How much junk food does your toddler eat?

So, how much "junk" (and "packaged") food does your toddler eat?? I'm just curious / nosey (and have a background in food/nutrition so thats probably why I'm interested --- as most toddlers eat too much sugar/fat, but some people seem to have gone the opposite way and give their kids almost none now ....).

Age of Toddler:
Lollies:
Ice-blocks:
Ice-cream:
Chips/Cheezels etc:
Hot chips:
Chocolate:
Biscuits:
Cake/Muffins:
Crackers:
Fruit bars:
Muesli bars:
Fizzy drinks:

Anything else you can think of?

Thanks!

Interesting.. I think my boy eats pretty healthily, better than I do! But alot of the 'junk food' he doesn't eat just cos we don't have it in the house cos we buy groceries on a tight budget.

Age of Toddler: Nearly 15 months
Lollies: Only marshmellow type ones if we happen to have them (like at a party)
Ice-blocks: He had about one a day in summer (home made, teeny bit of juice with water)
Ice-cream: The odd mouthful if we're eating it
Chips/Cheezels etc: Only had them once at a bday party
Hot chips: Has a couple of chips if we get takeaways
Chocolate: Every so often if we're having some (about 6 times)
Biscuits: Not very often just cos we don't usually buy them
Cake/Muffins: Hardly ever
Crackers: Not often, just cos we don't buy them
Fruit bars: Never
Muesli bars: When Grandad gives them to him! About once a week
Fizzy drinks: He has a couple of mouthfuls of ours if we're having lemonade (maybe once every few weeks)

Age of Toddler: 15months
Lollies: none
Ice-blocks: only frozen bananas
Ice-cream: had her first one the other weekend
Chips/Cheezels etc: none
Hot chips: if we have takeaways she's right into them so about once a week.
Chocolate: none
Biscuits: plain ones at nana and granddads about one a fortnight
Cake/Muffins: rarely
Crackers: pretzels a few times a week
Fruit bars: rarely
Muesli bars: she has 'milky bars' almost every day
Fizzy drinks: none

This isn't really an effort on my part to have her eating a healthy diet it's more to do with the fact we don't have these things in our house because we're on such a tight budget at the moment.

Age of Toddler: 28 months
Lollies: none really unless at a party where he may have a couple.
Ice-blocks: none
Ice-cream: has had once or twice in summer
Chips/Cheezels etc: none unless at a party where he has probably had them the odd time
Hot chips: has had but not regularly
Chocolate: not really except for a choc santa someone gave him at christmas and the odd other time
Biscuits: Maybe once a fortnight. Plain ones at Grandma and Grandads.
Cake/Muffins: Homemade muffins two or three times a week. Sometimes a wee piece of cake if we are somewhere for afternoon tea.
Crackers: Every second day maybe
Fruit bars: None
Muesli bars: None
Fizzy drinks: None

I am starting to become more relaxed about things now that he is over two. (not a conscious decision to wait until then but I just seem to have relaxed) If he is having sweet things I prefer them to be homemade things like muffins or pikelets rather than packaged things from supermarket.

Age of Toddler:  Almost two and a half
Lollies: used to bribe tt at the moment. 1 a day
Ice-blocks: once a week
Ice-cream: 3 times a week
Chips/Cheezels etc: never cheezles, occaisonally chips
Hot chips: once a week
Chocolate: not often, only as a huge treat
Biscuits: homemade one daily
Cake/Muffins: montly perhaps
Crackers: a few times a week
Fruit bars: daily
Muesli bars: 2 times a week
Fizzy drinks: has soda water with a dash of lime juice

Anything else you can think of?

I personally think never letting kids ever have "junk" leads them to have problems controlling themselves when they get bigger. Also, you can tell the kids that have no "junk" at birthday parties! They are the ones stuffing their faces full tilt then going on a HUGE sugar high a d mum saying thats why I never let them have it, lol! I think a small amount sometimes is ok and am careful not to label things as "good" and bad" as I don't want them to have hang ups, but we do have "sometimes" food and "anytimes" food. That said, my kids will choose rice crackers over choc bikkies any day!

Age of Toddler: 2 y and 2 m and 3 y and 10 m

Lollies: About once a monthish - depends on Bday parties etc

Ice-blocks: Often in summer, and the milky ones, too.

Ice-cream: Once a fortnight or so if I have made pudding and they have eaten all their tea and been good. I don't use it as a reward or bribe, tho, so don't say if you eat... etc, will just offer them some if I think they have been good and eaten well.

Chips/Cheezels etc: once or twice a fortnight, small amount

Hot chips: Once a week

Chocolate: hardly ever, although they both had a small bunny today form their caregivers for easter. They're not too keen on it.

Biscuits: Not often, they prefer rice crackers, but will occasionally have a wine bikkie at mums

Cake/Muffins: They don't like

Crackers: Daily

Fruit bars: Mother earth ones, about one or 2 a week, or Uncle tobys twists or things like that, most days they have one

Muesli bars: They prefer the fruit cereal bars as above.

Fizzy drinks: No, they don't like them and long may it last...Jake has watered down juice with is tea "like daddy" but Charlotte dosen't





Edited by fattartsrock

This is so interesting .... most of the answers seem to be pretty healthy (where are the mums of all those toddlers you see eating McDs and packets of twisties?! haha). One of my reasons for posting is that I think Jake eats enough "junk" food ... but my MIL always wants to give him cake/chocolate etc (making me look liek the bad guy when I say no)and when I said no to fizzy drinks gave me a lecture about not making the mistake she did in limiting that sort of food, and the kids pigging out on it when older and getting obsessed etc. My response was the hes not even 2, so I don't think he needs fizzy drinks or fruit juice yet, and he certainly does eat some sweet things and chippies etc, so doesn't need any more empty calories! I am going to hold off on sweet drinks as long as possible - its just not something we need to start now (he knows he can't have a sip of ours, if we start that he would want it all the time), and not good for his teeth either! I have a related question - so will do another post .....

Edited by Nikki

Age of Toddler: 21 months
Lollies: No
Ice-blocks: rarely, maybe once a month
Ice-cream: No (but he was allergic to dairy)
Chips/Cheezels etc: only casava crisps, 3-4 times per week
Hot chips: Has a few of mine now and then
Chocolate: No
Biscuits: No
Cake/Muffins: have offered but he doesn't like
Crackers: Yes is addicted to rice crackers, am trying not to give them but has daily still
Fruit bars: Only mother earth ones and max 1 per day.
Muesli bars: no
Fizzy drinks: NO WAY, we don't even give juice, just his formula in the morning and then water the rest of the time.

Edited by cuppatea

well, mine aren't toddlers but anyway
Age of Toddler: 4 and 3
Lollies: whenever they go to my grandmothers (once a week) - one
Ice-blocks: -in summer, often, but home made - i mash up fruit
Ice-cream: - one scoop couple times a week
Chips/Cheezels etc: rarely - once every two months or something
Hot chips: maybe once a month
Chocolate: not often (too bloody messy)
Biscuits: - um, once a month? unless I've made some
Cake/Muffins: rarely unless a birthday
Crackers: once every two months
Fruit bars: never
Muesli bars: never
Fizzy drinks: once a month


well, i thought they ate much more junk food than that.

than again, my father gave Taine ice cream for breakfast on saturday...

Age of Toddler: 29 months
Lollies: Hardly ever - only at a birthday party
Ice-blocks: 1-2 over the summer
Ice-cream: 2 times per week
Chips/Cheezels etc: 2-3 times per month
Hot chips: 2 -4 times a month
Chocolate: hardly ever
Biscuits: each day (plain one)
Cake/Muffins: hard;y ever
Crackers: every day
Fruit bars: most days (1)
Muesli bars: hardly ever
Fizzy drinks: never

Edited by Brenna