Is there a reason why kids love carbs so much?

(VLC.MD) #1

Do veggies actually taste worse for kids ?
Does the high carb preference make them grow more ? (Probably not).
If you fed kids more fat, would they eat less carbs ?
What does Keto flu look like in an 8 year old ?

(Duncan Kerridge) #2

Probably because they’ve had carbs wound into them from a few months old. Treats are usually sweet. Sweet = reward. Hardly surprising anything not sweet is practically a punishment.

(Erin Macfarland ) #3

My kids love carbs, ha…I get it

(VLC.MD) #4

Sugar. The perfect drug.

(Chris) #5

They’re conditioned to love carbs from birth.

(Stephanie Sablich) #6

I don’t know much about the science, but wouldn’t it make sense that a carb-addicted or insulin-resistant mother would transmit this to her child while in utero?

(VLC.MD) #7

Epigeneticially speaking … Yes ! Impossible to prove with today’s technology mind you.

#8

You don’t remember being a kid? They tasted the same, it’s just they don’t care about eating what’s good for them, they just want the best tasting stuff available. If you had no other food in your house except veggies, they’d have no choice but to eat them if they got hungry enough …and when you’re really hungry, just about anything tastes good. :yum:

(Duncan Kerridge) #9

5 day fast. “Now will you eat the broccoli?”

(VLC.MD) #10

What if veggies taste worse for kids ?
What if sugar tastes better for kids ?
How would this be measured ?

#11

I’ve got one kid who refused to try bacon or eggs until he was 8… and it was just a couple of weeks ago. Finally got him convinced to eat scrambled eggs one morning, after a few bites he says “hey Dad, this is pretty good.” I’ve since turned him into a bacon lover (he wouldn’t even try it for YEARS) but he’s my picky eater so it’s an uphill battle.

(Ali) #12

When my daughter was weaning she ate almost exclusively fruit, dairy, meat and vegetables. She’s now 3 and despite giving her the option of carbs she still eats the middle of a sandwich and discards the bread, refuses rice, very rarely touches potatoes and has only just started eating pasta at her nursery.
I always try to provide a balanced diet for her but she’s very persistent in this way of eating… Almost keto, no?
She will happily sit and munch on a few chicken legs with me or devour a slice of belly pork as much as she would eat sweets.
She has more recently been asking for things like McDonald’s and lemonade which we never have but I know are in the things she watches so I do wonder if her innate food choices would have stayed the same if it wasn’t for outside influences … :thinking:

(Ali) #13

Also I have never restricted her fat intake, which a lot of my friends do with low fat versions and lean meats (mostly due to the diet they are following at the time) and I wonder if that has an effect as well…

(Dan Morrison) #14

Energy, they are much more energetic. And the world of marketing markets, very high carb food for all, especially kids. But you are the one who ultimately feeds them. IF they are healthy, why not feed them kept like yourself for main meals, and if they indulge a little now and then so what.