Leading nutritionist, Susie Burrell has something to tell you: “Stop being their friend and start acting like a parent.”
Working as a paediatric dietitian at a tertiary hospital for almost 10 years specialising in childhood obesity taught me many years ago that our kids eat too much.
Case after case I would see families with children weighing 20-30kg more than their ideal body weight and work towards reducing their food intake even slightly to stop the rapid weight gain cycle they had become a part of thanks to frequent snacking, high sugar drinks and large portions. This was my work; I knew the signs and risk factors and could discuss them with any client who presented to my private clinic.
But it has not been until more recently as I find myself in the rather challenging role of step-mother to primary school aged children have the real food issues for the average family become more apparent – the constant daily feeding of crap to our kids that is now considered the norm.
Suddenly I was finding soft drink in my fridge, 1/2 finished containers of iced tea in bedrooms and the healthy snack box had been filled with packets of little things I would never recommend or buy under any circumstances – the universe was officially testing my dietitian boundaries. And no matter what the reason or justification there is no way I am having crappy food, the exact foods I tell my clients to stop eating and buying, in my own home, stepmother or not.
Now I know I am not going to win any fans here, but I am going to say it, even louder and more clearly than I do in my day to day work. I want all parents out there to hear it, very simply. Our kids eat way too much, way too often thanks to a mix of guilt ridden parenting, child-want-focused parenting and social norms that see daily treats, celebratory foods and non-hungry eating the regular, rather than occasional occurrence for our kids and ultimately only they and their health will suffer long term.