After clicking through this slideshow and happening upon Chef David Burke's answer to his ultimate guilty pleasure, "A Kit Kat bar. I was never allowed to eat sweets as a child, so I find Kit Kats to be the ultimate guilty pleasure," I wondered:  Are parents, who restrict certain foods in their households, unknowingly setting their children up for weight issues/future struggles?

Speaking from personal experience, I'm going to have to say "yes."  I grew up in a household where sugary cereals, soda pop, packaged snacks, chips, etc. were not allowed.  So, whenever I went over to a friend's house whose parents did allow these products in their pantries, I would get so excited and anxious...that I would binge.  As a young child!  Fast forward 10-years:  In going away to college, I was left entirely up to my own devices and demises for, among many other things, my diet.  And just like so many other freshman students, I gained about 15-20 pounds.  But not over the course of one year.  Mine occurred over the course of that first semester.  Why?  Because I could literally eat whatever the hell I wanted.  For the first time in my life!  I didn't have Mommy or Daddy eyeing my every meal like a hawk.  They weren't planning and shopping for my breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners.  I was!  And you can bet your ass that my grocery cart consisted of chips, candy, ice cream, cheese, and Little Debbie cakes.  Man, I thought I was so suave and rebellious...until I went home for that first Thanksgiving and saw the horrified looks on everyone's faces.  I had blown up like a beach ball. 

So now, I turn the question over to you:  Do you think that parents, who restrict certain foods in their households, unknowingly set their children up for weight issues/future struggles?

…

Until we eat again,

Lindsay, The Lunch Belle