A mum bans her kids from ALL sugary food even through she eats it herself - and won't even let them eat birthday cake.

April Jackson, 36, doesn't give her twin girls - four - any sugar or processed food because she believes there is a "certain age to introduce children to certain things"."

She won't let them eat anything from a packet - like pasta, bread or sweets and chocolate - but tucks into some treats herself when they have gone to bed.

They are not allowed a birthday cake, or party food, but the former The Apprentice contestant does make them a fruit stack to enjoy.

The mum-of-two says she will introduce them to sugary foods in moderation when they are older.

April, who appeared on series 11 of the BBC show, from London, said: "I am a chef and restaurateur by trade, so food is a big thing for me, but when I had my twins, it definitely changed the way I thought about food. "

"When you wean a child, their insides are pure, so I started to think about the quality of ingredients more. "

"They don't eat anything that comes out of a packet, or has a long shelf life. "

"They don't eat bread or pasta from a supermarket, they don't eat any sweets, they don't eat a biscuits or crisps. "

"They can eat fruit and vegetables, but not dried fruit as it's high in sugar, and they can eat meat. "

"I eat sugar after my kids have gone to bed. It's adult behaviour." "

April, who was born in London but later moved to Jamaica, where she was crowned Miss Jamaica, before returning to the UK, revealed that she is shocked by the "snack culture" in the UK. "

She said: "In the UK kids have toast with white bread for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and then pasta with red sauce for dinner."



"It seems strange to me, in Jamaica, kids eat the same foods as the adults, and if you don't like what's for dinner, you aren't getting any." "

Every morning the twins enjoy a breakfast of scrambled eggs, plantain, avocado and tomatoes, and for lunch and dinner, the children have healthy meals such as roast chicken with quinoa and salad.



The restaurateur revealed that her kids live in a "bubble" as they have never been to nursery, so have had little exposure to sweets and chocolate."



And when they go to birthday parties, instead of eating the food provided, April brings some of the girls' favourite foods for them to enjoy, such as beetroot hummus and berries.



She said: "Ironically, the other kids always want to try my kids' food, because it's so brightly coloured, so my girls never feel like they are missing out."

"They understand why they don't eat certain things. I have told them that sugar isn't good for their teeth as they're so young, in the same way that I would tell them they are too young for caffeine as it will make their hearts race." "

She added that the twins have had so little exposure to processed foods, that they sometimes don't even recognise them.



April said: "Once, we are in a supermarket and my daughter spotted a packet of this multicoloured cereal called Froot Loops, and she said ‘look, a bag or hair bands', as she didn't think something so artificially coloured could be classed as food." "

For the twins' birthday, April made them a cake entirely out of tasty looking fruits, such as watermelon and berries, which she said their loved.



April shares insights to her daughters' strict diet on her TikTok channel @apriljacksonoffical, and has received a backlash from some mums.



She said: "People say I must have an eating disorder that I will pass on to my children, they say I'm going to cause binge eating later on, that it's abusive."



"I think people find it hard to visualise a lifestyle other than their own." "

April said that she herself doesn't eat processed food such as McDonald's, but she does eat sugar in moderation, after her kids have gone to bed.



She said: "I believe in leading by example, so in front of them, I only eat foods I allow them to eat." "

When the children are older, April will allow them to consume sugar in moderation.

"In the same way that we don't give children alcohol, there's a certain age to introduce children to certain things," she said."



"I think that the way processed food is marketed is that they make it seem like cooking food from scratch is too difficult, but I would argue that it's not. "

"You can just throw vegetables and meat on to a baking tray and put it in the oven, you don't have to think about it too much." "

April is now running parenting classes to teach parents how they can "transform family meal times" via her website Parent Like A CEO. https://april-s-site-fcfd.thinkific.com/"