The biggest culprit in obesity is not manufacturers and retailers, it is consumers. Food manufacturers and retailers only sell what people will buy and the more people buy of a product the more they will supply it. Consumers buy fizzy drinks, sweets and biscuits, so manufacturers make more and more such products because they are sure fire sellers.

Fast Food joints know that the best way to sell things is by describing them as supersized or jumbo and the bigger the size the more they sell. If more people asked for a small size, that is what they would sell.

And as for pester power. If you do not give way to it children will stop pestering. I never ever bought my children sweets at a supermarket till so they never asked for them, because they knew the answer before they asked.

DS & DDiL are much the same.For DGC sweetened drinks are an occasional treat when eating out or when visiting grandparents, at home they drink water because that is all that is available. Sweets and biscuits are not forbidden but they are treats not the everyday punctuation of life. The children do not feel deprived, they are not always demanding sweets and crisps and snacks and take aways.

DGD's list of favourite foods includes chips, inevitably, but also cucumber, peppers and lettuce. For several years asked her favourite food, the answer was 'salad'. DGS, admittedly lists his favourite foods as chocolate and ice cream, but they are treats and he happily scoffs most of the vegetables and fruit he is served.

All that needs to happen to combat obesity is for people to make different choices and not buy heavily sweetened or fat laden food.

yummy, looks delish!

Very good point about the picture Nellie!

The photo on this blog shows a young child biting into an iced bun not a biscuit. A huge calorie difference there.

There are far too many children always snacking and this is heavily promoted by the food retailers.

As I said further down my kids used to get a rich tea buscuit (with a drink squash I am afraid) which my DD or I would not approve of now.
The odd biscuit when visiting granny is one thing, always allowing childen to regularly snack is another matter. That and portion size count for a lot of obesity problems.
In general keep snacks out of the house. Children are being "trained" to be hungry all the time.

Granny bashing again.
When in doubt, blame the state/parents/grandparents.......

imo
The biggest culprit for obesity, in children or adults, is certain food manufactures. They know what they're doing.

If the grandchildren are living with you, you provide their food, then yes, you are to blame. If not it is down to the parents. I would never give my own children or grandchildren fizzy drinks and shop cakes. Crisps and sweets were once a week, there are all types of parents and grandparents. I know when I see some parents shopping, their basket is overloaded generally with food I certainly wouldn't buy. Feel very sorry for those fat children who accompany their fat parents, they have no chance of living a healthy lifestyle.

I do allow my GC to have a biscuit and ice cream, why should i ban them ? she has a very active life and a diet full of veg, good meat, fish and fruit and only drinks water and milk so if she asks(which isnt often) she is given A biscuit.We need to teach our children that there is no BAD food but that somethings need to be eaten sparingly.

I don't keep many chocolates or biccies in for the DGC because I would eat them myself.

Today they had fruit as a snack (oh! all that sugar!)

forgot to say that if they wanted coco pops, cheerios or chocolate spread on their toast then they can.
they are active enough either at school or at home for it not to matter.

yes i give my grandaughters treats - biscuits, crisps, chocolate, sweets.
however it's not on a regular basis just as and when.
so i don't consider giving them the odd treat now and again constitutes over-indulgence.
all four of my grandaughters are tall and slim - they range in age from 14 to 2 and are active. they are fed healthily by their parents and also by myself.
there's nothing wrong with the odd treat now and again - a couple of biscuits or a small bar of chocolate doesn't do them harm. they aren't being stuffed full of nasties.

I have never put sugar on weetabix or shreddies (aka malted wheaties) or shredded wheat.

Thin as a rake though.

Yes. My two have always eaten their Weetabix with no sugar. But the older one has now discovered Cheerios! And, wait for it.... Co-co Pops!

Scottish raspberries! Yum! Can't beat 'em. (re Granny23's post)

I suppose we are in the wrong here. DGS loves to copy Grandad so has to have a cup of tea (very weak, no sugar) and a biscuit to dunk for elevenses. However we do score well in the breakfast division. DGS eats his W'abix with NO sugar. I am full of admiration, it must be like eating wallpaper paste.

When my DDs were small, I gave each of them a box which I stocked each week with 7 'treats' packets of crisps, nuts or dried fruit and a few wrapped chocolate biscuits. They soon learned to limit themselves to one a day, although they were often generous and gave something to a visiting friend, knowing that there would be no treat for themselves the next day. I also managed to convince them that the ice cream van only sold cigarettes and that the most desirable treat of all and reward for good behaviour was fresh fruit, especially if they picked it themselves from the garden.

I have had less success with the grandchildren since they discovered that their Grandpal had a secret stash of sweets and biscuits which he could be easily persuaded to share. However, they have been here a lot during the summer holidays, picking raspberries, strawberries (one for the jam, one for their mouths) and this week it was tomatoes and peas - picked, podded then eaten raw.

I give dgd treats when I see her, in moderation, the other grain piles her up with huge bags of sweeties and toys every time she sees her, I usually ask if its ok to give her a treat. This works ok for me and keeps mum and dad happy too

I give mine choccy. And strawberries.

Well TBH I DO give my GC biscuits & cakes & we make them together. They love cooking with me. As they are all on the skinny side as they play all sorts of sports & swim a lot I don't worry too much about it. If they were less active, staying here more or looking in any way over weight I would think again. I know the meals they get here are healthy but we do have a dessert sometimes too.
My own Grandad used to give me a biscuit & say 'don't tell your Mum'- she was always right behind him & used to say 'I heard that'!! It was our game.I then had to pretend to hide it from her. I had forgotten that until I read this thread.

Well, personally, I'm not involved to any great extent, with the childcare of mine. Thank God.

Their parents seem to be dragging them up satisfactorily.

The slightly chubby one is now, at eleven, shooting up and slimming down. All's well.

It's Gransnet not older-people's-net. You don't get the gran bit without the grand kids.

My pleasure!

Does anyone else find the threads about childcare, totally boring? We are grandparents. Why do we have to care anymore?

Take it Mumsnet. Keep childcare out of Gransnet.

Thanks, crofty, for pointing out the bleedin' obvious.