If you are very firm and restrict your child's intake of sweets and chocolate they will crave them and become obsessed with them ..

[roisin]

I've heard this lots of times, and it's complete rubbish.

My boys have always had a severely restricted intake of sweets/chocs. (e.g. under 4 I would buy them 5p of penny sweets about once every 2 or 3 weeks, remove most of the contents of bulky party bags, that sort of thing ...)

They are by now 7 and 9 and occasionally have sweets/chocs. Sometimes they get given a 'big heap', and almost invariably they eat just a few, then decide to 'save' the rest for later and put them on the side (in full view) ... and forget about them! I've lost count of the number of times I have chucked away (or eaten!) bowls/packets of sweets that are languishing on a shelf in the breakfast room.

So they're hardly obsessed with sweets, are they?

[morningpaper]

I don't think it makes much differnce TBH - some kids love sweets, some don't

We all like to think that those who don't are due to our superior parenting, but it probably isn't

I have always been liberal with the sweeties but my 4 year old simply doesn't like them at all

My 1 year old would live off Dolly Mixtures though

[FrannyonFire]

Ds (3.7) has just discovered chocolate after being denied for years, and is fairly interested in it, I would say. However this Halloween when offered a giant tray of chocolate confectionery to choose from, he reached over and picked out the big green apple from the middle

God I was smug

[MiaOUCHthatHURT]

I don't really think it has much of an impact, Roisin (ie I agree with you!)

I have two brothers and we were all brought up the same - restricted intake of sweets/chocs, not given many treats, never had sweets etc as a reward. My brothers are totally unbothered by sweets and chocolate - db2 would go to put his easter eggs on a shelf and find the ones from the previous year still there gathering dust!!

I on the other hand am a total chocoholic . No rhyme or reason!!

[undergroundernie]

It might make them crave them more, my two (ds4 and dd2.4) stuff themselves with sweet things if given the opportunity but I'd rather that than they ate them everyday. Surely this way they eat less junk.

[Mirage]

I was rarely allowed sweets & chocolate as a child,but have a mild chocolate obsession now.

I know a chap who won't allow his daughter anything sweet,not even home made cake.To hear him talk you'd think that anyone who gives their child cake should be locked up.At nursery,if the other children have cake,she isn't allowed.

I have visions of her spending every penny she has on the forbidden fruit when she is older.

[pointydog]

I think there's a good chance they will. But I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions to that as lots of kids aren't that interested in food. Depends on the kid's own particular fancy.

[ghosty]

My neice positively dribbles when she sees chocolate ... she has no chocolate or sweets at home.
We often have chocolate in the house and my DS can take it or leave it (have had a big open bar of dairy milk in the fridge for 6 weeks, he knows its there but doesn't ask for it). He doesn't like sweets so we are lucky with him. DD has a sweet tooth and I have to watch her intake but I don't strictly ban it ... as I know she will become obsessed.

[FlossFawkes]

I was strictly brought up. Will now gorge on chocs/sweets/crap whenever possible. Don't think by ages of 7 and 9 you are safe yet! Have relaxed my attitiude towards DS for this very reason.

[moondog]

My kids bloody love sweets.and I think it is because they don't have them very often,thus fall on them like small pack of half starved Huskies.

[roisin]

Mine do love sweets and chocolates, don't get me wrong. They now have them at least weekly during term time because there is a 'tuck shop' at the youth club on Friday nights ... and it's the main reason they go!

But they seem to lose interest/get bored with sweets very quickly, and are certainly not obsessed.

Cake, on the other hand, or trifle, they will eat til it comes out of their ears.

[Hattie05]

roisin i think its not about whether you allow it or not, but more to do with how big an issue you make it. Sounds like you've just avoided it but not 'lectured' your children iykwim and therefore it isn't a big issue.

I allow dd sweets/choc whenever they are offered and will often treat her to some in the shops but she too is like your boys and will eat one or two and then i find myself chucking masses out once they've sat around for weeks not being touched. If we're in a shop and she asks for sweets and i say no, she doesn't bat an eyelid.

I think the difference would be if a parent is constantly scolding their child for asking for/ wanting/ eating sweets then the issue is there giving them reason to crave them.

[BATtymumma]

my DS has never had sweets. he has never been not allowed sweets,m its just that i never bought them when he was smaller and now when he is offered them he just says "no thank you"

its not an issue. he doesn't know what it is he is missing and he doesnt really care.

[TheDaVinciCod]

you ait
tis still early days

[TheDaVinciCod]

( rosin stuffs her face fill of gren adn balcks every night)

[pointydog]

battymumma - why does he say no thanks? (Apart from being polite)

[hotpot]

There was an interesting study done that showed when 2 year olds were given a completely free choice in what they ate actually, after a couple of weeks, ate a balanced diet and did not gorge on chocolate/biscuits/sweets.

My son is given biscuits/chocolate etc but not every day and when he was recently given ice-cream in a restaurant he ate the fruit garnish first

I try to avoid sweets as they tend to make him hyper, and to be honest he thinks bananas, apples, pineapple etc are as naughty as chocolate. I try to save the chocolate for me for when my DC are driving me mad and I can go and have a quick fix of a few chunks of dairy milk, I save the good stuff for the evening when I can eat uninterupted - ah green and blacks, say it with me girls in a thankful voice... green and blacks

[roisin]

Green & Blacks: you got me there

I'm not a good model on food it has to be said.

[BudaBeast]

I have a friend who swears her and her sister's obsession with sweets/chocolate is a direct result of only being allowed chocolate on a Sunday after mass and never being allowed any "rubbish sweets".

My DS is fussy about what he likes - likes some chocolate. Likes some sweets. Leaves the rest. Still have 2 Easter eggs. Will junk today I think!. Is pickily going through Halloween stash - that will mostly get junked. (Although it was all American "candy) and I have aleady had the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups!!!

My sisters DCs have constant access to sweets/choc etc and would pretty much eat all day.

Depends on the child to a large extent I think.

[izzybiz]

My 2 year old DD is obsessed with sweeties at the moment, BUT, she does think that Humzingers and the little boxes of raisins are sweets!
Shes not fussed with chocolate, and if she does have any sort of sweets i usually end up throwing them away.
I think they either like them or they dont.

[nogoes]

Ds is allowed chocolate & cakes at the weekend and loves them. My SIL allows her kids free rein there is always a display of chocolate/sweets/biscuits out on her coffee table for them to help themselves to and they gorge completely on them. I think it just depends on whether they have a sweet tooth or not.