To not be surprised our kids are so fat

[Babycham1979]

When they're fed utter crap like this;

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2957301/What-school-lunches-look-like-world.html

No wonder obesity rates are so high,mand no wonder so many British children are incredibly picky when they're fed processed shite as is evident in these pictures. Imagine some of the pickiest UK children being handed a bowl of miso soup, or prawns, or plantain?!

Is the issue budgetary, or culture? Either way, we're failing our children.

laquitar I have a weight issue. I have to really make a big effort not to gain weight.
One of my children (an adult now ) also has a weight issue. When he was a child I controlled his weight by controlling his diet and giving him lots of opportunity to be active (he was). Now he's an adult he drives everywhere and eats lots of chocolate. My other 2 children don't seem to have big appetites or like food that much, so weight isn't really an issue for them, at least not at the moment.
I do find it interesting how weight issues can vary so much in the same family. All of my kids had the same father (who also gains weight easily), just like myself and my siblings. Out of the 5 of us I seem to gain weight the quickest. I've usually been the fattest ,though also the healthiest.

and maybe more of them are more stressed than their parents/grandparents were as children? They have less physical freedom, more schools stress, their parents are (more? as?) likely to be under financial stress wrt housing costs and costs of living.

Is that really true, though, or is it a touch of golden nostalgia? Compared to grandparents in particular?

I'm not sure about stress Mavis

Considering how many kids start school at the age of 4, overweight or obese, it's far more likely what their parents are feeding them and that their exercise isn't meeting their needs.

yabu

my children eat a million times better than when I was a child.

Part of the difficulty is that it's so easy to judge people for being fat (and assume they overeat) when we don't know why they're overweight.

I became morbidly obese while taking medication for a health problem for several years. It's a medication that is notorious for causing weight gain. When I finally stopped taking it, I started losing weight. It was neither safe nor convenient to restrict my calorie intake to less than 2500 calories a day (because I was so obese), and so no doubt I looked (to strangers) as if I was overeating, and yet I was losing weight. I'm not back to my pre-medication weight yet, so I'll be 'overeating' for quite a while.

My daughter is very overweight. She has a serious health condition that contributes to her obesity. There is no way that anyone would guess by looking at her. Many people simply see a fat girl (and probably think it's a shame, but no surprise since her mother is fat too - no one would know there are different reasons for our weight).

People who think that medical reasons for obesity represent only a very small percentage are simply wrong; there are a great many health conditions that can play a role in obesity, and most of these are invisible. Many of them are - like obesity - increasing in prevalence, such as diabetes, autism spectrum disorder, depression etc.

So if anyone is 'not surprised' that my kid is fat, they're probably completely unaware that it has little to do with what she eats at school.

People who think that medical reasons for obesity represent only a very small percentage are simply wrong; there are a great many health conditions that can play a role in obesity, and most of these are invisible.

No, I disagree. If this was the case then obesity wouldn't have shot through the roof in the space of a generation. And the rise in diabetes is in almost direct correlation with the rise in obesity.

The rise in obesity cannot be explained away by 'medical conditions'.

I disagree also that they represent a very small percentage

Why would the government be throwing millions of pounds at trying to get people to eat better and become more active, if the majority of them have health conditions?

I mean I disagree that people who think they represent a very small percentage are simply wrong.

Re stress

I think children did suffer stress in the past mainly handed to them by parents and a rigid school
The difference is that you used to get out of the house, find your friends, wander the streets or go on your bikes.

Now you go online. And eat crisps.

Thats interesting Fatlazymummy.
So basically you have brought up all your children the same but one of them is struggling with his weight and the others don't.

Hmm so what the thread's experts say about this?
Down to 'uneducated, stupid parents'?

So basically you have brought up all your children the same but one of them is struggling with his weight and the others don't.

Hmm so what the thread's experts say about this?

Not an expert but can't help pointing out that fatlazymummy has already provided an insight into the reasons (drives everywhere, lots of chocolate..). If I think about families I know, there's usually a variety of shapes and sizes, especially when offspring have grown up and their lifestyles might differ from each other's.

Exactly fascicle

Now he's an adult he drives everywhere and eats lots of chocolate. My other 2 children don't seem to have big appetites or like food that much, so weight isn't really an issue for them, at least not at the moment.

He's an adult who chooses to eat lots of chocolate and drive everywhere

I think that's pretty self explanatory isn't it?

Just to explain about my child, he was one of those children who was 'chunky'. He put weight on easily. He also did a lot of sport and general exercise. My opinion is that some people really need to exercise a fair amount to keep their weight under control (I think this is true for me as well).
It's also possible that I may be partly responsible though. I had him 26 years ago, chubby babies and toddlers were thought of as cute then,and I probably wouldn't have fed him as much nowadays. No body thought of childhood obesity becoming a problem 26 years ago, so we were less aware.

Under 18s requiring weightloss surgery, life changing surgery at that. Toddlers struggling to play with mobility and breathing problems. Do as a society we ignore this because it will offend the very few with legitimate medical causes or do we try to reverse the current trend. This is not about adults this is about children with weight problems due mainly to environmental conditions.

And the rise in diabetes is in almost direct correlation with the rise in obesity.

Feeling pedantic today, I must point out that this statement has no meaning.

It is, however, true that diabetes can cause weight gain. As with many things - like the medications PP have been ridiculed for mentioning - increasing adipose tissue for safe storage of excess chemicals (hormones & more) is a normal physiological response. Bodies will generally demand more fat-inducing food in order to affect this; there are also several perfectly real medical conditions that cause fat gain without eating more.

Ftr, I take an antidepressant that's notorious for provoking gain around the waist. Indeed, it has done. On a bad day I look 8 months pregnant.
I'd rather feel fat than suicidal.

• effect, not affect! Guaranteed mistakes in a post admitting to pedantry

Diabetes can cause weight gain, but isn't it more usual the other way round?

Not an expert but can't help pointing out that fatlazymummy has already provided an insight into the reasons (drives everywhere, lots of chocolate..). If I think about families I know, there's usually a variety of shapes and sizes, especially when offspring have grown up and their lifestyles might differ from each other's.

Yes this - my sister is significantly thinner than me, and always has been, because she has a very small appetite and is able to take one biscuit and leave the rest of the pack. As opposed to me............

Diabetes is linked closely to obesity, it just is. Obese people are much more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. My mum runs a diabetes clinic and says that the number of cases now is quite frightening and is continuing to rise.

Diabetes can cause weight gain, but isn't it more usual the other way round?

Not necessarily. The Daily Fail, and even some GPs, will sometimes say that diabetes is caused by weight gain. However, we have no evidence that this is the case. There appears to be a correlation between obesity and diabetes, but so far it hasn't been demonstrated that weight gain causes diabetes, and in fact diabetes may cause weight gain. Or there may be no relationship; the apparent correlation may be a coincidence Some of the treatments for diabetes cause weight gain, which is rather ironic.

The process by which people acquire type 2 diabetes is not well understood, and it's very unhelpful when people assume it's a result of overeating, or of eating too much sugar.

Obese people are much more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Or perhaps people with type 2 diabetes are more likely to become obese. Your mum hasn't actually tracked the progress of these patients' blood glucose or weight gain over time, so she only has evidence of an increase in the number of patients. She has no evidence of causation.

Or perhaps people with type 2 diabetes are more likely to become obese.

How would this explain the massive rise in cases of type 2 diabetes? Unless 30 years ago the same number of people were walking around with diabetes and just didn't know about it?

From um, Diabetes UK (ie. not 'the Daily Mail and even some GPs'):

You are more at risk of Type 2 diabetes if:
-You’re overweight or have a high Body Mass Index (BMI)
-You have a large waist (more than 80cm/31.5 inches in women, 94 cm/37 inches in men or 90cm/35 inches in South Asian men)

Along with loads of weight loss information to 'reduce your risk'.

From 'NHS Choices'

The rapid rise in the number of adults developing type 2 diabetes is due to:
increasing levels of obesity
a lack of exercise
increase in unhealthy diets
an ageing population

A fairly reliable source, no?

sorcha obesity is believed to account for 80-85% of the risk of developing diabetes type 2. www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-obesity.html
It is obesity (specifically an excess of visceral fat) that generally causes diabetes, not the other way round.
Another worrying factor is that diabetes T2 is now linked to alzheimers. In fact some scientists believe it is a variant of the same disease (type 3).

sorcha diabetes is very well understood nowadays. Why the denial?

Reading the diabetes UK link.... That's frightening! Really didn't realise it was so bad even tho I've heard the nhs reports etc

Is diabetes classed as a Disibility?