Change in a Childs Behavior

There is a lot of talk about how some foods can change a childs behavior, our naturopath often mentions this, but when they are so young, you are unable to fully explain to them why they can’t eat or drink something, it becomes very difficult on both of you.

The naturopath often gives me a list of things that he should and shouldn’t eat, but I find it really difficult to stick to it.  Some times the list consists of all the foods that he will only eat, what is he suppose to eat then.

I have however noticed a difference with sugary foods, so this week I have the poor Little Man on a Sugar free (well almost) diet, he has been following it for about 7 days now, and I have noticed a difference in his behavior, for the better.  So this is definitely one that I am going to have to stick to.

I have always been very strick with what I feed my children, in the way of junk food. I am sorry but I really don’t think I child needs all the sugary sweets and chocolates at such a young age, they will have plenty of time in the future to eat all of those things.  So the Little Man hasn’t had too much trouble cutting it out as it has always just been a treat anyway. A little now and then won’t hurt.

However if you have Grandparents in the mix you need to be careful, they seem to have this thing about treating the children left, right and centre. They don’t seem to be able to help themselves, they were strick with us, but when it comes to the Grand Children that is a different story all together.  They go all soft in their old age and they do mean well.  Funny, but it makes it difficult for the parents sometimes.

The Little Man has been funny with cutting it out though, he will go through all the foods and ask me if they have sugar in them. We were cooking dinner the other night and he asked me carrots had sugar in them. “Do carrots have sugar in them Mummy? I like carrots” ” No they don’t, so you can still eat them” “Oh good”. Then next came “What about ice-cream, can I have ice-cream?” “Sorry, but ice-cream has sugar in it”, followed with a big sigh “ohhh noooo”, But then I said that he could still have yogurt and he was ok with that, as he loves yogurt.

Then the other day he said to one of our friends who was eating a cookie, “you shouldn’t eat that, it has sugar in it, mummy says that it isn’t good for your tummy”. Children are priceless.

What I have found the easiest to do, is to swap the sweet treats with savory treats, like giving cheese biscuits instead of a cookie. He doesn’t seem to mind to much. He really likes the dried fruit bars (can find them in the health section of the supermarket or with the childrens food).  I give him one sweet treat a day, only if he has been a good boy though.

A tip that I have found is to check the back and just see how much sugar is in everything, you will be surprised, obviously the smaller the amount the better, unless it is natural sugar, the body can cope better with the natural sugar (fruit or honey).

I haven’t had to worry about Little Miss yet, I don’t give her sweet treats yet, but we will find out if her behavior changes soon enough, certainly if the grandparents have anything to do with it.

Do you notice a behavior change in your children with certain foods?