Does it really matter if children are overweight

[ivykaty44]

does it matter if other peoples children are over weight?

if your children are a healthy weight then why are people so concerned with other peoples dc weight, if they are over or under isn't it just best to mind your own business unless you are asked for help in the matter?

Yes, it does matter. Surely a basic parental responsibility is to feed your kids properly.

Allowing them to become overweight is setting them up for a lifetime of trouble and is quite selfish IMO.

I am overweight myself, I would never say anything to someone in RL but I do feel really bad for overweight children.

'I'd rather see an overweight active child who eats healthily and enjoys life than some skinny kid surviving on junk food who never gets off their backside.'

I agree with that, there are a startling amount of thin children in school whose energy levels are abysmal. It's sad when their unfit and middle-aged teacher has more stamina than an 11yo.

The trend does show that the lower the income group and the bigger the disadvantage the higher the rates of obesity. Alot impacts on the health of the poor so then it is up to clinical research to show what is affected by what factor.

Yes, that is a shocking element. Bad food saturated with fat/sugar/additives will always be cheap and fresh fruit and veg is really creeping up in price. So unfair.

Punka-the only thing that i would add is that my DD is disabled and some of the children who she attends after school activities with are obese because of their treatement and medication. Ten even five years ago these children would have died. There are catergories of people and children who make up the obese figures that are genuine and contribute to number of the rise in obesity.

I've ntoiced my dd's best friend cannot run to the end of the street without being entirely out of breath, in fact she cannot run to the end of the street (which is not very far). She's very thin. Her parents only eat organic vegetarian food but the dd herself eats a lot of sweets and gets take-aways for herself when she is out and about. She doesn't do any sport

I don't think she seems at all fit tbh but it isn't really that her parents are doing anything that wrong in how they feed her at home as far as I can see and to look at her, you'd just think she's thin probably so nothing to worry about. Maybe a fitness test makes more sense for dc

think it must be better for your body if you eat healthy food (even too much of it) than if you eat junk. At least that way your body is getting nutrients and vitamins

Yes I can understand the medication element. I was on a drug called targretin and it raises lipids in the blood. Through no fault of my own I put on weight - not much but for me, a lot. It must be heartbreaking to have unkind people tut at your children if they are overweight through illness.

Enjoy food, eat as well as you can afford and exercise. Don't get obsessive. I suppose to me those are the main rules. I am having issues now with a teenager who seems to be phobic to fruit and veg. She has always eaten very well and this seems to be a rebellious phase. But I do worry. Yet try not to make an issue of it.

It's unhealthy because children with bad eating habits often become adults with bad eating habits and the longer the pattern remains the harder it is to break. The health implications are considerable.

IMO that's a bit like saying "Does it really matter if other peoples' children have bruises on their body if your children don't?"!
Of course it matters!!
It is tantamount to child abuse even if it doesn't involve physical beating, as well as having the potential for costing society more money when these kids end up being ill'er than the norm in later life.
Surely noone in their right mind is going to argue that there is nothing wrong with being obese, however old you are?

tbh I wouldn't ever mention a dc's weight to their parent.

There would be no mumsnet if people didnt have opinions on other peoples business. I make dancing costumes for my dd's dance school and can defo see the embarrassment on a larger childs face when they are measured or fitted and see the other children looking smooth in their costumes,I am sorry to say but every week i see said children eating really gooey cakes and high sugar drinks before class-straight from school so need snack-but i also have to admit that dd had a weekly piece of chocolate cake on wed straight from school and before her classes,she is just lucky to have her fathers slim genes and not mine so i can imagine how hard it is for mums of bigger kids to say no. It is still not my business tho.

Sometimes it is genetics / other factors that cause children to be overweight so I think unless people know the facts, they shouldn't get involved.

However, I know a couple who have a 10yo obese son and actively encourage him to gorge himself. We recently went for a meal at a banquet type restaurant where he ate so much (through his parents encouraging him to get plate after plate of food) that he was actually sick, and what did his parents do / say after? They encouraged him to go and get more food.

Now that is wrong.

As the parent of a type 1 child I have to get involved in the 'diabetes' part of this conversation. There has been a dramatic increase in children with type 2, but this is from a base of practically zero. There has also been a dramatic increase in cases of type 1, which is not caused in anyway at all by weight or lifestyle. It is an autoimmune disease. The vast majority of diabetic children are type 1, over 95% I believe off the top of my head, whilst overall with adults included, the situation is reversed. The stigmatisationp of type 1 children and their parents due to ignorance helps no one.

Don't think I want to get involved in the main subject though.

I think it's a very sensitive topic and one I would think very carefully about before mentioning to another parent.

I am a teacher in an independent school where the children do at least an hour of sport every day Monday to Saturday and the majority eat at least two of their meals in school. Many are boarders and get their entire diet from school. Very very few of our children are overweight. But a few still are. Yet there is nothing wrong with their lifestyle and unlikely t be much wrong with their diets. I would say that these children are healthy and happy and will presumably either 'grow into' their weight or are just genetically meant to be larger.

We can't all be the same size. As long as an individual is eating sensibly and exercising regularly then they will not be unhealthy. If they're still fat then it can't be problem fat.

Obviously some children and parents need help with addressing their children's lifestyle but you can't just assume that this is the case because a child is overweight. I would leave it to health care professionals or schools to deal with.

i would argue that overweight children due to medical conditions whilst do exist are a minority. if you have a fat kid and it isn't down to a medical condition - then you are lazy lazy lazy

Iwas the overweight child at school, and as colditz said, it was miserable for me. I hated getting changed for PE, was rubbish at all physical activities and knew that I looked different to everyone else. I even asked my mum to take me to the doctor so he could put me on a diet (I didn't know how else to go about it), and she refused point blank - god alone knows why - so I went through my school days miserable. I was bullied anyway, because I talked posh and worked hard, so being fat as well meant I ticked all the 'Please Make My Life A Misery' boxes for the bullies.

I have a friend whose dd2 is obese, and she is doing nothing about it - in fact she thinks her dd is 'big and beautiful' and as she herself met her husband on a site for big beautiful women, she thinks this is a good thing. Her dd can't run anywhere and needs clothes several sizes too large - when she was 9, she was wearing age 13 knickers. She has hit puberty and grown taller, but is no slimmer - whereas if her mum had tackled the issue pre-puberty, her dd could have shot up but stayed the same weight - it would all have spread out, if you see what I mean, and she would have been happier and healthier, I am sure.

My friend was thin when she was at school, so she has no idea whatsoever about how isolating and miserable it is to be fat at school.

Children who are severely undernourished (thin and weedy) are much more likely to have developmental problems than children who are a bit overweight but eating a reasonably balanced diet. "Failure to thrive" is every bit as serious, if not more, than childhood obesity.

But always best to be in the healthy middle ground, of course.

what counts as thin and weedy tho bonsoir?

i do think we have changed our views on what is considered 'fat' in children we seem to think its ok for them to have a bit of puppy fat etc and it is normal for babies/toddlers to be tubby, BUT by the age of 4-5 most kids do thin out.

i was actually slightly concerned about my middle two boys who are both much slimmer than their eldest brother and their younger one (tho he is only just 3yrs) for other health issues (kawasakies disease) my ds3 had to be hospitalised and has had numerous outpatients app. anyhow i mentioned his 'skinnines' you can see all his ribs etc, but apparently this is normal and healthy for a child his age, he eats a good diet but is very active, as is his 2nd eldest brother.

in children it is normal and health to be able to see ribs etc, yet many would think that is too thin.

adn fwiw i know that my eldest ds is slightly overweight and we have encouraged him to take up after school sports, go out on his bike etc and we are monitering his portion sizes. thats the responsible thing to do imo.

Yes of course it matters, it breaks my heart a bit when i see unhappy overweight children, esp girl wearing leggings and too tight tops they just look awful but so want to fit in with their mates.

That said I went to hear a nationally renowned eating disorder expert who's an advisor on government health policy and he thinks the anti- obesity programme in schools has been tackled in entirely the wrong way and has actually backfired, as well as a rise in obesity there's also a rise in eating disorders and within that a rise is ED in boys and children under 13.

I work for the NHS with young people as a specialist practitioner and I see loads of overweight young people, mainly girls who have a completely distorted body image. I do address weight with them as part of my role as I think it's irresponsible not too, and I do take the leap and talk to their parents about it too. When these girls decide to diet they do bonkers things like only having red bull through the day, or having days on and off with food and completely screwing up their metabolisms.

It's quite easy to google BMI for children and find out whether your child is a healthy weight for their age. BMI should actually vary according to age and children should be at their leanest at about 6yo. My 3 DSs eat fairly healthily but DS2 is on the 5th centile BMI and DS3 on the 80th centile. I know I feed them about the same, but DS2 isn't ever hungry and burns up energy by being extremely active (almost hyperactive) but not at all sporty. DS3 is always hungry, eats everything he's given and asks for more. He's much less active. They are just different, one borderline underweight, one at the top end of healthy. If I wasn't very careful DS3 would be overweight. So I am tempting one to eat more while telling the other he can't have anymore. Very hard, I hope people don't judge.

Of course it matters! If there weren't overweight children then strangers wouldn't be able to judge, and that is more of a serious matter than Obesiety AND paedophillia. Or obese paedophiles.

Are you living up to your name, turkeyburgerthing? If so, I will judge.