Think of your favorite holiday or family event. Invariably, it will revolve around some sort of feast. Somewhere mixed in with that feast will be a table filled with desserts: cookies, pies, cakes, brownies, bars, ice cream, candy, everything sweet and delicious to our palate. Hovering around that table you will find the youngest at the gathering; little hands reaching up to snatch another cookie from the pile, stuffing a whole piece of cake into their mouth before it gets taken away, or literally diving face first into the heaping bowl of ice cream. We've all seen it. And we've all probably smiled at their tactics, turned away, and not had another thought about it. It's a sad day in the lives of our children.
When parents fill the plates of little ones during these times of feasting, they usually do a pretty good job of controlling the kids' portions. Rarely do I see a huge pile of turkey, green beans, or broccoli on the plates at the kids' table. Most often, it is a mixture of what they know the kids will consume with the least amount of effort expended by the parents. After all, we want to have a little time to celebrate as well. The rub comes when the main course has been packed away and the dessert table has been unfurled. It seems our notion of portions goes completely berserk then.
Let's face it; when it comes to portions, size really does matter. You can't expect a 98 pound woman to eat the same amount as a 250 pound man. That's just common sense, right? If you saw that woman eating the same amount, you'd think "what a pig", and expect that at the next gathering she would have added considerable girth if she continues. Yet, we completely ignore that concept when it comes to our kids and dessert. Let's take that same 250 pound man and his 50 pound son. Dad is five times the size of junior. His main course plate is overfilled with mouthwatering foods that he only gets a few times per year. If he's lucky, he might even have room for seconds. Junior's plate, on the other hand, is modest in comparison, and rarely would we expect him to go back for seconds. Now it's time for dessert.
Dad and son head over to the heaping repast, and dad picks out his favorite piece of pie. Junior wants some too, so he cuts a slightly smaller piece, and hands it over. Here's where I get confused. Dad is five times junior's size, eats at least three to four times that of his son at the main course, and then gives his son a dessert that is 75% of the size he'll eat. How does this make sense? If we look at it from a size perspective, Junior's piece of pie would be the equivalent of dad eating almost half the pie.
At my own family gatherings, I've seen many of my nieces and nephews hanging around the dessert table working on their fourth, fifth, or even sixth serving before mom, dad, or grandparent intervene and tell them "only one more, and then you're done". That's the same as mom, dad, or grandparent saying to themselves, "I've had 25 cookies, another five and I'll be done". In whose world would this be OK? Look at the size of the kids and look at the size of the adults. You can't let kids have the adult portion or more of dessert and expect them to be attentive, mello, and compliant. Instead, you can expect them to be belligerent and bounce off the walls. We see the rate of childhood obesity skyrocketing, and we can't add two and two together and learn to make proper portion sizes for our kids. I'm completely baffled on this. When did common sense leave?
I realize most kids love their sweets, but it is up to their parents to learn portion control. Look at what you would reasonably eat and look at your size. Then look at their size, and decrease the portion accordingly. If kids want to pig out on vegetables and protein, I doubt you'll find much of an issue with their health. Overindulging on sweets, on the other hand, can lead to a life of obesity and chronic disease. Do what is right for your kids: give them their correct portion.
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