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The majority of kid's foods today have sugar, and not just natural sugar but this high-fructose corn syrup crap, which is both highly sugary, and physically unhealthy as well. We're raising a nation of diabetics.
Kids respond very well to sugar, a fact the food industry figured out long ago. For a while it was okay, market-wise, but eventually those kids grew up and didn't want the same for their kids. "Sugar Pops" cereal is now sold as "Corn Pops". Imagine that! It's still the same shit, different name.
Anyway, my point is, as a parent, is that the only way to succeed is to not allow them to have sugary foods on anything remotely approaching a regular basis. Once you do, you can't turn them back.
So, you can pull this off until they're about 6 or 7, but after that, it get damned difficult.
Case in point: My son, now 10, grew up loving peanut butter. But what he ate was natural, unsweetened peanut butter.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, he got introduced to peanut butter like Skippy which has added sugar. He never would accept natural peanut butter again.
Ultimately, if exposed to enough foods with sugar, they always have one of them as an option, and reject healthier foods. The only approach, I believe, is to defer for as long as possible, exposure to the more industrial foods.
That said, I've found that if they ask for a snack, and you bring out a plate (or offer them a choice) of banana, apple, cucumber, cheese, and strawberries (or whatever), they'll choose. If it's an open-ended offer ("What do you want for a snack?") you're just asking for trouble.
- Tab
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