KIDS rebelling against "healthy" food

[addysmom]

I'm just wondering what people think about their kids possibly going "crazy" when they are old enough to buy their own food products. My friend growing up was not allowed to have sugar or caffeine and in high school, that is all we ever saw him eat. My neice (who is being raised on raw foods) doesn't feel like she can ever eat what other kids eat and feels like something is wrong with her because the other grandkids get suckers and she can't have one.

I've HEARD of countless other stories and am wondering how having such strict guidlines for food for children could possibly NOT backfire on a parent. I understand that a lot has to do with how the healthy eating is taught, but is it really realistic to think that our kids won't rebel against our healthy eating habits at some point?

Sarah, mom of Addy (5 mo)

[5xblessed]

I've thought about this quite a bit. I'm sure rebellion will come, but I also know from personal experience that it is likely as maturity increases that they will return to what they have been taught. I try not to be too "militant" and make sure they have plenty of acceptable treats ie twizzlers at the movies, parties at our house for their friends with fun foods, and probably more vegan burgers and other "junk food" than I would probably choose to eat myself. I also hope that letting them know that their choices won't make me mad at them will take all the fun out of the rebellion. All a parent can do is try to teach their standards and let the child find his own way.

[Teejay]

I agree with the response above. My child gets very hyper and unable to sleep if she has anything sugary and we have always had to limit and more recently exclude it. (This doesn't mean she doesn't get treats -- more slowly metabolised sweeteners like rice syrup or barley malt don't seem to wind her up.)

Regardless, I know that she must feel terrible sometimes when things are handed out e.g. at school as treats or rewards and she is always different (she has wonderful teachers who always make sure there is something acceptable for her to have -- they don't miss her out) and that there may come a time where she goes out and gorges on sugary things. But I do believe that she has learned what works well for her and would ultimately return to taking better care of herself.

Children are always different from other children in some way -- it just depends what -- with vegans it is most often food! It can help to teach them not to be conformists as long as it is not done sternly and inflexibly and without humour. I try to compensate for some of the difference by letting her do a lot of stuff I would (otherwise) consider frivolous but which is really less important. As she has gotten older she is much more confident in her "difference" but there is still a lot of pain I'm sure I don't see -- I don't want to delude myself. Especially at birthday parties etc.

We just try to keep the lines of communication open -- I guess it's that way with any issue, not just food. Education & communication.

[sophie]

My kids, too, get 'treats', which are often not too healthy, eg lollipops, iced buns, but we make these occasional rather than everyday things, and overall, the children don't feel at all deprived. There are vegan options for most things like icecream, and while they do 'miss out' here and there they seem to cope with it really well. It's possible that they will 'rebel' later on, but that will have to be their choice, I can only give them the grounding. A good friend of mine was brought up by extremely health-conscious parents, she was never allowed sugar or food colouring, and she was brought up vegetarian. As a child she used to sneak lollies (candy) and sugar wherever possible, and when she was a teenager she started eating meat. However, at the age of about 23 when she got pregnant, she took a look at her diet and realised she didn't want to eat meat. She also realised that sugar made her feel disgusting, and cut it out completely. Now she is very healthy and has reverted back to the ways her parents taught her when she was growing up. So for every story of a child rebelling, maybe there is one of a child retaining the values they grew up with. We can only do our best!