Cookies and candy and chips…oh my!

By Princess B. Abuluyan

Families will usually go grocery shopping together. Strolling through the “junk food” aisle, children will want to buy cookies, or candy, or chips.

Should parents buy “junk food” for their children?

Obviously, eating too much “junk food” is not healthy. So, some parents will sometimes say no when their children ask to eat those kinds of food.

But then, there are those parents who will always say yes.

A child may likely throw a tantrum if his mom refuses to buy him chocolate chip cookies, or a bag of potato chips. It can be an embarrassing scene for his mom. But is that the reason why she should buy the cookies or the chips for her son anyway, to avoid him throwing a tantrum?

Children will eat anything they want.

Well, not necessarily; not if their parents can help it.

Think of it in different terms. Children will want to eat anything they want.

But parents are the ones who can make the final decision what their children eat.

Parents are responsible for their children’s physical health and well being—it’s an important part of raising children.

Children are young, and they do not usually know what’s good for them. They will eat the kinds of food that tastes good to them.

Cookies and candy and chips—oh my!

They will eat the kinds of food that are loaded with sugar and sweets. But do they know which foods are healthy, and which are not?

That is why parents should be well involved, and make responsible decisions what their children consume.

Reminds me of a few personal experiences…

It’s 9:28 in the morning. My niece, who is only two-years-old, is awake and her footsteps are heard coming down the stairs. She walks into the kitchen, and guess what she asks for?

Not a cup of milk…
No, not even juice…
Instead, what she wants is a cup of soda.

“Auntie, I want coke,” she says, pointing a finger at a half full 2 litter bottle of coke she sees on the counter.

Wow, is this child really asking to have soda? Drink soda in the morning? She’s only two-years-old.

Her mom might have let her drink soda in the morning before. Perhaps, all the time? But she didn’t have it this time. Drinking soda in the morning could give any child an upset stomach. So, the answer is no.

Perhaps, you have a nephew like mine. He eats often throughout the day. Sometimes, even right after eating a full lunch, he will sit on the couch, watch the Disney channel, and eat potato chips at the same time. He could probably eat the whole bag in one sitting too, but his mom makes sure he doesn’t. It’s just too much food, and not healthy.

In America, a number of children are obese. Is that surprising?

Honestly, what do children know about being obese?

If they get hungry, they will eat. If they see something in the kitchen they want to eat, they will eat it.

Parents should know when to step in and draw the line. Sometimes, it also helps to have little or no junk food in the house. That way, children will not always be eating it or expecting to have access to it.

Most children, if not all, don’t even like to eat vegetables. Sometimes, parents make it too easy for their children not to.

During dinner, a child might stare disgusted at the broccoli on her plate and say, “I don’t like it.” And that’s the end of that, the parents let it go. But some children have never even tasted vegetables. So, how do those children know whether or not they like their vegetables if they haven’t tasted them first?

If parents allow their children to eat anything they want, their children will only want to eat anything they want.

Now, this is not to say that children should be banned from eating junk food. But there should be some kind of balance. Children should be taught how to eat healthy food aside from junk food, and usually, that responsibility is that of their parents.

There was one Sunday morning at Saint Rose Catholic Church when a priest from another country visited. He gave a powerful speech.

He said, “In other countries, children are crying because they are hungry. In America, children are crying because they don’t want to eat.”

It’s something to think about.

Some children are picky with what they want to eat. Parents want their children to eat a meal for dinner—rice, chicken, and vegetables for example. But some children will whine because they do not want to eat that. They cry for a scoop of vanilla ice cream instead, or chocolate chip cookies for dinner.

Allowing a child to eat just ice cream for dinner could let that child think it is okay to always have ice cream for dinner.

It’s all a matter of teaching children the value of food, from the get go.