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Thoughts and feelings about the forum: I think it’s nice to engage with so many different opinions and to gain insight from different educators and people on relevant topics. Its good to reflect on such matters and also perhaps see how things are and are not done differently, as to bring positive change in our schools and communities

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PHysical Education is essential factor to child obesity. I feel like children should be getting more phys ed per week than scheduled.  I believe schools are focusing more on getting students active, however I don’t think it increased by much in the last years.  Play is highly encouraged in schools but I feel like there could be more chances for outdoor physical activity and taking the curriculum outdoors sometimes could be beneficial for students!

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Totally agree! I had street friends from around 7 until 15 having daily adventures outside and climbing crazy high trees. I remember I used to climb to the top of the high oak and sit there, it was nearly as tall as the house. There seemed to be no worry from the adults about this. I would have a heart attack now if my daughter did that. My husband lived by the seaside and they used to play dares at the rocks..seeing how far they could get out! At times they would get stuck. Again what adults didnt know didnt bother them i think. But they are my best memories.

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Agreed. I was outside so much as a child and played on the street with all the other kids from quite a young age. I don’t think my son will grow up doing the same though- I think traffic levels around my home are the major reason for this- and fear of strangers! Also the places we frequented in my local neighbourhood for outdoor play just don’t exist anymore- the woodland area at the end of the village has been developed into a pub, carpark and housing, the river path that we used to cycle along has been blocked off to make way for yet another housing development and the local park has been vandalised that often that I think the local council has given up on repairing it. Physical activity nowadays for younger kids seems to be more focused on grotty soft play centres and organised clubs/activities. I went dancing as a child but most of my physical play was done off my own back playing with groups of friends. Daring each other to climb higher, go faster, be better!

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I think physical education should be a daily event, as children live more sedentary lives now. Certainly outside of school physical activity has decreased with the rise of technology - its hard to compete against ipads and tv. And parents often hold a concern that outside is dangerous. Whilst i dont share this view and take my child out rather than tv and tech, i wouldnt let my daughter out by herself like i was from around 8.

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Thank you all for you input to the family food habits forum. Its has definitely offered us all food for thought! As a round up to our discussion this popped up on my news feed this morning.

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Thank you all for you input on the Family Food Habits forum. Its has definitely offered us all food for thought! As a round up to our discussion, this popped up on my news feed this morning. How important do you feel physical education is as a contributor to child obesity and their all round well being? Has the amount of physical activity children are involved in changed over time? how are schools trying to encourage physical play and activity in your child's or schools setting?

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Putting physical development back into early years provision brings together renowned early years leaders, senior practitioners and respected educationalists to offer a range of deliverable, evidence-based, practical approaches, support and guidance. By attending this event in September, delegates will be able to discuss, query, reflect upon and disseminate the key messages to colleagues back in their settings, helping to shape planning and further professional development for the year ahead.

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Looks like it might be eye opening

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Just discovered this too...

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The Facebook page is quite cool. Got a video on there about sugar and tooth decay- has a song about it.

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Change4Life guide to sugar

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This story popped up on my twitter feed! Found it very interesting and thought I'd share. Never thought about WHSmith's until i read it. It's actually quite appalling that a book shop promotes and sells all that rubbish! And at such low prices!

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Yes I could! And would love to! But I have my family to consider. My husband insists most meals, especially dinner, needs to contain some kind of meat to be tasty. He was brought up this way and whilst has enjoyed veggie meals his comment after is always better with meat. Meal making is not always one person's choice. Similarly, with my daughter, id probably make these and add meat, as I always want her to have extra protein and she will willingly eat chicken and beef. Thankfully she likes most veggies and usually unusal food...i just lack the imagination to make it! Or the resources...or the time...

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Could you go meat-free for five days? Join Jamie on his 5-day Veggie Challenge and you'll find it's easier than you think.

Jamie's 5-day Veggie Challenge starts on May 14, but you can sign up now! During the challenge, you'll also be greeted every morning with an email containing the day's meat-free meals, along with extra tips and videos for a super-tasty day. Plus, Jamie will be in touch throughout the week via SMS to share even more veggie inspo that he really loves.

Featuring 8 new recipes such as Sweet potato quesadillas and Throw-it-all-in veggie noodles, this plan is about celebrating the joy of fresh, imaginative, good-for-you veggie food.

Jamie's colourful meal plan guarantees at least five portions of veg and fruit each day, plus a healthy balance of all the main food groups and nutrients. Each recipe serves two people - which means tasty leftovers if you're cooking for one, or you can easily scale up for a family meal.

Jamie says:
"With this challenge, I want to inspire everyone - veggies and meat-lovers alike - to embrace the wonderful world of veg, every day! Knowing how to make veg and fruit the stars of the show is such an exciting way to cook. Launching the challenge is also about connecting people in kitchens across the country on a veggie journey, sharing tips, reacting and discovering new things together - I can't wait! Plus, eating more veg is always going to put you in a good place. It's good for your wallet, good for the planet and it can be really good for your health. So guys, sign up and unlock a delicious week of veggie cooking - I'll be by your side every step of the way."
To join the 5-day Veggie Challenge, simply sign up and pay £2 to discover new recipes, your shopping list and all the extra tips and info needed for five days of delicious meals. Plus the recipes will remain online exclusively for 5-day Veggie Challengers to enjoy in the future.

And don't forget to post your pics on Instagram and Twitter and share how you're getting on using the hashtag #5dayveggie.

Our fun challenge coincides with this year's National Vegetarian Week, 14-20 May. will also launch special vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free menus from 23 May.

SIGN UP FOR THE 5-DAY VEGGIE CHALLENGE HERE!

VISIT OUR FAQ PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CHALLENGE AND HOW IT WORKS.

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What is the 5-day Veggie Challenge? | Features | Jamie Oliver

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Could you go meat-free for five days? Join Jamie on his 5-day Veggie Challenge and you'll find it's easier than you think. Jamie's 5-day Veggie Challenge starts on May 14, but you can sign up now! During the challenge, you'll also be greeted every morning with an email containing the day's meat-free meals, along with extra tips and videos for a super-tasty day.

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Thats wonderful news and forward thinking. Can not believe that statistic. I wonder again if the obesity is on the rise in London due to the sheer cost of eating there. Fast food is the cheapest option - especially for a large family. I also think the mark up, in general, of healthy food or alternatives contribute to this. Place the word organic, free range etc on anything and you pay a commodity. If we want to discourage obesity, why do healthy alternatives cost so much? I think politicians should look at lowering these costs or subsidising them. Taking away takeaways will probably just make folk feel they are being punished.

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Yes saw all this on the news. Definitely a good thing. My son associates McDonalds with so many things! Particularly places, adverts (obviously) and even certain pieces of music and yes, we do go, but hardly ever- special days out. Advertisements are soooo powerful!

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Me again folks just wanted to put in the field the fact that Sadiq Khan the London mayor is going to ban junk food advertising on London transport to tackle child hood obesity. Mr Khan said the move was necessary to curb the the "ticking timebomb" of child obesity, which has left almost 40 per cent of 10 and 11 year olds in the capital overweight or obese. Hot food takeaways would also be barred from opening within 400 metres of schools under a new draft London Food Strategy published last week. Mr Khan stated " if we dont take bold steps against child obesity we are not doing the right by our young people,as well as placing a huge strain on our already pressurised health service in years to come" Jamie Oliver has urged Theresa May to also "do the right thing" nearly two years after she dumped similar plans to Mr khan. At last childhood obesity is getting a voice so keep shouting......

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Gosh I can resonate with your story when my son was little up to the age of 2 if he had too much sugar he would run around and was like you said over enthusiastic with everything. However, this would effect his breathing and if we could not calm him down it was A and E for a nebuliser until his breathing was stable. So it all started with sugar, like you I never relent but there were times when family members or friends gave him sweets oh I used to get so upset. Fortunately he grew out of it when he was about 2 thank God. He has never been a big fan of sugar so I can honestly say that because he was deprived of having too much he never craved it, he is a big fan of brocoli !!!!!

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Me and my husband found this after reading up on the new initiatives.  I was really excited to sign up until it asked me for my credit card details!!!! I was actually shocked. after everything Jaime Oliver stands for he's asking me for my credit card details. no wonder we are in crisis. Even though its not a lot of money for principles sake i will not pay. Thank you Jaime Oliver!

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Sooooo my son has been on a lot less sugar after my husband and I became more aware. Yesterday my son spotted a remaining yoghurt drink in our fridge- now I know my husband had slapped an ASBO on them but it was early, I was half asleep and already running late for the school run so I relented and handed over the contraband (I never relent- must’ve been tired!)

Well.... when I collected him at the end of the day his class teacher demanded to know what he’d had for breakfast as he’d been at break-neck speed all morning! Verbal diarrhoea, running around, over enthusiastic with everything!!!

I reflected on the walk back to the car with a now exhausted four year old- his face was tired and his eyes a little sunken- was this the come down of a sugar rush? He was so emotional too. A little how I used to feel after a good binge drink session (gone are those days!) Poor boy... those yoghurt drinks won’t grace our fridge again.

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This has made me think about my local highstreet. I could think of four 'Poundland' type stores within a 5 minutes walk! I've never really though about their contents until now and actually quite enjoyed browsing through them for an offer or bargain. i am always more inclined to buy 'rubbish' when i enter these store as i just cant resist! Now i think about it that's all they sell, rubbish!!! I have family in Europe and actually they don't have these types of shops there. No wonder we have an obesity problem in this country! I went on the poundland website and found these adverts.....

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I agree with that Glen, it’s funny which supermarkets have removed sweets from the checkouts and which haven’t. Even though Tesco and Sainsbury’s have, they still have promotions of treats in big displays as you walk in and in close proximity to the tills. Also tesco has two aisle end displays with chocolate bars and pick & mix  sweets right by the tills. The shop that i find the worst is Poundland. You weave through a maze of sweet treats at child height, until you get to a till. I have a very sweet tooth and very little willpower, but it’s  even harder for parents with young kids. It’s a  shop that always has long queues so temptation is there staring at you and I’ve seen a lot of parents struggling with young children  wanting treats. It’s so hard dealing with public tantrums and I have seen parents give in due to embarrassment.
We also treat ourselves at the weekend and our two year old is more likely to get a treat then too. We now try to have our treats once he’s in bed and are really trying to cut back on our sugar intake to show better examples to him.
There’s currently a series on bbc by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstal which is very eye opening regarding sugar intake. There are thinges I knew and was aware of but I suppose put to the back of my min. However seeing it has really made me think more and made me want to change habits. We have a responsibility to our child to show him good habits that’s he will hopefully learn and grow up with.

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Upon reading the amazing posts above. I think there is a problem with sugar addiction. I recognise it within myself - once I get home from work sometimes I say to myself 'I really fancy a pepsi' and if I get it I immediately am filled with joy! It is weird!

From the point of view of being a new parent - I am worried about treats. My wife and I love our treats - and will often treat ourselves on a daily basis! The treats for me will include a packet of crisps, a bottle of pepsi and an ice lolly. We eat very healthily and so does our little boy...during the week but at the weekend...burgers, alcohol, pizza, wraps, bigger bags of crisps and bigger bottles of pepsi! Not the best example, but for our little boy, at 18 months, doesnt know what the weekend is...just another day (except Mummy and Daddy dont disappear for 8 hours) so do we treat ourselves in secret or change to healthy treats? This came to mind as I was in Asda during the week and I had a look to see what the supermarket had put in place to support sugar and healthy food awareness. Asda don’t give away free fruit but the fruit and veg is good value with lots of the healthy items on special offer. However while I was in the store I witnessed a mum with her two children who were having a meltdown near the check out! The children were demanding sweets they had seen by the till and the mother was trying to stay determined and refused. People started to look and I can imagine she would have rather just given in but she didn’t. If the sweets weren’t there it wouldn’t of happened!

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I also find the free fruit in Tesco really handy for my son to eat whilst shopping. As he’s only two he’s yet  to ask for treats and doesn’t recognise brands or a lot of packaging. I’m sure it’s only a matter time.
I also struggle with my mother in law constantly wanting to give him treats. The problem is he sees her nearly every day, I wouldn’t mind if it was less frequent so then a treat from Nanny. He already knows where she keeps her stash of chocolate! She does listen though and now has more of the sugar free snack she we prefer he has.

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I think supermarkets can provide packages that are more appealing to children. For example I know that Allen’s juice boxes say, “every child is a superhero”. While juice boxes aren’t healthy, if this initiative was turned towards something healthy like fruit and veggie or like a veggie snack box this could work! I’ve seen Tescos had mini “kids size” apples and oranges in smaller bags and sizes... I think this is perfect for school snacks and snacks in general.

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Our local Tesco always has a box of fruit at the entrance for kids to eat on their way around the supermarket. My son will happily demolish an apple whilst we walk around the store.

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Thank you for your comments and stories. Supermarkets are supposed to be doing their best to support local initiatives in London and support the battle against childhood obesity. Do you see evidence of this where you live? Do you think the supermarkets are doing enough? If not ,what else could they do?

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I spoke to my mum at lunch about my grandmothers breakfasts! She said she had no idea that was what she was giving us and probably wouldn't have cared much even if she had known. However she did say that she would never give her grandson that now and would be more aware of what he was having and perhaps check with me first. I still think he would have more treats with her than with me so completely relate to your story!

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This week I have been reminded of that generational gap travelling on holiday with my mother in law and daughter. Biscuits were offered before her dinner (to the three year old not mother in law!) And considered ok as the are only rich tea...along with chocolates left out on the table which Ive now hidden. I look like the wicked witch and my daughter wants this forbidden fruit more and more.

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The cereal story made me reflect on my childhood and i was reminded about breakfast at my Nans house. We would often stay the night at her house and in the morning we would be offered cereal followed by bacon and eggs. The cereal was a cinnamon square covered in brown sugar. This was drenched in single cream and more sugar was offered to go on top!!!!! Its only now when i thought about that i realised how absolutely full of sugar and fat this meal would have been. As a mother i think i would now be inclined to say something to my mum if they was offered to my little one but i guess times change and so does our awarness.

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Found the cereal story really interesting. I had NO idea there was 12g of sugar in just that tiny little pack and muesli??? which is branded as super healthy! Just shows how appealing these little packs of sugar are to little ones. He obviously has no idea what is inside it but was drawn to the illustration and figures on the front. Also very clever how he sneaked it in as he knew he probably wasn't allowed to have it.

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I’m a teacher and a mum and it has fascinated me reading all your comments and the Guardian article. As an Early Years teacher I have always be aware of typically 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods but it wasn’t until I had my LO that I started to really think about what I was feeding him. I’ve always had issues with my weight which has made me even more conscious about feeding him the ‘right’ foods. However after reading the article I feel that maybe I’m not as aware as I should be. My lo can eat 3 bananas a day and when he throws everything on the floor I have to admit I’m happy to give him something natural that he wants. So far I’ve managed to keep him away from processed foods and refined sugar but I know the day will come when he will become aware of these types of foods. This scares me as there’s so much parenting advice out there and it overwhelms me. Do I keep him away from sugar as long as possible? Or do I allow it in moderation?
I found one of the comments really interesting above and social class. As a working mum sometimes I just don’t have the time to make home cooked healthy meals and I have turned to organic ready meals like Ella’s. These punches I have to say are sometimes my saving grace. I ensure I buy the ones with mostly veggies and less fruit and I’m then happy that he’s had at least 2-3 of his 5 a day. However these pouches are not cheap and nor are the organic snacks which substitute normal crisps and biscuits. Of course these items can be made at home but that takes time and effort which we don’t seem to have much of these days. However at the weekend in the spare hour or two I have as he naps I enjoy doing a bit of Home made cooking and since reading this I’ve started to make my carrot cake with almond flour and minus the sugar (you can’t taste the difference in sweetness at all!). Thank you for including me finding this very interesting.

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I felt myself looking at cereals when I went to buy muslei today...it is suprising in that sugar is still high! I was interested in the mothers food diary as I have a friend has been on the Kito diet, which is similar, substituting fat for sugar. That seems so unhealthy to me...as shes eating lots of butter and oils..bacon, but she assures me the fat burns off. But what about the heart? I would love to cut out sugar but living in a country where sugar is added to milk (yes really!) And smoothies my choice is limited. People here think foreigners are so funny that they dont eat sugar...or limit sweets for kids

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12g in that tiny box.

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Had a look at the box... definitely won’t be having them for breakfast...

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I asked “where did these come from?”
My son piped up “I put them in, it’s just a small box!”
Neither my husband or I had seen them go in the trolley!

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What was funny though was when we unpacked our shopping these were in a bag...

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Ok, so I shared some of these stories/articles with my husband. He has been glaring at food labels till he went cross-eyed. So far my son will no longer have a yoghurt drink at breakfast, most cereals have now been outlawed and the mountain of mini Easter eggs which my husband bought as “fun” have been taken to his office for the staff. Sugar war has begun!

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Funny story from my son at school today. His teacher asked him to eat his sandwich (on going battle- he’s four!) which was wrapped in foil. My son replied “oh no, I can’t eat that. It’s chocolate. We aren’t allowed it at school.”
Teacher raises an eyebrow, “I’m sure Mummy wouldn’t have sent a big piece of chocolate like that when she’s knows we don’t eat it in school? Shall we open it and check?”
My son, “Oh no, it’s ok. You don’t need to look. I know it’s chocolate and not allowed!”
Teacher waits until he’s not looking and then opens the foil.
“Look O... it’s not chocolate, it’s a lovely cheese sandwich!”
My son, with head in hands “oh so it is!”

He’s really aware of the school’s healthy food policy and tried to use it to his advantage so he didn’t have to eat his sandwich! 😂 Kudos for trying son, but you’ll have to get up earlier than that to get one over your teacher!

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Reading all of this (especially the “sugar diary”) has made me worry about my son. He does have a sweet tooth (I blame his dad who also does). However, I look at him and see a fit, healthy, growing boy. His main vice seems to be what we call “fruit bars.” Basically, a breakfast style biscuit. We vary the ones we buy based on what’s on offer each week. I do scrutinise the packaging and try to go for the healthiest option but all contain some sugar. I know I could just give him a whole piece of fruit but in terms of his lunch box he has each day two portions of fruit/veg, a small sandwich or roll (egg or cheese), babybel, carton of whole milk and then his fruit bar. They are so handy to shove in a handbag too at the weekend in case he desperately needs a snack. So, I’ve decided I’m over the guilt with them. If the sugar diary mum can give her girls two chocolate biscuits a day then my boy can have his fruit bar! 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

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What a wonderful story Bev! Thank you for sharing with us. Fascinating that your little one used what he knew to be deemed as an ‘unhealthy treat’ as a way to get out of eating his healthy lunch. A very intelligent way of using what he’s been taught to his advantage 😂 I don’t think as a child I would have been so aware of what was deemed healthy and unhealthy. What are other people’s thoughts? Any other stories people would like to share?
Thank you again Bev to you and your little one 😂

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You know how I was ranting and raving about the fruit drinks a few weeks ago well the other day I was on the bus going home when a mother with her toddler sat down next to me. The toddler was absolutely fine looking around her environment and looking at the people getting on and off the bus. Suddenly the mother pulls out a fruit shoot from her bag and almost forced the toddler to drink it. Needless to say the sweet tasting drink took hold and the toddler drank the sugar concoction as if she had been left in the dessert for several days without water. To my horror once she had completed the nectar she asked for more and again to my horror the mother gave her another one. This one took a little longer to complete but finish it she did. Yes I had to say something but I really tried to be objective so I muttered "she likes those " "oh yes" she said "she gets very thirsty" "does she like water, those fruit shoots must be quite expensive" "no I get them in the pound shop 4 for a pound" I then noticed a large bag on the toddlers buggy from Poundland and from what I could see through the bag with my nosy eyes was a mass of biscuits, chocolate and those dreaded fruit shoots. I said goodbye at my stop and was walking towards my home feeling awful because I really did want to say "stop her little body cant deal with all that sugar" but I did not because I felt that I could not so I was left feeling imprisoned with my own guilt. I mean lets face it if I saw the same mother giving her toddler drugs I would have called the police. I know that it is not same thing or is it.....

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'Diary of a Sugar Mum'                                                                                                                                                                                        The Guardian
Louise Carpenter
Fri 14 Mar 2014 14.00 GMT First published on Fri 14 Mar 2014 14.00

As a mother of four I am not sure how I am supposed to feel about sugar. If I believe the anti-sugar lobby, it's "the new tobacco". Sugar rather than fat, the argument goes, is responsible for ever-rising levels of obesity. "Sugar is not addictive like tobacco," explains Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of the campaign group Action on Sugar, "but it causes just as much harm in other ways. It is an unnecessary source of calories and a major cause of obesity, thereby causing many deaths and diabetes."
The more sugar you eat or drink, the more the body stores it as fat. Hence the links to obesity. But what is emerging is just how much of what we eat is stuffed with "hidden" sugar, not just in fizzy drinks and doughnuts, but sauces, cereals, fruit juices, even fruit itself. This month Britain's chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies said "we may need to introduce a sugar tax" to help reduce the amount manufacturers put in their products.
This can be confusing for the average person who is just trying to feed their kids. And that's before addressing the counter-argument that sugar is taking too much of the blame and that overall nutrition, as well as exercise, are important too.
To try to make sense of it all, I go cold turkey for 30 days, dragging my family along for the ride. If I cut out sugar, would I feel better? Being the kind of person who steams my children's vegetables while allowing them a sticky bun at the weekend, I am a pretty good guinea pig. How much hidden sugar is really in my children's diet? And how much of life without sugar can I tolerate?

Week One
The mood of this first week free from sugar is, to quote Thomas the Tank's Fat Controller, "confusion and delay".
I've done a lot of reading: Michael Moss's bestseller Salt Sugar Fat; the blog Kate Quit Sugar; the NHS Choices website; endless press coverage; James Duigan's Clean & Lean Diet. I've watched Dr Robert Lustig's convincing lecture, Sugar: the Bitter Truth, on YouTube.
Here's what goes in the bin: Cheerios, Fruit and Fibre, Petits Filous yoghurts (my son has been known to eat three on the trot), baked beans, tomato sauce, tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce and the children's Saturday evening "treat": pizzas. Also on the way out are jam, honey and anything, frankly, that kids find tastes nice.
Where I am confused is on the issue of fruit and moderation. Fruit is laden with sugar (fructose). If, as Lustig says, fructose is "poisonous", what is moderation?
Smoothies and fruit juices, if you believe some research, are as bad as Coke (35g of sugars – nearly 9 teaspoons per can). Get rid of fruit in my children's lunchboxes? They have two pieces every day and often fruit for pudding. But a banana can have 7 tsp, grapes 1½, and a melon 12 tsp – all their favourites.
The NHS is less hardline, more sane, advising a "balanced diet" and so too is Kate Quit Sugar: "I eat fruit because it is delicious. The whole fruit includes the fibre of the flesh and also the naturally occurring fruit sugar. People have a million opinions on fruit … make up your own mind!"
But when it comes to mass-market fruit juices, even some of those sold as having relatively lower sugar content, everybody is pretty much united. They are bad. Spawns of the devil.
I decide that the fruit stays for the kids but not bananas, and no fruit for me. I supplement bananas with kiwis and lower fructose fruit such as berries, and switch to raw vegetables such as peppers and sugar snaps, which the children welcome (thank God). Brown pasta and granary bread also stay. The children are small, and I'm not prepared to experiment with them in the way I can with myself.
There's some grumbling about the cereals (20.9g of sugars – 5 tsp – per 100g ); "why do they tell us on the box they are healthy?" asks my eight-year-old. A quick life lesson there. But when I hide the chocolate biscuits (two each after school, normally: 1 tsp of sugar each) there is a riot. "You're lying! You're lying!" It's a routine for them. I relent.
As for me, the diet is a drastic change, not from cutting out sweet stuff (I'm not big on biscuits and chocolate) but from eating no carbohydrates at all (all sugar in the end). By day two, I have no energy. I have to go to bed straight after the children at 8.30. The running I started a few months ago – which brought me such mental relaxation and quick weight loss – is off the cards. I feel cross and resentful.

I seem to live on boiled eggs, almonds, coconut flakes, protein in various forms, avocado and kale. I go to the health food shop in my country town and spend more than £40 on chia seeds, quinoa, flaxseed, more coconut flakes, hazelnuts, coconut water (hideously expensive) and more kale. I'm like a crazed celebrity. By Sherborne standards, I've spent so much in one hit the shopkeeper throws in protein shake samples for free, for my planned smoothies. In Sainsbury's I buy expensive, unsweetened almond milk and a small jar of coconut oil that costs £6. Six pounds! That's the price of a chicken for the kids.
Breakfast is my main problem. The low glycemic index granola from the health shop, bought at vast expense, disappears in one sitting. It's all very well for Hollywood stars to whip up smoothies of avocado, kale, blueberries and chia seeds, but you try doing that without a housekeeper or a nanny when you've got four kids, a job and lunchboxes to pack.
So I'll leave you with an image at the end of this first week: determined to make said smoothie but not owning a smoothie maker, following a recipe, I throw into the food processor the frozen berries (low sugar), kale, chia seeds, coconut water. It all explodes over the top and onto the floor. The dog laps it up and is sick. The little one is banging his spoon on the table singing at the top of his voice "No no no sugar, never never never!" I am in so much pain with my back – which I later find out is severe constipation – that I can hardly move. I cry out in such anguish that my husband looks worried rather than bemused.
But by day seven, everybody is eating full fat Greek yoghurt sweetened with berries and topped with protein-packed nuts. Perhaps this is a new definition of good mothering? Never mind if the mother can't move.
Week Two
The backache has eased. I make a string of rather joyless suppers with quinoa and various leaves (no balsamic in the dressing) and spiced-up protein or smoked salmon. The husband confesses that one day he is so starving he eats two hot lunches at work.
The NHS recommends that we try to limit ourselves to 10tsp (40g) of added sugars a day, but some have said this should be 6 tsp for women and 8tsp for men. The World Health Organisation now recommends just 6tsp (25g) for adults. Roughly, you divide the grams by four to get the teaspoons.
I am a sad woman in the supermarket, squinting at the "carbohydrates (of which sugars)" labels. ( A free smartphone app, FoodSwitch, scans labels – measuring total fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt – and offers healthier alternatives.) Anyway, according to the NHS high sugar is more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g and low is 5g or less per 100g. A lot of innocent-looking stuff – like a boeuf bourguignon or coq au vin packet flavouring – is out for being way too high.
I must be on about 1 tsp a day now, allowing for the odd oat cake and glass of red wine (half a teaspoon), which, paradoxically, the stress of the whole project makes necessary. I realise that a significant amount of my previous sugar intake came from bread and rice, and white wine. When I reintroduce a fruit yoghurt to my son as an experiment, he goes nuts with the sugar rush.
This week's progress is shaped by a visit to London to see Dr John Briffa, author of the weight loss guide Escape the Diet Trap, who makes sense of these subtle changes in my life. The low energy is my body recalibrating its metabolism, switching its system of fuel from carbs to fats and proteins. "Hang in there," he advises. "You are going to start feeling a lot better very soon."
Eat fats to fill up, he says: "Historically, we've had this focus on fat but it appears that fat is not inherently fattening. Insulin plays a key role in fat storage and the more insulin you secrete, the more you are likely to become insulin-resistant." Basically, you eat a lot of sugar, you store a lot of weight.
Briffa is hardline on carbs, even porridge: "just a big bowl of starch". My constipation is due to a lack of water and vegetables. "I've seen hundreds of clients on this kind of diet and none of them suffer from constipation … People weren't eating granary bread and porridge two million years ago." (When I quote this back to my husband, he retorts "People didn't live long two million years ago".)
I sense my need for clear answers is irritating Briffa. I basically want him to tell me what to feed my kids. Is it not absurd for a middle-class mother, committed to fresh food, to be stressing about a chocolate biscuit and worse, fruit, in itself full of soluble fibre and goodness?
"Look," he says, "if you have normal kids who exercise, with no weight problems and no history of diabetes, a rule of thumb would be that natural sugars from fruits are OK. But if you brought an obese kid in here, I would certainly be telling you to take the fruit out of the lunchbox. And the granary roll is OK, but only as a vehicle for getting a healthier filling inside them. I can't tell you that a biscuit as a snack is good. It has no nutritional value at all.'

On Valentine's Day, my son gives me a shortbread heart biscuit covered in pink icing that he has made at playgroup. I eat it in an instant because it was made and given with such love. It's delicious. What could matter more than this?
Week Three
Two people tell me I look "fresh". I haven't been "fresh" for years. I'm waking up refreshed, which I've been craving for the last 10 years. Briffa had predicted this: my blood sugars have stabilised.
The children seem to have forgotten about cereal and fruit juice. We make our own pizza on Saturday night. Working mostly from home means I'm around at teatime, making it easier to control and plan the menu.
I've abandoned kale smoothies, which even Briffa said were hardcore, and we've settled into a scrambled egg/granola/yoghurt breakfast routine, with a bit of Weetabix for them too (shoot me). I'm working out that I resent hidden sugars more than the obvious sugars. In other words, yoghurts, sauces and cereals are worse than biscuits for me because I consciously choose to allow the biscuits in moderation.
Being the mother of three girls is a factor. Perhaps an important change in women of my generation is that none of us wants to create in our daughters food/body issues from things having been "forbidden", hence the biscuits in moderation. But my school-age girls surprise me: they have already learnt about traffic light food labelling in class. I never got any of this as a child.
With a history of mild dieting (and teenage years of pretty extreme dieting), I am resisting the urge to get on the scales. This is not about being on a diet. I have to keep reminding myself of James Duigan, personal trainer to Elle Macpherson, who in his own books agrees with Briffa: "Sugar is a nuclear fat bomb exploding all over your body," he says. The magic formula is to fill up on good fats and proteins and stabilise your blood sugar. So I continue to eat and snack on (mostly) good fats: nuts, avocado and a bit of cheese. I relax about bacon. After three decades of anti-fat programming, this feels like I'm breaking some kind of diet law.
The week closes with a spectacular display of bad behaviour. During a dinner party, I knock back a lot of prosecco (the worst), red wine and potato gratin. At the end of the evening I throw up in our bathroom. Classy. This has to be the sugar since I've drunk more before and not been such a wreck. I feel poisoned.
Week Four
I go running four times! A miracle given how I felt in week one.
The children and I agree to photographs in our home with all the food and drink we have cut out. Piles of it are laid on the table. My kids fall upon the sugar stuffs like locusts, clinging the packets to their chests and shouting requests for smoothies, chocolate bars and jelly babies – stuff they had supposedly forgotten about. They are slightly out of control and it panics me. This, is what happens when food is forbidden. I resolve to undo this psychology of the forbidden food by calibrating them ever so slightly in the opposite direction next week, when it's over.
As the week draws to a close, I feel relief like a convict waiting by the prison gates. On day 31, I wake up and the girls present me with chocolate cup cakes they have made in secret to celebrate. I eat one because my eldest daughter wants me to. I go downstairs and find a box of Belgian chocolates. I taste one. You know what? I don't even like it. Only Gwyneth Paltrow could be more annoying than that.
Postscript
Two weeks after my 30-day diet ends, it pains me to say that I continue to eat in the same way. I thought I'd be liberated – free from the tyranny – but my palate has been retrained. I find bread heavy now. I don't want rice or chocolate biscuits or pasta. Protein fills me up and keeps me going. I don't buy juice, smoothies, yoghurt or Cheerios for the children and I carry on putting raw vegetables and nuts alongside fruit in their lunchboxes. I'm certainly not going to be a militant anti-sugar mother, but I cannot find it in my heart to allow them a can of Coke, however much it's "a treat".
They continue to have their two chocolate biscuits after school, though, along with their treats on Saturday, whether it's popcorn, pizza or an iced bun, but I am now more conscious of their daily tally. Two biscuits, with juice, combined with a banana and grapes and perhaps a pasta sauce and a bowl of porridge with honey? That's too much sugar for my children in one day.
I don't believe that the levels of sugar my children eat compromise their health. They are fit and slim. But equally, I'm not prepared to be hoodwinked by products stuffed with hidden sugars. Thirty days of being on this diet has, ultimately, made me sugar-aware rather than permanently sugar-free.
And only now can I say it: if I carry on, I'll drop a jean size too, although for the first time in my life, that's really not the point.

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I can really resonate with "Diary of  a Mum" there is so much information out there about sugar and I have really tried my best to keep healthy and not eat too many carbs and do check the sugar content in the products that I buy. However, when it comes to teaching I must say I face a real dilemma many of the families I encounter and work with are not middle class and do not have the funds to buy expensive health food shop products. Many single mothers use the food banks so are grateful for any food to give their children. Having said that I still feel we all need to do something, the little children we teach are the future and we must give them the best start from a holistic perspective and that includes helping them and  their parents with vital information about food products. I do not want to set up a draconian system but maybe parent and child workshops either in school time or after might be a possibility so that we can show them how to download the sugar app that can be used in supermarkets on their phones. Or if that is not possible maybe one of the school computers can be used. We could invite health professionals to give a talk on diabetes and why it is on the increase. Most of all we would use ourselves as the vehicles that drive people to want to change and be aware that not everyone will want to.  I would also get rid of all sugar drinks coming into the school and only allow children to drink water.  These are just two ideas, I am sure you all have much more creative interventions that we could all adopt to help our parents and children.

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When I was little, sugar usually took the form of chocolate and Coke...my favourite things. Breakfast was healthy - 2 weetabix, then at school my break was a packet of crisps, and my packed lunch was a 'snack-size' Mars and Snickers bar and a bottle of Coke. Looking back its no wonder I had bad skin, and it is a wonder how I only 1 one tooth filling! But as a family we had no issue with sugar - our cupboard and fridge always chocolate and fizzy drinks, my Granny was always making buns and cakes, and we did always have healthy dinners and fruit.
Now as an adult my tastes have got more savoury - I hardly ever have chocolate, a coke is a weekend treat and my guilty pleasure is crisps (and lots of them) and I'd say I have a very, very healthy diet overall and sugar features very little (mostly in beer form!!). However, I have my own little boy now and sugar is back on my radar. he eats very healthily and his favourite snack is bananas. he does not seem to be overly interested in sweets...yet, but we will be on the lookout for when he does. The danger of chocolate was highlighted last Christmas when he got an advent calendar - just as a treat. We were strict and only gave him have the chocolate each day. But one day we thought 'Go on, give him a whole one' - well he turned into the Tazmanian Devil. Obviously the sugar had made him hyper so we are keen to avoid this again. So we have encountered the behavioural effects, but we want to avoid the health effects of excessive sugar altogether - effect on teeth, being overweight, diabetes. But we've made a positive start and we have a happy healthy little boy.

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We have wheatbix every morning with fruit added and a touch of honey. Otherwise she likes raisin bran, yogurt or toast. Never brought sweet kids cereal into the house.

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Cereal is a nightmare. Trying to find a healthy breakfast option that is fast to prepare and serve is nigh on impossible. At the weekend my son often has porridge- which does get sweetened with a little honey. But I really haven’t the time to make that every morning and the quick make packets are full of sugar. What do other people do?

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I totally agree! Interesting angle...I usually spend more time in snack sections of a supermarket comparing sugar content in foods I want my daughter to have.. where I live I literally can find no sugar free options. It is shocking when you look at the content of supposed healthy drinks marketed at kids the content of sugar...Ribena for example. It is a disgrace. Oh and dont get me started on cereal...advertising the vit content splashed across the box but turn to the back to read nutrition and they are full of sugar!

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After reading the comments about cereals and advent calendars I went to ASDA only to find that they were selling off Easter Eggs at 50p each for a large Egg. Needless to say the supermarket was swamped with over zealous Egg hunters. Families were buying as many as they could fit into their trolleys the fruit and vegetable sections remained tidy and untouched. I was just about to get on my soap box and try to deter the masses from the evils of sugar when a little voice whispered gently into my ear "so when did you become so perfect" enjoy the sun and weekend.

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Hello commentators it has been really interesting reading your comments which are often really emotive. Katie I think you have a valid point when you say that we use sugar as part of our diet on a daily basis. The only problem with that is that sugar is used in so many products it is often hidden behind strange language that many people do not understand. For instance the little drinks that parents buy their children which are singing and dancing fruit on the label are actually full of sugar and the more children drink them the more they want ironically sugar makes us thirsty. I would go so far as to say that many people are being tricked and have become slaves to the sugar market.

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I agree...but I also wonder about the sugary snack seen as a reward. Im not criticising but pondering, as I too do this with my child. But what message is that sending her? Sugary snacks are the treat if you are good. Does it place them on a pedastal? My sister raised her two kids as only having fruit as their sugar source and they were never interested in sweets...still are not. I started that way but Im surrounded by folk who give out sweets everywhere...even strangers! So its harder to limit...

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I think because of the fact that obesity is on the rise, schools and parents are becoming more aware of healthy food choices. It is even a part of the curriculum now and most teachers also take the initiative to reach out to parents in attempts to implementing a healthy lifestyle.

When it comes to children I think it’s necessary to have a balance with sugary items; parents should always ensure that they influence children to eat healthy and then have sugary items as a snack or reward. The same goes in my house now for my nephew. Sometimes when he comes home from school he wants a chocolate pudding, however my sister in law only lets him have it if he eats his dinner /food. I think keeping a balance is okay. At the end of the day, as long as the children are active, I think it is okay to allow them to have a treat every now and then :)

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Ha yes! I read about it...

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Thank you for your comments
‘It’sbeenalongweek’ has made an interesting interpretation which relates to a differentiation of knowledge and understandings among the economic classes. Data does suggest that disadvantaged families are more inclined to have overweight children? But why is this?
As as a society are we now more aware that sugar should be defined as a treat/reward than a part of our everyday diet?

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It was a bizarre sight: three mums passing buns to their kids through a school's iron railings, for all the world like daytrippers feeding animals at the zoo. "Sinner ladies" they were labelled, campaigners against Jamie Oliverism and what one of the women involved, in an unwise moment, called the "rabbit food" that the school was insisting on feeding to their children.

It's easy to write off the Battle of Rawmarsh School as a war between supporters of Jamie Oliver's healthy-eating campaign (in this case led by the school, which two weeks ago stopped its pupils straying off the premises to buy burgers at lunchtimes) and a bunch of misguided, junk-food-mad parents. But it really isn't as simple as all that, as Keith Allgood explains in the local chippy, from which some of the food passed through those railings has been bought.

"Let Jamie Oliver come in here and tell me this is junk food," he says as his assistant spatulas a slice of cod middle from the fryer.

Across the road and behind the railings, in Rawmarsh Community School's canteen, headteacher John Lambert has just finished a chicken korma with vegetable curry cooked by some of his 1,100 12- to 16-year-olds. The previous day's menu, he says, included a mixed grill of bacon, sausage, burger, tomato, poached egg and baked beans - hardly rabbit food - and, as he points out, students with lunch boxes are allowed to bring whatever food they like on to school premises.

"We don't police the contents," says Lambert. "We're very strongly in favour of healthy eating, for all the reasons shared by most schools. But our students are young adults and our policy is to explain and persuade."

So what did lead Julie Critchlow, Sam Walker and Marie Hamshaw to sneak up to 60 takeway lunches a day through the school railings for a fortnight? An uneasy truce was announced on Monday, with further talks agreed to for later this week, after an increasingly unpleasant 24 hours: claims of canteen queue chaos; allegations of abuse against the jovial staff of Chubby's sandwich shop, which is now out of bounds until 3.10pm. But the women are still angry.

When Walker, 41, and one of the protesting mothers, nervously opens one of her windows - "Sorry but I'm not answering the door to journalists any more" - she does so above a small bit of graffiti which reads: "Jamie." Hatches have been battened but she is keen to make one point: "This isn't about us against healthy food, like they've been saying," she says. "It's about how people change the rules."

Lambert says he didn't expect to be popular when he changed the rules. "When you've been able to get out of school at break time, what adolescent isn't going to complain when it stops?" he says. Healthy food was part of the thinking behind the lock-in, after two years of discussion and research. "There is no doubt that eating well helps concentration in the classroom," says Lambert. "And all the medical studies suggest that adult eating patterns are established in youth."

But road safety was the initial trigger, he says - worries about pupils darting across Monkwood Road to Chubby's and Keith Allgood's chip shop - along with complaints about litter and pupil behaviour. Waiting for his £1.10 regular-size bacon sandwich in Chubby's, street cleaner Marc Shipman is right behind the head on this one.

"Litter has almost disappeared," he says. "I'm sorry about this fuss over the school dinners. They kept a lot of us going when I was at Rawmarsh - in the same class as Sam Walker, as it happens. That were during the miners' strike and you appreciated hot helpings of meat, taties and carrots."

The trouble now is that the famous solidarity of the mid-1970s has gone - and, according to Walker and Critchlow, Rawmarsh has also made "Scargill's mistake".

"The school didn't have the decency to ask either parents or pupils what we thought about the idea," says the women's petition, whose forms are stacked on the counters of local shops, and getting plenty of signatures. "We would have liked a vote."

What they did get was plenty of information; Lambert flourishes a brightly coloured, clear, simple leaflet headed "Brunch & Lunch @ RCS", which was one of repeated bulletins about the plan in the school's Update magazine over the past two years. But as he says himself: "There's no way of knowing how many go straight in the bin." When the change came, it was unavoidably abrupt. Freedom to go out until the last day of last term; stay on site from day one this school year.

Except, of course, that going out is still going on. Chubby's suddenly fills at 12.45 with a posse of teenage girls who, as one of them demurely explains, "found ourselves on the school wall and sort-of fell off the outside side". No great angst for healthy-eating enthusiasts, though; they all bought £1 sandwiches stuffed with tuna.

"It's not just girls who keep off fatty stuff," says the shop's owner, Neil Beaumont, 34, who says he chose his business's slightly unfortunate name after seeing a pizza joint in Scarborough called Chubby's and found that he couldn't get it out of his head. "Loads of boys at the school are very keen on sports and they're really into healthy eating. You'd be surprised how much salad I sell them."

The girls claim that the new lock-in system has caused terrible queues at lunchtimes and it's this that is causing all the disobedience. Thanks to a new system of two half-hour breaks, replacing the previous 15 minutes followed by 45 minutes for lunch, some wily students are also now getting two lunches a day, one in each break, at the expense of others who get none at all.

"You can wait for 25 minutes and then five minutes just isn't time for a proper dinner," says one of the girls, before setting off to fall back over the wall the right way.

"In the first week, yes," admits Lambert. "Any new system has teething troubles. But students are good at sussing out the way things work. Most of them have sorted it out and don't have to wait any more."

Where things go next depends on how much good nature has survived the fall-out. The protesters have backed off after getting the worst of it with all the "Junk food mums" headlines, but their petition is growing.

But there is a line of negotiation that acknowledges that healthiness and Chubbyness - and maybe cod middle - could still live together in Rawmarsh after all. "Last year," says Neil Beaumont, "I got an approach from within the school about Chubby's running a take-in service of pre-booked dinner orders for students who want them. I'm very much up for that."

"It's true," says Lambert, "but there are conditions and one we haven't solved is a commitment from the shops not to serve students who go in at break when they are supposed to be on site." No more falling off the wall the wrong way, then.
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The women passing food through railings have been labelled 'junk-food mums'. But is the story really that simple? Martin Wainwright goes behind the lines

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It was a bizarre sight: three mums passing buns to their kids through a school's iron railings, for all the world like daytrippers feeding animals at the zoo. "Sinner ladies" they were labelled, campaigners against Jamie Oliverism and what one of the women involved, in an unwise moment, called the "rabbit food" that the school was insisting on feeding to their children.

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Parents climb through an overgrown garden to make their deliveries

Pupils at a South Yorkshire school are being fed fish and chips through the gates by parents who say the canteen is not providing what their children want.
Students at Rawmarsh Comprehensive are not allowed out of the grounds at lunchtime, so some parents are taking their orders for the chip shop instead.

They say pupils are not being given enough time or choice for their meals.

But the school said it aimed to provide good quality food that helped pupils to concentrate in the afternoons.

Julie Critchlow is one of the parents who delivers pupils' orders from the grounds of a neighbouring cemetery in Rotherham while the school gates are locked.

"The children aren't eating what the school provide in the cafeteria because they don't like the quality of the food," she said.

By the time the children have queued to get their lunch they haven't time to eat it

"They prefer to come to us to have their food delivered fresh and hot, which is what they're asking for. We're giving them what they're asking for."

The move is being seen as a backlash against TV chef Jamie Oliver's campaign for healthy school dinners.

But Ms Critchlow insisted it was not just about promoting junk food as they had several orders for jacket potatoes and salad sandwiches alongside those for burgers and fish and chips.

She said their actions had been prompted by the school's new half hour meal breaks, as pupils did not have long enough to eat.

"They're like caged animals at the moment," she said. "By the time the children have queued to get their lunch they haven't time to eat it."

From this term, pupils have been given two half hour breaks instead of the previous 15 and 45 minutes.

Parents say they have orders for salad rolls as well as burgers

Head teacher John Lambert said reorganising the school day and keeping pupils on site during breaks had already shown its benefits.

"Our motives are about effective education," he said. "Afternoon lateness has dropped to virtually zero and we know they are learning better in the afternoons."

He said he understood some pupils would resist the changes but believed that parents taking orders at the gates was undermining the school and their children's education.

"We aim to provide good quality food which is within government healthy eating guidelines and helps the children's learning in the afternoon," he said.

"The food that these parents are handing out is not part of a healthy eating diet and on top of that I have to question the morality of delivering it from the grounds of a cemetery.

"I just don't think it's helping their children and I don't think it's helping their children's school."

A meeting is due to be held between parents and staff next week to try to resolve the matter.

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BBC NEWS | UK | England | South Yorkshire | Parents feed pupils through gates

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Parents climb through an overgrown garden to make their deliveries Pupils at a South Yorkshire school are being fed fish and chips through the gates by parents who say the canteen is not providing what their children want.

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I do have a humourous memory though of one school where there was healthy eating snacks...i dont know if i heard of it from someone or it was my school, a while ago...where parents were sneaking in unhealthy snack though fences! They thought the teachers were just being unjust

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I wonder if its your participants that have these views, teachers, with a uni education etc...different classes have different experiences. For example, how I discussed my school within an inner city, disadvantaged area. Kids always had high sugar snacks which we tried to discourage.

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Thank you for your comments. What seems to have surfaced from your discussion is the lack of awareness surrounding food and, specifically sugar from our parents and grandparents generation. It has also emerged that this has changed over time. However, data shows that globally obesity is on the rise! With the change in awareness surrounding sugar why do you think this is?

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I teach in a free school and our school policy is super strict with almost 100% compliance - aided by the high number of allergies needing epipens which naturally keeps a lot of chocolate brands banned from the school. We also don't allow packed lunches - every child has to eat from the school canteen so the healthy food policy is super enforced with the only sugar option being a small cookie as pudding. I find students nowadays have a wider understanding of the impact of sugar on the body than what I ever had has a child and as a parent, I'm managing to raise a four year old who hates chocolate and sweets because they're too sweet!

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I remember growing up in the 80s that my Dad always had a box of Mr Kipling French Fancies at the top of the fridge where we could never reach them - he would make the box last the whole week..nowadays, I'd finish the box easily in one sitting and sometimes I wonder if it is because we were "deprived" or "Rationed" it as kids - am I making up for lost time now as an adult free to make my own choice about how much I have?

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I agree- my parents didnt view sugar as a problem. In fact worryingly so, my father ended up with diabetes. I noticed the same with my husband's parents, they would always be bringing home cream cakes, even eating for lunch! I have hardly ever brought cake into the house. As a teacher, I worked in deprived areas in the UK where kids would walk into class eating crisps or sweets. My thoughts had been well at least theyve eaten. Working abroad there is again not the concern for sugar and fast food...my jaw dropped when pizza and mcdonalds came in for a childs party. I think this is because where I have lived abroad these foods are a luxury item. Also, there is the attitude that children get what they want...not whats good for them. As for older folk and the cakes, i knew for example my in laws were aware they were bad foods. But they didnt smoke nor drink so i guess its just which vice do you choose? For example, mine isn't sugar, but it is coffee and ...in a liquid sugar form i guess, wine.

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Growing up, we always had sweets in the house .. ranging from cookies to icecream to chocolate. My siblings and I had a good control over it and enjoyed these as a treat.

My sister has been staying over after the birth of her twins. Towards the end of her pregnancy, she developed pregnancy diabetes and had to control her sugar intake and what she ate. Because of the struggle of picking and choosing what to eat, she came to the realization that having to live this way with diabetes (this was temporary) is tough and she can’t imagine living this going forward. Luckily she got it under control and it was over by the time she delivered. Because of this experience she now ensures her two other boys aged 4 and 6 do not consume too much sugar as anyone at any age can develop diabetes. She told me that her sons teacher at school also sent out a friendly note to parents as a part of “healthy eating” in the curriculim to not send children with juice/juice boxes and to send healthy snacks. My sister implemented this practice at home too and only gives ONE glass of juice with a meal/dinner and the second glass has to be water.

I am a teacher, so I see the change in schools as well in terms of fizzy drinks. When I was in school, fizzy drinks such as pop and the holy Vanilla Coke were easily available in vending machines all throughout elementary to high school. Now, schools have got rid of the vending machines alotogether in efforts to implement and practice healthy habits and to avoid childhood obesity!! I personally think this is a great initiative and good start!

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I can’t remember what I ate when I was really small (obviously) but I know that we never really “snacked.” But looking at my soon to be four year old- I constantly provide snacks! Trying to keep them healthy is a real challenge. Everything has sugar in! My husband and I often eyeball contents labels in the supermarket looking for healthier options- it’s so difficult. And then, living where we are there are so many sweet treats available. Two weeks in a row we have eaten brunch as had family over and I dread to think of the number of tablespoons of sugar that my son ate during it! Ice cream, cakes, countless marshmallows and jelly sweets!

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As a child, my sister and I were often greeted by mum with a packet of sweets. Always one though that she snapped in half so we could share. There was always an odd sweet which she ate! In terms of fizzy drinks we didn’t really have them in the house as small children. I remember only having them at parties and panda pops on holiday or the pub! Then, when I was around 10 the “pop man” started to deliver glass bottles of fizzy drinks- cream soda, tropical crush, cherryade and cheap cola. Ironically we seemed to have a glass with supper before bed (I am remembering that correctly aren’t I Fi?).

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Thank you all for your comments, and Janice for the first narrative surrounding family food habits.

It is very interesting how our attitudes towards food have changed, specifically surrounding sugar.

Beverley, I found your point about how your views have changed now that you are a parent; very interesting! It also appears that our parents were not as focused on sugar as being an issue!

Do other people feel the same? If so why do you think this is?
Also from a teachers perspective can you see a shift in parents attitudes surrounding the foods they eat?

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Hello

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Hello.

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I can identify with both of these stories. I am glad that I was not subjected to high-sugar content foods as a child. I also agree that yes, the market is probably saturated with sugary snacks/drinks.

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I guess also that culturally chocolate within my family was the norm, but middle-class healthy food choices were not.

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Also, I never viewed chocolate as a 'luxury'. Ironically, from a working-class family these were cheap. What was a luxury to me was exotic cheeses (other than cheddar) and different cooked meats (opposed to wafer ham). My neighbour had these things and sometimes her mum would invite me to share lunch. I found this thrilling amd amazing, I loved the choice compared to the cheese pr ham samdwich I would have at home. I wonder if it is this, possible saturation with sugar choices as a child, which has led me to concientiously choose healthy choices as an adult and have 'picnics' with my little girl of these exotic cheeses and cold meats.

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Great story! I relate and don't relate to 2 points
1. I was from the 80s generation, so along from this. One of my first experiences of sugar was in relation to my dad, he would treat me to sweets and often would come home with a snickers bar for me. Being from a large fanily this felt incredibly special, as he had chosen it just for me. I would wait for him to come home and run to receive it.
2. The friend in the story struck a cord with me. I had a friend who went to disney bringing back the most exotic sweets. She would let us taste them and I thought she was the coolest kid I knew for that. She actually ended up starting her own business buying and selling these sweets as they were so popular.
Later in life, whilst still not up on nutrition as a student, I would often skip meals. I remember buying a chocolate to appease the craving, sometimes id even have shakes until I got the chocolate.

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When I reflect on the term ‘sugar’ I reminisce about my primary school years in the early 1960s. When I look back I see that there was a relationship with sugar and that relationship entwined with other relationships. My father always carried a ‘Mars’ bar in his pocket he never shared it with me and I didn’t expect him to. Listening to the TV advert for Mars ‘A Mars a day helps you work rest and play’ I surmised that my father needed it to take care of my mother and I.

At Primary school my best friend was Sally she was petite and beautiful I was fat and clumsy. Sally dressed in modern short dresses with different coloured sandals; her hair moved gracefully and never looked a mess. Each of her outfits had a hair band to match she was perfectly decorated. My clothes were second hand they came from my cousin in Canada where the dress code for children was different so I often looked out of place. I stood out like an extra terrestrial I really wanted to hide away but my strange clothes meant I was always on display ‘a freak’. My hair never behaved itself so my mother put in up in a tight bun every day, the hair grips that kept it in place hurt my head so much so that I felt my face would stretch under the strain and remain that way but I never complained because it was futile the bun would be there the next day whatever.

Although Sally’s mother worked at the school every day as a dinner lady Sally always went home to lunch, she went to her Aunt’s house where she had exactly what she liked to eat. On her return to school she always brought with her two bars of chocolate or a packet of fruit gums she always had two. She never shared them with me and I never expected her to. Sally was perfect and I wasn’t she deserved sweet rewards and I didn’t.

The children of the early sixties treated sweets as a luxury; they were in your stocking at Christmas and were gulped down immediately for fear that they might disappear. Lemonade and coke a cola and other sugar drinks were again just for Christmas and birthday parties we never had them throughout the year. Sally on the other hand had whatever she wanted all year round. Sally’s mother would sometimes invite me to tea and I relished and devoured the feast of high carbohydrate high sugar foods. My mother never invited Sally to our house just as well because I’m sure she would not have been impressed with our frugal diet of plainly cooked meat and boiled vegetables. A rich tea biscuit just one with a cup of tea was a treat in the evening before bed.

I lost touch with Sally when we went to secondary school I got a scholarship to a private grammar school and Sally went to a secondary modern. I never remember her congratulating me and I never expected her to.

I am now a grandmother and thankful that I was not subjected to the onslaught of sugar from a young age, I’m glad it was only for special occasions. I look around me and I see a world of Sally’s and parent s with absolutely no insight to the damage a high sugar diet can do to their children’s health. Or perhaps like Sally’s mother they feel that this constant rewarding with sugar is an act of love.