Some parents may be concerned about what children will get up to and who will be supervising at an over-12 year old’s party… but how many of us think about the safety of a party when a child is turning 5, or 7 – about all the sugary food and additives in food our children will be eating there, for example?
As a parent, and a Medical Herbalist with a passion for food, it never ceases to amaze me what one finds on the tables at a kid’s party. It’s sugar and chemicals, really, just disguised as candy canes, lolly pops, biscuits, chips, cup cakes, jelly, fizzy drinks and sweets, to name just a few.
But… all kids love these things and we can buy them in the supermarket, so surely they are safe?!!! Our kids are brought up on these manufactured, sugary foods. We (well some of us adults) even enjoy them too. So how bad can they be?
Well, pretty bad, actually: and I didn’t have to do a two or three year degree on nutrition to figure this out for myself. To understand additives in food, all I did was use a little pocket book called ‘The Chemical Maze’, a guide to all the mysterious numbers on food labels – and their harmful side effects. I recommend it – it will inspire you to clean out your fridge and cupboards.
I totally understand that our children get excited, but they really do go mad at some parties and this may be because of food colourings, additives and preservatives, (and that’s all without considering the sugary foods themselves!), many of which have side effects that include hyperactivity.
Some people say, “Oh, it’s just once in a while and it’s only a small amount”. But the fact is, at a party, children can consume a lot of these additives and colours throughout the day, all in different foods, which then become a chemical bomb inside their digestive system.
Just think about it… some snacks, a piece of cake smothered with icing, sprinkles and jelly snakes, a fizzy drink, a lollipop and the lolly bag to take home (and that’s a conservative estimate). It is already a lot of sugary food and additives mixed into the child’s small digestive system and it is quite a challenge for a body that size to process.
What’s worse, when we notice the terrible behaviour resulting from the foods the children have consumed, we get upset and ask them to settle down. How can they possibly settle when they are ‘wired’ on all the sugary food and additives they have consumed?! Their nervous system is racing, and they are buzzing with hyperactivity. We then tell them to sit still and we get mad at them when they don’t.
I recently went to a party for a 6 year old and the only treat that was ‘special’ was the cake. There were lots of delicious, nutritious snacks such as fruit kebabs, homemade muffins that were sugar free, sushi, meatballs, mini egg and salmon bites, hummus and carrot sticks, and homemade strawberry and banana ice cream. It was a beautiful party… the children, all 20 or more of them, all played together. The boys were not tackling each other; there was no crying, screaming or tantrums… just laughter and giggles of delight.
And then… my eight year old daughter went to a birthday party with her friends (I didn’t attend this one with her), and when she got home, she was a mess – she was behaving no differently to someone who was coming off drugs.
Nothing was right… her tummy hurt… she was crying… she wouldn’t eat her dinner… she kept hurting herself – it was really challenging. I asked her what she had eaten and the list was shocking – she had not eaten a single food that would have given her any sustenance. My daughter had spent an entire afternoon on junk food, which included sugary food and an obvious array of additives in the ‘food’, and her behaviour was a great indicator of that.
It was that night that I was inspired to write this article, after I had taken some time to just be with her and allow her some down-time in nature. For parents to become aware of the ingredients in their children’s food is very powerful. I was unaware of these issues with sugary food and additives in food until 8 years ago, but I am now so grateful for the information.
Inspired by my daughter and presentations by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, where I also learnt about loving food choices.
By Rosie Bason, Mullumbimby, NSW
It’s never a one off situation either because once you have it in your system theres a craving for more of it that lasts a few days. If not addressed it becomes a continuous top-up.
Being a parent is about being responsible for helping children understand cause and effect and they learn most from observing their parents.
Parents tend to worry about what their children will get up to when they are teenagers whilst knowingly allowing them to pollute their bodies with sugar and additives in ever greater quantities when they are younger and suffering the consequences of the out of control behaviour that so often ensues.
However if children have grown up discussing the impact of their choices, dietary and otherwise, they are more likely to recognise when their choices as teenagers are not self-loving and that they have the option to make different choices.
I agree with you Helen, we are always talking to the children in our family about choices whether it is food or the consequences of behaviour. This way they have a clear understanding and then as they grow up they know they have a choice and it is then up to them which choice they make. You cannot stop anyone from making bad choices it is their free will and their learning, we as adults can lead by example by living a life that is enriching and inspiring.
When you break down what is on our birthday tables like that it is quite worrying and no surprise that we have addictions to sugar and food. With my public health hat on, I wonder if the food at kids parties starts a ‘treat’ mentality that transfers into adult life. The treats we look for at adult parties take on a slightly different make up but the aim is still the same – to alter the feeling so you can really ‘get into’ the party mood. Public health alarms going off left right and centre for addictions and health problems related to weight.
Parents are very slowly becoming more aware of the chemicals, sugar, preservatives, and additives in much of our food, and the effect this has on their children, ‘I totally understand that our children get excited, but they really do go mad at some parties and this may be because of food colourings, additives and preservatives, (and that’s all without considering the sugary foods themselves!), many of which have side effects that include hyperactivity.’ I totally agree Rosie.
Food for thought! And considering the amount of illness, disease, suicides, corruption and obesity maybe well worth the energy to eliminate these “chemical bombs” that have been so addictive in our behaviours.
In Dutch we have a saying along the lines: ‘learned you, done at old age’. If you experience as a child that it is perfectly okay to trash your body when you are young at parties, what behavior do we see with adults? It is super difficult to connect to yourself with these amounts of sugar / substances in your body and almost impossible to connect to others. But what are parties about then?
Thanks Rosie, it’s a simple case of observing children as the influx of false energy via the sugar sends their bodies into overload. I remember one Christmas many years ago my Mum had hidden a bag of toffees under her bed in preparation for Christmas Day. Our tiny dog had scratched open the bag and eaten some. The way we found out was our dog was racing sound the house, very speedy, and we couldn’t settle her down. We eventually found the bag of toffees and the empty wrappers and realised she was on a sugar high and had to walk her around the neighbourhood to help bring her out of it. Sugar has crept into our lives as a harmless “fun” substance but it’s very detrimental for the body.
True Rosie, we need to inform ourselves as parents, grandparents but basically all of us as the food industry will supply what we demand. Why do we have the idea when there is a party we have to spoil our kids with unhealthy treats, candies and junkfood. Is it our own relationship with food that’s in the way to be honest and clear about the effects certain foods have on our children, our grandchildren and on ourselves.
I would say yes, because in some way we know it is not healthy so we deny ourselves but then ‘live’ or ‘re-live’ the experience of that high and that supposed fun through our children or grandchildren.
Children learn from adults, adults learn from other adults and children learn from other children. The more I feel into my food, what is supportive and what is not for my body, that allows someone to learn from me.
I would say you are on to something here…the intensity is similar there are fights, screaming ,chaos, not so different from alcohol. Also something I have noticed is when my children have eaten sugar at parties they remind me of how I used to be after drinking, tripping over, bumps, bruises, grumpy and wired not really connecting with other people. Scary stuff, and something to look at as a society. As a parent we get to role model, so is it excess, indulgence or is it care and love. Be it food, work, life anything…what are our children learning?
Lovely and how cool, to have a mom like you ! Simply because we care about our children not consuming poison that makes us behave crappy.
I recently went to a kids party and I went towards the end to pick up my child and I was not surprised to see the array of junk food. What I also saw was a plate of veggies and broccoli on the table but most of the parents were eating them. The children seem to be more interested in the junk food and sweet treats.
There is more and more evidence about how sugar behaves in the body no different to alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. My experience in giving up sugar certainly highlighted the addictive stranglehold it has on us and it is no surprise that children’s behaviour goes haywire when sugar is consumed. The importance of developing awareness with how our bodies feel when we consume sugar and food in general is paramount for us living with true well-being and vitality, free from addictions and the artificial highs and the crash and burn that some foods such as those filled with sugar leave us feeling.
What I find really interesting is that if you don’t feed your child any sugar, you are considered an extremist, yet if you feed your child sugar and they go to the extreme behaviours, this is considered very normal.
It is interesting to see what we have normalised. I have normalised not eating sugar and I don’t have it in my house but for another that is very not normal!
Great point MW. I’ve had disapproving comments from a few people I know because I refuse to buy my children any treats with refine sugar in it. Sugary foods are considered as a treat and a reward in our society and going against the trend I find can sometime upset some people.
Thank you Elizabeth, us adults are affected just as much as the children, but we have become masters of numbing the effects the same foods have on us. And really if we are as adults are consuming this, it is no wonder that the children follow in our foot steps as we are their role model after all.
It is interesting now having a teenager and watching the choices she makes but what I really love is because she has had many years of not bombarding her body with loads of sugar, now when she chooses to have it, she can clearly feel the effects for herself.
This is my point…. we are training them young, that is how I see it.
That’s a great point Willem, it’s like we’re prepping them or getting them used to chemicals or substances that alter how they feel so that when it comes to the crazy parties as they grow up it’s not really any different.
Wow – I find the difference you describe between your daughter after a party eating sugary junk food and her after a party eating healthier food fascinating. For me I know sugar is a drug, because if I start eating it I actually can’t stop, it’s totally addictive and I start to feel different in myself. Parents must observe this difference in their kids so I find it interesting that they continue to provide them with food and drinks that completely change the behaviour, rather than searching for alternatives that leave a child free to be who they are.
I have done it myself, we give our children these things to please them, to be liked and there is actually no love in doing that!
I’ve seen this too, often parents want the emotional high of pleasing their kids by giving them unheathy treat foods, it’s like comfort eating but more aptly described as comfort feeding.
Something to appreciate is the way our body shows the truth of how food is for us. All we have to do is open our eyes and be willing to see that these substance can really hurt you and me. Then we can begin to make choices not based on taste buds or will power but a building of a body of Love. Thank you Rosie.
I have noticed it lately, I had some sugary foods and then found myself being really grumpy and talking in a nasty way and I shocked myself and then try to figure out what and why and I tracked it back to eating sugar.
I love what you’ve shared here Joseph, building a body of love supports us to say no to any unloving food choices. Going about this with will power and discipline I find doesn’t work.
We give our children such contradictory messages, sugar-laden ‘treats’ at birthday parties and then expecting them to process it without imposing their out of control behaviour on us. Children can feel the contradiction in that and someone recently shared with me how she had followed her daughter’s request for only sweet things at her birthday party and was shocked by the chaos that followed. As adults we need to take responsibility for what we are feeding our children but that involves us being willing to explore our own relationship with food as well which for many is very challenging.
It is challenging to look at our own relationship with food and treats and it is also very challenging to step outside the status quo, do something different, stand out and not fall into doing things that go against your grain just to please others and fit in.
Absolutely we need to be honest about how we eat and why, same with alcohol and why and how we drink as adults. If we can not honest about these behaviours ourselves it is really damaging for children to feel the hypocrisy of something being said but not lived. It is important to not just assume that what we consume is ‘normal’ just because it happens in society, it is worth questioning how it feels and how we behave after we have consumed it, so what feels true for us and our bodies. What we consume often hurts our bodies, develops illness and detrimentally effects our relationships, if we are exhausted, checked out, wired the connection we have with others is severely impacted. Just a pizza and a bottle of wine can from that one a Friday night…etc.
I see this with technology as well. Parents complain that their child is grumpy, uncooperative and aggressive. Yet don’t want to look at their own screen usage as they need it for whatever they need it for.
Yes so many choose to be blind to what is happening because they do not want to change their own behaviour.
I have witness what you have shared Rosie in my-self over the last 25 years and as I gave up sugar some 35 years ago I find this blog amazing in it’s detail that it could be a description of my adult life. So maybe even when we give up certain foods we only find replacements that are more refined but still end up giving us a fix that ends up with down time after a high? It was this way for me for many years! And or because we can as adults use drugs to numb and also lift our energy systems but what is it doing to our nervous system? Maybe this could be part of why mental illness is on the rise?
We do not know whether we are Arthur or Martha when we get to our elder years when we have been on a diet based around sugars ten our wires get crossed and send us loopy because of all the bouncing-around that goes on in our body when we do sugars, alcohol and drugs as a normal daily ritual?
Interesting to see another way that is so simple with no rules just feeling what foods are doing to our body and then shifting into a diet that Truly supports our body as we get older. And it is never too early or late to start making changes all we have to do this with honesty and feel what is going on within our body and be open to discussion or true internal dialogue.
” But… all kids love these things and we can buy them in the supermarket, so surely they are safe?!!! ”
This is the way it should be , one should not be able to legally buy harmful foods or drink or really harmful anything. But one has only to look as the fact that a person can buy cancer sticks ( commonly know as cigarettes ) just about anywhere.
To me it is a shame and a lack of responsibility from the parents.
No science or nutrition degree was needed from me either – my body absolutely new at a very young age that these foods didn’t work. It’d get migraines as a kid going to birthday parties – with additional side effects. As I became a teenager someone offered that additives could be an instigator and so I explored and discovered my body knew what foods worked and what didn’t. I’m never ‘missing out’ when the alternative is ‘being a mess’.
When I was a child, I never wanted to eat those sugary foods and drinks that were in the birthday parties. My body spoke clear and loud too. I used to think then: why do they always celebrate with cakes? Now I would ask: why celebrating the numbness? why numbing the celebrations?
I understand what you are saying Sandra, its a lot more fun to not have the junk and to not have the migraine! It is interesting how our bodies respond in different ways to various foods and drinks and even how there are times when we can be quite numb to the effects and other times when we are super sensitive and reactive.
It’s a wonder it is at children’s parties because that’s all I see in corporate organisations’ celebrations – a table full of every food that is harmful for your body.
This reminds me of most offices, where staff eat things at lunch and then by the afternoon they all need a nap. So it’s not just an issue for children, but adults too.
It is the same in schools, some children’s lunch boxes are no different to this and they consume a lot of preservatives and sugar daily. Their behaviour after lunch can be extreme and then by the afternoon very sluggish- yet this has become quite normalised. It is definately something that needs more attention.
We really do have to be aware of advertising and how misleading it can be and trust what we feel more than anything.
It is so incredibly revealing to look at people’s shopping carts in supermarkets, and then to look at these peoples relationships to their bodies, and to see, revealed very clearly the relationship between bodies and what we eat.
Yes I do find shopping carts and their drivers quite fascinating! It does reveal a lot.
Our bodies are such amazing indicators as to the suitability of the food eaten. I remember as a child coming home from birthday parties with migraines and vomiting. As a very young teenager I started to work out it was the artificial everything in all the sweet foods that triggered this.
Just about every parent knows the consequence of feeding children loads of sugar, they become hyperactive and in some cases just totally out of control. Why would one do this to their kids and call it a celebration .
No matter what our age is our human bodies are founded on a delicate synchronicity of rhythms and harmony. Time will tell what the long-term effect of how the ‘chemical bombs’ from the additives and colours so commonly eaten today in our foods and drink affect not only our digestive system but entire body.
My daughter is now a teenager and recently said to me, that even though she doesn’t chose the healthiest options right now, she actually appreciates that I gave her healthy foods when she was young and that she is healthy and not obese. I can’t control what she eats these days, and I don’t try… and she is quite aware when certain foods make her bloat or get a belly ache. I love it because her knowing comes from an understanding that xyz = this or that and with that, she makes her choices and suffers her own consequences.
When you see the breakdown of what sugar actually does to the body, and when you begin to experiment with it and how much it affects how we feel day to day, our mood swings, our energy, our capacity to work consistently and enjoy what we do – you know 100% there’s nothing innocent or harmless about sugar and the amount of it we think it’s normal to consume.
Sugar, is so addictive and so normal that people don’t even want to know or understand what it is doing to them… and so many will put their blinkers on and cover their ears… la la la, I can’t hear you… and carry on because they don’t want to have to change or look at why they really want the sugar hit. It really is no different to any other drug addiction.
How many times have I heard the words: ‘It’s only a little; they only have it once in a while; and the most used one of all – everything in moderation’? Way too many times! I have seen the results of ‘just a little’ on children and it’s not too much different from having a lot. Anything that contains excesses of sugar, colouring and preservatives in my experience is poison to a young child’s body. These little bodies are so precious so until a child understands the impact of these ‘foods’ on their little bodies it is our responsibility as adults to monitor what they eat, as much as we can, and that definitely starts with reading and understanding labels; and that I feel can only benefit us and our food choices as well.
Ah Everything in moderation, that is such a common phrase and instantly makes me think of the person who drinks alcohol, thinking that a little bit in moderation is okay, but it is a poison after all, so how could even just a little be okay. It is the same with some junk foods. They really shouldn’t be called food because they are far from it, and they too are like a poison to the body. They don’t bring any good, in fact all they do is harm.
This blog needs to be read by all parents, to me children’s parties are like going to ‘Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory’!…..
I am not a parent but I have been around children majority of my life and it is sad that parties are full of sugar, additives etc – I seldom see home, loving cooked foods anymore like the party you and your daughter attended.
The food industry will continue to supply anything when there is a demand for it. The reflection of a responsible parent is clearly written here in this blog, time for parents to take on that responsibility instead of blaming or labelling their children with fancy names.
Yes, yes yes to more home made real food and stop the demand for processed rubbish. Seriously, we can’t blame the producers…. as they are only supplying to a demand. If we stop demanding and buying, and start cooking at home…. now that is when we make a difference.
In a school in America where they were having a lot of behavioural problems with the kids with bullying aggression and violent uncontrolled behaviours, the Teachers decided to trial a program with the kids by providing them with healthy nourishing food daily, as many had no breakfast and often no lunch and if they did it was full of junk food, the results were amazing, and over the weeks the behaviour of the children dramatically changed from being out of control and disruptive in class to now becoming teachable, it shows the huge effect how the type of food we eat has on our bodies.
That is great that they did it, but it is common sense. I know I feel a bit crazy if I haven’t eaten in ages or if I have eaten the wrong foods for me!
Thank you, I didn’t know of this trial but I have heard of others similar. There is so much evidence to show how we really are what we eat and how we eat. The fact that these children had regular meals gave them a known structure, or rhythm, to their day, this allows for a feeling of settlement in the body and a kind of healthy security.
There are so many substances or activities that can be consumed and used to take away the constant tension of our pull towards evolution. Children equally know this tension and they learn from adults that this is just one such way that the tension can be momentarily relieved.
A great blog Rosie, exposing the impact and harmful effects of sugar. The examples you gave are so typical of the behaviours of children and parents; sugary foods are everywhere and so freely available. It is the parents responsibility to guide, support and put boundaries around the consumption of sugar; as you did Rosie. What you have expressed is a great example and guide for parents.
Such ‘treats’ were seen as a big time special thing when I was a kid. We would get so excited over the colourful soft drinks, the lollies, chocolates, chocolate biscuits and cake, especially growing up in a household where such things weren’t laid on at all. It all became associated with treats, fun and, if I may say, the ‘richer’ kids whose households, parties and indeed lunch boxes seemed to overflow with the stuff…
Was there a call societally to truly look at the benefits of a sandwich full of ‘hundreds and thousands’ (tiny sugar balls)? No, definitely not. It may have been seen as ‘a bit lacking’, with a bit of a ‘tssk’ towards the white bread… but no big deal.
Thing is, both then and now, we know better. And today, we have more resources than we can count on about the impact of just sugar upon our health and wellbeing – easy to access as you’ve shared Rosie. And then today also, I continue to hear stories of kids who arrive at school with no lunch boxes at all, not even the sugar and chips-filled ones I once (erroneously) envied.
What quality of life and health do we truly want for our children? Are we not seeing the signs of increasingly younger diagnoses of childhood diabetes and obesity that call for a far greater societal responsibility?
It disturbs me seeing how many children these days have obesity or diabetes and knowing that they only have access to the food that feeds that disease because someone is buying it for them. It is different when you are an adult and you make that choice, but young kids just do what their role models do.
Amazing the lines we can come up with such as “Oh, it’s just once in a while” – why would we want to poison our children our ourselves even once?
Like the expression of having a weekend treat, why would you abuse yourself just because it is a different day of the week.
It is a strange habit that it is the norm to teach children to celebrate a birthday by consuming sugar and additive laden food and drink that so clearly makes them behave in racy and hyperactive ways. A pattern that so many of us took into our adult lives. As parents – and grandparents – we have a responsibility to change the ‘norm’.
Such an important topic. When I look at kids lunch boxes today a large amount of them are full of high processed foods. We often wonder why there is such a rise in behaviour issues in children in schools yet we often don’t pay enough attention to the types of food they are eating. I now I would be having a total meltdown if I sat down at lunch and ate what was in one of these lunch boxes. We do need to be more aware on a regular basis of what is going on.
A meltdown is a good word to describe how you feel after consuming such foods and really we can’t call what is often found in a lunch box at school food because it is far from it.
just imagine the difference it would be for teachers if what was sold at school in the canteen was actually understood to be a real responsibility instead of that absurd state we have now that just feeds the sugar addiction with the resultant disturbances in classrooms
It would be the complete opposite to what it is now, if children were offered food that nurtured them and supported their learning instead of the sugary, carbohydrates that leave the kids distracted, stimulated and all over the place.
Yes, 100 % agree Willem, they affect us too as adults and many of us have become numb to the effects and learnt behaviours to suppress the outburst of anger or the sugar rush so to speak.
What struck me this morning re-reading your blog was that the book you consulted was called The Chemical Maze which reflects the twists and turns that we as a society have taken with our relationship to additives and the biggest additive of all, sugar. Sugar has no benefits and yet we carry on feeding it to our children as a ‘treat’?! We are certainly lost in a maze but it is of our own making and we can choose to find our way out at any time.
It sure is a maze, and simply taking the time and reading the ingredients is a great start. Understanding them helps too!
So true, we have just normalised that this is what happens at kids parties when everyone knows that it ends in a meltdown and kids losing it. It is no different with kids lunch boxes at school- the amounts of highly processed foods in kids lunch boxes today is alarming and then we expect them to be able to go into class and focus- we don’t role model to them how to support their bodies so that they can settle to learn.
It is so unsopportive to send our kids to school high on sugar and expect the teachers to deal with it.
I gave a friend a lift home yesterday, she is 14 and she talked about sugar and how she breaks out and how it effects her skin and how it makes her feel, she spoke openly and honestly but then said its impossible to avoid because it is in everything and you get so used to it, that anything without it taste so bland. This is a fact and what I explained was it takes a lot to give it up and dedication to avoid it slipping in, in all different forms of food but once you do get it out of your diet, what once tasted bland, can actually taste quite sweet its just its not sweet if you are used to the sweetness of sugar.
This is not normal that a child behaves this way but the reality is it has become normal. We have a problem on our hands and no one wants to see the intruder in the room and call it out.
Thank you for highlighting the effects of sugar on your daughter Rosie. I feel there should be a health warning on all things containing sugar. Sugar is no different to a drug for children (and adults) and like drugs it is addictive and difficult to stop taking. We give children sugary sweets and chocolate as a treat and so it is seen as a reward. At the check outs in a supermarket recently I saw a child go into a frenzy because she couldn’t wait for her chocolate buttons to go through the till, this is not normal but her mother just laughed it off and gave her the chocolate to pacify the child’s frenzy
This is such a great sharing. Even though I have been eating sugar free for a couple of years, reading this blog I still noticed that I had a belief of sugary treats being normal at a (kids) party. Yet it isn’t! It really shows how much we accept as being normal when in fact it isn’t and we would not find it normal if we took the time to think about it. So thank you for sharing and breaking one of these ‘normals’ that are not normal and I loved reading about the party with the sugar free and other delicious snacks… I am inspired for later!
What we think of as normal today would have seemed insane if you had mentioned it to our great great grandfathers.
When I first started to check for sugar in foods, having decided that I wanted to finally let it go from my diet , I was amazed at how it was included in just about everything and began to wonder if I could live without it. Now, several years later, I enjoy a wonderful array of meals and never lack variety and sugar does not feature in any of them. It does mean that I freeze a lot more food because I tend to make enough for several meals at a time and store it for when I might need it later. I have changed some of the recipes I had for cakes and biscuits so that my friends with children can enjoy these things and realise that there is a lot we can do to make delicious food without resorting to sugar, butter and cream for our treats.
I freeze some of my stuff too and I find that I take a bit more time and am a bit more creative but what I prepare is delicious and healthy and my friends and I are worth that time.
Sugar sneaks in to our foods and drinks in all kinds of ways. It is great when we realise that things actually taste better without it and we don’t have the side effects from it.
I heard something today. Most children are introduced to their first sweet substance from the first year of life and the the first addictive substance that we take in and as children. I recall a friend many years ago saying that she didn’t not want her child to have any sugar and certainly while she had a say in what he eats. What was surprising was the reactions of other parents and friends, thinking that her son was missing out on something. How strange that we think we are missing out on something that eventually impacts on our health in a negative way and yet we don’t celebrate someone making true and very wholesome food choices for themselves and their families.
I found it really hard all the comments I got from others, to make me out as a mean person because I was putting her health and her teeth over the sugar addiction. I knew she would eventually have it but I was quite happy to delay that for as long as possible. It shows now with her teeth as she does not have lots of fillings as many her age do.
When I started to cut out sugar in my diet I was amazed at how so many foods had added sugar or sugar substitutes. And now it is difficult to find medicines without sugar too. How wonderful when we can spend time with children letting them make food free of sugary substances . Giving them a chance to see how to make biscuits and cakes in a way that is far less harmful and letting them realise the benefits firsthand.
Yes so many sugar substitutes and some are so artificial and I don’t think they have been around long enough for anyone to really know what their side effects are.
I recently bought the sugar film but haven’t watched this yet. I haven’t heard of the book Chemical Maze but might look it up. The first children’s party you attended sounded so lovely with so much care, attention and love put in the food the children will be eating and this reflected in how there were at the party. The second party, with lots of sugar is one that many people have. Slowly, slowly I think more and more people are becoming aware of just how harmful sugar is. In the UK Jamie Oliver (a chef) has been promoting this around the country as well as the food that is served to children in schools. But yes sugar is like a drug as you so clearly saw with your daughter when she came back from the second party.
The sugar film is great, it really exposes a lot and all kids should watch it too, not just the parents.
Wow Rosie – what a marked difference it is to consider, as parents, what we are feeding our kids. Like you shared here – there is a fun way to provide food for kids, and it can be low in sugar and preservative free. It just takes a bit more time, sure, but that is so worth having a party full of kids who are themselves.
And actually what can be fun is getting the kids involved in making and prepping healthy food. You can make it fun and playful.
My children did not have sugar or additives when young, which they were fine with, that is what they had grown up with, interestingly it was both sets of grandparents who had issues with this, interesting how our belief systems can impact on what we innately know to be true.
Yes, it is interesting how others react to our choices.
It feels as if the menu’s at children’s parties are changing where I live, I feel very fortunate to be here as almost every party I have been to there has been hummus, carrots and cucumber at the very least, often with cherry tomatoes and fresh fruit. There is usually junk food too by way of crisps, the birthday cake itself and possibly sweets in the going home bags but there is definitely an awareness from both parents and venues that hold events for children. Let’s hope this continues to grow as children’s birthday parties which are full of joy are a dream to be at.
I remember my children on return from birthday parties where so much sugar was consumed. High as kites and couldn’t sleep at bedtime. No different in a way to adults after an alcohol or drug-fuelled party.
Rosie this is really powerful to see the real intent and effects of sugar – and how this is actually a drug that is taking everyone (young or old) away from themselves, in hyperactivity, disconnection and extreme behaviours as a result. And that if we were truly honest, we can admit that we actually give our children drugs which is the same effects as when we as adults use any drug or consume sugar. We tend to see more clearly in children what the result of sugar is because their system (body) is yet so small, and they are more open, honest and sensitive to show what it really does, and what effects it has on them, as they cannot fight it. Maybe we as adults just seem to cover up our sugar intake and the real effects of it?
Yes as an adult it is not socially acceptable to run around screaming, doing kart wheels through the office so we have learnt to control our body when it’s high on sugar!
We really do need a major wake up call about sugar and children’s diets, your words about a young child’s party being a safety issue due to the food was a great way to communicate this. What your daughter experienced as a result of party food was very stressful for her body and no doubt traumatising for both of you. It’s interesting that we see love as indulging children with junk food and filling their bodies with rubbish, yet there is no love or care in this at all.
Great article Rosie… the hidden harm on labels does not hide the outward harm that can be clearly seen and witnessed by those choosing to be aware and connect the dots.
I totally agree, I have been to many kids parties that have turned ugly due to the spread of ‘food’ that was available, I put food in adverted commas because essentially there was no food at these parties, just piles of uppers.
We say often defend being able to spoil kids with this type of food, we say it as if its innocence part of childhood but until recent times we actually have never had this amount of package food with this many numbers on the sides of the wrapper, full of sugar and chemicals, so it is interesting that diabetes is on the rise and the heath epistemic is rife everywhere, makes you wonder how innocent it really is?
It does make me wonder about the idea that kids like sugar. Do they really like sugar or are they picking up from the adults who are exhausted and attempting to avoid their feelings with sugar and other substances that are walking around being an unknowing teacher that says ‘when you feel disturbed or unsettled, have some sugar’?
I recently attended a birthday party where the parents had a simple lunch for the children to share for their child’s birthday. The Dad made green pizza bases from spinach and the children had a variety of health toppings to choose from. There was no set games but a backyard filled with children in the cubby, engaging in play with recycled materials and a simple birthday cake shared at the end of the day. There was no entertainment and no lolly bags or gifts. Everyone commented on how the children were playing so well, there was no arguing and laughter could be heard from afar. A great choice made by the parents and the quality of connection in the community showed that ‘treats’ where not needed to have a great time at a birthday party.
So true Rosie. I didn’t need a 2 or 3 year degree to observe the effect of ‘party’ food on our children when they were young. When we realise that what is normally considered a ‘treat’ is quite the opposite and can, as the saying goes: ‘all end in tears’.
Sugar is a drug, you have a little but and you want more. I know for me I can have none and I am fine. Yet the moment I have a little bit suddenly I want as much as possible. It is like trying to have one square of a chocolate bar and suddenly the whole thing is gone even though you only ever intended to have one square.
Rosie, what you are sharing here is so important, I observe how children eat so much sugar, it is considered ‘normal’ and often not questioned, even at school there are sweets handed out for birthdays, sugary snacks given out to children at school pick up by parents, sugary snacks at schools fairs, it seems to be a part of everyday life rather than just an occasional ‘treat’.
Awesome article Rosie, it is not just kids who get affected by sugary foods and additives, in the past I used to have what seemed like innocent small red frogs lollies and after 2 or 3 I would be dizzy and get a headache. Choosing to no longer have these as it was obvious the impact on my body from these sweets.
I often hear parents refer to children’s diet at birthday parties as a treat because they don’t do it that often – this view is irresponsible. What is contained in the lolly bags, birthday cake and other treats are full of additives, preservatives, colours and sugar. How confusing it must be for the children when one minute they are enjoying themselves and then the next their body is racing, stomach’s hurting and uncontrollable tears, fights and the wobbles. Crazy – the evidence is there and very clear for those open to making different choices.
Observing the layout of food recently at my grandson’s birthday party and the mix of healthy and unhealthy foods, I am aware that when my children were small I did not hold the awareness or wisdom that is on offer now. I was slow to link how the children’s behaviour being off, did not register as being food driven (unless it was red cordial/soft drink). We do have a long way to go in claiming a healthy diet particularly at birthday parties but I am noticing there is more exposure to healthier foods and the opportunity to make different choices. We still have a very long way to go in changing the perspective of many and the expectations of even more about what party’s for children look like. Great Blog.
it really is amazing when we actually bite the bullet and cater for kids birthday parties in a totally different way… It really is a lot of fun and everybody benefits
It would make a lot of sense if when they are at the age to understand, that we educated our children in what sugar and other additives do to us. Therefore in the future we will have Parents who actually have the knowledge on nutrition before they have children and have to learn the hard way through children that are over stimulation from sugar and the resulting mood swings and erratic behaviour. It is not our children’s fault but we adults (including myself in the past )who continue buying these products. Thanks Rosie for a great sharing.
You bring an important and powerful message in your blog, Rosie. That not only are we setting up our children as users of a white powdery substance called sugar from an early age, but we’re also establishing a habit that continues several decades of fuelling our current diabetes epidemic. Children’s parties are swamped with sugar and chemicals but somehow that’s become a norm, an expectation and therefore somehow accepted. Your description of the healthier, more imaginative and certainly more nourishing party food and the demeanour of the children throughout the course of the party goes to show what is possible and preferable.
Absolutely agree Fiona we do so often accept the ‘norm’ while ignoring the harm it can do to us. A great article that challenges such views and makes one consider how truly loving feeding our children and ourselves in such ways really is.
And the absoluteness that I now live in my food choices supports my daughter to choose wisely when she is not with me, despite what other kids are doing around her.
I now enjoy focusing my attention to cooking nutritious meals for my daughter that are also visually beautiful and colourful, rather than treats or snacks that, whilst they may be ‘healthy’ alternatives, they fill her up from eating the real food that her body needs. It is about seeing through the consciousness of ‘treats’ and seeing how they distract us from being and celebrating who we really are, all of the time.
The consciousness around feeding our kids is super strong and as a parent, I have been consistently swayed away from what I felt to be true to feed my child. I felt a lot of pressure from all sources, including those from my family of origin and the trap for me was the blurred boundaries; allowing a bit of this and a bit of that, or just for special occasions or treats, trying to find the ‘compromise’. But what I have discovered is the need for the absoluteness of my knowing of what is the correct diet for my daughter and not swaying from that. In doing this, I have offered her the possibility of feeling for herself what sugar, dairy and heavier foods feel like as opposed to the light and fresh way we now eat as a family.
Such a great sharing Rosie. It seems for every healthy choice there is another sugary/salty/additive advance in technology to counter this. I noticed this with my grandchildren. How these sugary sweets and crunchy salty snacks are taking on grander designs and colours, made more visually irresistible particularly to children. (adults not being immune to this either) Made into the shapes of well known children’s video/film/comic characters. Does this mean there could be a very little speck of sales dropping as awareness is heightened to the fact these unhealthy products become a lesser requirement in diets? So now it/s become more visually tantalising.
Thank you Cathy, I love how you wrote “This is one evil experiment and totally at our children’s expense health-wise.” This is so true.
This is a superb awareness-raising blog for any parent, showing why it makes total sense to take on responsibility for supporting our children in feeling their bodies’ reactions to the alarmingly ubiquitous foodstuffs you describe – essentially sugar, gluten, wheat and dairy. What also rang loud and clear was the fallacy of a well-meant but completely misguided attempt to require a child to even consider sitting still when they’ve been so chemically wired from the onslaught of so much toxicity into their tiny body. This is one evil experiment and totally at our children’s expense health-wise. So it’s great to read that there are parties out there that are built around a nurturing shared meal of celebration rather than adding to the food-induced altered states that many children exist in on a permanent basis.
Its quite fascinating that most celebrations in our modern day needs the extra bonus of excessive amounts of sugar to activate peoples nervous systems and give them even more of a lift. If you are truly celebrating anything would not it be healthier to be lifted by the true joy of what you are celebrating and not the foods?
Thank you Rosie for your article highlighting the effects of consuming sugar and chemicals , which are the main ingredients at birthday parties, and this is why children go crazy at parties. Isn’t it crazy that we consider that an actual poison is a treat to given to our children. Much more education needed on this subject.
Too many times have I heard (as I once joined in with this sentiment) “Oh its just once in a while” that won’t hurt!!! applying this to ‘life’ is really an opt out choice, not considering the ‘whole’ of what this then leads onto. With adults and children alike, once tried it then becomes addictive – sugar is such a menace to society as is food colourants etc – breaking that pattern of savouring sugar is a hard nut to crack. Like yourself Rosie being so fully aware now of the end result of sugary laced foods and how this then plays out in children’s behaviour is a shocker. A real wake up call. Now I know that there is such a thing as choice. Awesome sharing Rosie thank you.
There is a choice that is for sure and it comes with a big word. RESPONSIBILITY, and most of us are running from it…so we don’t want to really know or be educated because we don’t really want to be responsible. Well, I know this has often been my case anyway as much as I often don’t want to admit it.
what is going to be really revealing is when we bring up a generation of children who are not addicted to sugar, who don’t have it in their diets, and who can actually make on their own volition the choice not to go down that dietary path… This will really start to turn things around.
What confounded me once was the row of sweets at the check out of … the CHEMIST!!.. I did mention it, but of course it was a ‘management’ decision. Sugar is ubiquitous, and as Rosie says… destructive.
That right Rosie you don’t need a degree to see that even a small amount of sugar is like nitro boost to a child’s nervous system, and it is common to have a huge amount at a birthday party. It is not a pleasant way to celebrate a birthday when all the children are artificially stimulated and a chemical bomb inside their digestive systems. Especially when as you shared there are many alternatives just as yummy that support the children to be themselves and play with natural joy.
Great article Rosie, I would love all the parents at my daughters school to read it. The problem is they all know these type of foods send their kids crazy but it seems to be acceptable, like drugs and alcohol at adults parties. Is it any wonder kids go looking for a bigger, better buz when they get a bit older when they are fed that sort food which has a similar effect on the body.
Rosie you have shared a great point in asking our children to settle down when we have feed them the food that has caused this behaviour in the first place.
It does take some effort to rethink children’s party food for it to be nutritious and attractive for them. It’s a shame that these fake foods are aimed at children. What would be really great is a children’s healthy party food cook book, with all those great ideas. I know I struggle to find food that children who are used to the junk will consider eating.
And if we get a treat because “its Friday” or because we have done something, are we saying that we are not worthy or good enough just as we are. Why do we need the excuse? Perhaps if we appreciated ourselves for who we are instead of what we do we wouldn’t have to save any treats as such for special occaisions but we would be treating ourselves more lovingly all of the time. I am learning to do this, and appreciation of myself at first seemed very weird and foreign but with a bit of practise its actually quite lovely and I wonder why I didn’t stop to appreciate myself and others before.
Giving children a ‘treat’ because they’ve been ‘good’ is crazy when the treat is sweets, because chances are it will lead to further bad behaviour. I’ve felt my own personality change when I’ve eaten sugary food, so it’s not surprising children get ‘naughty’. There’s a weird kind of psychology that makes excuses – Oh well, we’re on holiday’ or ‘I’ve done so well today, I deserve a treat’ or ‘I’m exhausted, I need something to pick me up’.
It is great now that we have so much more information of all the lists of ingredients in food stuffs. You have to go and search for it but it is available. It still surprises me that on shop shelves foods are still advertised as healthy, natural or free from and in there is still hidden contents of large amounts of sugars/gluten in disguise. For busy mums to see the word ‘natural’ or ‘healthy option’ it is an instant grab and go item.
I totally agree Marion is seems very deceiving that the food companies can use marketing words that pull people in and in a way lie to them because it is far from the truth. To me the words Natural or Healthy on a product now ring alarm bells to just read the label. I have a thoery and that is if I cannot say or pronounce the indgredient, it probably isn’t very “natural” or will do anything good for me.
When my children were younger I removed all the gluten and dairy from their diets but nothing at the time was reported about the effects of sugar and how that affects their behaviour and health. I remember the main focus was on E numbers being the culprits within the sweets, but again no real emphasis on the sugar content of cereals and treats.
Now I know how sugar changes my body and it seems to be super addictive, as the slightest sugary treat and I want more and more, so it’s not surprising how a young child’s body would react to it.
This is an awesome exposure of the repercussions of these kind of foods. My work used to require home visits and I always used to cringe knowing what would follow when they would tell their noisy children if they behaved for 10 minutes they could get a treat.. because as soon as the treat was consumed… my oh my was it on, kids literally bouncing off the walls… and as you said, the damage is not just what you see in their behaviour but to their digestion and emotions. The healthy party sounds like something that should be marketed for both parents and children’s sanity.
And then take the diets most children have at school and the plethora of rubbish disguised as food in the school canteens and we wonder why there are so many children with “behavioural” problems. Perhaps feeding these foods to children could be seen as another form of child abuse?
Oh don’t get me started on school canteens! Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all the volunteers and the fact that there is a canteen but really what is on the menu is shocking. The canteens seem to be about convenience and that is about all because it is definitely not supporting childrens health and nutrition.
Brilliant article it is Rosie, thank you for sharing your observation and research into what all of us have some form of relationship with. For us to stop and truly feel what it is that is happening for us when we allow abuse of our bodies on that level to go on as if it’s ok because its a ‘special occasion’, allows for a deeper understanding and appreciation for what true care means for ourselves and our children.
Yes, what is a special occaision and why do we only want to care for ourselves sometimes and not all the times. That question in itself can make me realise how much I have an on and off switch with my level of self care.
Congratulations Rosie for writing this truthful and informative blog. I didn’t fully appreciate how sugar totally changed a child’s personality and energy in the extreme. I have seen children who are quite agitated most of the time and have realised that we need to eliminate sugar as much as we can from all of our diets. The proof is definitely out there for us all to see and our children will be much happier without this stimulant in their bodies.
This blog is gold. Everyone should read it. Thank You for sharing this so clearly.
Awesome blog Rosie and very inspiring. It brings awareness on a topic that is really important as it is us the adults, that buy all these candies and junk food. I have a friend who is giving parties without all these candies and I have been helping out. It really makes a difference in the behavior of the kids. And the beautiful thing is, when the kids feel that you have all your attention with them, they don’t really need all those sugar things. We just played games and had fun and it was such a lovely party. I feel that as parents/adults we think that we need all those sugars because otherwise the party is not complete, but this is not true. At the end, the kids want you to be there, fully present.
Mariette, thank you. What you share in this sentence is something I can relate to.
“I feel that as parents/adults we think that we need all those sugars because otherwise the party is not complete, but this is not true”.
I used to feel this way about having a party without alcohol and now see how blind I was. Having a party without stimulants and without getting hyped up is beautiful because you can actually be with your friends and enjoy them instead of bouncing around like a headless chicken… or maybe not so much to that extreme, but I think you will know what I mean.
Sugar is literally in nearly every single food these days. Even tinned tomatoes have some added sugar sometimes and rather a lot too which is surprising! When we stop and reflect on this situation it is clear that the quality of our food is controlled by companies that want it sold on the best taste and cheapest value. This really shows how low our society can go when our food is starting to go this way.
This is such a great point that you are sharing Joshua. It is stooping to an all time low when society allows cheap filling addictive ingredients to be added to our foods. Having relied on certain food items for many years I did get a little complacent in trusting the ingredients content and to my surprise I noted increased sugar and flavourings had been added.
Great blog Rosie. What Rosie writes here in this article is so true of what goes on today at children’s parties and from my experience the party’s are encouraging stimulation and hyperactivity from as young as 4 years old. Only recently I went with my son who is 5 years old to a boys 4th birthday party. The treat at this party was candy floss and not only that there was loud pop music being played! I normally do not attend children’s parties but this one I stayed for part of it. This blog has given me a deeper strength in calling out the harm of sugar and additives and also to not ignore what actually goes on at children’s parties because it is the norm. Thank you Rosie for sharing.
Hi Caroline, I just felt to share that there is no judement in how people choose to have their kids parties, but why I write about it is to have understanding of why children behave the way they do when given the foods that they often consume at a party. It is with awareness and understanding that we can then make other choices.
The pressure for children to eat the sugary and glutenous foods at school is huge. Every birthday a child brings in cakes or lollies to share. The no eating sugar, gluten, dairy free child feels left out, and ridiculed for not being able to eat these ‘foods’ so they cave and come home wired, and then there’s the birthday parties and sleepovers. For a child to say no to this is not easy.
I can relate to coming off sugar and then going back onto to it and the effects were so noticeable that I felt drunk, so it does makes me wonder now what the children are going thru when they go to birthday parties and overload on sugary treats.
The way you describe your daughter “behaving no differently to someone who was coming off drugs” is powerful Rosie, and is my experience too. Recently I watched more information on sugar, based on the documentary ‘That Sugar Film’. It confirms everything you say and the simple fact that even though there may be a short term buzz we seem to enjoy, the true effects of sugar on our body are truly toxic in every way.
Hi Joseph, we recently watched the film too. Its a great eye opener for anyone who does not or has not seen the effects of sugar on the body.
Thank you Rosie for asking attention and sharing your concern about how children are getting a lot of sugary food and additives. It is crazy how we overload them with this kind of food and are celebrating at the same time. It has nothing to do with celebrating it is making our children less and numb to who they truly are. And thank you for asking understanding for their small and sensitive digestion system.
Thank you Rosie, Yes, it is full on what the sugar does to a child’s behaviour, and really, it does this to an adult too… coming off sugar is challenging as you do go through a ‘withdrawal’ type of effect that can bring up equally challenging behaviour patterns just like those behaviours that occur after sugar has been ingested.
Yes, I would go as far as saying that coming off sugar probably has similar effects on mood and behaviour as coming off many other drugs. Headaches, sweats, mood swings etc.
It always amazes me to see and witness what is being sold as edible and worse still as being ‘good for you’; a lot of the things actually have zero nutritional value.
The term Chemical timebomb is a great one Rosie… It really sums up what is happening with these foods the responsibility that we all have as parents to support our children with such an important factor as their diet. And it really is a groundswell of conscious education that is needed here, because so many parents they have not joined the dots… They are just not aware of what a powerful influence what our children are eating is having on them, and how it affect their behaviour, and how it has such a direct effect upon the family life at home
That is true Chris. My experience with teachers and parents in our village is that they don’t want to hear what the effect of that kind of food is and when they listen they choose not to believe it. It is so ingrained in their way of life that they think it is normal. But slowly you can start to see that more people are getting interested in healthy food for themselves and their children.
I couldn’t agree more Rosie. As a kid growing-up, we rarely ever had processed foods en mass in the house. We would though, for birthdays and barbecues end-up with an array of sugary foods that fuelled disasters of all kinds. Non more so than the hyperactivity of us kids playing, eventually ending in an injury. We would all be so loose and crazy on the sugar, where normally myself and cousins would love hanging-out, fights and screaming matches often followed. Later our family reduced the sugary stuff and with it, came less fighting and carrying on. Whoever decides what is and is not stocked in a supermarket I would dare say have a greater responsibility than he or she even realise.. Not to mention that they are probably highly influenced by what sells the most, not what is the most conducive to good health in children; something worth thinking about.
Rosie thanks for opening up this topic. What was interesting to feel when I was reading your description of the sugery foods was that my stomach tightened and yet when I read the description of the food at the second party I could feel an eagerness to open up and eat ! My body was literally saying ‘no’ and then ‘yes’.
We have to go as far as having something sugary and we are gone. The physiology takes off and there is no way to go into anything similar to stillness. The problem is that people eat sugar over sugar. Hence, there is no way to notice what difference another sugary thing makes. Only when one has cut out sugar as much as possible one can really feel what it does. It is pretty terrible, it is a bit like driving a car that cannot go to idle. The problem is that the engine is inside us.
This line made me really realise how ridiculous it is to only eat treats on a birthday party: “It is already a lot of sugary food and additives mixed into the child’s small digestive system and it is quite a challenge for a body that size to process.” It is a whole attack on the child’s digestive system. I for long did not like that my parents did only buy sugar free candies for my birthday parties but I can now fully appreciate it.
That’s a good point Ariana, most small children have more than enough energy within them – why bring sugar into the mix? Why do we find it acceptable to fill up these tiny bodies with sugar because it’s ultimately the adults that are making, processing, laboratory..ing, marketing, buying and serving and teaching that these foods are normal for children. What do we get as a society that is more important to keep under control and avoid at the expense of where I see school children on the bus with large cans of caffeinated, sugary, fizzy energy drinks?
Yes unfortunately high sugar and processed foods is a stable diet for some children and the hyperactivity is a normal behaviour in them. They don’t have a normal diet to even know the contrast.
Yes, that is the sad truth.
It is strange how we call it having a “treat” when we eat poison that makes us or our children sick as you have described – I wonder why we do that?
Is it because we have got the meaning of so many words mixed up.. and the definitions are warped?
Well said Rosie. It is a strange way to celebrate a child’s special day by giving them foods laced with sugar and additives that we would not normally give them as we know it is not good for them. The message we are giving children is that when you want to celebrate then you eat and drink stuff that is not good for you. This can become a difficult habit to break. It is great that so many people are becoming aware of this and offering delicious foods that are nourishing and fun without the sugars and additives.
Great blog Rosie, thanks for the tip on “The Chemical Maze”, I’ll definitely check that out.
It is very true Rosie that many, many people today are eating ‘products’ that our grand parents would not recognize as being food. I would say if the ingredients in the food look like a chemistry lesson then the product should be avoided.
Yes Andrew the definition of “food” has definitely changed!
Great and valid points you expose here about kids parties and all the sugar and chemicals in the party food. I got the image of a child going to a party and coming back in their goodie bag instead with piles or bags of pure granular sugar to eat – it’s the same thing as those cakes, jellies you mention, just packaged/baked differently. And am certain there would be no way that any parent would agree to their child consuming piles of pure granular sugar, no less to dish this out as ‘party food’ for other kids (and the adults attending too!).
Yes, that is exactly the case… I may have to do that as a joke for my daughter at her next party… or just buy some party bags and a bag of sugar and say here you go, I thought I would keep it simple this year. It is a joke, as we have never done the whole party bag thing.
‘The Chemical Maze’ sounds like a great book Rosie, thanks for sharing it ! It would be super interesting, and no doubt shocking, to find out what all the additives in foods are and where they come from.
Yeah, it is madness. I have conversations with people all the time about the amount of rubbish that is being sold to us disguised as good for us in ‘moderation’. We are so used to accpeting that ‘they’ wouldn’t put stuff on the shelves if it was dangerous for our health. Whoever ‘they’ are, is making so much money off our illness and disease due to malnutrition, that it would be stupid for them to stop producing the goods. We give our power away to ‘they’ all the time. We allow others to take responsibility for our health without checking in with us first. I still find myself thinking that ‘they’ wouldn’t allow x on the shelves if it was harmful….but I just need to have a look around at what has already been allowed, and the truth is, if it won’t kill us immediately, then it gets the go ahead.
Great sharing Rosie. There are actually studies done on this topic where kids behaviour is filmed at parties with healthy and unhealthy food and the difference in behaviour is shocking. I observed this with lots of kids how they get aggressive, teary and upset after having a sugary beverage, ice-cream or sweets. Observing the impact of sugar on kids is the best research project ever if the world would be open to accept that we are harming ourselves with sugar. The evidence is so clear. For me this shows so clearly that we only see what we want to see.
Yes, who needs mice to experiment Rachael when we have real live children to test the junk food on. The results are in your face.
Thanks Rosie for sharing this great blog of yours, being the father of five children and having watched how sugar is freely given as a food or treat to children who are then run by the effects of sugar and are out of control creating havoc and rightly so get pulled up and chastised but in truth who needs chastising? The parent feeding the drug, as it will be labelled in the near future, or the child needing to be nurtured and loved by a responsible adult?
That is the question Paul, who is responsible here and who should know better? Playing on a busy road is not debatable or taking a hard drug, yet we often do not stop to question what is in the food we give our children.
Great question Rosie, if we as parents don’t question what is in the food that we eat or provide our children how will they ever learn to question what they put in their own mouths.
I got a shock when my son, at a young age, unaccustomed to soft drink, drank a coca cola and literally started bouncing in his seat, unable to sit still. It was like turning energiser batteries on, but what energy was this? Not good, that’s for sure. This was enough to confirm what sugar does.
Yes it can be quite shocking. But what is more shocking to me, is that so many children are given sugar from such a young age, that their bouncing around is considered normal. It is as if their little bodies have never had a chance to be without all that stimulation.
I can so relate to all that you have shared here Rosie. I have three children so go to many children’s birthday parties and the one you described with the sushi etc is extremely rare, in fact have only ever seen that at the ones that we put on. I am amazed at the food that is consumed at these parties. I have taken our own food to children’s parties since my eldest daughter was very young. She was always extremely reactive to so many foods as a young child and took us a while to figure out that it was the gluten, dairy, sugar, preservatives and additives. We did a trial on so many foods and the reaction to even colours and preservatives was enormous in her mental function and behaviour. Over the years it has been very interesting that more often than not children at the parties etc always wanted what she was having.
It is amazing what we accept as being okay just because everyone is having it or it is sold everywhere- we are easily conned! It is challenging to do something different because it actually feels right- e.g have a party with low sugar foods!
We feel uncomfortable being different.
It is so true Rosie Bason that we underestimate the impact these processed and engineered foods have on our lives. Thank you for writing this blog because it is so important that the information you provide is shared within our communities in order for us to have a choice compared to the belief that it is not a problem to have these foods now and then and that they must be safe because the are sold in the supermarket! And I am fully with you, to have your child returning from a party with a body that is completely out of rhythm is horrible to experience and we must not look away from this fact because we are shown a truth that needs to be exposed and acknowledged to ourselves and not put aside because this is a ‘normal’ that belongs to our modern ways of life.
As long as the manufacturers of these foods put profit before people, and they have a market for these foods, they will never change. If we truly want this to change then we don’t have to support these manufacturers. We adults are the role models, if we eat healthy fresh foods then that’s what our children are exposed to. We can take responsibility for feeling which foods truly support us and saying no to the foods that don’t.
There is another way if we observe and are willing to take a deeper responsibility for what we see needs changing. Whats more it can be tasty and much for fun for everyone!
I used to be very imposing with my kids about how I felt they should eat, I too am now learning to feel into each situation, offer alternatives and encourage them to feel for themselves how different foods affect them.
I feel re-inspired for our next kids parties!
I had a great experience of letting my daughter make her own choices this Easter. She wanted chocolate so I said to her she would have to waste her own money on it, which she did and she went over board but what was great is that when she was eating the chocolate and sharing it with a friend, she observed how it changed him so much that she had a massive realisation. She then continued eating hers but it was making her feel sick, so she put an entire chocolate bunny in the bin. She then tried to finish the one she had opened and even that was too much and she threw that away too. I had nothing to do with this. I was just an observer loving the fact that she paid for it, ate it, felt sick, threw it away and learnt. It’s great when we allow others to reach their own learning and not control everything. This is quite huge for me as I have been a very controlling parent at times.
Awesome experiment and I admire your observational skills and the ability to not interfere. It takes a lot of loving discipline to let our kids come to their own conclusions on how what they are doing feels in their body.
Pernilla, I too have been very imposing with my children about what they should and should not eat. These days I talk about food with them and what I am noticing is they want to talk to me about food and how it affects the body. They want to know my experiences with food especially the eldest who is 8 years old. It can be very challenging at times especially when they have been at a party or eaten a bag of sweets that has been given to them as I have been extremely controlling in the past but I am learning to let go and for my husband and kids to find their own way with food.
From my observations its not just at birthday parties that children are ingesting large amounts of sugar and additives. You just have to look on the supermarket shelves at all the so called “health foods” and “healthy snacks” for children, the breakfast cereals and the things that go into their school lunches, laden with sugar, salt, preservatives and additives. It’s a sad state of affairs when the heads of business put profits before the health and well being of our children, and it’s even sadder that we have allowed this to happen! It’s time to stand up and expose this abuse for what it is…..thank you Rosie for starting the conversation.
You are very right here Rosemary, its in all foods that are mareketed towards children, but also in adults foods. In fact, its hard to call a lot of those mass produced items on the shelves of the supermarket foods as they are very far from foods that actually nourish and suppport the body. In most cases you would be better off just flushing them down the toilet instead of putting them through your system first.
It is amazing what kind of food gets dished out at kids parties. I feel it is important to warn our children of the affects of junk food and what it can do to them. Ask them how they feel after eating certain foods. This way they can make their own choices because we are not always there to watch over them. They don’t like it when I try to control them and tell them what they can and not eat. So if we share with them what we know about junk food it empowers them to make their own choices.
Yes Chan I agree, and no one likes to be told what to do…. so best to educate them let them choose for themselves.
Sometimes its hard to watch but in the long run, it is easier to watch them make food choice mistakes and learn from them than to rebel and do it behind your back and then binge eat or have a serious issue with food that then leads onto other serious addictions.
Rosie, I would like to be young again and attend the ‘non sugar’ party – it sounded delicious as did the behaviour of the children. This is such a hot topic and as parents we can feel squashed by what others allow children. I also was not so aware of sugar until the last 10 years and my children are now adults. But I do recall feeling helpless when the kids were offered sweets by their teacher at school as a reward or bribe.
You make it happen, Rosie – raising our awareness. I hadn’t thaught about it: All the sugars and additives in these tiny stomachs and bodies. And it’s in these early years that we set our foundations for life… or have the possibility to re-set our foundations!
And if we missed the boat when we were young, and we learn now as an adult we can re set the foundations! It does start with awareness Felix.
I myself was lucky to not be given much junk foods as a child but as a teenager I ate my fair share but once I chose to take care of myself and become aware of what fuel I was putting into me it was easy to change.
This is such a pertinent point Rosie,
We wouldn’t supply 8 year olds with drugs, or coffee, or cigarettes at a party – and yet, it has become normal to offer them all sorts of stimulating foods and drinks that ‘wire’ the body in a way that is not ‘normal’ for their systems.
Is it any wonder that we grow up feeling familiar with such raciness, and stimulation in our bodies when we later reach for alcohol or drugs when partying, going to nightclubs, or any social occasion as an adult. It is more familiar to socialise with others while hyped up on alcohol (more sugar), or other substances, rather than be in our natural state with each other.
The way that we raise children is super important and even the way we choose to hold a child’s birthday party has a significant impact on everyone there, and the society we ultimately end up with.
Yes, and in hosting the party, we have a responsibility to offer either foods and drinks that support the body or ones that are actually harming and have side effects. And it doesn’t really matter if our guests are 5 years old of 50!
Great blog about a superimportant subject that all parents, schoolteachers and others who deal with children should have read. The incredibly harmful effects of sugar and other additives is something that should be more “out there”, – and your blog is helping with just that. This is awesome, – everyone needs to hear this! Thank you.
Thanks Rosie, everything you expose is so true, but not only confined to childern’s parties. I recently went to a 50th birthday celebration to find the only thing suitable for my consumption was a few grapes and fresh strawberries, the rest was a gluten, dairy and sugar feast. I recall looking at the table laden with things that are marketed as ‘special ocassion’ food, thinking yuk. It was all mass produced, cheap and truly nasty food to the body. Society has been so hood winked by mass marketing and corporate greed at the expense of our true health and wellbeing.
I so know what you mean Jennifer, and this does not just happen at parties! I attended a business breakfast meeting and even then I was shocked at what the eating options were. I was glad that I had an apple in my bag.
Once you start to read processed food labels it is quite shocking to find how many additives, sugar and/or salt is in them. Along with these it is also amazing how they manage to slip gluten and milk products into. Not only do we need to be aware of this for our kids but for ourselves too. Just because we are bigger doesn’t mean they are any less harmful on our body and especially overstimulating our nervous system.
Yes that is right, they are just as harmful for adults as they are for Children. As an adult though, often you have been consuming junk foods for years, and you are so used to the side effects, that you don’t notice them and thnk that the way you are feeling is “just how you feeL”. It takes having a break from them all and detoxing them from your system, to be able to realise that you actually feel amazingly different without all that poison in your body.
It the same with alcohol or drugs or junk food, once you consume if for a while your body gets used to it but that does not mean that it is not harming, it just means that you are more numb to the effects. This has been my experience and after having a break from them, if I try again I actually feel a completely different bodily reaction.
Unfortunately children’s parties, where eating and drinking sugar and chemicals with no restraint, sets them up to see celebrations as a time to do as they please and not consider the consequences to their health. We then see this play out with adult celebrations where the soft drinks are substituted with alcohol.
I fear most people would not take the time to read this book. Unfortunate but true. There is so much we can learn from observing behaviour in relation to foods and drinks. Having witnessed first hand many of the side effects you have written about, I understand the choices that need to be made.
Thank you, Rosie, for writing this amazing article. Whether kids or adults, the amount of sugar we intake in various forms – from the sweets to the bread and alcohol across entire generations is astounding. I don’t feel it is really true to say “all kids love these things”. Yes – they go for it, because they are addicted, and that behaviour feels only secondary. Somehow we started to look for more of a reward/comfort/distraction factor in our food, rather than simple nutritious sustenance, and we call that “gastronomic culture”. How very convenient.
You have a valid point, they don’t actually love it. I have watched some kids say no as it is just too sweet, and they know that it will make them feel sick.
Wow I never ever considered it like a ‘chemical and sugar bomb’ in the stomach. I will never look at junk food the same again – there is a reason why it’s called ‘junk’ food! And being on a sugar high is the same as a drug hit by a junkie…. And it’s sometimes very difficult to get off sugar, like a drug. I too have been inspired by Universal Medicine to develop the self love to say no to these chemical reactions in my stomach!
A lot of problems would fall away if children would eat good nourishing food!! Thank you for your great article!
Andrea consider how many problems would fall away if children and adults ate simple nourishing food ! Not only would illness and disease be reduced (and of course the health care bill) but we would be able to be much more ‘us’ rather than being pushed and pulled away constantly by food. We would also have to be more honest about how we were feeling without food to distract us, numb us, lift us away.
“We then tell them to sit still and we get mad at them when they don’t.” Coming back from parties and family visits I can relate to this comment as this starts in the car when we leave the parties or family visits. And also the “Oh, it’s just once in a while and it’s only a small amount”, this is a comment I hear often when out with the children. We all know that that all food in the supermarket is not healthy, we do have the so called ‘healthy food’ department or aisle so does that mean that the rest is unhealthy? It is time we face the way we are with food and have an honest view about what we are putting in to our bodies and that of our children.
What’s worse is that it is ‘normal’ for children and adults to have this food. Sugar is now ingrained, we don’t even have to consider any responsibility for ourselves or others as to why it is so needed… perhaps because we are not willing to see how exhausted and run down most are?
So true Rosie. It’s so ridiculous how much we all love to talk about kids going crazy on sugar but never actually stop to think that maybe that could be prevented, I do feel as though things are starting to shift a little as society is becoming more and more aware, but sugary treats and foods are rife in the kids party scene like alcohol and drugs in the teenage/adult party scene.
Yes it does seem that people are being offered a lot more information about sugar and even the effects of alcohol, but it seems that it is so normal, that people are just carrying on regardless of the harm it is causing.
Yes, as if celebrating means it is okay to trash your body.
Thanks Rosie for yet another great blog. Treats for children? In the form of sugar, sugar and more sugar? More like poison, poison and more poison!
Yes… that is all that it is. Not one bit of goodness in it…. and even if it did have a good bit, it is still with poison…
Rosie it was great to read your blog, how easy it is to fill up a party with junk and sugary foods and how damaging it is for the kids. The healthy options are fantastic and not to complicated at all, it is a matter of taking time to plan and organise the food offering.
Just loved this blog Rosie. Children’s’ birthday parties have become nothing but a sugar-fest, followed by out of control behaviour that impacts on the family the child is returning home to. Not the sort of enjoyable birthday party I remember as a child. And I too had a copy of a food additive book about 15 years ago when I was clearing candida out of my body. I actually gave up reading it quite quickly as I was horrified by what exactly was in our food and I was scared that there would be nothing left for me to eat!
I know that feeling of being horrified and not wanting to know. Is that also because then we have to take responsibility and do something about it?
Thank you Rosie for this inspiring article. I remember kids parties where they all went berserk and all the adults were wondering why they couldn’t enjoy the day but it’s so not funny, it’s distressing to see kids so affected by sugar. It’s great that the truth is coming through about the harmful effects of sugar now and how closely it’s linked to mental health issues too.
That is quite a statement, that they were acting as if they were on drugs, and yet this exactly mirrors my memories of kids birthday parties. The amount of sugar available, and so common in kids diet is not healthy, and what is more not enough is known or shared either by the food companies themselves or the Government to make any difference. It’s got to change…
I always found it very tricky with children’s parties regarding what kind of foods would be served. Hopefully many mothers are aware of effects of sugar, additives, etc and choose to serve fresh and more wholesome foods.
Wow Rosie!!! I have not children and I therefore I have never think about children and their food decisions. It is very revealing what you describe and I hope that many parents will read your blog. There is one question which came to my mind: Perhaps there are not so many kids who are diagnosed with ADHS – could it be that they had to much sugar?????
Very true… I wonder how a trial would be that instead of putting kids straight on medication for ADHS, what would happen if they changed their diets first.
This is such an overlooked topic. Because of what most of us think is normal, and just this normal is hurting so many and actualy are not making fun parties. I do remember that I was very excited to go to a party with all those foods, because I did not get them often at home, but when I came back I actually always felt terrible.
This is so true Rosie. It is like giving a drug addict a hit of meth and then asking them to calm down! Sugar isn’t as sweet as it tastes.
Yes, and Meth may seem like a bit full on.. but the reaction of all the additives, colours and sugar can be so full on too… and the behaviour that comes with it can be out of control.
The affects of sugar can be extremely noticeable in children, as you say Rosie such large amounts of sugar going into such a small body makes the affects stand out! When we are older it ‘appears’ that we can handle more doses and as such don’t bat an eyelid when it’s pastries for breakfast, biscuits for brunch, the cake and fizzy drink for lunch, then the after dinner pudding, alcohol and possibly late night snack. However is it this need of the sugar, being sold the belief that that momentary high is what gives me the energy I need throughout the day – because without it we feel drained and lack energy as I often used to feel when I first started removing sugar from my own diet – that creates a bias and a clouded judgement that doesn’t question a kids party full to the brim of colours and E numbers? As Alison above me comments I too have experienced the same when I removed sugar and gluten (in which most foods like breads and dough based foods are converted into sugar by the body) from my diet I gain more sustainable energy than just a momentary high without the sugar crash.
Food is now regarded as a commodity rather than sustenance for a healthy body. At my work the food on offer for students consists mainly of pizza, buckets of chips, and an array of coffees. Hurried students go for the comforting and cheap alternative. The healthy option is just a tiny, tucked away counter. The Food Science Faculty could play a major role. After all it is theirs to educate, and yet none of the brain power going into research is directly applied in the campus cafeteria!
The topic of sugar came up In a recent conversation with a parent and this person was adamant that sugar is less harmful on the body as it is easier for it to process than the natural substances like honey, agave nectar etc.
I have seen a difference in children’s behaviour when they have been fed sugar in foods rather than the use of honey etc
I would love to hear any comments from anyone regarding this remark on sugar being less harmful to the body in this respect
I am not sure Stephanie, and I do not claim to be an expert. What I do is just observe how it affects my daughter, or feel how it effects me.
I feel that sugar, honey or any substance like that acts like a stimulant in the body, so in effect, they can all have a similar result, but will cause a different reaction in each person as we are all different.
Wow another great blog by Rosie Bason!
It is incredible what food is available for us to eat, some of which act like drugs in our system.
I have a very, clean natural diet without gluten, diary, sugar or additives. The food I eat is mostly made by myself or my family from scratch. However when I travel sometimes, no matter how much I talk with the restaurant to make sure there are no nasties in the food they will serve me, occasionally I can feel that there is something in it that I can’t eat. And then the food acts like a drug in my system. I feel disorientated, heavy or tired.
The point is that before we omit these foods from our diet we are often/usually unaware of how they affect because we are so used to feeling that way. It is normal. This was the case for me. When I first omitted gluten from my diet, within a week I had energy like I have never experienced before.
Having chosen to remove Gluten, Dairy and sugar from my diet over the past few years, I understand what you are saying here Alison – any deviations from this , like you, the effect in my system are felt very quickly and – “I feel disorientated, heavy or tired.”
Yes that was my experience too. I had no idea what the effects were until after I stopped eating them, and then if I tried them I got to feel the effects loud and clear. In the past it was normal for me to feel that tired or bloated and I had not seen the connection to feeling that way with what I had eaten.
Completely agree with you Rosie. Sugary foods are considered safe because they are readily available and its as you say ” the norm,” to eat and accept them. But when we actually feel what they do in our body, it really is like an addictive drug. I too will have a look for this little book you discussed, it sounds very handy.
If parents read the labels of the stuff put into sweets,fizzy drinks etc, they would be horrified, what they are giving their children.
Whilst shopping a while back, I was talking to a lady at the check out, who had her child with her, and sweets in her basket. She said she buys them to keep her child quiet. I wanted to say there are other ways of keeping her child happy, but felt it was not my place to tell her how to bring up her child.
It is quite frightening when we think of what our children consume at parties, perhaps just as frightening is what parents offer children to eat at parties.
The samples you gave Rosie clearly set out the choices parents make when planning a party, and the consequences of those choices on the children.
Thank you for your insight , wisdom and reminders of our food choices.
Talk about priming kids to seek ‘harder drugs’ later! Establishing such a mind-altering, body-altering addiction as sugar in children is quite abusive. But in general people don’t see this because sugar has been so accepted for so long as ‘normal’. I know a family who minimize the exposure of their children to sugar, and so do all the parents of the children’s friends. It’s lovely to see kids loving and wanting fresh vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains instead of the junk that so many kids love and seek while turning their noses up at healthy food. The little pocket guides on chemicals in food are very handy – I have a purse-sized one that goes with me to the supermarket. It’s truly incredible how much of the stuff in processed foods (and even fresh meat) is toxic. The authorities who regulate these things don’t seem to be too concerned about our health, so it is up to us to take responsibility for what we eat and feed our kids and their guests.
Great article Rosie, it’s amazing how we call these sugary sweets ‘treats’ when they are not treating our body right at all – for children or adults. There are so many delicious foods out there that do not have such an abusive affect on our bodies – I wonder why we are still buying into these ‘treats’?
An eye-opening blog Rosie. You are totally correct of course, why do we give children so much sugar and then get cross with them with they play up?! Thank goodness we are waking up the truth of sugar and the amount we have in our diets, it’s pretty scary. With all the bad press around sugar at the moment things are beginning to change for the better.
It was not very long ago that I was at those kind of parties where there is sugar and chemicals galore! and it’s so normal to eat it and as much of it as you like. Once you have a little your are drawn to have more, like you are addicted. This addictive behaviour is happening at such a young age its very sad… Children aren’t being allowed the time to feel still and feel who they are and the joy that comes with that, because already they have been altered with sugar and chemicals.
Good point, Rosie. Again and again I wish the general public were more aware of blogs like Everyday Livingness. It is so important to know about what sugar and colourings do to the body especially a child’s.
I often travel by bus at the end of a school day. Every time when I see those children I am asking myself “What do they eat?” They are hyper active, super noisy and eating all sorts of (here I am struggling for the word because I can’t call it food) junk (?) No wonder. It would be helpful for parents and teachers to have an education on food so they can educate children and provide them with healthy snacks.
I would say this is the number one topic that needs to be seriously discussed all over the globe. I see the food consumed by secondary school students daily and I’m lucky to see an apple amongst a sea of soft drink, chips and a long list of junk foods. I’ve seen a student eat 12 donuts as their breakfast or eat McDonald’s every day as no one is home to prepare breakfast or there isn’t food available in the home. Many don’t understand there are alternative food choices because fast food is so normal to them. A health epidemic is going to come crashing down on society if the sugar fad doesn’t come under control.
That is full on to have to witness that daily and how sad it is that we as a society have let it get this bad.
12 donuts at breakfast!!! a guarantee of raciness for a while then sluggishness all the rest of the day if I had eaten that many. Even two was too rich for me, though at the time I thought I loved donuts, I was just seeking the sugar rush because I didnt want to feel how exhausted I was. You are correct I feel Tracy, a health epidemic is upon us and will come crashing down if we fail to look at what is happening and begin to take some action.
Important topic Rosie, thanks for bringing it up. The sentense ‘- she was behaving no differently to someone who was coming off drugs.’ – stood out for me. I have observed this too, and I have also seen parents who panic when that happens, and to keep the kids calm, they keep feeding them more sweets. It’s hazardious.
And I guess what is even worse than that, are the children who are given all kinds of prescribed drugs, to deal with their behaviour problems, and not once is their diet evaluated, which if done so in the first place, may eliminate the need for the prescription drugs all together.
Yes, great blog Rosie. When I look back on when my family were much younger, I too fell for the, it’s their birthday and everyone has a cake and lots of sweet things to eat, right, that’s what you do if you love them scenario. But if I was really honest at the time, it was my stuff that I was putting onto them, I needed them to love me and so bombarded them with sugary treats to convince myself, I was a loving mum doing what loving mums do and they will love me for it. All so I couldn’t feel the emptiness that I was choosing to fill with my sugary offerings of so called love. An ouch moment, but one that seems all too often, quite common, but definitely not a healthy way.
Thanks for sharing that Julie, it is amazing the things we do to be a “loving mum”. Where do we get this belief from and why do we still act it out if in every part of us, we know it is not true. Why just do what others do, even though for us it does not feel right.
What is considered “normal” or even special foods for children, if they are high in sugar, chemicals and toxins…are they still so normal? Do we choose normal to harm ourselves and our children?
As adults we have our special foods too, and are they normal for us too? If we allow ourselves our special foods for comfort and then suffer from the consequences, do we then feel to allow our children to do that also?
Great blog Rosie, the awareness on how food affects our children is something we first build with ourselves, and with that we get to see and feel how what is considered normal foods for children, is absolutely not normal at all, but very harmful to everyone.
Yes Adele, and we are role models for our children, and also we are the ones who chose what is in the cupboard, so we need to take responsibility.
It is not only what is in the food our children are eating, it applies to adults too!
The other evening at a gathering of friendsI I fell into the trap of overriding my body and chose to eat homemade flapjacks someone had brought along, convincing myself that as they were homemade, they would be ok. My body certainly let me know in no uncertain terms how untrue this was, within 20 minutes my body bloated up and my mind revved up and felt really racy with the sugar content. Big ouch!
This is an important article and comments. I can so clearly remember my gentle, tender eldest son becoming like a whirling Dervish after children’s parties. Now I realize that it is a very misplaced idea to give children a ‘treat’ by feeding them substances that cause such disturbance in their bodies.
Great that you share your experience Rosie, as this is for all parents with children as it clearly exposes the harmful effects Sugar has in young bodies through the change of behaviour that we have all witnessed at some point when a child attends a ‘Sugar full birthday party’.
Great article Rosie as you have opened an important conversation and have raised important questions. Why is it that the harmful effects of food on the body and behaviors have been accepted as ‘normal’? Is it ‘normal’ to feel unwell? Is it really ‘OK’ that we know the effects and continue to consume and allow our children to consume these food without bringing it to their awareness? This is a great call for taking responsibility for our well-being and teaching our children that they to have this opportunity for themselves. Thank you for sharing your lived experience and bringing to light this conversation.
I think that we as adults have at some level accepted feeling bloated, racy, or not quite right after eating so we allow that for our children too. It is only through awareness that we can start to make changes.
There is a great book called Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss – it explains in detail how strong an influence on the body salt, sugar and fat have and how the food companies have learned to bypass all our warning systems so we eat more and more of these processed foods.
It seems to be above all the quantity – in the past I managed to make myself feel quite sick on non-dairy chocolate which is basically just cocoa and sugar.
Thank you Rosie for high lighting the effects of sugars and processed foods at children’s parties. It is amazing how quickly children are affected by sugar and all the different additives that are put in foods today. As we get older we become numb to how it affects us, but it is interesting what you read Christophe about the food giants hooking us into foods so that we eat more by by- passing our own senses, this would make sense, I have always felt there is more to the food industry than meets the eye.
Great point you share here with us Alison ‘there is more to the food industry than meets the eye’. It is I feel about business/money making and not for some about keeping everyone on the healthy eating pathway- less additives etc. The shops continue the trend as leaving sweets at the check out area are a temptation too much for many and I have heard of aromas of food being sprayed as you enter a shop – so many little ‘hooks’ to try and grab us.
Yes, I agree. All about money instead of all about people first.
Thanks for sharing this Christoph and highlighting how much manipulation is wielded by these huge wealthy food giants.
They get fat on profits and people get can get fat and sick with these tactics.
There is also the carefully presented placement of foods on shelves and colours on packaging that pull people in and strategically placed sweets right by the check out for children (and adults!) to be influenced to buy more sugary stuff .
Interesting how many make it about the money, and not about people or their health.
What a great article exposing so much, clearly and simply outlining how food does have a direct impact on our behaviors. It is easy sometimes to see the bad behavior as something that needs to be disciplined and we often overlook the root cause – which in this case is as simple as changing diet. Over 80% of medical and psychological conditions, including, anxiety, depression, type 2 diabetes have been shown to be diet and exercise related. Thank you Rosie for highlighting this important point.
I can totally relate to the craziness of this. Recently I was out with family and the younger children were given a sugary ‘treat’ and a sugar drink. After this they went hyper – knocked over a drink and jumped around nearly kicking nearby people and the adults became frustrated. It was evident they were on a sugar high and I wondered if the children enjoyed the experience. Are they enjoying themselves as the adults got mad and frustrated with them? Are they enjoying themselves later when they are crying and feeling so unsettled that nothing pleases them?
Thanks Rosie for highlighting this issue so clearly and lovingly. I know I find the normal birthday parties challenging in terms of food choices for my son. We have a gluten, dairy and refined sugar free diet at home so if he chooses to eat the lollies and drinks on offer there is indeed a noticeable change in his behaviour, and of course in all the children. I’ve heard comments from teachers as well that more and more they see these highly processed foods being packed in lunch boxes – these all contain additives and preservatives so the kids are exposed to them on a daily basis. Why is more attention not given to the effects of foods on children’s behaviour? Is it too hard to consider that we may actually be poisoning them? Is it because we as parents would also have to examine our food choices and consider giving up some of our favourites? I’ve learned that in truth, what I was ‘giving up’ when I made dietary changes was comfort and numbness, along with bloating, excess weight, bad skin and sometimes bad moods. Good riddance to them all. I feel it’s really important that as parents we do pay a lot more attention to what type of food we are offering our children, and ourselves.
Yes Michelle I am sure that we as parents choose to close our eyes so we don’t have to give up some of our favourites. How can you say no to your children and then eat it yourself. Is it possible that at family birthday parties great quantities of sugar are provided for the children because adults have their alcohol?
This is so true, alas, most children I know eat this chemical, sugar ‘food’ (so called) on a daily basis, not just at the odd party. A lot of it is even marketed as being healthy or containing goodness when it absolutely is not, it’s practically criminal what advertisers get away with. However the effects are clear and there are many other options out there that don’t leave us with a chemical sugar comedown, just needs a little care and awareness…
I agree Laura, “A lot of it is even marketed as being healthy or containing goodness when it absolutely is not, it’s practically criminal what advertisers get away with.” I find the cereals are especially deceptive, unless we really discern what is in them.
This is a really great topic for discussion. I have noticed the instant change in behaviour when a class full of children share a chocolate cake that someone may have brought in for a birthday. The children are “hot wired” within moments and become agitated and loud and that’s even after one piece. You are so right to question how a whole table of food at a kids birthday party would affect the child. Your daughter’s experience is a prime example. It is also important to look at what we are feeding children day to day as well, as a little bit of junk food here and a bit of junk food there can add up to quite an amount.
Susan it’s interesting what you say. Most children’s parties are based all around sugar with fruit juices, ice cream, sweets, chocolates, cakes, donuts. Parents think they are giving the kids a treat, but are they really understanding what they are doing? And then to add to it they give the children goody bags full of more sugary stuff. It is crazy, the question is will this change, when will parents start to realise what they are doing to the child. .
As long as people fill their bodies with completely the wrong type of foods for them, we will never beat obesity or diabetes. It’s up to us all to take more responsibility for our health, and to support better education in schools on the effect these products can have in later life.
So true Susan, I find going to most children’s parties hard work, because of all the sugar the kids are having, they are usually hyperactive, fighting over toys or running around going crazy and screaming, my son who is sensitive to noise usually ends up getting upset, and we usually end up leaving early. All in all not much of a celebration of the child whose birthday it is.
Although I have known for many years the effects of sugary chemical filled foods on moods and behaviour, it is not until I read your article, Rosie, that I got the whole picture. Now I know why so many of my children’s parties ended in exhaustion and misery for us all, as way back then I had no idea about how damaging these foods were. What I find appalling is the fact that it still goes on despite much exposure of it in medical journals and the press, and the government’s guidelines. I see many situations in the medical and educational profession as well as the general public,consuming sugary foods and drinks on a regular and daily basis. Many staff are exhausted, and many medical profession are also exhausted.Addressing the exhaustion can only change when we are all encouraged to be become aware of our bodies and learn to care more for ourselves in our daily lives.
It sometimes feels like everything is stacked against a parent who is motivated to exclude sugar and additives from their children’s diets. In supermarkets and petrol stations, the lower shelves are unapologetically stacked with cohorts of brightly coloured, differentiated packages, all hiding a dull brown ubiquity of chocolate underneath, or a regiment of tiny sweets, enticingly presented to ensure a wail of desire from the young and impressionable. This is blatant manipulation in the form of temptation and in the name of profitability. It’s about time governments held the food sector to account for this flagrant grooming which is bringing about such devastating statistics and personal tragedies for the obsese, the diabetic and those with cancer and heart disease. It’s truly shameful.
So true Cathy – the focus is based on greed, creating addiction to sugar, thus creating more need (craving) for it in the body and ensuing profits for companies and governments.
We have gone so far away from true health, true vitality and true well-being – a shocking burden and prison for generations to come unless society begins to wake up to what is really going on through food indulgence.
Well spoken Cathy. It is time that we put pressure on the governments to prohibit the way the food sector manipulates our children (and adults). The dangers of sugar are becoming more apparent every day and everyone should be made aware. Next to the fact that sugar is dangerous to the health it is a highly addictive substance not suitable to play around with.
I agree Cathy, with all the advertising and immediate access to sweets & sugary additive laden foods available everywhere we go its very true that it ‘is stacked against a parent who is motivated to exclude sugar and additives from their children’s diets’. It’s also important to add its just as equally stacked against adults wanting to choose healthier options too.
Great sharing Rosie. Having always had an interest in health and nutrition I excluded any form of sugar and additives to my children’s diet when they were young. They played beautifully the majority of the time, a sharp contrast to other boys their age who visited, it would then at times feel like the wild west or a whirlwind had arrived. Not enjoyable at all.
Reading this I was thinking that when I was younger that we did not consume merely the amount of sugar the children do today and then I remembered we had our ways of adding the sugar, such as;
Bread and butter with loads of sugar on top – my favourite by the age of eight.
Condensed milk, again add loads of sugar and drink or soak bread in it.
Breakfast cereal, add at least two tablespoons of sugar and milk.
Sweets on the way to school, during the lunch break and on the way back.
Sweets or chocolate before dinner and puddings of some description afterwards.
That’s not to mention all the fizzy drinks such as cola cola, dandelion and burdock, lemonade and cream soda to mention but a few.
Looking back I can see we weren’t so different after all.
Yes strange, instead of celebrating and supporting, we have been brought up with the idea of using sugar to celebrate which actually is abusive and the opposite of celebrating.
I’m so glad you were inspired to write on this topic Rosie. It makes so much sense and its great that this is brought to light for us to consider as we seem to have huge blinkers on when it comes to food! I know from my experience that when I’ve indulged in sugary foods I get a headache, my body feels racy and I generally feel rubbish. As you clearly point out, how can children possibly cope with their small tummies and digestion! No wonder we have a nation with junk food issues when we feed our children on all of these chemicals giving them the message that it’s fine and so the cycle continues….Of course there is also the addictive nature of these foods to consider as well!
I agree Heather, I have noticed in stressful times of my life how I have consumed excessive amounts of sugar to ‘take the edge off things’. As I have done so my energy levels would crash and I would need more to pick me up and get me through the day. The more I ate the more I wanted. I can recall a time when I would literally pour a bag of white sugar over my already sweet weetabix. I was hooked and would defiantly deny it was unhealthy so that my sugar fix would not be taken away . Now, I find extraordinary sweetness in vegetables and get to enjoy the flavours of food so much more. How much better would it be to educate our young to enjoy the variety of flavours food has to offer rather than numbing their taste buds with sugar.
That’s a good point about numbing our taste buds with sugar. Yesterday at work a lady said you always eat so healthy there is never anything but goodness in your shopping bag. Normally I would shy away from this sort of comment and start to dismiss my choices to essentially not challenge the choices all around me being made that are not necessarily that healthy. This time I simply said “Yes, I love healthy food, its amazing how your taste buds change and this is now what I want to eat and really love.” Because it is true, I love salads and oil and a little something super simple but yum.
Your list of sugar and chemicals are what I was allowed to eat as a child in the 1950s Rosie – I was a hyper child.
Now in my early 70’s, looking back, there have been so many messages from my body that my addiction to sugar was having a disastrous effect, sadly I ignored them at the time.
I feel the longer we stay on our addictions the harder it is to break the habit – or perhaps this has simply been an excuse to not address my cravings? I have been slowly addressing my sugar cravings and making good progress. How different it could be, if all parents and grandparents could educate themselves with the harmful side effects and along with schools, teach this to children as early as they can to understand the dangers – so to make informed, loving choices for themselves.
I agree with you Wendy – “looking back, there have been so many messages from my body that my addiction to sugar was having a disastrous effect, sadly I ignored them at the time”.
Many years ago over-riding my body’s signals to sugar in my system (reflected on my skin and crashing energy levels) created havoc as my immune system went down and systemic Candida flourished. Not an experience I would wish on anyone.
I agree Susan, we know sugar is bad for us, yet we give the children extra amounts as a special treat on their birthdays, and then wonder why they behave so badly, and the joy of celebration dissolves into the sugary overdose. When you really think about it, it really doesn’t make sense.
So true Alison and Susan. The irony is that on a day to celebrate who they are they end up not feeling themselves.
Beautiful point Fiona – the ‘norm’ is not necessarily good for us at all
This is a really important issue. I have also noticed the array of junk food at children’s parties and have observed changes in my own children’s (and others) behaviour after consuming these foods. They definitely become more anxious, racy, hyper-active, tired, clumsy and moody even angry. I am no expert but I wonder if a large proportion of ‘behavioural issues’ in children could be improved or eradicated with diet changes and avoidance of sugar plus all the other nasties that are put in children’s food? If we saw some of these additives as akin to drugs then we would think differently about allowing our children to have them.
Hi Rosie. Great article. Food so affects children especially, as you point out, that their bodies are small and often can’t process many of these foods. I remember being a student teacher at a primary school and every Friday afternoon they had free time that they had earnt for good behaviour during the week. I was in charge of two boys who had a reduced free time because they hadn’t adhered to the school’s appropriate behaviour boundaries.
The school had a fete in the morning and the children had already had a lunch of sweets and burgers so were pretty hyped in the afternoon. It was decided it would be a nice treat to allow the children leftover snacks. I voiced my concerns that the children would be be super hyper but was advised that was alright as the children could burn off the energy in the play ground and what (snacks) they had would be limited.
I knew being with these two boys and keeping them in the classroom and paying attention was a challenge under normal circumstances but I had underestimated how affected they were by eating so much sugar. They had also sneaked in more food than was allowed. They were jumping around everywhere until their time was up and they could go. I said they could go and play but one couldn’t actually hear me he was so gone on sugar and chemicals. He was screaming at me that he wanted to go play for a good 10 minutes. His eyes had changed and it was like he could not see me. After a while he came back enough to hear me say he could play.
At home time I asked him if he could remember me saying to him that he could go and play and he said he couldn’t remember anything. Scary stuff!
I agree Rosie, it is powerful for parents to know and understand the ingredients of their children’s food. The foods served at your party are compared with foods served at previous parties which create issues for parents to conform to the sugar-laden birthday ‘treats’ which have become accepted and expected!!
Some really interesting points Rosie, thank you for sharing. It is amazing what we deem to be acceptable even when it is damaging our bodies.
My granddaughter aged 6 has just told me that she is not having tomato ketchup anymore, apparently the lady dentist who came to school to talk with them about their teeth explained what sugar does and how it changes our body, health and teeth. The children were really inspired by this!
Stephanie, what an awesome comment to read. How refreshing to hear a story about a health professional talking about the effects of sugar on our bodies and health. Dentists have always lead the way with educating against too much sugar thanks to fillings but to go a step further and educate children on the hidden sugars in foods such as tomato ketchup and the effect on the body is great to hear, it is also lovely to hear how inspired they all were.
Great that people and especially children are starting to realise how much sugar is in food items where one would not necessarily suspect it, like tomato ketchup, peanut butter and especially those very sugary breakfast cereals.
Hi Rosie, this is an awesome article highlighting the insidious way sugar and chemicals change our physiology.
I love your last line – “I own a business, I am raising a child and learning each and every day that it’s not about what we do, but who we truly are”.
My feeling on it is we need to be less focused on parties and more on the day to day sugars that kids and adults consume in everyday foods like cereals for example. My sister bought me a gluten free granola cereal while visiting her I took one mouthful and was like ‘this is really sweet’, I looked at the ingredients at it had 21gms per serving of sugar, that’s about 4 tsp!!!! Crazy, here is something that looks so healthy and good for you covered in sugar! Bread is full of sugar there are loads of hidden sugars that most parents really don’t realise they are giving their kids, juice being one big sugar hit. Like my sister said, in our day we didn’t have this much sugar everywhere and it definitely impacts on behaviour and stress in children’s systems. Not to mention obesity which is something young and old are suffering from and these hidden sugars have a lot to do with it. Education is the only way out of this and really feeling what impact it has on our bodies.
Very true, and it is amazing where sugar shows up.
I was given some hummus (chickpea dip) yesterday and tasted it, and I didn’t even need to look on the label as to me it was way too sweet!
Yes, hidden sugar turns up in all kinds of foods that do not make sense. It is a crime that the industry does this. Sugar is addictive and makes you overeat, and the industry play on this fact.
An awesome article Rosie, thank you for presenting some facts on these additives and the all too familiar effects on our children. A product on a supermarket shelf does not always equate to nutritional support. It is like another level of socially acceptable food poisoning that is reaching epidemic status and as you clearly note our children are suffering as a result of our ill-informed choices.
I love your optimism when you state that “a product on a supermarket shelf does not always equate to nutritional support”; I sometimes get the feeling that there are actually very few food products in a supermarket that are edible, such is their sugary and chemical content.
Spot on Rosie – when my kids were younger I remember actually scheduling the effects of the sugar into the party… “sugar spike at this point in the day, then make sure they have some intense activity for an hour to take the edge off it, followed by some chill out time as the effects wear off and they start to get grumpy”. You could map the very obvious effects, and it was not isolated but would affect the whole party.
Your article, Rosie, reminds me of an incident with my daughter when she was very young and her reaction to foods. When she was a young toddler her mother & I asked her grandmother not to give our daughter a particular coloured sweet in a packet of sweets that our daughter often had. Her grandmother did not say anything and we knew she most likely would not comply as she thought many of our ideas of childcare somewhat odd. Anyway when our daughter and grandmother returned from their outing her grandmother, to our surprise, said, ‘You know you were right’. For she had given our daughter the particular sweet and had experienced in our daughter the consequences of doing so, which was for her to become hyperactive, not able to focus, stubborn and argumentative.
This is interesting Jonathan, you reminded me of a time my children were given a specific colour of sweet they never got from us because of the additives. On the way home we called on another friend and my children began behaving in a way I had never seen in them before.
They were running all around and leaping over the friends furniture and us, yelling and screeching and silly and seeming not to hear when asked to stop and calm down. It was like they were overwound up ‘wind-up’ toys. It was a nightmare and proved to us what we had felt. When they were older and we remembered that day, they said that they couldn’t stop and couldn’t believe they had behaved that way either.
Hi Rosie, so true what you say but this also is massively the same for adults… It’s only once I started to become aware of how my body felt and so began eating more nourishing things and slacked off the stimulants, that I realised what an Earth shattering impact things like caffeine, sugar and pretty much anything processed had on my body. Seriously every bit of it, from numbing fingers and toes, bulging eyes, racing head and heart, hot skin, sweating, bad breathe, upset tummy, dry mouth, achy bones, head ache… the list is endless. Also I would feel really agitated and argue after I had a “treat”. The trouble I think with kids is what happens when they go to school and see their friends e-number (food additive) rich lunch boxes and want the same… I don’t have kids yet but I hear controlling their diet at young ages is hard, what is the answer?
I don’t think there is an answer, as for each child, and for each adult it is an individual choice.
What I have learnt to do with my daughter…. now almost 3 years later since writing this, is to allow her the responsibility to make her own choices. I feel that I have given her the knowledge, and spoken with her about the effects but in the end it is her choice, and making her own choice with food will also give her the experience and confidence to make other choices as she gets older.
Last week she went to a party and ate junk food. She got a migraine and felt so awful. We spoke about her choices and she knew exactly what she had chosen, and the result it had given her. It took about 3 days for her to recover and not feel so tired and washed out from the whole event. I sat there and related with her, remembering how I used to feel when I took drugs or drank alcohol and I felt that the lesson she had experienced was massive and will hopefully support her to make better ones next time.
This is great to read Rosie, I have a 4 year old son and Its inspiring to read that with your daughter you ‘allow her the responsibility to make her own choices’, I was at a party recently and my son was taking handfuls of crisps which he would not usually have, I was chasing him trying to get them off him which obviously he didn’t like, it felt like a battle and didn’t feel right at all, I knew there must be another way and so it is very inspiring for me to read that you have ‘given her the knowledge and spoken with her about the effects, but in the end it is her choice’, it feels important for me to let go of the control and attachment to what my son eats and empower him to make his own choices.
Rosie, what a beautiful way of communication with your daughter, she makes the choices and then experiences the result of her choices and you both share about the impact of those choices. Such a great foundation for self nurturing and self responsible choices throughout her life.
Great article about the toxic chemical reactions and the emotional ‘theme park’ effects of a sugary, junk food diet on a child’s system. Our children are exposed moment by moment to a plethora of dressed up sugar content outside the home environment (and in very many cases, also in it) , so the challenges of supporting them to make choices that are in synch with their bodies’ needs are enormous. Then of course, just around the corner are the possibilities of alcohol, cigarettes and much more to add to the mix. What a massive burden we place on them from an early age to make sense of it all.
Yes Cathy, quite a challenge to support our children to make the right choices while they are amongst other teenagers that are raised to believe that consuming additives, sugar, coffee and alcohol (when they reach a certain age) is the normal way to go.
Thank you Rosie for addressing the rubbish that manufacturers put in food that are targeted for children. I have over the last 8 years purged my diet almost entirely of anything processed. The only time I can go safe food shopping with out my reading glasses is at a farmers market. Why is the writing on labels gotten so small? Could it be that because of the amount of stuff with names we can’t pronounce? What are we putting in our body, we know as you said what it does to children. The other day I was a few hours from home and wanted something small to eat. I bought a small pack of sliced chicken. Shortly after eating it I felt a bit strange, cramps NS fussy headed… I then read the label and the amount of chemicals was phenomenal. The rubbish in the foods that adults eat is the same as what children eat. The children are a great reflection to us with what stuff in our food choices really does, if we just pay attention to the signs.
Hi Rosie thank you for sharing, I too have made the same observations. I have been to many children’s birthday parties this year with my 5 year old daughter and the kids do go crazy on sugar and e-numbers (food additives) just like they are on drugs and just as we did when I was a child. When it was our daughters birthday several parents commented that it was strange that the kids were so calm and playing so nicely. There wash’t a shortage of treats and sweet things but just no sugar or anything artificial. My daughters whole personality changes after eating sugary things and it takes some time for her to return to herself. Why do we carry on feeding our children stuff that is so obviously harming?
Thank you Rosie for sharing. My experience with my children and other children was very similar especially with my son if he had sugar. It was like he had just eaten a firework that had been lit and off he would go spinning round the room! It took a while to really admit the sugar was the issue as it was sometimes easier to offer a small ‘treat’ for a quiet moment. However the fallout was anything but quiet!
Great point Julie. So often sugar is offered as a treat and it in truth is far from a treat for our digestive system. My son always used to vomit if he ever went to a party and was given fizzy drinks, a clear indication of his body rejecting it.
It is not just kids who get hyper from sugar. It does the same for me and I am 55. I can cover it up by eating other things as well but the sugar is actually quite a hit.
I find it interesting how the effects of sugar in kids can appear quite extreme. In adults the sugar is actually having the same affect, however we have learnt to ‘control’ our behavior so it doesn’t look so extreme. Yet inside there is still the fireworks or disturbance as you describe Julie.
Yes good point Vicky…. it does effect us just the same. I do notice the disturbance quite loudly these days since I have removed most sugars from my diet, but it has always done the same thing, and had the same reaction. In the past I was just too numb or not aware to feel it.
Thank you Rosie for sharing this which is so important, something that goes on and is excepted as a way of living for children everyday and especially at parties where it is made to be ‘special’.
So great you highlight this and so shocking to realise what I know goes on and from my own children when they were young also.
Taking time to stop and say no and not go with what is out there and truly support children with their food choices is amazing and also the natural way to be.
Thank you Rosie I loved your description of the party you attended where the children were given a choice of healthy snack food and ‘all played together. The boys were not tackling each other; there was no crying, screaming or tantrums… just laughter and giggles of delight.’ How much more enjoyable for everyone involved and how easy to achieve. It is absolutely crazy what parents are prepared to feed their children in the name of treats and how much the children suffer for it both in the short and long term.
Yes Helen it sounds ridiculous when you spell it out. Often parents fuel children with sugar and additives at parties believing its what you do and then end up having a headache to clear up, not just for themselves but for all the families that had a child at the party. Wouldn’t it be (as Rosie described) super supportive for both the parents and children, to consider a sugar free party with children playing and no aftermath to follow.
The latter party is the kind of party I’d like to help out.
It’s interesting how children react to food. It’s also revealing how you say that the children didn’t seem to act so hyper after having healthier and lighter food. This blog shows a good understanding of how our bodies impact the way we behave thereafter.
Wow, totally awesome, I am going to get that book you recommend, it sounds really cool. And it’s so true about the foods kids eat at parties, there is none of the normal refrains, they are allowed to really go for it. And when they act crazy they are told off and not given the space to come down from their sugar high. Thanks for a really insightful blog!
Thank you Rosie…and we have the ‘nerve’ as adults to tell children to calm down and behave when we have provided the behaviour changing food in the first place!!
And can you imagine hearing the words ‘calm down and behave’ and as a small or not so small child, feeling how racy and not calm your parents are. How do kids know what calm is if they only ever see their parents in some kind of stress and raciness?
Yes Vicky, leading by example, showing those around us that there is another way. No perfection needed, but just an openess and honesty in seeing what is clearly not working and trying another way instead of just doing what everyone else is doing.
Exactly Vicky. Not only are kids feeling racy and out of control from the food they have just consumed and have parents behaving similarly, I have heard of a few children’s’ parties where the parents are encouraged to attend towards the end and socialise with a few alcoholic drinks and nibbles so they can ‘relax’ and ‘de-stress’. I’m assuming that it would likely take days for households to settle back down to some state of normalcy. Imagine what children are learning from this!!!
I can see how people do this, and I don’t mind that they do. It is quite normal in society and I don’t necessarily agree or like the effects of it but each to their own. I used to do it too, until I realised the effects it was having on me and everyone around me.
One thing for sure is though, is that our children learn from what they see around them.
We are role models all the time, there is no on and off switch.
It is interesting that many parents, or so it appears, put their children’s erratic behaviour down to ‘high spirits’ or ‘excitement’, not realising that it could be the affect of their diet which is full of sugar and additives. One can only imagine a world where children were fed a more natural, unprocessed diet. Not only would the children’s behaviour be more in line with who they naturally are, but their teachers and parents would be less stressed too.
I agree Sandra, but what I have noticed is that many of the teachers are not really leading or offering a good example by the food choices they are making themselves, so it is really up to each individual to be a role model to all children whenever we can.
Exactly Kathie and Rosie. Not only have adults created the foods but also made the choice to buy them and supply them to children and over ridden any inner voices telling them that there are other options …. I wonder how many adults then find themselves reaching for an alcoholic drink at the end of the day, telling themselves that they deserve/need it because they are exhausted after dealing with the behaviours of children ‘high’/unwell from junk food overload???
Yes, it is not just children that are faced with the food issues, it is all of society and we really do need to be more informed about the effect of food on our health and well being.
Yes it’s an ‘ouch’ Kathie Johnson when I remember providing all sorts of sugary foods to my children when they were younger and then pulling my hair out wondering why they were climbing the walls but clearly they were juiced up on the sweet poison. It still amazes me to what extent sugar is added to all sorts of different foods.
A great blog Rosie, thank you. I was quite shocked when I read this comment ‘my eight year old daughter went to a birthday party with her friends (I didn’t attend this one with her), and when she got home, she was a mess – she was behaving no differently to someone who was coming off drugs,’ but in fact I probably should not have been as I remember hearing on a radio 4 documentary that sugar has the same chemical component as cocaine bar one letter. Is it not time to take more responsibility of what we feed our children and their tiny bodies?
Thanks Rosie for this article. I can completely relate to what you have written, I have a 4 year old son and I am always surprised by what is on offer at children’s parties and most children’s events. From the age of 1 most of the parties we have been to, the food on offer has been pizzas, sweets, cakes, fizzy drinks, occasionally there might be the odd tomato, the kids are hyperactive and it’s been a pretty unpleasant experience.
At one party my son had a piece of gluten/dairy free chocolate cake that a friend had made especially for him, but he went so crazy from the sugar in it that he couldn’t calm himself down. I had never seen him like this as he’s generally very calm, it made me realise the very obvious effect that sugar has on children.
Yes Rebecca, it can be quite stressful watching the effects of sugar on children! All we can do, is to offer them alternatives and talk about it so that it is no longer the “norm” to feed our children this way.
Thank you Rebecca and Rosie. Your children are so blessed to have you around. A loving revolution is brewing. I loved reading of the party you and your daughter went to Rosie with the sushi rolls. I thought Wow! How different is that.
Rosie, you make a great point here in terms of simply starting to have more conversations about these kinds of things…. I’ve often felt that something dramatic is needed to change the world’s diet and / or our food choices, however your comment and your blog has made me consider that the start is simply to start having open honest discussion about what is really going on when we eat particular foods… For me, this becomes much easier when we focus the discussion on how the foods actually feel in our bodies after they are consumed…!
Brilliant points Angela and Rosie, it makes so much more sense to bring it back to how we digest these foods and how they impact upon the way we feel. Having simple conversations and developing an awareness of how we feel after we eat a certain food is a great place to start.
Yes parties were always a challenge for me, and probably my sons, as they did not eat any sugar or additives, and one was coeliac. This was natural, normal for them when they were young, so giving them a foundation of eating in a healthy manner.
Lorraine you’ve given me a greater appreciation of what it must be like as a parent, how parties and conforming to the norm is a pressure that is put upon you. I wonder if parents get labelled fussy and spoil-sports? In some ways having a formal diagnosis could ease that pressure to conform (thought needing to ensure the food is safe to eat is still present) as it is deemed a legitimate reason.
It reminds me of how, if you’re not drinking alcohol at a grown ups party, you’ll probably be asked many times to, go on have a drink. It’s funny ironic that in consuming sugar or drink, behaviour is affected and things often end in tears – so actually not consuming either makes for more sane, enjoyable parties in my book.
It’s great parents are questioning these norms with other parents and introducing healthier alternatives to junk food.