naughty boy

[jennacharlie]

how do i stop my two year old child getting so many e numbers into his system everything i seem to hive him contains them and they are making him so naughty. i have put him on a sweet ban thinking that would help but it hasnt

please help me

[jeepster]

My 10 year old wasn't being naughty but was driving us mad by being "jittery", he couldn't sit still, always rocking,fiddling etc.We just tried to cut out additives which isn't easy and it means you have to cook things from scratch instead of convenience foods. I no longer buy squash, he drinks water, juice or milk. I have started cooking things that I would normally get out of a jar for example tomato sauce for pasta/pizza. It is good as I grate vegetables into it and he doesn't seem to mind! We haven't cut everthing out and if we go out to friends house he wiil have a glass of fizzy drink and whatever they have cooked/served. We have noticed it has calmed him down and when he does eat/drink something with additives in we can tell! Good luck.

[Emily Ball]

At 2 yrs old your son is entirely dependant on you to provide him with a well-balanced and nutritious diet. Too many sugary sweets will lead to obesity and rot his milk teeth long before they would drop out naturally(not a pretty sight in a 3 or 4 yr old). Feed him fresh home -cooked vegetables, meat and fish rather than ready to eat stuff from the supermarket (which contains the e number preservatives ). Avoid taking him with you when you do the shopping if you possibly can so that you don't have to give in to any demands for sweeties.

[ceebee007]

As a general rule, any brightly coloured manufactured product will almost certainly contain E-numbers.

Check the labels on food when you're out shopping - "E110, E124, E122 and E211 are proven to cause temper tantrums and disruptive behaviour in up to a quarter of children" - a quote from the Food Section of www.netmums.com

There is a useful shopping guide which you can download from the site which details all the various additives in common kid's food and their E Numbers.     (Register using your e-mail address and a password and follow the link for FOOD on the left hand side of the page.)

Be careful with drinks which say 'No Added Sugar' as well as these will usually contain Aspartame, an undesirable artificial sweetener. 

At the age of two, as far as drinks are concerned, like jeepster says, he is better off with water, milk or fruit juice (diluted with a little water).

For snacks, try giving him fresh fruit and even dried fruits such as apricots and prunes.  He will enjoy the sweet flavour and will be getting more important nutrients that way.  Try him with raw carrot as well - my son loved it at that age (and still does) with houmous and pitta bread.

[Gef]

Most substances with e numbers are perfectly harmless and are used to improve the flavour / keeping qualities of our food etc. Aspartame is only a problem for a small number of people who suffer with phenylketonuria. Have a look at http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/aspartame/aspartameh.html

[dabees]

Both my son's were little beggers after having certain foods, They both were at their worst after having brightly coloured foods (Smarties, M&M's, etc) but i also found any cola drink made them little amimals. I told them what made them poorly and when they were out with Grandparents etc, They knew what they could and couldn't have. Which was handy because they educated them as well. Hope that is of some help.

[Peahead66]

I disagree totally with Gef. Aspartame is a legal poison (although there has been many lawsuits)  http://www.mercola.com/fcgi/pf/2004/jan/7/aspartame_disease.htm

The publication Gef has cited is written by an academic at a University. Who do you think funds research?  No academic would receive any funding to publish paper that went against the interests of the company funding it and if he did he wouldnt have a career for long.  

[Gef]

Thanks for your answer Peahead. I respect your views but don't agree.

[morg_monster]

The jury still seems to be out on aspartame.  For me it is a judgement call - possibly dodgy sweeteners versus sugar to add calories and rot your teeth.  Usually end up with soda water instead...

But Gef's first point is definitely correct - remember not all E numbers are evil - things like vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vinegar (acetic acid) and lost of plant-derived products have E numbers too!  Have a look at this list.

[l15a27]

please dont think of your two year old as naughty, hes probably a sweet little boy most of the time, is he different when he has eaten or when hes told no or maybe when hes tired please give more info then i may have some advice to try, i have two little ones....well ones now 13 and we got there in the end!

[Otrere]

I have a list from Organix (children's organic food company) that states the following:

The potential effect of artificial additives, pesticides and poor nutrition in a child's diet can be a source of concern. So when shopping check food labels for "The Dirty Dozen".

These are:

1) Mechanically recovered/separated meat
2) Monosodium Glutamate - E621
3) Sodium 5-ribonucleotide - E635
4) Aspartame
5) Acesulfame K
6) Sodium Saccharine
7) Sodium Benzoate - E211
8) Sulphur Dioxide - E220
9) Colours
- Quinoline Yellow - E104
- Brilliant Blue - E133
- Sunset Yellow - E110
- Carmoisine - E122
- Ponceau 4R - E124
- Indigo Carmine - E132
10) High salt foods (more than 0.5g sodium or 1.2g of salt
per 100g)
11) Hydrogenated fat and more than 5g of saturated fat per
100g
12) Refined sugar