a matter of controlling what one keeps in the kitchen if one is housing a born sugar fiend. So, you mean that the time I fed my young child frosting to open her eyes to the fact that it is, in fact, delicious didn't actually turn my daughter into a cake monster? She would have become one anyway? Yeah, let's go with that.
So, what can we completely blameless parents of sugar gremlins do? Here's some advice from the CBS News article linked above:
Lauren Graf, a clinical dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, suggests parents find healthier ways to satisfy a child's sweet tooth.
"For children who prefer sweet foods, I suggest fresh fruit, dried fruit such as mango slices, dark chocolate and nuts," she told CBS News. "These foods tend to be not only more nutritious, but also more filling than eating one or two store-bought chocolate chip cookies."
Also:
"If a food is unhealthy for us as adults, it's not healthy for children either and can lead to health problems in the future," she said. "Exposing children to healthy food, like fruits and vegetables, is extremely important in developing their palate. The foundation of a healthy diet is built in early childhood."
Right. I get that. It's totally valid and fair to suggest that a child with a sweet tooth should be given more limited access to desserts to prevent health problems and overindulgence. Smarter choices and exposure to more nutritious foods is important. But while only permitting your child to eat dried figs instead of cookies sounds terrific, it may not be entirely realistic. Kids are going to be exposed to junkier food as they grow and socialize out of the home. And while instilling healthy preferences could be the first line of defense, we need to know that our children can behave responsibly when faced with a lunch table full of potential tradesies. Think back: growing up, we all knew someone whose mother had banned sweets from the house. And who was the first kid to bum a quarter off a friend for a fruit roll-up from the cafeteria? Who was the one who was always begging for cookies and pilfering a second cupcake from the friend who "doesn't like chocolate" during classroom birthday celebrations? Obviously, it's that kid. Nothing creates a rabid sugar junkie so effectively as depriving a baby Gollum of his or her precious.
That's extreme, of course, but the point is this: it seems to me that as important as educating our kids about nutrition and healthy choices is teaching them to exercise self-control in the face of a truly awful, tantalizing product. While I was growing up, my mother banged the "eat some fruit if you're hungry" drum often. And hard. But she still let us have a couple of crappy supermarket cookies after dinner. All these years later, I still feel strongly in my core that one ought not eat more than two cookies at a time and that Hostess products are for display only. Of course, there's no accounting for what I'm liable to do when presented with a sheet cake and a fork, but I'm only human.
It is an incredibly treacherous route we must navigate, allowing our kids some indulgences without overfeeding them while simultaneously teaching them restraint without turning them into neurotic eaters. There's no one answer to the problem, so stories like this can often present as lacking application to real life. Or worse, they can come across as a lecture to parents who are just doing their best to get their stubborn, picky toddlers to eat a meal that occasionally consists of more than french fries. If it takes a few jellybeans to accomplish that, so be it.
That being said, I promise never again to force-feed my baby icing. Chalk it up to inexperienced parenting. Okay? Okay.
Nina Pajak is a writer living with her husband, daughter and dog in Queens. Connect with Nina on Twitter!
