AD's off to Confession

[TheGreatWave]

Started a new one.

Need to adhere to guidelines this time though.

@CruCru

There’s a thing in the Times today about children getting fatter during lockdown. It’s not exactly surprising - the playgrounds are locked up and children are unwelcome pretty much everywhere.

I'm amazed it's not really come up as an issue on MN threads, infact in the absence of The Letters sparking their annual outrage, it's been mentioned less than ever.

I didn't recognise one child on class zoom, partly that their hair has changed a lot, but also their face shape was very different,much more rounded. The class is approching the age where the trigger for pubety can be accelerated, so increase in BMI at this point can have lasting impacts. Normally this is a very active, sociable child very into football. It's a modern housing estate so no garden is large.

Mowing my lawn is like tetris taking turns shifting the trampoline, slide and goal posts so that I have a clear section to mow at a time and being a corner plot, we have a bigger plot than most.

My DCs are lucky to have that twiggy forgiving build which will see them through until 30 when they'll have to look after it. Our diet is worse because it's constant fill the kids on carbs and we all have different tastes in vegetables. DS1 has the simple but restrictive sensory overwhelm about one-pot casserole type foods (which I always favoured for simplicity). I miss the household buggering off so the DCs have a school dinner and I have salad and fish which improves variety.

It was our mission to get out every day, and we have most days but it's getting harder to drum up the motivation. We've walked the DCs up to 8 miles in surrounding countryside so their stamina is good. Normally they'd do swimming, karate and park run getting a varied mix, but at least we've prematurely started reclaiming playgrounds.

The fatness thing can make the vitamin d worse as the fat sucks it up (or something) me too (fat) thinking of trying a bit of intermittent fasting but too lazy and hungry to start. Dh just brought me a choc chip cookie so there goes that plan for today

I've gained an awful lot of weight since lockdown. Not helped by slipping over in April and doing something nasty to my coccyx, so even walking is uncomfortable. Added to the mix is a change in working, so I'm mostly office based rather than walking the gallery, boredom, and eating too much. It's depressing on so many levels but at least there won't be any holiday photos to remind me of how awful I look right now...

And cancer, and any other virus

Unimportant.

You can't catch cancer and you can't die from other viruses. And even if you do, it's not sadly death.

Factory, not gallery. There is nothing arty or aesthetic in my work.

I'm amazed it's not really come up as an issue on MN threads, infact in the absence of The Letters sparking their annual outrage, it's been mentioned less than ever.

I think the letters went out. We got a copy of the questionnaire that dd filled out. I think now you only get a letter if your child isn’t in the normal weight range in a lot of areas. I suspect this year it just got lost in the obsession about covid.

I do wonder when rugby will be back on the menu at schools. If they did a risk assessment on it that included things other than Covid, then they'll never let them play again.

Truth be told, if they forced them all to play some version of touch - or perhaps lack of touch - rugby, I'd be quite pleased. I was always slightly worried when DS was playing and preferred not to watch matches as potential for injury is high.

I got DS to put in couch to 5km for his Duke of Edinburgh. It should be easy for him, but hopefully the consistency of going out 3 times a week in addition to the football should help him to build up his fitness again.

@Nihiloxica sorry. Silly me 🙄🤬

I’ve put on weight for sure, my scales may lie - but waistbands don’t. I’m struggling to get any exercise and because of those two problems, my desire to exercise lowers... a vicious cycle.

@BlackberryViolet

Oh no, that sounds grim In harrogate
I sat on our caravan Balcony for half hour then the storm clouds gathered again and I took myself off to bed. I think the stress of the drive knocked me for 6 . I very nearly was driving with tears pouring down my face. I’ve driven in bad conditions before but I think that was the worst as it went on for so long.

At least at Harlow carr you can take shelter in the garden centre..hopefully

Hope the worst storms are over for you. I’m taking it easy today

My youngest DS (11) os looking a bit plumper. Not overweight but more rounded. He's used to long walks up hill to school, doing a mile a day, there and lots of running around and PE. They will miss the after school sports clubs too. The young teens also usually do lots of sport at the secondary (not so much mine but in general it is very sporty) it is rubbish that their health will be impacted by it all.

We have done cycle rides and walks especially at the start, but they are older and sometimes not so keen for walks especially (me too)

@Teateaandmoretea

I'm amazed it's not really come up as an issue on MN threads, infact in the absence of The Letters sparking their annual outrage, it's been mentioned less than ever.

I think the letters went out. We got a copy of the questionnaire that dd filled out. I think now you only get a letter if your child isn’t in the normal weight range in a lot of areas. I suspect this year it just got lost in the obsession about covid.

We got a letter for DD in reception, she was in normal range. It was just before Covid though so got lost in discussions of IMPENDING CERTAIN DEATH

I've stabilised a few lbs more than pre-lockdown... so that's on top of the Christmas/ winter weight that I hadn't shifted because I was fed-up at drenching through shoes everytime I went out and wading through mud. Plus it was too cold, wet and grim to want to eat cool fresh salads. We had months of a litteral stream running downhill past the woods, to the pavement then along it until drainage, so I was walking the DCs through a stream to and from school umpteen times per day.

So I'm about half a stone more than where I want to be. Donesn't sound much but at 5'2" its the difference between slim and lean and slimish with embryonic spare tyres and a bulgy, squishy mum tum. It puts me on the top of a healthy zone.

As I'm about ti turn 40, keeping a decent balance and managing it is just going to get less and less forgiving.
I'd mind less if it gave me some boobs, at 32B there's space avaliable, but no, it all congregates at the mum tum and hips.

I lost a friend to rugby..
My sons friend played a lot and got terrible arm and shoulder injuries Too

@BogRollBOGOF
I’ve got the boobs, bum, belly..and hips to match 😱

Sorry going off on a tangent here.

Watching a George Clarke thing about council housing or lack thereof.

This government really has all its priorities wrong don't they.

In my mind if you create affordable housing, you solve many other issues.

Parents in expensive private rentals are skint because their rent is so high. Healthy food is more expensive... And it's impossible to cook healthy food if you're housed in a b&b for example.

It showed a social housing development in Vienna and it was beautiful. Spacious flats with gorgeous balconies and greenery galore. Schools, nurseries, chemists on site. £600 a month.

Tax is higher there but id happily pay more tax if it means my son has half a change of being able to access social housing if he ever needs it.

Could they not do tag rugby perhaps.

@Teateaandmoretea

I'm amazed it's not really come up as an issue on MN threads, infact in the absence of The Letters sparking their annual outrage, it's been mentioned less than ever.

I think the letters went out. We got a copy of the questionnaire that dd filled out. I think now you only get a letter if your child isn’t in the normal weight range in a lot of areas. I suspect this year it just got lost in the obsession about covid.

Mine aren't those year groups at present, but we don't get letters as ours are just within normal range.

There was the year that DS and a friend's DC both had the checks. Their child got a letter about being over and they refused to acknowledge it after grumbling about how ridiculous it is. Fair enough the child does have a broader build than mine, they are very different children, but my friends are convinced that my DCs are underweight not healthy and theirs are fine (not only can you see DS's ribs, there's their vertibrae and their abdominal muscle, but they eat up to a similar amount to me until comfortably full and are very active so I have no concerns) For a multitude of reasons I suspect the child has undiagnosed ASD. Very, very particular about food and they worry about the lack of appetite so ply the child with lots of dense foods like smoothies and peanut butter to compensate for quanity. They don't need to eat a lot because they are very sedentary; take them to a playground and while sibling charges around, this child will just sit in the sand pit. Has always walked at a slug's pace, very rarely runs. (There are speech delay and socialisation issues that also wave little flags in my mind)
It's tough as their other child started with congential issues that required surgery from birth so it was always a relief to them that that baby, then child fed well and became sturdy, and they have ongoing concerns for the first child anyway, so I can understand not having the energy to face a different set of issues with the second.

I think there should be a check around 7-8 to pick up trends between yR and y6. It's a huge time for the problem to continue to develop. At yR parents often still belatedly see a cute chubby toddler, then at y6 it's easy to blame puberty and never accept that there is an issue.

Childhood obesity rates are a social worry anyway, without months of enforced sedentary lifestyles and comfort eating for a bit of sensory input.

I guess this situation does really out the focus on council housing the NHS and schools and highlight large class sizes and underfunding in the NHS. Puts it all in the spotlight.

@Orangeblossom78

I guess this situation does really out the focus on council housing the NHS and schools and highlight large class sizes and underfunding in the NHS. Puts it all in the spotlight.

It does and it's actually A really sorry situation. I've never been a "I'm ashamed of being British" kind of person, however this, to me is the perfect opportunity for reform. It's an opportunity (for any party) to stand up and say you know what, this virus has highlighted to us, past mistakes, it has shown us what we, as a country, really need.

We need healthcare. We need homes (proper, stable, affordable homes) and we need education.

I would happily pay higher taxes for this because you'd have a higher quality of life
Ok I might not need social housing, I might never use it, but it would be incredible for it to be there for people who do need it and as we've all seen, things can change incredibly quickly financially.

@MagdaS

I’m drinking more often and exercising less. I actually weigh less than at the start of lockdown as stress and anxiety knock out my appetite. But I am flabbier round the middle and have definitely lost muscle tone.

I drank every day apart from Monday last week, a combination of having a friend over one night, DH celebrating Liverpool winning the title, and a beer with my gaming. This week needs to be different.

I'm one of those always skinny types with no effort, who seem to annoy people. However even I have put on half a pound or so - usually my job at this time of year is very active and I play sport 2 or 3 times a week. I have lost my initial enthusiasm for walking and cycling, am eating to much cake and drinking too much wine and the only exercise I get is the odd shag when boyf and I can get together.

This is a disaster for the nation's fitness. The PM went on about it for about 24 hours, then forgot about it, along with all his other fads.

I lost weight at the start of lockdown but I've gained a much bigger belly than usual. Too much 🍷and 🍰

I've been reading about lack of sleep and associated serotonin levels leading to gaining weight with the desire to eat more.

I've been drinking far too much wine and eating rubbish, and getting very little sleep. I'm far as a pig. I've started forcing myself back into exercise and got to lay off the wine.

This is a disaster for the nation's fitness. The PM went on about it for about 24 hours, then forgot about it, along with all his other fads

And particularly as one of the reasons, I think, that we have fared so badly as a nation is our ill health at a population level.

Lack of exercise also makes my digestive system sluggish and I get IBS symptoms.

@Mascotte

I've been reading about lack of sleep and associated serotonin levels leading to gaining weight with the desire to eat more.

I've been drinking far too much wine and eating rubbish, and getting very little sleep. I'm far as a pig. I've started forcing myself back into exercise and got to lay off the wine.

This is me too. Drink too much, so have poor quality sleep, then eat too much the next day because I’m knackered and sluggish, then drink too much again to try and knock me out so I sleep!