Childhood obesity

This and the fact that OP goes on to say that her son doesn’t eat pizza and nuggets everyday and he only has one biscuit after school and he does have fruit, veg and wholemeal bread at his private school and he does have structured PE lessons at school.

But it still remains unclear why he is not obese when compared with children who east pizza and nuggets everyday, who have a whole packet of biscuits, do not have much fruit or veg and barely do any PE or exercise due to the funding difficulties at their state school.

I think the point of the post is to say kids from middle class or rich families are not obese despite being fed a shit diet and doing no exercise. I don’t really get the ops point. Surely someone who is educated should know better than to feed their kid a diet of chicken nuggets and pizza, even if it is the posh brand. And they say people in poverty aren’t educated around food 😂

Your post made me shutter. Why would you post all that and not be highly concerned for his health and future. I can't see beyond that to work out what the point of your post is.

Slim doesn’t equal healthy.

It doesn’t say anything in the articles about race or ethnicity. So by these communities you mean poor people?

Neither is your son - and that’s the point PPs are making based on the information you have given.

Different ethnicities will have genetics that predispose them to physical and metabolic attributes - muscle mass, glucose intolerance, salt retention. Just look at the athletics, for example - the 100m sprint versus the long distance runners. Their muscle types, body builds - black American/Caribbeans versus black East Africans and Europeans.

Those from the Asian subcontinent have to have a BMI range that is different (stricter) than Caucasians due to their risk for type 2 diabetes. They have a tendency to put weight around the abdomen (bad!) but their diets are very very low UPF, certainly for the generation who emigrated here who cook fresh food daily.

However, your OP wasn’t about these people in particular but why those children growing up in lower socioeconomic homes/communities are more likely to obese. Same reason that their educational outcomes are likely to less than their counterparts at a higher socioeconomic level.
Money and education doesn’t help you process UPFs in a better way. Your son eats less UPF than children from poorer backgrounds, has fruit and veg at private school and has structured PE lessons at private school so is not going to become obese as quickly.

And who feeds these obese children? It all comes down to the parents. A child who is 8 or younger doesn’t really have the skills to make a dinner for themselves but an adult does. Be interesting to know what weight class these parents of obese children are.

Hopefully though you'll be able to lose the weight, its fairly unlikely that you will. Statistically I mean. Most people who are overweight/obese stay that way unfortunately. Unless they have medical help of course.

But you and your husband are also a statistic, if you are both overweight and on the brink of obesity (your words) despite being educated, having good jobs and are middle class?

My older child has a pretty poor diet due to fussy eating. I'm probably also a bit too liberal on the treats.

But I'd have to feed him a huge amount of treats to make up for the fact his lunch is invariably half a cheese sandwich and a few carrot sticks (I pack a full lunchbox everyday, sticking to the school's healthy eating guidelines, but most of it comes back uneaten). And for dinner tonight, he had half a fishcake and a few pieces of broccoli. In between, he's had some banana, half a croissant, an ice lolly and a kiddie chocolate bar. He's also done PE at school, been to a sports club and been to the playground. The diet isn't great, I know, but it's not enough to make an active child overweight. My younger one is much more interested in food, and I think may be more difficult when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight.

A child who spends a lot of time on screens - plus a sedentary day at school - is not moving their body enough. If he isn't into football - so what, organise play dates and he can run about the park with his friends.

Who do you mean when you say “certain communities” Op @Unopenedpackofmenssocks

Working long hours is common in many jobs not just low income families or middle class jobs. My point is it’s easier working long jobs, having a car and two parents on a decent income that someone who is a single parent, can’t afford a car or a lower income. You have your husband to help you, single parents don’t have another person to help them do they?

Yup not fat “yet”

He may not be fat now but it doesn’t mean is he healthy. You said yourself in a few years he probably won’t be slim anymore due to lack of exercise and the unhealthy diet