AD | Making healthier choices & taking a break from treats with START Campaign

As I have got older, I have to admit, as a family, I’ve noticed that we have a sweet tooth. Some of us prefer chocolate over crisps or gummy sweets over biscuits, but either way, they’re all cheeky treat choices. And for some time now I have been trying to limit the sweet treats that I buy and making sure I have more healthy choices in our cupboards. START is a public health campaign from safefood, the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, and Public Health Agency. And they are encouraging families to curb that sweet treat option and to opt for a healthier lifestyle choice.

START Campaign with safefood

Research from safefood in support of the START Campaign has revealed that almost half of parents in Northern Ireland {47%}, said, since the beginning of the pandemic, their child has eaten more sweet treats. And as a parent? I can certainly relate to that! To add to this research, it was also revealed that 53% of parents found it difficult to reduce their child’s treats to a minimum.

And again, as a parent, I can relate to that too. We all went a little slack throughout the pandemic because the world shifted and we all needed to adjust to that in whatever way we could. And if that included eating whatever we could or wanted to, then the majority of us wouldn’t bat an eye to it. But now, that needs to change, wouldn’t you agree?

Healthy choices over Sweet treats

As a mother, who is aware of the sweet treat consumption in our home, I am 100% up for the challenge to make one daily win each day. Especially when it comes to the treat consumption of my children. Because, I don’t know if it has developed over lockdown, or I’m too easy-going! But I have noticed chocolate bars going missing, or empty bags of crisps in bedrooms when they have not been asked for.

In fairness though, they do normally always ask for permission, but there is also the odd time when they don’t, isn’t there! That’s just parenting, I reckon. But either way, my first step to prevent those sticky fingers is to remove all of the treats we have available to a place the children cannot access easily and therefore must ask permission.

Now, before this collaboration even came about I have been trying to steer my children away from sweetie-based choices whenever they’ve complained of being hungry. Nine times out of ten, it’s mostly boredom, because we’ve all been there, haven’t we? I know I have! So any time the kids have said they’re hungry I’ve always given them a choice, “It’s a piece of fruit or a bowl of cereal” – anything but crisps or chocolate biscuits.

Practical Advice for reducing treats

Reducing the sweet treats isn’t always an easy transition to make. I’m realistic enough to know that my habit of buying the odd packet of sweets from the shop isn’t going to change any time soon. Because I am that Mum who just likes to have sweetie choices in the home. However, that’s not to say I am going to eat them there and then. I am most likely to put them in the treat box for weekend movie nights.

This campaign isn’t about fully denying yourself and your kids of treats. It’s about making that one daily win every day to say no to something cheeky and yes to something that is just…better for you. Once per day. And then hopefully as those daily wins rack up, you’ll find yourself aiming for the fruit bowl or the crackers more so over the chocolate bars in the treat box!

If you are in need of some practical advice for reducing treats in your house, there is a great support network and practical tools and videos from experts on the START Campaign website. You can Make A Start today and check out all of the helpful advice on their website.

One Daily Win…to kick start a healthier lifestyle

Taking that step to choosing a healthier option over an unhealthy treat a lot of time isn’t an easy choice to make. I’ve been there. I’d happily choose a chocolate bar over an apple, however, just recreating that mindset once per day {to begin with} is the biggest step to change that you can make.

Perhaps when you are food shopping, whether it is in-store or online, to buy more snackable fruit & vegetables. I love to buy mini cucumbers and carrots for my girls and my son loves his grapes and bananas. So I will always make sure to have those readily available for when they have a case of snack attacks.

Thanks to the START Campaign from safefood, I am also trying to not go down the sweets & biscuit aisle when shopping because I know I will add so many naughty things to my trolley that would be too tempting to not eat. Plus it would just end up being more treats to hide from the kids!

But to also counteract that crisp and chocolate temptation, I am slowly making our sweet treats more of a weekend option i.e. for movie nights or gaming afternoons. And even then it will be popcorn with an M&M topping or Maltesers. Along with some fruit and crackers, which overall makes for a much better treat to enjoy with the family than an abundance of crisps, sweets & chocolate.

Other tips to aid with making that healthier choice

I am just going to lay it all out on the line because let’s face it, for some this will be a huge adjustment. I get that. But I can reassure you, it isn’t as scary as you might think and easier to make those little changes than you might realize.

• Avoid the sweet & biscuit aisle when doing the food shop.
• Create alternative non-sweet treat options such as a trip to the park, or the beach.
• Make healthy swaps i.e. popcorn instead of crisps, crackers instead of biscuits. Fruit, low-fat yogurt, or even a bowl of cereal as an after-school snack.
• Get the kids excited about choosing vegetables and fruit over the biscuits and crisps!
• Making sure healthier food options are available in their lunchboxes.

Taking the steps to have a better, healthier lifestyle

And do you know what else is a good idea! I for one, am so guilty of saying “Yes if you eat all of your dinner, you can have a bowl of ice cream”. Which is awful I know! But I also know I am not alone in that confession! However, I love the idea of even changing that up a little and offering alternative non-sweet treat options.

Such as a “Visit to the Park” before the sun sets or even giving them an extra 30 minutes in the evening before bed. I think those are much more appealing options to the kids in a lot of cases than offering them a packet of crisps or a biscuit. Opting for quality time over treats far outweighs the enjoyment of a mars bar in my book.

Planning a Family Challenge with the START Campaign

To get us into the mindset, I have decided to do a family challenge. Who is going to choose a glass of milk over a juice box? Which one of us will go for a piece of fruit over the biscuit jar? The results will be interesting and I will be sure to share my START Campaign results over on my Instagram stories on Super Busy Mum, so make sure to pop over and give me a follow.

There will even be prizes for each weekly, or monthly winner! These will be prizes such as they can choose where we go over the weekend, or a little extra pocket money that week, maybe they’d opt for a little extra time to stay up in the evenings, etc. Either way, I think adding a little incentive is a helpful tool when trying to make a lifestyle change, such as this.

Will you join us?

I am hoping the children will get involved in this healthier choice campaign with me. Which, I have no doubt that they will. Albeit hesitantly I am sure at first. It is all about me helping them and in turn, them helping me.

Together with making better choices for us and our bodies. And in a lot of cases, even our minds. So I am excited to change our lifestyle into a healthier one over the next few weeks. Will you join us in taking a break from the treats? And aim for one daily win to achieve healthier habits?

I hope so! Because our START Campaign journey starts today. When will yours begin? 

*This is a sponsored collaboration with Safefood. All thoughts, opinions, and photos are entirely my own