Kids like to eat foods that taste sweet. That is a simple truth, and my son is no exception. My husband and I would like to think that we can prevent him from eating candy, cookies, ice cream, and other sweets until he is a bit older and, even then, very infrequently. It is not easy, though, and sometimes I wonder whether we are being unrealistic or unfair and whether our efforts to keep him nearly sugar free will have a lasting impact on his health and on his food choices.
As a general rule, we don’t keep sweets at home. My husband and I do enjoy ice cream, and we do have some in the freezer, but that is about it. When we eat it, we eat it after the kids are in bed. When I shop for food, I try to get as many unprocessed, whole foods as possible. For things that are packaged, like cereal, I read the labels and choose products that are as low in sugar as possible. I have found that it is not easy to find packaged foods with no sugar at all because even things like Cheerios have a little bit in them.
Keeping our home mostly free of sugar (and other sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup) is hard work, but I would like to think that it is helping our family to stay healthy. More importantly, I am hoping that it is helping Dylan to develop a taste for nutritious foods. Blake will be starting on solid foods before I know it, and our eating habits are setting an example for him, too. In fact, he seems quite obsessed with food and watches us intently as we eat, drooling and making all kinds of noises indicating that he wants what we’re having.
While it is difficult to keep our home a (mostly) sugar free sanctuary, the real difficulty comes when we are away from home. Different people have different view on whether it is realistic or possible to keep a child away from sugar and for how long, so social situations can feel a bit awkward. Sometimes, kids are exposed to situations where candy or other sweets are literally thrown at them. That happened yesterday when Dylan went to the Fourth of July Parade. Fortunately, when we go to the drive – up teller at the local bank, she asks me whether I want a sticker or a lollipop for Dylan. He loves the stickers so much that he gets upset if I have to go to the ATM instead of the teller (because it’s Sunday or another time that the bank is closed) and he thinks that ATMs should dispense stickers along with the cash.
I am not sure how long we will be able to keep sweets out of Dylan’s reach, but I am hoping that it will make a difference in his taste for food. Right now, he enjoys a variety of foods. Of course, fruits are among his favorite things because as I said earlier, kids like sweet things.