Shock at sugar consumption

I work in health awareness with a national charity. We have ‘sugar board’ displays; invariably people are astounded at the amount of sugar in drinks - not just ‘children’s’ drinks but syrup flavoured coffees, burger chain milkshakes, ‘energy’ drinks etc. - horrifying.

I love treating me grandchildren but if sweets are going to be consumed, it’s small packets and not at cinema prices. Fortunately my family is of much the same mind so treats are ok in moderation. It’s usually chocolate but I’m happy to take homemade popcorn and drinks with me. I think it’s time to insist on small packets and low sugar drinks to be available as a matter of course. If they were, I’d be more of a mind to spend money at the cinema.

Sodapop have you had a demanding 2 yr old at the checkout recently? I think not

#1 daughter is vegan and the two grandchildren were brought up that way. 13 year old is vegetarian now, his dad is a meat eater, but 4 year old granddaughter can't choose until she is a bit older. I just say those are not vegan or she does! Also mum gets cross if I buy cakes and sweets, even if they are vegan. She says she gives little of those, much is home-made and she likes to treat the kids and if grandparents do it is too much in all.

She has grown up with healthy tastes. Breakfast is often weetabix with soya milk and maybe a bit of peanut butter, or none. No sugar is added. She gets oatcakes for tea after school..Usually nothing on them. Today did have peanut butter. Is happy and prefers to eat rolls and bagels with nothing on them. When they visit me I do give vegan ices. Magnum do some now. But those are recent and before that it was fruit ice lollies only or vegan ice cream in tubs.

Totally agree with the comments that occasional sweet treats are fine, the need to sometimes say 'no' and helping children to understand why you are saying 'no'. But what hasn't been mentioned is that not only are these sugar laden 'treats' and smoothies very expensive they are just chemical cocktails full of artificial flavours and colours. The vivid fluorescent greens, pinks and purples and often bizarre flavours are just chemical creations. Nothing nutritious or natural about any of it. Why would anyone want to feed their child or grandchild a bucketful of dubious chemicals and consider it a treat?

Why abuse your child by feeding sugar, at the cinema or anywhere else? I know my dog would like chocolate but I know chocolate is bad for her so she doesn't eat it.

Bananas and strawberries whizzed up with ice makes a lovely smoothie anyway!

Although sugar is a real problem in today's society as is treating a cinema as a fast food restaurant. I do believe it is the parents job to ensure that their children have a healthy and sensible diet. But, as a grand parent taking a grand child to the cinema is a treat for both of us and imposing strict dietary conditions would spoil it. Therefore I would buy the smoothie and a small bag of their favourite snack

Totally agree with you Granmaretto. I don't understand why every activity has to have a treat included these days. Why does everyone need to eat at every given opportunity? My DD and my DIL are very strict with the GC regarding snacks like this thankfully.

Grammaretto I have taken children and grandchildren into super markets and they were allowed one small treat. I was quite strict with my family a fact they remind me of now.

sodapop Your DC and DGC must be, and have been, lovely and well disciplined.

I, on the other hand, still shudder at memories of full scale tantrums, kicking, screaming -- the lot. I stopped taking them to supermarkets early on.

I must say I am very impressed by my DGD now she is 4 she is very mature and although she saw other children eating bags of crisps, she understood that she would get her tea soon including hot chocolate. Her little sister is only 2 and does not see reason.

Treat your grandkids to something that involves outdoor adventure, as opposed to feeding rubbishy " treats" while sitting in the dark looking at moving pictures.

We don't have much choice up here in the frozen north Alexa
Ours are outdoor children anyway as they live on a farm so this was a rare chance to take them to a Christmas treat and to watch other families in action!.

Grammaretto, I concede your point. My excuse is, unlike your lot, most children get too little real life outdoors and have to make do with sweets instead and too many kids become fat with decayed teeth and incipient diabetes.

Sweets are not a treat but a dangerous bad habit.

As another poster said, I know they depend on selling a lot of buttery popcorn and sweets to keep the theaters profitable. Unfortunately, most people don't realize that sugar is worse than fat in ways and it certainly contributes to obesity, diabetes, and a host of other problems.

Have the UK cinemas started to convert seating to reclining lounges with cup holders and food tables? Here in the US, they're everywhere and some even sell wine! At a movie last spring, as I reclined for the show, I thought of those scenes in the animated kids' movie, Wall-E, where everyone was obese and could no longer walk but moved around in recliners, slurping from huge sweet drinks.

gmarie -
Not a movie but a nightmare

gmarie Yes this is exactly how our popular cinema chains have become. Reclining seats with cup holders. It was a novelty to me and I dropped off to sleep at one point.
I don't need to visit America. America has come here!

Although I agree that the confectionary in the foyer of most cinema chains is sugar and artificial colour laden, and really expensive......I don't see why there is hysteria from some about alcohol being available. We go, as adults, to a cinema chain where we enjoy a glass of wine with our film, nobody has to buy it, nobody has to buy the ghastly sweets so why spoil it for everyone? If we are not going to have a glass of wine with our film, we generally take a bag of jelly babies or similar with us, to share.

Good point Gill - anyone remember the ice cream girls during the interval in the last century?

Yes I do, Fennel and I also remember the cartons of Kiora orange squash which had the added joy of stamping on them when they were empty, usually at a tense part of the film!

Want to go to see Little Women at 10am tomorrow at my local cinema. It is on in the VIP lounge at £15 a ticket and includes popcorn ice cream and fizzy drink. I rang up but was told there are no other choices. I bitterly resent having to pay this but my daughter can only go then so her husband can look after the children. So I am paying for things I clearly don't want. No wonder there's an obesity and diabetes crisis. Will just have to give it away if there is anyone there who wants it at that time of day. Bah humbug.

Want to go to see Little Women at 10am tomorrow at my local cinema. It is on in the VIP lounge at £15 a ticket and includes popcorn ice cream and fizzy drink. I rang up but was told there are no other choices.
That truly is appalling, being forced to buy food and drink that you do not want and will not consume. They should, at the very least, provide choices. Supposing you were diabetic?

I believe sugar consumption has now been implicated as the main reason for the horrific obesity crisis we are facing.

Obese adults are bad enough but it is dreadful to see SO many very overweight children these days.

I agree with those who ask why treats always have to be sweets or food related.

It must be so unpleasant to sit in a cinema surrounded by people noisily chomping their way through something.

Why? Don't their managers have children?

What has that got to do with profits?

Don't tobacco company executives have relatives with lung cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis?

Remember the baby milk sold to the Third World by the tonne, by a company who knew it contained insufficients nutrition to keep babies alive?

Two books you may be intersted in:

Prof John Yudkin's, 'Pure, White and Deadly', published in 1972 about high sugar consumption and its effects.
It's still available, still scary.

And:

'The Constant Gardener' by John le Carré. Also a film now I believe.

In the back of that incredibly shocking book he points out that due to legal constraints he couldn't tell the whole truth but it is much, much worse than his book portrays.

There are no morals, no ethics in big business - and sugar is BIG business.

It's up to us, the one who care for children, to be aware and protect them.

not much different from the days of the slave trade; sugar was big business then too, and profit was is king, oblivious to human suffering.
sugar is everywhere pushed, liked a drug, to get people addicted from a young age, before they have judgment to choose, or decline, and it is added to everything, inc savoury items to keep us addicted.
so many young children have to go to hosp for extractions under GA. they are given sugar-laden drinks to suck on in a feeding bottle, so the teeth are constantly bathed in acidic sugar which destroys the teeth. imagine the agony of that.
then there's obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.