‹ Back

How often should my child eat crisps?

Quavers, Wotsits, Walkers, Hula Hoops, Monster Munch, Pringles … Crisps are such an easy grab-and-go snack and most children love them, fussy or not!

BUT SHOULD – OR HOW OFTEN SHOULD – YOU LET YOUR CHILD EAT THEM?!

While no food should be forbidden – that’ll make them want them more – an abundance of crisps certainly won’t help in the fight against fussy eating!

Here’s why:

👎 Crisps are designed to be more-ish!

The hit of salt on the tongue, the satisfying crunch, the enticing flavourings … The more your child has them, the more their palate will crave them. The natural, non-processed foods you want them to eat will pale by comparison!

👎 Crisps have a very little nutritional value

Think of them as “empty calories”. If their tummy’s full of crisps, that’s hungry space that could have been filled with something healthier. A packet of Quavers, for example, has 88 calories. That’s a plain rice cake and an apple or some cubes of Cheddar cheese and a cluster of grapes.

👎 Crisps come in a packet

They accidentally teach your child that the toptastic foods come out of colourful packets. This won’t encourage them to go for ‘real food’ at all. Carrot sticks vs. Pureed carrot you squeeze into your mouth out of a pouch? Pouch wins! Fresh strawberries vs. A swirl of strawberry-flavoured ribbon in a pink wrapper with a bear on? Yoyo wins!

SO … WHAT TO DO?

👎 Introduce crisps into your child’s diet as late as you can get away with!

Once they’ve tasted them, they’ll want them! That includes Pom-Bears and other ‘children’s crisps’. They’re still processed and salty. They still have very little nutrition. They’re still in a packet. It may be too late for this with your child, but if you go on to have another baby… !

👎 Don’t keep a stock of crisps at home

It’s tempting just to buy them in bulk and keep them in the cupboard – but if your child knows they’re there, they’ll hanker after them. It’ll make your life harder! Buy and eat them outside the home – or take a packet home and eat them straight away that day. If your child is already used to regularly having crisps at home as a snack, phase them out gradually to avoid a big backlash! Rather than handing them a whole packet of crisps, put half a packet onto a plate alongside other foods, like chopped up apple and cubes of cheese, or cherry tomatoes and a slice of ham. This way you can slowly reduce the amount of crisps you give them until you are down to a small handful – and eventually none!

👎 Make crisps a treat

Don’t label them ‘bad’ or make them off-bounds. Call them a “treat” and make them something you have sometimes, rather than an ordinary, taken-for-granted food. Create a predictability around this treat. You could let them choose a packet from the vending machine after their swimming lesson every Wednesday, for example, or have a big bowl to share as a family whenever you watch a film together. You can explain to your child why it isn’t healthy to eat crisps too often (when they’re old enough to understand) but only do this at a happy, relaxed, unhungry time. If you do it when they’re pestering for a packet, it will just provoke a battle!

WANT TO KNOW HOW TO MANAGE A CHILD WHO CONSTANTLY PESTERS FOR SNACKS? CLICK HERE!