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

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

The number overweight people at swimming today

588 replies

pingu2209 · 19/02/2013 18:40

I went swimming today with my 3 children. I am not exagerating to say that well over half the children and teenagers were overweight; some were seriously obese.

It really was noticable. Girls as well as boys. Anything from age 4 to 14.

Okay - at least they were exercising but I was really shocked.

OP posts:
CremeEggScoffer · 20/02/2013 11:29

OP I agree with you, the cost of obesity has on out economy shouldn't be ignored, heaven forbid you should upset the people of Britain by staring at them at the swimming pool, fat shouldn't be seen as normal, other European countries think we are disgusting so why is it being swept under the carpet?

YANBU and all those that don't go swimming due to their size, do something about it and stop making excuses!

VenusRising · 20/02/2013 11:39

I can see both sides to this.

Ok maybe the OP didn't realise what a hornets nest fat as an issue is, and maybe she didn't realise how sensitive people can be about their bodies.

But really, there are a lot more obese people around now, and it's not being outrageous to observe that. I didn't feel the OP was judging, just observing.

Have a look at this site we are designed to move and the video in it: the point is that life expectancy of obese children is five years less than their healthier peers.

It's a real shame that fat kills, but it does, and it's so difficult to choose the healthy option day after day.... Please don't offer me a biscuit! I'll eat the packet :)

VenusRising · 20/02/2013 11:40

So good I said it twice?

countrykitten · 20/02/2013 11:40

Lurcio if you had read the thread you would see that the OP is in fact a size 20 herself.

fromparistoberlin · 20/02/2013 11:45

I am sure OP has been flamed to shit.

but I think its concerning that we have an obesity issue with children and teens

WRT to adults I dont really have an opinion, but we have a problem and its nigh on impossible to raise it, as people get upset

I got fucking told yesterday that my 2.5 year old is (a bit) overweight!!! I dont like it at all, but I needed to know

fromparistoberlin · 20/02/2013 11:50

SWEET JESUS just read responses

classic MN

people are soooooooooooooooooooooo oversensitive

Its NOT ABOUT YOU

Its about seeing obese children

I am surpised when I go to Italy (Europe highest child obesity). I dont stare at them, I dont "gawp" at them, but its noticable.

but lets say NOTHING right? better to not riase it, than to offend people?

shocking

Shagmundfreud · 20/02/2013 11:56

We have a massive problem with obesity in the UK.

And it's getting worse.

The NHS will disintegrate under the strain of caring for growing numbers of obese adults - already £1 in every £10 spent on treatment in the NHS is spent on diabetes related health problems.

So no OP - YANBU.

The huffy responses of 'mind your own business' and 'stop being judgemental' are pretty typical and make me feel like we're all bloody doomed - so few people take this issue seriously or realise what a crisis we're in.

When the NHS is in its knees in 20 years time from dealing with a tsunami of obesity related conditions, we're all going to be screwed.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 20/02/2013 11:59

I don't think saying nothing is the way to go, fromparistoberlin. But the OP didn't seem to want to discuss why there is an obesity problem in the UK, or what might be done about it - there was no hint of that in her OP, nothing constructive - just a rather judgemental-looking, shock-horror post about how many fat children there were at the swimming pool.

GoSuckEggs · 20/02/2013 12:04

I think that it is disgusting that parents let their children get fat, you are responsable for them!!!

I am fat, but i was always a skinny child.

undercoverhousewife · 20/02/2013 12:05

So what can we do about it as a society?

The attitude expressed by some posters that it is nobody's business but the parents' is clearly misguided as the fact that there are lots of obese children demonstrates.

So should we be trying to educate the parents more? (Do they really not understand about nutrition or do they underestimate weight?), or should we be taxing high fat, high sugar and processed foods? Or should very obese DC be taken into care or closely monitored by SS under that threat? Or what???

Overfeeding kids to the point where their current and future health is compromised is pure and simply a form of (possibly well intentioned) child abuse, and it is truly shocking how much of this is around. It cannot possibly be the fault of the children as kids eat by and large what is put in front of them. They have little or no control over the weekly shop.

fromparistoberlin · 20/02/2013 12:08

Remeber the 70s, when we did not have cupboards and shops full of crisps and chocs?

even back then my little brother was a little chubby.

So I DO get that some people are natutally inclined to obesity

But given we now live in an age of plenty, with a bag of sweet for £1, with MacDonalds for £1.99 we need to do something

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 20/02/2013 12:16

I understand that people feel self conscious about their size I am a size 18-20 after having lost 1.5 stone. I am obese and until recently I was 3/4's of the way to morbidly obese. I also went swimming this weekend. I am comfortable that this post is not about me as an individual but a more general observation.

We as a society are getting fatter and more worryingly our children are getting fatter. We haven't yet got to the position of the US but we are heading that way. Children (except for medical conditions) should not be fat and most certainly should not be obese. It is shocking to see how many more children are overweight now as it was unusual when I was a child. Young children don't choose what they eat, they can't pop to McD and buy a happy meal or nip to the corner shop for a chocolate bar. It is our job as parents to make the right choices for them even if that sometimes makes our life uncomfortable (yes, I've been through the sweet aisle tantrums too).

Oh and to all those who won't go swimming because they fear what others might think. Its your life, please don't let your fear of what strangers might think, stop you from doing what you want. Their opinions really don't matter.

fedupwithdeployment · 20/02/2013 12:25

I am always impressed when I see larger people swimming / exercising, because (having been quite overweight myself) I know how hard it can be - physically and mentally.

I went swimming 2 weeks after having my hip replaced. It looked gross (as my dear children kept telling me) and I wondered whether I would be stared at / asked to leave / cover up (it had plastic sealant so ok to swim). However, no one appeared to look and no one commented. I was being a bit over sensitive.

Generally I agree with the OP - it is a problem that we collectively need to deal with. My Dad is overweight (70s) and has been read the Riot Act by his Dr...he seems to be taking it seriously this time, and hopefully will regain his health. Otherwise his heart and knees will give up. Think of a nation in the state he is in....but these people are not in their 70s, they are children, with potentially the health problems of much older people.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 20/02/2013 12:26

I think that the first thing we need to do is to bring back cookery in schools - where all children can learn the basics of cooking - how to prepare the raw ingredients, what the terms in recipes actually mean (because if you don't know what dice and saute the onions means or how to do it, you aren't going to feel confident about tackling that recipe). They need to be learning how to prepare and cook the food that will nourish them properly - casseroles, bolognese, tomato sauces that can be used for pizza and as the basis for many pasta dishes, burgers made from proper mince, with oven wedges they have made themselves, not out of a packet, curries etc - so they know they can make themselves the food they like and it still be healthy.

It's giving them the basic vocabulary and skills, so that they have the confidence to make their food from scratch, rather than having to rely on packets, ready meals and takeaways.

They also need to learn the basics of good nutrition, and how to build a balanced diet - which they do already, I know, but which is not that useful in the absence of the cooking skills.

And they need to learn how to plan their meals and budget their money, so that they can see how much cheaper it actually is to make your own food rather than buying the ready meals etc.

There needs to be less designing of packaging, and more learning of the real-life skills that the children will need in order to feed themselves properly.

HeySoulSister · 20/02/2013 12:28

Lol at being at the pool=exercise!

It doesn't... Is everyone lane swimming or messing around at poolside or chucking a few inflatables!?

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 20/02/2013 12:30

Of course it is exercise, HeySoulSister - it burns up calories, like any other activity. Obviously not as many calories as an intense session at the gym or a long run, but more than sitting down with a book/the tv. All activity burns off calories.

countrykitten · 20/02/2013 13:33

HeySoulSister I do find that a strange post for you to make and refer you to SDT's excellent reply. Is there nothing that people will not knock on here? Not everyone needs to be Rebecca Adlington to gain something through being at the pool. FFS.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 20/02/2013 13:34

This isn't a fat-bashing thread, I don't read it that way, well - not until I see the very defensive posts. It's a discussion, like any other, but it's one that affects so many people that it can hit hard sometimes.

To the posters saying, "Thanks op, you/people like you are the reason I'm not going swimming now". Think about what you're teaching your own children... give up? Something that you want to do for yourself? Based on a random person's opinion? Now THAT is shocking and so very defeatist...

Would you really use the excuse of letting another person dictate what you do based on nothing more than a smirk or whisper or comment even? Nevermind what ANYBODY says, they don't have the power to stop you, only you do.

See you in the pool... Grin

Lottikins · 20/02/2013 13:39

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

willesden · 20/02/2013 13:40

Hope OP doesn't have any fat friends. Of friends with fat children. They will never hear the last of it.

countrykitten · 20/02/2013 13:42

willesden the OP is a size 20 FFS. Read the fucking thread before wading in with your sanctimonious crap.

Honestly.

Shagmundfreud · 20/02/2013 13:46

SDT - at most kids will burn up a couple of hundred calories larking around in the pool. At most.

The bag of crisps, bar of chocolate and bottle if lucizade they buy from the swimming pool vending machine on the way out will nix that three times over.

Swimming makes kids hungry doesn't it?

Shagmundfreud · 20/02/2013 13:47

Lottikins - it depends how fat and how fit.

Shagmundfreud · 20/02/2013 13:51

Should add, I know a number of very very overweight children who happen to be also very active. These children eat high calorie snacks every day and their portion control is poor. They're still much more at risk of type 2 diabetes even if they do exercise.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 20/02/2013 13:54

It's still better than sitting on the couch, playing xbox games, with the packet of crisps and the bar of chocolate.

And for someone who is overweight, little changes are a good start - better to spend an hour playing at the swimming pool, and learning that exercise can be fun, than to try to do a level of activity that is way beyond you, and then get disheartened.

The swimming itself might not be enough to make the child lose weight, but it could be a gateway to more activities and sports. Baby steps.