It’s time I stopped doing the one thing I give out to my daughter for

Every day we are bombarded with news reports about our country's ever-growing obesity battle, and we are constantly reminded just how bad sugar and junk food are for our body.

 

My child is very rarely denied a biscuit or ice cream so I am certainly not one of those parents who passes comments on kids' eating habits, but like everyone else I am all too aware of how important it is for me to heed these warnings and cut down my daughter’s sugar intake. And mine.

 

My little girl is now at an age where she is old enough to understand the importance of a healthy diet, and I find myself giving her little reminders when she informs me that she consumed a few biscuits, cake and maybe an ice cream after school... 

 

And while I know, ultimately, it is up to the adult in charge to not let her eat anything bad, it is still important she learns to say no herself.

 

However, recently my butter-wouldn't-melt little girl decided to fight back when I was telling her off for eating too many sweets. After my lecture of healthy eating, she politely goes: "You eat more sweets than me."

 

Well you can safely assume that I was a little lost for words. Not because she had answered back but because she was right - I do eat way more sweets than her.

 

Not surprising, those six words left a bad taste in my mouth. A really bad taste. 

 

Shamefully, while I say no to her, I quietly devour a packet of biscuits in one go as soon as she is in bed. And at the end of the day, how can I expect my daughter not to do something when I do it all the time?!

 

That day it hit me, I have one rule for my little girl and one rule for me - and it's about time I fixed that and said goodbye to the chocolate.

 

I might be a little late realising this but sure better late than never, right?! 

 

Mary Byrne is a staff writer at MummyPages and mum to a horse-crazy, sports-mad, seven-year-old girl.