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| It's Easter
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| Let them eat chocolate
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We're going out on a limb here and saying let kids eat chocolate this Easter. Do it without guilt, just let them eat it in moderation and all will be fine.
We're a diet-obsessed nation. Yet we're still the world's second most obese nation per capita. Why is this? Our kids are obese. We have a high level of childhood Type 2 Diabetes and we're fixated by food.
As adults, serial dieters are the ones who struggle the most with their relationship with food. Constant restriction of your favourite treats simply makes you obsess about them and you're far more likely to go out and gorge yourself on unhealthy goodies.
We remember the days of eating our weight in chocolate when we were kids at Easter. But it was allowed. It was a special occasion and we didn't eat masses of sweets the rest of the time. Except Christmas when we also remember eating vast amounts.
Yes, it's true that too much chocolate can make a child sick – it does contain a certain amount of caffeine and a lot of sugar, dairy and other things that might not agree with them. But generally speaking, unless you have allergies, it's fine to blow out every now and then.
What matters most really is that kids aren't eating too much sugar on a daily basis. This is where the damage happens.
The American Heart Association recommends 6.5 teaspoons per day for a child, but this does include sugar from other food and drink sources, so generally speaking your child shouldn't be eating a full size chocolate bar very often. Allowing a "fun size" chocolate bar after school is fine.
But studies have shown that banning chocolate altogether simply causes cravings and can really affect a child's relationship to food and also to their peers.
Have you ever observed the child at the party whose parents do not allow them to eat sweets at all? They're either go completely mental and try to eat everything on the table, or they stand back, away from the throng, looking uncomfortable and out of place.
Professor Ogden, a scientist from the University of Surrey in the UK found that rather than making their children healthier, parents who place too many controls on their family's consumption of chocolate and sweets might be encouraging a long-term obsession with those foods.
In her research project, half the children had their chocolate eating restricted and the other half didn't. Although those in the first group ended up, by definition, gobbling fewer goodies, over the period of the study, they became far more preoccupied with chocolate and sweet foods than those in the 'no limits' camp.
"In terms of parenting practice, the results indicate that in the short term, restricting 'bad' foods is an effective means to promote healthier eating habits. But by restricting access you may encourage a preoccupation with unhealthy foods, which in the long term could encourage the very behaviour you are trying to prevent," explains Professor Ogden.
That said, it's still best to go for moderation, so there are a few things you can do:
- Quality over Quantity. Good quality chocolate that contains more cocoa and less sugar and processed rubbish is better than the cheap stuff. So buy fewer eggs, but better quality ones.
- Don't let Grandma go mad! Grandparents can often go a little crazy at Easter and go slightly mad on the Easter egg giving! Ask Nana to just give the one "special" egg this year.
- Easter lasts all month! Try to get your child to have little amounts keeping the egg for as long as he or she can. (PS this never works but you can try!)
- Who can take the longest? When I was a child, we used to have competitions to see who could take the longest eating a Crème Egg with a tiny mustard spoon. The winner gets a prize. And it means that it's taken so long to eat that one, your child will be bored by the end of it and want to go and do something other than eat chocolate!
- Giving is good. It's not all about them, so encourage your child to give away one of his or her Easter eggs to Granny or Granddad, an elderly person on your street or local care home, to a homeless person in your neighbourhood or someone in a nearby hospital. It feels good to give and it's one less egg that they'll consume.
At the end of the day, all things in moderation, and that means allowing yourself to partake in Easter treats too!
Happy Easter.
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