A mum has taken to social media to admit she feeds her kids dinner and dessert at the same.
TikTok user @myeverydaytable says she puts both courses on the table at the same time to encourage her children to see all foods as desirable.
Emily Dingmann made the vide in response to a social media user who asked why her children get dessert with dinner.
In a video that has been viewed more than 1.6 million times she told viewers portion size was important She said: "Yes, I serve dessert with dinner.
"I'm going to repeat that, I serve dessert with dinner - at the same time," writes the Mirror.
"So, this is not a huge ice-cream sundae, this is like a single cookie."
But the mum said the most important reason was so her children view all food equally.
She added: "Another reason is that it allows children to listen to their own hunger cues and not overeat or undereat because they're trying to compensate and save room for dessert or they forgot to save room and now dessert is offered.
"The number one reason why I do this is because it helps keep food really neutral and it doesn't give more power or less power to any one food.
"So, what we accidentally do a lot is if we give children a dessert after they eat a bite of broccoli, we're actually implying that the broccoli tastes bad and desserts taste good and this just sends the wrong message."
The video has been liked 248,000 times already and has received 2,300 comments from users who agreed with the mum.
One said: "I love this because I'm so tired of hearing: 'what's for dessert?'.
"It is also a bad habit to believe dessert comes after every dinner."
Another person said: "I'm always interested that people are surprised by this, it's not any different than packing all the food in one lunch box."
While a third said: "I always did this too. Is this why my child asked for a CAN OF CORN FOR DESSERT THE OTHER DAY?!?"
"As a dental hygienist, having sweets with a meal is also a great way to minimise cavity risk," said a fourth.
Someone else added: "I also feel like this cancels out the idea that dessert is a 'reward'. Food shouldn't be equated with good or bad, it's nourishment (ofc moderation)."
