childhood obesity epidemic

[princessparty]

Where are all these fat kids? I live in rural north yorkshire and can't think of a single fat kid i know-one who is a bit overweight but that's it.

They are all inside scoffing cake and crisps.
If you hang around BK,MD's or Greggs on a weekend you might catch a glimpse of one rolling out stuffing a in their greasy gob.

Alternativel since the DM reported that fat people can sniff out food more easily, try putting down some kebab in your garden tonight, get a blanket and turn the lights off, i bet you will catch one of the greedy gits face down like some pig in a sty munching off the plate.

I don't know where they live but I can tell you that in the summer you will find them at Haven Holiday Parks.

There are more than a few at DD's school in Antwerp. She stands out in her class for being thin (and scruffy)

DD1 was furious when they removed the vending machines from her school [she's since left] there was hardly any overweight kids at the the school still isn't now 7 years on.Only know of one fat kid and that's my brothers DD2 but he feeds them crap all the time and wonders why she's hyper.

Indoors.

YABU - just because you don't know any or don't see them doesn't mean this isn't a problem. Statistics on obesity are compiled by the NHS so presumably this is done in an accepted scientific manner. Would you doubt statistics on cancer or other illnesses just because you didn't know anyone nearby suffering from those conditions?

How old are the kids who you know, OP? When DC1 was 5yo I would have said I knew almost none, but now he is 11yo I seem to know a lot -- many of his peers became chunky over the last 6 years. Some of them are quite athletic, too (lots of swimming and other sport).

I used to say that 'where are the fat kids' as none of my DCs' friends were even a tiny bit fat.
Then I actively started looking when out shopping and realised just how much the kids I knew were in the minority. There are a lot of very heavy children around.

i do feel sorry for kids who live in some areas though - was in london while back and i remember thinking i wouldn't let my kids out by themselves to kick a ball around as there was no-where safe to do it. was horrible. and you'd be dead if you'd tried to cycle to school

I think that we have also grown accustomed to seeing chubbier/fatter children than in the 50's and 60's. Back in those days, virtually all children were dead skinny, not an ounce of fat on them. Now a really skinny kid with ribs showing and string-like legs is comparatively unusual, whereas chunkier childen are the norm.

Hence you only notice much fatter children, who are probably very obese.

has anyone noticed avery sad thing about chubby kids.I maybe wrong but DD goes to school in fairly affluent are ie low unemployment wel educated professional parents and there are only about 2 bigger children,in my work i go to the less privledged areas and i do thinkl i see many more children with a weight problem.
Being a serial dieter myself i know that it is far more expensive to eat healthily and think this could be a problem.My clients often do the weekly shopping in Iceland.

DS1's school has lots of overweight children. My friend is a teacher, and she says that when we were kids skinny was the majority and now my DS stands out as looking very very thin because so many other children are massively overweight.

It is quite sad. And as somebody else said, they are probably all inside. Unless you see these kids at school they are inevitably inside playing on computers

Parents understandably get upset and defensive if you say its to do with how they feed their children or how much they get out but i have two very good friends who definatley do this.I have always been inclined to be bigger than id like and this is due to the fact i eat alot of the wrong foods.It really is.My friends dd has tv,dvd and laptop in her room does no excercise whatsoever and as soon as she gets in from school will eat crisps and chocolate then sit around before a big tea and desert.She is really quite large and you can tell it upsets her as she can be spitefull to my dd "ballet and brownies are for babies" or "you look stupid in leggings"
The activities serve two purposes exercise and lack of time to "graze"most schools provide after school activities so no excuse really.

It's a myth that healthy food costs more than junk.
A bowl of pasta and a sauce made with a tin of toms and a few nicely cut up mushrooms courgettes or whatever is in season/on offer is very cheap to make!

There are dozens of low cost meals that are easy and delicious and healthy - look in any ethnic cookery book.

Home economics once taught students how to budget and make food that was nutritious and economical. Pity it has been displaced by Food Technology which, from my brief experience of it when DS was 11-14, seemed rather limited in its practical application (although his fruit salad and pasta salad were yummy!)

The problem is now that many people can't/won't cook any more, so they offer their children ready made food, and because they hate waste they offer the fatty/sweet/salty stuff because it is more likely to be eaten. So bad habits and tastes are established early which become harder to break. Witness Jamie Oliver's battle with school dinner standards.

Bring back school cookery lessons(this is the third thread I've said this on!) Should we start a Mumsnet campaign?

They are all on the beach where I live. Once they get down to their swimsuits, there's a lot of rather plump children and adolescents out there. You can tell the foreign teenagers, they are the tanned skinny ones.

And our eyes have started to see slightly plump as normal, when I travel abroad now, I wonder why all the women seem quite thin when actually they are normal in their countries. I think the same happens with children, so that being a plumpish teen is now pretty standard.

Well, yes, you can make a dal or a vegetable soup for peanuts

when DD stared in reception there were NO children in her year i would have called "obese" now she is in year 6 and there are 4 or 5 who are obviously overweight - I think it escalates as they get older and by the time they leave for secondary bad habits are ingrained and hard to change

mrsruffallo/Olderandwider - cheaper than 20 sausages for £1.50 and 1.8 kg of chips for £1?

That's what? 5ish meals at 50p each? And you don't need to chop anything.

also for what ever reason,kids dont like many veg,certainly not the ones you would use in a pasta sauce my dd eats every veg apart form mushrooms and cougettes,but point taken and i have certainly decreased my food bills since being on mat leave thus having more time to shop and cook,howver i did benefit from proper home economics lessons,which no longer exist-ds had to make a blancmange-from a packet haha

Coalition - If the budget is seriously 50p a head then beans on toast is a better healthier option. With no chopping, also.

I dont get this thing about kids not eating veg - you can blitz any veg at all into a sauce or soup and they wont even notice its there

and as for sausages and chips at 50p a head, yes thats cheap, but I would not call it a balanced meal and I dread to think what quality meat thre is in sausages that cheap

yes but the parents wont do it on the whole,they look at me as if im mental when i suggest it to them.