Sweets for your sweet

I can honestly say that children have far more hectic social lives than adults do. From birthday parties and festivals to school events, they are out of the door as soon as they come in. The little ones now have big lives and with their ‘big little’ lives, come big problems. From cakes, pastries, ice-creams to popsicles served at various events and birthday parties that they attend, kids now have far more access to sweets.

Sugar is bad for children’s teeth, metabolism, concentration, weight maintenance, energy and fitness levels… the list goes on. So how does a parent tackle the festival season? By being inventive. Here’s how you can regulate sweets for your sweet.

Teach, Don’t Tell
Instead of stating sweets are bad, tell them exactly why. I find kids today are far more inquisitive than ever before, and it may be good to inform them of the very real consequences of eating excess sugar. You can simply tell them or use the internet to explain it through short videos. You can check the content before traumatising them too much – you’d be surprised at how much they imbibe.

Prepare, Don’t Expect
Instead of crossing your fingers and hoping your host puts something healthy on the table, you could make-and-take. Instead of taking a bottle of wine or a candle set as a gift for the next adult-and-kids soiree, you could consider taking a dessert brimming with healthy ingredients.

Savour, Don’t Sweeten
You don’t always have to take something sweet. Hot snacks like baked samosas, home fries, poha, upma or even healthy toasted sandwiches could satiate even the fussiest appetites. Figure out how you can pull kids towards the healthy food by using fun shapes and food colours at the next party you host.

Pack, Don’t Attack
You could also halve your child’s intake of unhealthy foods by packing half a dessert in the lunch box. A nice little treat in the school dabba gives them bragging rights and will never fail to delight.
Another trick to ensure that your kid gets adequate nutrition is to feed your child before they land up at their event so that the delicacies on display have limited appeal. A glass of milk could fill up their little stomachs before their 4 pm party at the neighbour’s. This trick works beautifully for adults too, who want to maintain their weight. Just saying.