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Give them a food complex or teach them a value of a calorie?
inertiastrength
Posts: 2,343 Member
So on weekends my kids have a "budget" of 150 calories; they can pick whatever they want from our treat cupboard. I don't know how many calories they eat, but I thought it would be a good idea to show them that a) things have calories and b) depending on what you pick you could get more or less etc. Yay or nay? They're 7 & 8
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Looks like a good plan. Depending on their level of understanding you could do the actual calories as you suggest or you could have 3 or 4 "buckets" or categories. Each item in a bucket would be a certain number of points. They could have x number of points in total which would be about 150 calories. Similar to the WW model.
Learning budgeting is a life skill, be it food or money.5 -
I think it would not cause a complex if you treat it as science experiment or budgeting lesson with discussion on the different choices and how they feel about them rather than strict rules about eating only x number of calories.
Do they get to choose what goes in the treat cupboard in the first place or is it your decision what gets stocked there?
You might vary items like dried fruit, nuts, wasabi peas, crackers, vegetable chips, applesauce cups, pudding cups, graham crackers, granola bars to compare to the chips and candy calories. You could discuss what foods satisfy them more for that amount of calories.
I would probably get out the food scale and immediately work with them to divide things into 150 calorie packs to store in the cupboard so they can right off see the differences in what they would get for their allotted calories.
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If they eat normally the rest of the time, I doubt it would harm them to have a calorie budget for a weekend snack.0
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Why would teaching them about a calorie budget (and not just for weekend treats, but for everything) be any more damaging than teaching them about money?3
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I think it's a great idea to teach kids about food value and choices. I guess I'd just be careful to not think of it as a reward to go to the snack cupboard. Nutrition is something everyone should learn at an early age!3
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JerSchmare wrote: »heiliskrimsli wrote: »Why would teaching them about a calorie budget (and not just for weekend treats, but for everything) be any more damaging than teaching them about money?
Two important topics that are taboo, for some stupid reason. No idea why.
And both are important things for an adult to know how to do.3 -
I struggle with these because I didn't know what a calorie was when I went to college. No joke. I couldn't understand why I was getting so fat. I went to the gym everyday!!!!
But I'm also glad I wasn't obsessed with calories. Both calories in and calories out.
How to find the middle ground? I personally don't mention calories to my kids yet, but I try to teach eating foods that make you healthy or strong. And let's have a treat- but just 1.
I do plan on doing more of a lesson on nutrition and lifting when they are older.3 -
I think it is a good idea.
What do you think about showing them what calories are? There are some good videos on youtube. I think teaching kids that calories are just a measure of energy, that your body uses energy to survive, that food has energy, and that too much energy causes weight gain, while too little energy causes weight loss is a good physics lesson.1 -
i think it is a good idea, it may help them learn about calories and other things that are in what they choose0
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I think it's an excellent idea. Perhaps work the relationship of calories and nutrition into the conversation. For example, explain why even though they may need to eat xxxx calories to fuel their activities, it would not be a good idea to eat a big bowl of those M&Ms to do so.0
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Whatever you do to successfully manage your weight is what you teach your kids, IMO. So if you maintain your weight by picking out a calorie controlled treat on the weekends absolutely teach them that. If that's not what you do but you think it would be a good idea for them? It's probably not.1
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AlabasterVerve wrote: »Whatever you do to successfully manage your weight is what you teach your kids, IMO. So if you maintain your weight by picking out a calorie controlled treat on the weekends absolutely teach them that. If that's not what you do but you think it would be a good idea for them? It's probably not.
I do it a little more often because I track my macros daily. Since I don't really KNOW if my kids can afford to do this daily, nor am I about to start logging their macros lol, I'm going to stick to weekends. I agree with you!
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I wish I had learned CICO when I was a kid. I spent a lot of years eating good, healthy food while fit and plenty active but frustrated that I could not get my weight under control because I was simply eating too much. Based on my experience, I think you're doing your kids a humongous favour.1
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I am a big fan of letting people parent their kids how they want. I may not agree, but it ain't my business. For my kid, 12yo boy, we talk about a balanced diet, we talk about about what macro nutrients are, we talk about goals and how you eat to fuel to succeed. We don't talk about calories in that context. I don't have a problem with the OP's method, but I would never do it. We don't demonize food, we don't treat food as rewards nor punishment. It's food, fuel. It is my belief, and I may be totally alone in it, that if I teach my son that he needs proper protein and why, he needs proper fats, what they are and why, that carbs aren't evil, how they work and too many will crowd out others, he will be fine. He is also a smart kid, if I lay it out, he will pick it up.6
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I think you are doing them good. I learned about calories in school and it stuck with me. It was my favorite teacher and she made it very interesting. Yes, I got fat, but I knew exactly why I was fat and I didn't care. Even after years of not caring, that basic knowledge was what helped me avoid the frustration of yoyo dieting. When I finally decided to lose weight it was the first thing I sought. No crash diets, no arbitrary rules, just the memory of how simple and fun it was playing with calories at school with my favorite teacher, trying to fit pictures of food items from the pyramid (back then it was still a pyramid) sized according to calories into a cardboard box so that they don't overlap and seeing all the possibilities you could have if you just arrange them right. Had it been a "don't eat candy" kind of lesson, I may not have retained that memory so fondly.
And here I am, successful after the first try because the "food box" made more sense to me than all the fad diets around. And that was just a teacher. I'm pretty sure your kids will remember this practical lesson even better coming from a parent. Even if they rebel at some point, at least you know you have done your best to give them the best tool for the job if they ever need it.6 -
prattiger65 wrote: »I am a big fan of letting people parent their kids how they want. I may not agree, but it ain't my business. For my kid, 12yo boy, we talk about a balanced diet, we talk about about what macro nutrients are, we talk about goals and how you eat to fuel to succeed. We don't talk about calories in that context. I don't have a problem with the OP's method, but I would never do it. We don't demonize food, we don't treat food as rewards nor punishment. It's food, fuel. It is my belief, and I may be totally alone in it, that if I teach my son that he needs proper protein and why, he needs proper fats, what they are and why, that carbs aren't evil, how they work and too many will crowd out others, he will be fine. He is also a smart kid, if I lay it out, he will pick it up.
All of this for me. This method would not work for my family.1 -
I think the idea ofPackerjohn wrote: »Looks like a good plan. Depending on their level of understanding you could do the actual calories as you suggest or you could have 3 or 4 "buckets" or categories. Each item in a bucket would be a certain number of points. They could have x number of points in total which would be about 150 calories. Similar to the WW model.
Learning budgeting is a life skill, be it food or money.
This sounds like a fun way to introduce them to it, without putting calories exactly out yet. Then they may get excited when they find out they can have like 2 of their favorite kind of apple rather than 1/4 of a chocolate bar. I'm in college and I still weigh my choices kinda like that. Do I want 1 small churro or 3 small granny smith apples? I'd rather have the apples because they're more filling and still sweet! Plus I get three, and I can space out when I eat them so I feel like i'm getting more.2 -
It seems ok to me. I understand why you asked the question though. For example being around low-fat-obsessed coaches as a middle schooler gave me that low fat complex at a young age. Calories are great, but kids shouldn't have to worry about them. Are they having fun with it? Do they seem "off" about any part of the process? It could be a fun game they will learn from.0
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wellnesschaser wrote: »It seems ok to me. I understand why you asked the question though. For example being around low-fat-obsessed coaches as a middle schooler gave me that low fat complex at a young age. Calories are great, but kids shouldn't have to worry about them. Are they having fun with it? Do they seem "off" about any part of the process? It could be a fun game they will learn from.
They seem to like the game of figuring out what they can have and are asking if they can save them for the next day or have only some today and more tomorrow. I like that they're looking at food labels and are understanding nutrition labels... doesn't seem to be negative and I don't restrict their eating or tell them "they have to finish their dinner if they x,y,z" so I think we'll keep 'playing' this game lol
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It's a little micro-managing...however, I weigh and log most of my food (micro-manage). My kids are 8 & 6, they are allowed 1 treat a day of their choosing. They can usually assess which treat is the better "value" already (without actual calorie counts).
You can use the 150 calorie limit to teach 2-3 digit addition. That's positive.1 -
I like the idea but perhaps already breaking the foods down into 150 calorie snack packs (ziplock bags) would be easier to manage. Big day of the family working out calorie counts, labelling and bagging everything and then they don't have to weigh, calculate and then reassess every time they want a treat.0
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I think it is very arbitrary and not a realistic demo. Healthy eating is great but this budget for one snack seems very arbitrary. I wouldn't do it. Particular at their ages they need to learn less about calories in junk food and more about things like eating healthy foods and junk only in moderation.
Teach them to cook
Teach them to garden
Go out on a hike or bike or play basketball with them.
All of these set kids up for healthy lifestyle not lifelong diets.4 -
I think it is very arbitrary and not a realistic demo. Healthy eating is great but this budget for one snack seems very arbitrary. I wouldn't do it. Particular at their ages they need to learn less about calories in junk food and more about things like eating healthy foods and junk only in moderation.
Teach them to cook
Teach them to garden
Go out on a hike or bike or play basketball with them.
All of these set kids up for healthy lifestyle not lifelong diets.
Have you ever been a kid? Teaching healthy eating to kids magically morphs into "here, give me that ice cream and take a celery stick then be happy about it" in their mind, at least in my own mind as a kid it would have. It goes out the other ear. When a concept relates to something they like or something that feels fun and interesting, it's more likely to stick. I don't know any person who hasn't been exposed to "eat more vegetables and less sugary snacks" as a kid through parents, media or school, in many cases all three, yet they grown up they fall for things like ACV and Master Cleanse.
All the other things you suggested are fine, of course, but understanding calorie budgeting is just as fine.1 -
I'm on the fence. I wish I had better understanding of diet/calories/macros when I was younger (perhaps high school aged, not younger) as I would have likely made better decisions throughout my teenage years and early 20s.
Im not sure it's necessary for younger kids though. I think teaching about nutrients is important, and knowing about making good choices but also not demonising treats. I know a couple of kids (7/8 years old) who have obviously grown up around calorie conscious adults, know the calorie content of many foods, and don't have a problem stating that foods have X calories and you shouldn't eat them or you'll get fat, or something has too many carbs, or too much fat etc. I don't think that's healthy at all - It's of course only my experience of a couple of kids, and perhaps not the experience your kids will have.0 -
It its all about treats its really not teaching them about nutrition, its seem to be how much more volume can I get for the treat calories.
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My oldest kid wasn't overweight at all until she got to 7th grade and had a school cafeteria that let her buy a burger and a big candy bar for lunch every day. After that one school year she struggled to regain control of her weight until she had enough money to pay for a sleeve. I suppose she's lost the weight now. I don't ask her about it and I haven't seen her since July.0
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »My oldest kid wasn't overweight at all until she got to 7th grade and had a school cafeteria that let her buy a burger and a big candy bar for lunch every day. After that one school year she struggled to regain control of her weight until she had enough money to pay for a sleeve. I suppose she's lost the weight now. I don't ask her about it and I haven't seen her since July.
But how and where did she get the money to pay for the burger and candy bar every day?3 -
Teach them to cook
Teach them to garden
Go out on a hike or bike or play basketball with them.
All of these set kids up for healthy lifestyle not lifelong diets.
I think these are great ideas and expect that OP is doing stuff like this as part of modeling a healthy lifestyle.
I think the treat budget idea is a good one too. It teaches how to understand the differences between food in things like calories and volume, how to read labels and understand how many calories are in something, and simply how to budget. The idea that you might reserve 10% of calories (or whatever it is, not saying that needs to be part of it) on a day for a special treat isn't anti healthy eating, and it seems like a way to make the concept fun without overfocusing on calories in general.
I think you can model sensible lifestyle choices with money too, and also give kids a limited budget for some type of expenditure to teach them those skills, and it seems reasonably similar.0
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