17: Kids, Families and Sugar: Finding the Balance

Like any good parent, we want the best for our kids and that includes making sure they have a healthy diet. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about balancing sweets and treats as we raise our growing family. 

Childhood inherently involves lots of opportunities to eat in a way that we don’t agree with at home: candy at church, at school as “rewards”, birthday parties. We’ve noticed that as our children get older, the more this comes up. So how do you raise healthy kids without creating issues around food? 

We don’t want our children to be craving conventional foods because they never eat them. We don’t want our children to resent us because we poo-pooed on the “fun” of having treats and we also don’t want them going buckwild when they get to an age where we don’t have as much control over them. Here are our tips/solutions:

1. Get on the same page as your spouse – what’s allowed and what’s not 
2. Get on the same page with your kids 
3. Educate them on the effects of sugar – help them notice physical effects of sugar 
4. Get smart with sweets (fruits, Smart Sweets, Unreal) 
5. Give them opportunities to indulge (birthday parties, holidays, special occasions)
6. Consider other options rather than treats 
7. Volunteer for school related things and bring healthy food options 

Featured in this episode…

7 Tips for Raising Healthy Eaters Podcast

Healthy Candy Ideas and Alternatives 

Healthy Eating Habits for Kids: Our 5 Tips