to think that Honey Boo Boo's family is the perfect example of genetics being partly responsible for weight

[Jewels234]

So, for those of you who are missing Here Comes Honey Boo from your lives...it involves a family, 4 girls from 3 different fathers. They all live together (or have done until recently), 3 of the girls are seriously overweight, one of the girls is (as far as I can tell) a healthy weight. They all eat the same, participate in the same activities, have been brought up the same.

Just think that someone should point it out to Katie Hopkins.

AIBU?

If 3 girls are seriously overweight, what on earth are they doing, eating the same as the one who isn't?

And either way, would they be seriously overweight if they got enough exercise?

I doubt it.

Do they all do the same amount of excercise? Or do the other three have some sort of condition that makes them overweight and makes it difficult to lose weight?

I feel my AIBU has been rejected :(

They eat terribly (standard meal is spaghetti mixed with a block of butter and tomato ketchup), and definitely don't do enough exercise.

But as they all eat the same and do the same, surely they should be a similar weight if it's just what you eat and what exercise you do that counts.

Couldn't it just as easily be they've been brought up in a household of overeating? It's the old
Nature or nurture argument isn't it? Will overweight parents over feed their children

You only see a snapshot though, the slim one could be far more active or eat far less or have a health problem which stops her gaining weight.

Their weight is nothing to do with genetics.

It's all the crap they eat, one slimmer one just means one who eats less of the sugary/greasy/salty crap provided. They're the perfect example of fatness being the consequence of a bad diet. Any time I've seen them in the news it's about the mother filling Honey with 'special' super sugar drinks whatever that was. Another I saw was where the grandchild was being given Mountain Dew in her bottle at only a few months old.

But as they all eat the same and do the same, surely they should be a similar weight if it's just what you eat and what exercise you do that counts.

No. You're supposed to eat to suit your body, not other peoples.

The slimmer one probably eats less of the crap.

I feed both my children the same mixture of healthy, semi healthy and occasionally rubbish food. They are both very different builds, but it's mostly down to habit I think. DD1 will eat big portions and finish whatever you give her. She's not overweight, but not slim either. DD2 is slimmer as she will only eat if she's hungry, will eat as much as she wants and nothing more, even if it means leaving half a bite of something and will cheerfully turn down treats if she isn't hungry.

Do they really put a whole block of butter in their spaghetti?! And mix it with ketchup? That's disgusting!

I've only seen the mother and honey boo and they look very unhealthy. If the majority of the family are overweight then chances are it is because of their poor diets. Maybe the non overweight one eats less or exercises more.

I've never seen them before but this is from Google images.

Yabu, it's because they are not healthy and have very bad diets.

As with most things weight is influenced by genetics and behaviour so I don't think your theory is unreasonable, just unlikely to be the only thing at play, the sketty will also be playing a part.

I have three DC and they're all really young atm but even I can see that the younger two girls are going to struggle with keeping weight off more than the eldest boy. He's naturally very tall and slender like his father, the girls are shorter (still above average but shorter than he was at that age) and are of a wider build. They're all normal weights and if I have anything to do with it will stay that way but all I'm saying is the girls are certainly built sturdier than the boy is... Am I making sense?

DH is tall and slim. I'm 5 foot 7 and have an hourglass figure so 'curvy', I'd never be Victoria Beckham for example because my body quite simply isn't built like that. Genes decide what our body shape will be is what I am basically getting at and someone who is an apple, pear or hourglass is going to have to watch their weight perhaps more than someone who is an athletic/boy shape. So DS will probably be a lucky fucker like DH and be able to stuff 5000 calories a day down and not get fat. The girls have my body shape and if they did the same would undoubtedly become obese.

It's easier for some people to gain weight simply based on their body type IMO but ultimately it is how much you eat and how much you move that makes you fat, some people will just be able to get fat quicker than others.

But even if weight is influence be genetics that's no reason to have fat children, is it?

It's all the more reason to make sure they eat healthy foods and take lots of exercise, so that they don't become fat.

I'm guilty of having watched this show.. Anna (the thin one) has clearly said a few times that she eats healthier than her sisters and actively tries to stay healthy.

Genetics did not put cheese puff in their mouths...

Watch the show. They eat fried, greasy, processed crap.

Families are fat together because they're eating the same diet, not because it's genetically predispositioned.

Genetics might make it harder to manage weight, just like genetics might make it harder to read or write. But even dyslexic kids are expected to be able to read, are they not? Weight and health shouldn't be an exception. Just as you have to practice reading to get good, you have to practice being healthy. Habits don't just suddenly appear over night, you have to work on them, and junk food is so very delicious.

Genetic weight I'll give wiggle room for a person being a little pudgy, not morbidly obese. By the time you are morbidly obese, you've absolutely lost control of your health. I know people with thyroid problems, and they are not obese because they take care of their health. They're not skinny, but they're not fat either. They're on the bigger end of average (maybe a little chubby).

Obviously shame and blaming don't help, but this "oh you can't help being fat" is just as dangerous. People need to work on their health, they can't just view it as some weird abstract thing that some people naturally have and others don't.

I know a family with a slim mum and a chubby dad. They have 2 girls and 2 boys. The girls are both very thin, the two boys are both slightly overweight. I think genes play a part.

Mintyy, what you said makes no sense, both sons and daughters inherit half their genes from each parent.

If this were true then in times of war and famine there would always be some people with more weight on them than others. It's not true.

Of course there are some medications or illnesses which cause people to put on weight. But generally, eating excessively and of the wrong foods is the cause.

YABU.

Yes, what minty said does make sense, if there is a fat gene, the each child has a 50% chance of inheriting it.

I see what you are asking: if it is only about eating and exercise habits, then the whole family should be fat, or thin. But it isnt as simple as that: except for identical twins, everyone's genetic make up handles things differently. Some people's natural and healthy lowest 'thin' weight may be larger than someone else's active but overfed 'fat', but still, no one is genetically programmed to be obese.

Unfairly, skinny but out of shape still 'looks' fit, while rounded, but healthy and active, with toned muscles and healthy cardio ability 'looks' obese. Sadly, people assume they can tell just by looking.

OMG the time they had a butter fight. I was cringing literally blocks of marg all over the floor, kitchen walls etc. Alanna (HoneyBooBoo) is getting less cute chunky kid and more very overweight preteen now. It's clear her eating faints aren't going to improve, in fact she's probably just eating more crap now she's able to prepare her own food/snacks more. When she went to the petrol station for snacks she went CRAZY and bought loads.

Baby Katelyn is so cute.
She's only what 2? But she is very like her mother who is slimmer. Interesting I think baby's father is very very slim almost 'skinny' too. Will be interesting to see if nature v nurture there. Are Anna and Katelyn ('Gigi Baba' or whatever mama calls her ) still living at home??

It's my guilty pleasure

'Habits' not 'faints'