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.

I agree, school dinners aren't the whole problem but when children get fed utter crap it certainly doesn't help. This is what was on offer at my ds secondary school on Friday:

Turkey Burger
Pizza
Popcorn Chicken
Parsnip Soup
Traybakes

Spaghetti Bolagnase
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Beans

It's hardly a balanced menu is it

Healthy food does not have to be expensive - IMO that is a convenient myth used to excuse poor diet. It does not have to consist of salmon steaks, chicken breasts and out of season blueberries. The trouble is that so many people can't be bothered to cook from scratch, let alone peel and chop vegetables. Or they don't know how to and can't be bothered to find out. Plus of course if their children have always been given the likes of pizza and oven chips, they won't like the taste of 'proper' food and probably won't eat it. Should add that I see no harm in a Big Mac, pizza or plate of chips now and then for those who enjoy them. It's when that's all the diet consists of that you have a problem.

Sarf, it's not complicated at all. Just eat wholefoods. So that might be lots of veg or lots of meat, fish eggs, sea food or a mixture.
Avoid anything man made. Dead simple.

I haven't read the whole thread but I think it all starts at home. It's too easy to blame schools. They often serve the junk because if they serve anything else it won't be eaten anyway as lots of these children have been allowed to shun a healthy diet by being fed a poor diet at home.

I just watched the programme about obese children on catch up TV and couldn't believe the stupidity and downright cruelty of the parents of these children who are often not only obese but suffering major tooth decay caused by diet. One mother admitted that she always gave in as she wanted an easy life - now here daughter was paying for it by having to have 8 teeth out and being the size of a 10 year old at 4.

Even after they saw their children suffering they weren't prepared to change their ways and were happy to let it all happen again.

Often on MN there are threads about smacking being tantamount to child abuse - for me this is far worse. Letting your child suffer so you can have an easy life - the height of selfishness and downright nasty rant over

I know that Jilly but it appears that most of our society don't.

World War two was about the only time we got nutrition right in this country, although the meals look odd now. Here's what you got.

4oz (100g) cheese

4oz (100g) bacon

2oz (50g) butter

2oz (50g) cooking fat

2oz (50g) margarine

8oz (200g) sugar

4oz (100g) jam

3oz (75g) sweets

2oz (50g) tea (adults only, children got half of this)

Approximately:-

3/4lb (350g) minced beef or meat of equivalent value

1 fresh egg (3 for children)

3 eggs as dried egg powder

7 pints of milk for school age children (most of whom had school milk as well)

1 pint’s worth of dried milk

Fish, bread, offal and fruit were not rationed but were often difficult to obtain. Oranges and bananas were extremely scarce and reserved for green ration book holders only. Green ration books were for children under five. Vegetables were not rationed. People with gardens or allotments grew their own. Many people kept fowl and pigs and were allowed a ration of animal feed.

And it had a staggering impact on children's health and intellectual development.

www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11197958/Rationing-in-World-War-2-increased-intelligence-of-Britons.html Rationing in WW2 increased intelligence

BTW I saw those school dinners a few days ago I was shocked at the amount of pale, insipid carbs Northern Europeans eat. Tasteless insulin-resistance inducing crap, really.

That's really interesting Boffin. proves the low fat diet is complete codswallop.

boffinsmum I don't think it was the healthiest diet, though it did make the most of what was available and ensured everyone was fed. I think one of the long term effects was an increased risk of osteoporosis.
plonky the wartime diet was quite high in carbs and low in protein, as well as being quite high in fat.

I don't live in the UK but in the renowned home of obesity, the USA. Ironically when we go back to the UK we all gain weight. People snack all the time. Big is beautiful etc.

Actually big is downright dangerous for your health. Smoking is unacceptable. We all know this YET I see more obese people in the NW of England than I do here in Northern New Jersey/Manhattan. I am heavy, BMI puts me in the overweight category, for the US and I struggle to find clothes that fit in the stores. No such problem in the UK or Denmark....

Also shocked that my Dads doctor has not mentioned diet once to him when figuring out his treatment plan for prostate cancer. I arranged for him to have a consultation here in the US and the first thing the specialist asked him was about his diet. Doctor here wants him to lose 30lbs of weight as he is overweight. Sent him to a dietitian and physical therapist to get him moving.

Low fat/'whatever else the fad is' diet is a bunch of codswallop. Your diet should be approx 70% vegetables/beans with the remaining 30% being everything else. My son won't eat veggies. Paediatrician has referred him to a feeding clinic. It is considered that serious because DS has a speech delay.

With me stopping work there is going to be an emphasis on diet with me changing what we have in the house. DH has an awful diet. He grew up with no veg on the plate. Every single meal has potato three ways and some meat. After two weeks in Denmark all I want are some greens, carrots, an apple and no cheese for a month.

My grandmother went through the blitz in London. She was a war bride. At 5ft 6ins she weighed 7stone when she married as a result of rationing.

Sorry lost ability to construct a sentence.
When she married, she was 5ft 6ins but weighed just 7 stone as a result of rationing.

I haven't read the post, I'm sure it's an eye opener. But here's some food for thought OP (excuse the pun), since you mention prawns and plantain.

I don't live in the UK, we have barely any access to processed food and everything is home/locally grown. Our nearest Macdonalds is a 3 hour drive though bad mountain roads. BUT obesity is still a problem in some of the towns children.

They eat home cooked meals from home raised animals and home grown fruit and vegetables. But they plain and simply eat too much and don't play outside as much. Too much iphones/tablet time, too much meat and certainly too much fried plantain!

If we were to adapt the wartime diet to make it more suited to the 21st century, what would it look like, I wonder? I am thinking there would be things like kidney beans, nut butters, coley fish and minced turkey in there quite a lot, no?

BTW when I come back from a stint in Germany I can't face things like pork. They eat so much of it (albeit with massive salads).

want2bsupermum As I'm sure you realise obesity is extremely regional, the rates in the on average more wealthy and educated parts of the US are not high, just like they're not in the same elsewhere in the world. Compare London to Manhattan, and Blackpool with Binghamton. I struggle to find clothes that fit in many places outside London, the shops don't stock sizes small enough, in London I have less of a problem. Shops stock what's locally available.

As to putting on weight when travelling, this is quite common, novel food is often eaten to excess, it's why very few food diets are often successful in losing weight.

In Copenhagen I did not see a single fat person. I saw lots of cycling, not much available junk food.

Didn't Finland transform the health of the nation?

manicinsomniac not sure how long ago you were in Brazil but that's more than likely to be a state school meal. Things have changed considerably in the last 10 years. The rural poor that we know eat better than most urban poor because they have so much fresh fruit most of it goes to their pigs and chickens. I know people on state benefits that eat better than me!

That UK plate looks a far cry from the lunches that my children had when we lived in the UK. They had great food.

fatlazymummy you're right about osteoporosis, and other dietary difficiencies that occurred as a result of rationing. But the article Boffin linked to above states that vegetables were not limited. It's tough because if you lived rurally in ww2, perhaps with an allotment or smallholding, your diet would probably have been ok.

A lot of people could do with far fewer carbs, and far less protein in their diet. Pulses are incredibly good for you, nutrient dense and long life. The idea of 21st century rationing is quite intriguing actually. I'm currently trying to convince dh that we could do with cutting down on the amount of meat we consume as a family but he's not enjoying it too much.

Just realised all those plates that are apparently from around the world, were all made in the UK! Typical deceptive Daily Mail scaremongering!

I'm not sure rationing was a good thing. It might actually be the reason many people in their 35+ age group are overweight, and then consequently affecting future generations. Making up for lost years with their children and grandchildren and starting a trend of over eating. After all extremes are never good in either direction.

Rationing wasn't a meal plan or diet though- just a literal rationing of scarce food. I always find it interesting that this was the very generation which embraced convenience food so eagerly from 50s, and in all likelihood had a huge hand in helping the obesity train rolling

I watched that too fussychica - anything for an easy life, it was very sad to watch. We all want an easy life and yeah it is easier to give in to your kids than say no but come on.....

Ubik1 If you go a little bit outside of Copenhagen you start to see it. Go anywhere in Jutland and its very apparent.

The rate of heart disease and cancer is very high Denmark. Given what I have eaten at my IL's and what their extended family consider normal they have possibly the worst diet I have known. DH's aunt and uncle put carrots and broccoli on the table just for me and the DC. Others all eat potato three ways at every dinner. My MIL boils a cauliflower whole for over 1 hour and considers that nutritious (it was before she sterilized it!).

fred I am very familiar with Binghampton. Having been around the US a fair bit you do see obese people but just not as many. If you consider the population of the US (approx 260 million) I would hazard a guess that the % of obese people in the UK and Denmark is about the same as the US. I def see more obese children in Europe than I do in the US. I attribute this to the WIC program where they give subsidies to poor parents to top up diet with healthy foods (mainly fruit and veg) and most parents being obsessed with their DC doing as many sports as possible.

Feckegg - that's an interesting point about people after the war having access to convenience food. Maybe the start of overrating?