Sarah Jessica Parker didn't want her children to grow up thinking food was "the enemy".

The 'Sex and the City' actress - who has James, 21, and 14-year-old twins Tabitha and Marion with husband Matthew Broderick - has never stopped her kids from tucking into sweet treats or calorific snacks because she wants them to grow up with a balanced relationship with what they eat and a healthy attitude to meal times.

Speaking on 'Ruthie's Table 4' podcast, she said: "In our house, we have cookies, we have cake, we have everything.

"And I think, as a result, you kind of have a healthier relationship, and my daughters will have the figures they have and hopefully they'll be healthy. And they're athletes and they enjoy food and they have different palates. You can't make someone like something they don't like or want.

"I didn't want them to have a relationship with food that was antagonistic, or they felt like this was their enemy and that they were going to have to sort of, like, stake out a position with food."

The 59-year-old star's approach stemmed from her own upbringing, when she and her siblings weren't allowed to have sugar in their house, prompting them all to indulge as soon as they left home.

She said: "When I was growing up, we weren't allowed sugar in the house, and we weren't allowed cookies and we weren't allowed the chocolate. And, of course, all we did the minute we moved out was buy Entenmann's cakes and cookies.

"And I didn't want that [for my kids]."

The actress recently admitted she has enjoyed a lot of peace and quiet while starring in 'Plaza Suite' in London's West End alongside her husband because they are away from their kids.

She told The Guardian newspaper: "I think because there are a lot of people in my life, I don’t have much time when nobody is asking anything of me. So it’s really nice to be alone in a room, where people aren’t inquiring, needing, wanting.

"You don’t have to make small talk. You get to just think about your work. Prepare yourself. It’s really peaceful and rare. My husband [Matthew Broderick] feels the same way. Also the kids aren’t here with us in London. That’s different, too. If you’re at home you have laundry, grocery shopping – things that could be done and tended to."