Parents - how do you allow your kids sweets and also foster healthy habits?

Tough one - I tried never to tell them that they have to finish anything. I know a lot of members of the "clean plate club" that have issues ever leaving something. I want them to eat sensibly and not eat just because it's in front of them. But then, we do want them to eat dinner before dessert.

Even with desserts, I say, "Don't keep eating just because it tastes good. If you're full, just stop and save it for later."

And then you don't want to put all of the focus on food, either. Tough one.

I'd say I just tried to use wording such that I didn't end up having to say exactly how many bites I expected them to eat. Dinner before dessert. Real food before sweets. When they were old enough, we talked about the importance of protein (versus just carbs, carbs, carbs, although I know there's nothing inherently wrong with carbs - I just want to ensure that they get a balance of macros). So now, I say, what protein have you had before you eat that piece of cheesecake?

I don't even know if any of this is helpful, but I commiserate.

My boys get a sweet snack after school...we sometimes do desert, but not every night.

My son is now 16-years-old, and I wish I could remember exactly what we did and when because he really is not much of a candy monster. Ben & Jerry's ice cream by the pint is more his vice, but we're lucky in that he is extremely athletic/involved in sports so keeping weight on him is more of an issue. I honestly end up throwing away more Halloween/Christmas/Easter candy than he actually eats (there was literally a chocolate bunny still sitting on the counter yesterday when he finally decided to eat it).

Definitely don't forbid it completely--I think moderation is key. As you said, avoid using it as a reward. Don't keep much of it around the house, either. Encourage her to eat fruits if she wants something sweet (strawberries with a bit of whipped cream passes for dessert in our house quite frequently). Definitely don't force her to clean her plate before dessert--I think that sets up for a bad mindset, too.

We don't do desserts often, and by desserts I mean cookies, candies, pop, cake, ice cream. We do treats like tortillas more often - every couple of weeks. I just don't think they need it. They are growing, settin up habits for life. If they are hungry I'd rather they eat some whole foods or a meal rather than a treat.

They do get sweets in some food though. I make my muffins with quality nutritious flours and I will add stevia and aome sugar free chocolate chips to some. They get the sweets without the sugars. They put maple syrup on their coconut pancakes but I limit the amount. No syrup puddles. Again, I just don't think they need it.

We do have treats but they are often on unusual days or occasions. Birthdays, parties, and stuff like that.

I don't give it to them for lunches or on a daily basis. If as adults they feel they need a cookie or icecream everyday then they can choose to do so but as the parent, I don't buy it so they don't get it.

When they want sweet they end up looking for fruit like an apple with peanut butter. Sometimes they choose a sandwich with jam or flavoured yogurt, but even that I consider a treat and tend to buy plain so they can flavour it themsleves (with stevia, extracts and fruits).

It works for us. I just stay consistant. There is some whining once in a while for a treat but its minimal. For example, I bought a box of cookies for a BBQ that we did not attaend so I am saving it for another occassion. They've asked about it a couple of times but no one has opened it out of cookie desperation. It's been sitting on the shelf for over 3 weeks.

My kids are 9, 12, and 14.

We did sweets once a week on Saturdays...they get to have a chocolate bar or jelly babies or whatever. Then we have dessert on Sundays and Wednesdays. Dessert can be eaten at any time during dinner...before, with or after mains. Snacks are always healthy.

Other than that no sweets,cookies, etc. Except for birthdays because there'd be a birthday cake.

They're teens now and no issue moderating sweet things. One thing we did is once they started getting pocket money we didn't stop them from using it to buy sweets. Our view is it's their money to do with as they please. They did use it to buy extra sweeties now and then but not much...even when they were eight or nine they'd rather wait and get the freebie sweets on Saturday and spend their money elsewhere.

Halloween...they could have as many sweets as they wanted...usually ended up taking them into work or throwing them away because they'd not want them all.

Christmas...kind of a triple sweetie day...they get three sweets in their stockings and there will usually be a box of chocolate biscuits we share as a family.

No one seems deprived. If they felt they were, they have enough cash to buy a dozen chocolate bars a day of their own money.

My little ones (now in their 20's) grew up with sweets around usually as after school snack. Desserts were occasional treats and not usually an after dinner thing. They knew if they did not eat the food served them that they would not have anything else until the next meal. My kids were lucky that both grandmas were amazing bakers so most of the goodies were homemade and not nearly as sweet as the stuff from the store. To them the store bought stuff was way too sweet.

My kids are 4, 5 and 7 and all are great, variety eaters. I don't worry about them having a small treat after a meal or after school. For me, I get individual sized treats (smarties, individual skittles, bite size chocolate) and they know they can have 1. I really never thought of cutting it out because they eat a balanced diet.

I am super careful with my DD's hunger cues and things like sweets. I don't want her being the same way I was as a kid and even as an adult for the most part -- eating just because.

I've noticed since she started eating foods that she knows when to stop, so I never tell her to eat everything. We do have a you must try two bites of whatever is on your plate rule, which mostly works to get her to try new things. Even if shes eating ice cream, she will stop and say shes full half way and walk away. I always want her to keep those cues (I hope.)

I keep ice cream in the house and she is more than welcome to have a serving daily, so long as she's had a reasonable amount of good for you food previously. If she wasn't hungry enough during the day to eat any of her meals, she doesn't get ice cream though.

I don't cut out any foods (we might not keep them in the house to be tempted, but we dont cut them out either.) So sometimes we have sandwiches and chips, she gets a few chips on her tray and also veggies. There are times where she only takes two bites of the veg and eats all the chips and other times where she doesn't eat the chips but eats all the veg.

I just want her not to feel guilty about eating "junk food" but not to want it over better foods all the time. I don't want her to eat just because. I'm hoping that everything I do with her and all that she sees me do will give her some healthy (mentally and otherwise) habits towards food.

My DD can eat whatever she wants as long as we ensure she gets enough protein, fat and meets her micronutrients. She eats ice cream almost every night. She doesn't usually exceed 1500 calories a day as a petite 12 year old.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition