Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Fat children - how is it acceptable to OVERFEED your kids?

70 replies

JuanMoreTime · 26/05/2011 15:07

Local pool today.
toddler the size of a house. changing afterwatds with the mum giving it those cheapo Football crazy crisps then they headed off to cafe,
This kids had RIPPLES of fat. If this was he same but underweight he would be in care.

OP posts:
montmartre · 26/05/2011 15:33

Not sure where you live, but I see plenty of chubby to fat children with slim parents.
Lots of overindulged singletons, plied with whatever they ask for by mc parents eager to make up for lack of time spent with them.

HugoFirst · 26/05/2011 15:33

as with adults most people way underestimate the calories in any food.

presume parents are the same

MrsRyanReynolds · 26/05/2011 15:34

I was an overweight child myself, but not grossly overweight.

I used to eat dinner every night at my grandmothers house, who would force me to "clear my plate". Even when I was so full that I was on the verge of being sick, I had to finish it all.

This is the sort of thing that I think is wrong.

MrsRyanReynolds · 26/05/2011 15:36

Oops, sorry ivykaty!

I misread your post! I thought it said "I have a fat boy" - didn't notice the comma!

ivykaty44 · 26/05/2011 15:37

MrsRR but that wasn't what you said - you said that you rarely see fat children without fat parents - then two posters come along and say oh by the way yes we have seen slim parents with fat dc.

Now you say it is all about overfeeding - yes it probably is about overfeeding but I guess that can be done with either fat or slim parents

going · 26/05/2011 15:38

Overweight kids don't always have overweight parents.

Not many kids at my childrens school are overweight. Of the five I can think of 3 have a slim mum.

MrsRyanReynolds · 26/05/2011 15:41

It was Hugo who said rarely - I said I'd never seen one!

Sorry I'm not really sure what your point is?

I'm not trying to get into a debate - I just have never seen a fat child with slim parents - I'm not trying to disprove what anyone else has said?? Confused

onlion · 26/05/2011 15:49

The OP missed the point that the child was at the pool in the first place. Nice to see the parent was encouraging exercise.

onlion · 26/05/2011 15:49

Can I just add that I have seen many many overweight children with parents in the healthy weight range.

mummy2jayjay · 26/05/2011 15:50

I always give little man a pack of crisps when we finish swimming, its the only way i can get him in the pool without him screeming the place down and showing me up lol. I tell him before we go in that when were done he can have crisps or pop from the machine if he's a good boy. It's probably my fault and I should of taken him when he was a baby to get him used to it.

Isn't it more important that he goes swimming and learns about sport and being healthy than worrying about a few packs of crisps lol.

You'd probably think that little man was tubby if you seen him, he's got gorgeous rolls on his legs and belly, but he's only 4, i thought babies was meant to be tubby.

MrsRyanReynolds · 26/05/2011 15:53

4 is not a baby

is this a joke

itisnearlysummer · 26/05/2011 15:56

mummy May I would suggest that jayjay is perhaps a little larger than he should be...

actually the best snack to have for the post-swim starve is a banana.

4 is not a baby.

My DD is 4 and just finishing her first year in school. Try telling her she's a baby!

cantspel · 26/05/2011 15:56

It a child had rolls of fat on their legs and belly i wouldn't think they were tubby. I would think the child was fat. There is no reason why any child needs rolls of fat. and imo it isn't gorgeous.

itisnearlysummer · 26/05/2011 15:57

Here here cantspel

fairydoll · 26/05/2011 16:01

'never seen a fat kid with slim parents ever'
have you seen kerry katonas eldest?

fairydoll · 26/05/2011 16:02

She was taking the kid swimming points, so I would think well done rather than judge.

lillypie · 26/05/2011 16:03

I was a plump child my mother took me to weight watchers wjen I was 5 . It spawned 35 years of yoyo dieting eating disorders and self loathing

MrsRyanReynolds · 26/05/2011 16:08

No, fairydoll I can't say I have.

I didn't say that they don't exist.

I just personally haven't ever come across it.

itisnearlysummer · 26/05/2011 16:12

Not sure that Kerry Katona can be hailed as a 'slim parent' though.

mummy2jayjay · 26/05/2011 16:13

A banana? I'd never get him in the pool lol.

kenobi · 26/05/2011 16:13

fairydoll: 'never seen a fat kid with slim parents ever'
have you seen kerry katonas eldest?

Both Kerry and whatshisface boyband dad are prone to fat so she's definitely got weight-carrying genes, they just keep in in check.

But... I knew a very fat little girl (with thick glasses just to make it worse for her) with very slender parents and a very beautiful, very athletic younger sister (ages 11 and 9). Her slender, attractive, also sporty parents monitored everything she ate and were clearly trying to get her to be more sporty, when all she wanted to do was read quietly. It was in this holiday resort and she developed a bit of a crush on me (I was 20 and just bumming around for a few days) and used to follow me around. She was very sweet but I've never met a more unhappy girl, and one who had no obvious access to food - she must have been stealing money from her parents and sneaking off to buy junk. I'm sure that like this girl, Kerry Katona's daughter's weight is all about misery, not physical shape.

I think about her so much now I have a daughter who is bidding fair to be amazonian (she is the size of a 2.5 year old in weight and height at 18 months). I hope I never judge her in the way her parents judged this little girl.

piratecat · 26/05/2011 16:14

i am not sure if all fat children are being overfed tbh. i know a family with two daughters, one skinny one fat. Mum is skinny dad is fat. I know they get fed the same.

it's weird isn't it.

i know someone with a child who is overweight, and i see this child eat shed loads, so in that case i know he is being overfed, or at least allowed to eat whatever and whenever. That makes me sad.

itisnearlysummer · 26/05/2011 16:15

well then mummy perhaps if you'd given him bananas rather than crisps when he was younger, maybe you would!

itisnearlysummer · 26/05/2011 16:19

that sounded a bit ott.

What I meant is that I think too many parents think "children don't eat..." and then don't feed it too them.

I am by no means a perfect parent, but I am careful (again not ott) about what my children eat.

My DS was at school before he realised that grapes weren't sweets. He heard other children asking for them so when he did, i gave him grapes.

pingu2209 · 26/05/2011 16:24

To get extremely fat and obese a child has to be overfed and/or under exercised.

However, 1 child can eat the same as another child and do the same amount of exercise but still be bigger/heavier.

I have 3 children, 2 are rake thin and 1 is 'big boned'. No way is he fat but I can see that he carries the same frame as me and my father. My other 2 carry my husbands smaller frame.

My 'big boned' son eats less than his brother, but does the same level of exercise. His brother is happy to sit in front of the TV but my big boned son wants to be up and about doing things.

I know that when they are adults one son will be able to eat loads and stay slim, and my other little darling will likely have to watch carefully what he eats or he will put on weight quickly and easily.

I do believe genetics play a part.