Rant: Kids Menu= Horrible Diet

[PSULion]

We don't even give DD juice yet, which most people think is weird.

Not weird to us. DS is the only one at playgroup without at least some juice in his sippy. The other moms can't believe he's happy with just water. Sure he's happy - poor kid has no idea what he's missing! On the rare occasions he does have juice, it's from a juice box, and that way he never expects in his sippy cup.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I do agree Disney could add some healthier options but restaurants are definitley taking some good steps toward that, kids can get veggies or fruit instead of fries, etc.

To all the others on forcing kids to eat, it's just amusing. My 2 year old used to be the BEST eater, loved everything. Now she won't even eat. I don't even order for her at dinner. She just wants to drink milk. It's a phase, not the end of the world.

 

[Duckiedee]

I am with you on the water train for sure, I am so happy it is my DD5's drink of choice. She prefers it over pop, juice, Koolaid the whole 9 yards! I have an entire box of those darn fruit sippers that my DH crazily purchased months ago. She has no desire.

I actually have some healthy hermits made right now. (Cookies.) They are from the Eat Clean Family and Kids Cookbook by who??? Tosca Reno They are awesome! Protein powder, eggs whites, wholegrains... tons of great stuff. Much better to have two of these then a store bought granola bar.

Who knew Fibre One's first ingredient was GLUCOSE!!! I bought a box looking for something quick and in a hurry for camping the other day. I saw 5g of fibre on the front and was like cool! Then when I took them out of the shopping bag I actually read the ingredients. D'oh! (Homer Simpson) ARE you KIDDING me!!!??

I do still like sweets, but in my past boxed life... I CRAVED them and couldn't understand when others had complete control.

Nowadays if there is something I'm really looking forward to (Really want to try a Dole Whip.) I will. But I can now have a chocolate bar under my nose or an open bag of chips and decline without feeling like I'm controlling the craving because it just isn't there when you eat clean.

 

[4orm]

No refined sugar or processed food for our little one either if we can help it. We plan on ordering sides off the adult menus for her. A side of seasonal veggies is all she needs. She can get a little protein off our plate. And thankfully she's also a water drinker. She's interested in eating what we eat, luckily. We eat well, so she does too

 

[Ava]

Not weird to us. DS is the only one at playgroup without at least some juice in his sippy. The other mom's can't believe he's happy with just water. Sure he's happy - poor kid has no idea what he's missing! On the rare occasions he does have juice, it's from a juice box, and that way he never expects in his sippy cup.

Haha, this is what I say! DD is only 1, she has no idea what she's missing. We don't drink juice either so it's never even in the house. It also makes it easy when we're out, as we can always get plain water for her - for free!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

This may be the first year I will be ordering off the CS kids' menu for anything other than breakfast. On our last trip, DD was such a light eater (translation: very little she would eat, kids' menu or not), that I would order an adult meal for the two of us to share, then maybe order an extra side of something for her OOP. I used our child CS credits to order breakfast at the resort because she would pretty reliably eat breakfast, or at least reliably eat waffles and pancakes.

Now that we are treating her sensory issues and other disabilities, her eating has improved. She will probably be eating hot dogs and chicken nuggets a lot this trip, but I'm okay with that. I'm just thrilled she is finally eating, period. Raw carrots are one of the handful of veggies she will eat so were are good to go with that side. She's not a fan of grapes so I'll pay OOP for apples and bananas for her.

DD has never been a fan of juice and rarely drinks it. She'll never request it, but will drink it if it's offered at a birthday party or at a friend's house. She will request water on her own, without prompting.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

In general, I found the lack of variety to be the frustrating part when my kids were small enough to eat from the kids menu. Although teaching kids about having a balanced diet and smart eating is also important.

However, I think many restaurants have made some pretty good strives as far as adding more nutritious food options. Disney does offer carrot sticks with their children's TS menus, at least some places. And fast food places have started giving options for salads or fruit instead of fries.

We never really restricted our kids as far as keeping them away from certain types of food (well, whole milk and white bread...). While it is easier to maintain a healthy weight with low density, high nutrition foods, I do believe is there is enough wiggle room in life for dessert. After all, calories are calories.

 

[gr8mommy]

Eating disorders stem from social issues for the most part not because you parents made you eat your vegetables.

This is so wrong it isn't even humorous. Eating disorders are about control, not food. I spent the better part of my teen years battling anorexia, so I know from whence I speak. The social part comes in after it starts, when the constant "you've lost weight, you look fabulous" reinforces the behavior.

As I said before, you cannot win in battles of eating or elimination. Sure, you can offer her the healthiest choices in the world. You can not make her consume them, or she will find other ways to fight back. She will vomit, she will refuse to pee in the toilet, she will refuse to poop until you wind up in the emergency room and she needs surgery to remove the compacted stool.

And yes, there was a scene in Mommy Dearest about the little girl not wanting to eat bloody beef. If you want to go all Joan Crawford, find a stage, not your kid.

 

[princessmom29]

This is so wrong it isn't even humorous. Eating disorders are about control, not food. I spent the better part of my teen years battling anorexia, so I know from whence I speak. The social part comes in after it starts, when the constant "you've lost weight, you look fabulous" reinforces the behavior.

As I said before, you cannot win in battles of eating or elimination. Sure, you can offer her the healthiest choices in the world. You can not make her consume them, or she will find other ways to fight back. She will vomit, she will refuse to pee in the toilet, she will refuse to poop until you wind up in the emergency room and she needs surgery to remove the compacted stool.

And yes, there was a scene in Mommy Dearest about the little girl not wanting to eat bloody beef. If you want to go all Joan Crawford, find a stage, not your kid.

Your particular eating disorder may have been about control, but not all are. My Sister battled bulima and it wasn't about control at all, it was about a toxic relationship. In order to keep her boyfriend, she felt she needed to be thin and she was willing to do anything to keep him.
I fell like you can win on the eating and elimination front, but not if you make it a Mexican standoff. We didn't make a big issue about either, but didn't allow any alternative choices. You don't want ot eat, fine, but you don't get anything else. You don't want to use the potty, fine but you are nto giong back in pullups. You will be wetting your clothes and changing them and cleaning up. You would be amazed how much compliance it generates when it is just easier to do as you are told. If you make it into a battle of will a child will hold thier ground, but in general if the consequences of a choice the child is making ar unattractive, they will stop making it.

 

[gr8mommy]

Your particular eating disorder may have been about control, but not all are. My Sister battled bulima and it wasn't about control at all, it was about a toxic relationship. In order to keep her boyfriend, she felt she needed to be thin and she was willing to do anything to keep him.
.

Um, yeah, that's control.

My issue was the exact same. The relationship status was out of my control, so that was what I could do to hang onto him. It wasn't something I though about at the time---it wasn't until I was in counseling that I learned it.

 

[luckylady131]

Your particular eating disorder may have been about control, but not all are. My Sister battled bulima and it wasn't about control at all, it was about a toxic relationship. In order to keep her boyfriend, she felt she needed to be thin and she was willing to do anything to keep him.

Not sure how this example ISN'T about control...???

Eating disorders are 100% about control. Either the need to control yourself (stop yourself from eating) for whatever reason (usually because they feel they have a lack of control in all other areas of their life), or the lack of control over themselves (binging/overeating).

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Not sure how this example ISN'T about control...???

Eating disorders are 100% about control. Either the need to control yourself (stop yourself from eating) for whatever reason (usually because they feel they have a lack of control in all other areas of their life), or the lack of control over themselves (binging/overeating).

Yep.

 

[Ava]

How did we go from "The kids' meals at WDW are awful" to a discussion of eating disorders? Gotta love the DIS.

 

[emh1129]

Allowing your child to decide which foods (out of healthy choices) and how much food to put into her own body is not letting her run the house. It's respecting her as a fellow human being.

As Horton says, "A person's a person no matter how small."

I've always loved that quote

 

[badblackpug]

Your particular eating disorder may have been about control, but not all are. My Sister battled bulima and it wasn't about control at all, it was about a toxic relationship. In order to keep her boyfriend, she felt she needed to be thin and she was willing to do anything to keep him.
I fell like you can win on the eating and elimination front, but not if you make it a Mexican standoff. We didn't make a big issue about either, but didn't allow any alternative choices. You don't want ot eat, fine, but you don't get anything else. You don't want to use the potty, fine but you are nto giong back in pullups. You will be wetting your clothes and changing them and cleaning up. You would be amazed how much compliance it generates when it is just easier to do as you are told. If you make it into a battle of will a child will hold thier ground, but in general if the consequences of a choice the child is making ar unattractive, they will stop making it.

This is what we do, too. You get what I make. I am not a short order cook, if you choose not to eat it, you are a hungry little boy or girl. We don't make a big deal out of it. We also require that you try everything that is offered. If you truly don't like it, then you don't have to eat it, but you have to at least try a decent amount of it. No big deal. Last night everyone had salmon and asparagus for dinner. My kids are really good eaters, and will try anything.

I also think it's funny that people feel they are treated oddly because they choose to feed their kids healthy. Maybe it is the region, but I feel it's just the opposite. I can't tell you how many "OMG! you let your kids eat that?" comments I have had. As I said earlier, in general, we eat healthy foods, but as a PP said, I do think that there is "wiggle room." If my kids have a hot dog, or cake at a party I'm not phased. We order pizza sometimes, and the kids love the Mister Softee truck! I think you need to strike a healthy balance. I don't sweat the WDW kids meals because it is vacation and one week out of their lives. It's part of the escape of vacation.

 

[melancholywings]

Meloncholywings...

I get that from some people sometimes too...

Duckiedee thank you so much for your post. I was so very frustrated yesterday and your response really cheered me up. I guess I need to take a deep breath and embrace my 'weirdness'.

 

[C.Ann]

Sorry Indiana but you are completely missing my point. This should not be the norm. As one poster said its because of money well I find it hard to beleive that in the long run with all the medical issues that eating these types of foods bring, that it is indeed cheaper. Obviously we as parents need to stop this from happening and say that it's not ok. I'll pay the extra 15 bucks if I know my child will be eating healthy food. Even school lunches have gone down the hill. My soapbox rant is that this food is not ok and than MAYBE if more of up stood up and shared or disgust things will change.

The best way to accomplish this is to "speak with your wallet".. Don't go out to eat; don't patronize places that sell objectionable food; do not allow your kids to eat lunch in school; and when vacationing and you have to eat out, share from the adult menus..

As long as people pay for it, they will continue to sell it..

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMo...red-insurance/story?id=11361332&partner=yahoo

 

[gr8mommy]

What's your point in posting that? Not really sure what type of response you are looking for.

I'm sure that there is some biological component to 'picky' eating that continues after childhood. I'm one of the small segment of the population that thinks cilantro tastes like soap. So, I don't eat cilantro.

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

Thought the timing of it being reported was funny, ironic...