The number overweight people at swimming today

[pingu2209]

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.

Lottikins - kids don't really need all the fancy swim and sports classes that cost money. I grew up on a council estate, didn't have much of that but we were always out playing, running about. We got much more excerise than going to an hour class every other day and 99% were skinny minnies. Do kids still play out in council areas or more disadvantaged areas the way we did as kids? We never had indoor play dates or computer games, 24 hour telly for kids - we were chucked out in all weather.

"Perhaps you could make the lot of these fat kids better by not looking at them, not judging them and their parents and not pitying them.Try to look at the child within.

sorry but thats complete and utter bollocks! thats not going to solve their obesity

FFS

Actually I agree with OP and these things should be said. Now people that are not overweight in this country are in the minority. Yes some people have serious medical problems causing it but they are a tiny percentage the rest just eat too much and exercise too little and are passing these things onto the next generation.

begonia Maybe in summer months but my point is that in winter it is dark nearly as soon as they get home from school and not many people want their Dc paying out when it is dusk or dark.
fromparistoberlin gawping,judging and pitying these children who are exercising isn't doing much to solve the problem either is it?

Why are people flaming the OP so much?

She has only made an observation!

Young children being overweight is entirely down to the parents.

Besides, if its the 'norm', what would there be to laugh at/ feel self-conscious about? Being 'normal'? If anything a very skinny child would probably get laughed at.

I work in swimming pools, and I have to say I haven't noticed this.

What do you consider overweight/obese OP? A lot of kids go through looking very chubby with puppy fat before puberty, but it evens out perfectly well, I looked fat at 11 but all through my adult life I remained either a 10 or a 12 dress size!

As I have said before, SugarMouse, just making the observation, without (apparently) wanting any sort of discussion on why this happens, and what we can do about it, smacks more of pointing at, and judging the fatties - which is not helpful or constructive.

Desiderata Is Enfield worse than the rest of the country in general? I would hate it to be, it's a lovely area in the main.

It is great they have the ability to do free swimming there, as the green spaces especially are disappearing fast!

I want to look at cooking lessons at school. In the 90's when I was at senior school we baked utter crap, cakes, biscuits and a token veg dish- surely we should be cooking with real food, giving children the love of cooking rather than just baking?

Helping them to help themselves and their families.

Wewerehere...
I think that it's fairly representitive. The leafy North/West is full of colt-like children who are as slim as ever, but the south/east chunk is deprived. The childrens centres try very hard to introduce healthy cookery lessons and the like, but they are fighting a losing battle.

Agree with plinkyplonks, HOhoho and sugarmice1. Feel like i'm trippin in boddiwod world with bubbles for eyes (just kiddin, love the names).An observation that we all have witnessed but god forbid say out loud and agree with the statistics and that we are trundling along at being the sick man of euorpe(again). No shush, don't say anything as we'll upset those who are obese. Let's just let it be till the NHs cannot cope.

I'm fat, I'm fit and I swim (very well) a lot.Unfortunately, I sometimes forget to wear sack cloth and ashes and a huge tent covering my being, just in case a thin person may see me....Oh, my goodness, my 2 grown up , healthy, fit children may resent the fact that I took them swimming, frequently , when they were young..did I fail them??

Not sure why everybodys up arms at OP.... Ive been abroad for ten years. I moved back last year and am amazed atthe amount of obesity i see. I live next to a russell group uni with lots of well heeled students and even they are noticeably much chunkier, so it does transcend social class, unlike the old stereotype.

Before anybody starts moaning about "substituting obese for black, disabled etc", try substituting it for smokers instead! Its largely a lifestyle choice too, and being all defensive and touchy about it doesnt help any more than pointing and gawping at the overweight.

yoyo you have spectacularly missed the point of the thread. I am guessing that you have not bothered to read it.

Fergus - I honestly don't see the point of a thread that is just pointing out how many fat people there are. In the absence of any attempt at discussion about why this might be, or how best to tackle it, it smacks of 'point at the fatties and sneer'. That is my objection to this thread, and why I find it offensive and upsetting.

Well maybe she was trying to start one, no matter how cack handed it might have been. I crept up to size 22 when i left uni. Causes, basically poor lifestyle. I learnt to cook, the weight dropped off. Back to size 8 in under year. But i would have felt v defensive too, if i had come across this discussion at that time....you are right, it doesnt actually help to sit mindlessly either criticising or defending obesity. In my view, a basic interest in cooking can be all it takes. I think lazily lumping it into social class differences is also misleading and used as an excuse. Ffs you can make a vat of soup for a quid.

And its one thing being defensive about being overweight, ok, obese, because you become remarkably sensitive. And you get the looks. And the comments like "youve got such a pretty face..." as if the rest is a disgusting car crash. Its emotionally difficult being obese and hard to turn back from it, But at no point would I have chosen it, or advocate it for my own kids or defended it as an acceptable choice. Its increasing, its unhealthy, its dangerous for our children and nobody truly wants that.

You don't have to go swimming to see seriously overweight DC - in my area they are very common and easily spotted without being semi naked.

In fact the local swimming baths here which cost to go to and in in the nicer end of town tend to have less numbers of them.

I think there is a difference to talking about the large numbers of DC and people who are overweight and talking about staring at people in swimming pools where large numbers of people are not particularly comfortable but where people go to exercise.

I think it is particularly bad with DC because while many parents are in denial about their DC weight even DC like mine who eat very well and exercise frequently do get cubby at times before shooting up several inches. For the girls at least ignorant strangers passing comments or just staring ? combined with a peer group obsessed with fashion and thinness ? despite our efforts ? could well be very detrimental to them.

I?ve been made to feel unwelcome ? even when in ideal weight range ? at gyms and aerobics classes and only manage to go swimming by convincing myself that no one cares what I look like . The op kind of shatters that happy illusion.

In my view, a basic interest in cooking can be all it takes.

They do healthy eating cooking classes in children centres near me - always eager to learn and improve I went along. The fried in a huge amount of butter leeks then covered in cheese - that was healthy apparently as it had vegetables in ? it was pretty much all like that and soup was never mentioned once.

From that experience I really wonder about health cooking knowledge generally.

Being fat is a choice (for adults) in the same way as smoking is. The difference is that saying someone is fat is considered highly offensive. In my office probably 50% of people are overweight. It shouldn't be normalised!

I don't think it should be normalised, though that is hard when in areas like mine over weight DC are the norm, but I don't see why making people taking exercise or enjoying an active activity feel bad helps.

i don't think anyone would try and make someone obese feel bad if they are excercising unless they were always a dick anyway.

why are fat people so touchy....?

I went swimming twice this week, swam for an hour and 15 minutes both times, probably looked like a harpooned killer whale, but who cares, I knew it was a step in the right direction and I felt good (but exhausted) after each time. I was embarrassed at all the perfect people in there with their toned gym addict bodies, but humbled too, by a lady a good 100lbs heavier than myself, who swam with great confidence and considerably more skill.

I feel better for it - more energetic, sleeping better and more confidence. I may not physically look different to the way I looked a week ago before I started going to the gym daily, swimming and dieting - but I cared enough to shave and dye my hair and wear make up for the first time in months today. So any other larger ladies who worry about being judged at the pool - just do it! You will end up feeling much better about yourself afterwards :)

FSM... If you're ex-FHG, I know for fact that you're a 'babe', I've seen pictures of you.

And the reason it's a problem is 90% of the responses on here. Somebody with a weight problem is told to "ignore the bastards, you're a beautiful, bubbly human being" rather than. "Well actually, your body isn't designed to be like this, you are putting a huge strain on your internal organs and your life expectancy".

In my primary school class 20 years ago, there was a handful of kids that I would class as over weight. I believe the OP was pointing out how this is no longer the case.

yy Probation. It is an emotive subject, no doubt about it, but it needs to stop being so. It's far too much of a taboo and it really shouldn't be. Obesity is such far-reaching and potentially lifelong problem and seeing so many young and very large children struggling to walk is something that just has to be tackled, unpalatable as it is to some people.

Seeing very overweight children is a lot more common now. The fact that some people don't see so many could be attributed to a distorted view of what 'overweight' looks like.

For the record, I'm a lifelong dieter with a horrid relationship with food. I'll be like it all of my life and if I don't keep a very firm grip on myself I have a tendency to disordered eating at both ends of the scale. I'd hate to see that being developed in children; we're the adults and we need to do something to protect them from it because they can't.

I absolutely agree with the OP that we need to start doing something. No point ignoring the facts. It is much more like smoking than it is black, muslim, etc Its a choice. Hard to believe but we do actually still decide what we eat. If it grows on a plant, eat more of it. If its made in a plant, eat less of it.