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'm 37 and my brother is 40, we definitely snacked as did our peers but we were outside a lot, equally we walked at least 3 miles to school at primary age and at least 4 miles a day for secondary. When we got home we played games that were active- either on the road, cycling to the woods, in someone's garden.. We had houses that were big enough to be active in- football in the hallway, ping pong on the dining table. We even had a break dancing club in our garage! i do think that plays a huge part. We don't have that kind of space, live in a flat and my DC don't play out as we live on a busy road. However, for the school/nursery run we do 4 miles every other day and two miles on the days in between. Consequently, my children have a lot of stamina. My eldest is 7 and very thin and my 3 year old is thin and fit according to the nursery. When I say how far we walk to some school parents who live near the school, they're really shocked and think it's 'too much' and their DC could never do it. Not that their children are overweight but I would imagine it's just as much about kids not moving much, not even 'playing' much inside, which in my opinion is better than 'screen time'!

I agree with most of the above, we definitely eat too much and exercise too little.
I get the impression from some posters that they think everyone used to eat healthy homecooked food, whereas nowadays kids are fed mainly on junkfood. That isn't really the case.
Condensed milk sandwiches, jam sandwiches (always white bread), endless cups of tea with at least 2 sugars, these are a few things that many children had on a regular basis. Our family used to eat bread and potatoes every single day ,and our Mum used to buy 2 bags (at least) of white sugar every single week. That was 4 pounds of sugar between 7 people. My MIL (bless her) couldn't understand why I wouldn't add sugar to my babie's mashed banana, because that was what she'd always done. That's just one example of how much sugar used to be considered normal.
Really, we have the potential to be so much healthier nowadays. There is so much more choice and information available.

I watched that programme last night about kids obesity and tooth decay. It was really sad.
Poor little 4 year old girl, obese and with really bad teeth with abscesses.
Her mother was unbelievable. She said why would a child want to brush their teeth when they could be watching Peppa pig?! -or something very similar.

She gave both her children things to eat whilst walking round the supermarket to 'stop them whingeing' and then bought them more stuff whilst they walked round.
Why do these parents never blame themselves? They don't seem to think it is their job to put in boundaries at all.
As for the teenager who was sat using her phone while the doctor was trying to speak to her?!! and her mother just doing nothing about it until the doctor said something!
Some people really should not have children.

One on four children in the west of Scotland is overweight or obese before they even start school

Now that is shocking. Mine eat a fair amount of rubbish but are not overweight. I don't know what you would feed a preschooler to make them overweight or obese

To be fair, FatLazyMummy, tea with two sugars is probably a lot less sugar than a glass of fruit juice!

Mmmm, sugar butties...

I sometimes wonder what happened to "everything in moderation". As an old gimmer, I remember "home cooked" foods of yesterday-for me, that meant spuds boiled through the water, cabbage boiled to nothing and some stringy meat. School meals were much, much worse. There were no cooking facilities (or eating facilities) so everyone ate bussed-in food ate in the church hall next door. It was disgusting, but there was no other choice.

I think the main problem is choice, and overindulgence. Couple that with 24/7 availability and cheapness, and it's no wonder we are overweight.

Being nosy, I always try to figure out the contents of people's food cupboard by looking at their shape. And, surprise, surprise, my slim friend has a limited (not frugal) cupboard with few choices and my large friend has a giant fridge stocked with crap fare from Costco.

It's not rocket science, is it?

It's not rocket science, is it?

YY to this. We are machines - consume more than you expend, you will put on weight. When I was a kid, we were only allowed sweets once a week. Nowadays, it seems to be the norm for parents to buy their children sweets/other rubbish whenever they go in a shop.

That is true notsogoldenoldie Mostly, we only have food in the cupboard & fridge that is needed for meals. We don't buy in stuff for 'snacks' apart from fruit or nuts and sometimes crackers.
If we know we will have visitors we will buy in biscuits or a few cakes.

Too right piggywiggle.

White pasta and bread act just like sugar on our systems so our bodies release too much insulin so we feel a drop and feel tired and fuzzy headed but still have the munchies so 'need' more of the white stuff and so the loop continues.

And sugar. A highly addictive, harmful and legal drug in my opinion

I think it's important not to feel overwhelmed by the 'right' things to eat but to keep an ongoing interest in eating healthily so you learn bits of info in between busy lives. Eating food which is as close to how nature intended is the easiest way to eat well.

Too much emphasis is on calories I think. Avocados for example have lots but are incredibly healthy and particularly gorgeous blended with some freshly juiced apple juice and a squeeze of lime. Tastes amazing and is very filling. Obviously more calories than diet pop but at least it doesn't contain chemicals that do until harm to our bodies. There's so much to this issue I could write a book.

Calling any type of junk food a 'treat' is a massive mistake. It just gives more power to crap food to call it a treat. That's why many people use it as a pick me up, to drown their sorrows or as a reason to celebrate. To suit any kind of emotion really.

Food should be just to nourish and sustain us.

Schools don't help by doling out chocolate and sweets when it's birthday time. My 4 YO is in primary and she's never had so much junk. I'm mindful however not to deny her a little junk at times like this, as much as I abhor it, because I don't want her to feel different from the other kids. The class even did an experiment with ice pops to test melting. What's wrong with using ice?

I just want everyone to be as healthy as possible.

Notso
thats bizarre! (you trying to guess whats in your friends cupboards based on their bodyshape).

I dont think those photos reflect the reality, i guess some of them must be private and very elite schools?

Yes, sugar. Thing is, I think with the best will in the world, it's hard to avoid sugar, be it in added form or carbohydrate form. But everyone knows that it rots teeth, causes weight gain and adds little nutritionally. That's always been the case. So why has it taken so long for the so-called "gurus" to catch on?

Did anyone see the documentary about the Tudor skeleton lately? The thing that struck me most was that it had perfect teeth-these were in the days when sugar was much more scarce.

I think part of the trouble is that we, as parents, have become a bit try-too-hard in the matter of food. What's wrong with no snacking between meals, sweets as a treat, and plenty of free air and running round as a mantra?

Laguitar I probably need to get out more??. Fascinating, though. I once cleaned for a very slim woman and couldn't wait to critique her food cupboard (whilst scratching round for some sugar). And guess what? No sweets, rubbish, and all wholesome ingredients.

As I said, not rocket science??

We are all slim, but I couldn't cope without junk food. I was raised on crispy pancakes and waffles. I don't think for a lot of people it is junk that makes you fat, instead it is big portion sizes and lack of exercise

yummy we seem to have lost sight of what a portion size is though. I agree with your point on crispy pancakes (starving now) and other such "junk" but if you google those foods they won't come up as being particularly calorie-dense. Unless you eat a whole packet and load your plate up with other stuff chances are you'd be eating a lowish-calorie meal. So perhaps not healthy, but, coupled with an otherwise less sedentary, less snacky lifestyle you'd be ok eating like this.

The same goes for Mcd's and the like. Ok, so the food may not be great, but as long as you don't overdo it you'll be fine. A cheeseburger has fewer than 300 calories, I think, and so does a small portion of fries. Add in water or diet drink and your meal comes to 600 cals. That's probably less than you would normally eat over lunch. You can eat three of those meals and still be shy of the alleged optimum calorie intake of 2000 cals. So it's not the food-it's the amount of the food that's the problem. Add in a milkshake, a doughnut, a larger portion of fries and you've probably blown your daily allowance. And many people eat like this all the time. And restaurants serve huge amounts! Particularly chips. It never ceases to amaze me how MUCH you get in restaurants.

I think so many parents are scared of their dc feeling hunger...... Snacks must be given or else the poor little darlings may experience that tummy gripping rumbling feeling of real HUNGER! And that, in the parenting world is seen as bad

Let them go to the cinema and sit and watch a film with no food or drink?? Absolutely not! Can't ever do that

Totally agree with the last two posters

Imo it's about the sheer volume of food and not enough exercise, rather than the quality. This is why I think it's easy for people to blame obesity on poverty, rather than looking at portion size and constant snacking.

Also, many kids really don't know what hunger is. It's a shame, because when I'm really hungry I enjoy a meal much more.

I didn't think the UK lunch looked too bad. I personally wouldn't eat the hot dog, but beans, jacket pot, corn on the cob & some melon? Lower down there was a broccoli pasta thing & a rice chilli dish that both looked fine. They were next to a French rice lunch that looked similar, only was served with a sugary doughnut on the tray too...

I don't think for a lot of people it is junk that makes you fat, instead it is big portion sizes and lack of exercise

Yes to this. Of course you can (& should) make some healthy food choices. But it's perfectly possible to be overweight (& probably vitamin/mineral deficient) living off boiled potatoes. Or cheese.

So do I worra but everyone else seems panic stricken! My own dc have also done this, so I'm not blameless here.... But, it's like I'm inflicting child abuse if I say they can wait til we get home to eat

We go to parkrun some Saturday mornings, and omg! We all run a 5k race which is only 3 miles and most of the kids achieve it in around 30 minutes.... But the mothers stood waiting ( and yes. It's the mums!) jump on their kids the minute they've finished throwing 'healthy' snacks at them, insisting they eat quickly like they will expire on the spot if they don't! And what is it they are thrusting at them?? Mars bars ( for energy obviously) cereal bars laden with sugar and muffins (from the cafe in the park)..... All they need is a few sips of water as a 5k run should be water off a ducks back to a human being

I didn't think the UK lunch looked too bad. I personally wouldn't eat the hot dog, but beans, jacket pot, corn on the cob & some melon?

That's all high carb, so it's actually a high sugar meal. Not good at all. No protein in there and green veg would be better than corn

Yes, worra. It's too easy for people, including the Govt, to blame poverty for people's poor eating habits. It's a lazy view, though. In my experience, the people who eat better tend to spend less on food, and eat less of it.

I remember a documentary once where a mother (on benefits and obviously struggling) bought in a takeaway every night for her daughter. At a cost of at least a tenner a pop. That's £70 a week just for an evening meal for three.

Try as he might, the presenter could not make her see that, if she cooked her own meals from simple ingredients, she would save shed loads of money. She couldn't see it: she just wanted a quick, easy fix of something tasty.

I think another point is that these days we have lost sight of the old-fashioned concept of greed around food. As a pp pointed out, the idea of actually being disciplined around food - in the cinema, after school, in school, even- is seen as somehow old-fashioned and overly strict.

And it's not pc to call anyone "greedy" now, is it, let alone a child.

At primary school I had a packed lunch that consisted of:

A sandwich ( cheese, ham, jam or choc spread )
A chocolate bar or cake ( sometimes we had chocolate eclairs)
A packet of crisps
A piece of fruit
A flask of orange squash

At high school I had cooked lunches, some things that were on the menu included:

Jacket potato and cheese
Fish cake and chips
Hot dog and chips
Pizza and chips ( get the idea )
Followed by a choice of cake ( doughnuts, rice crispy cakes, cream cakes ) or fruit.

I think school diners have come a long way, I was not over weight, in fact I was underweight. We would come home from school and go out to play, ride our bikes every weekend, played football in the park and went for long walks, we didn't sit in front of the tv or a games console.

My mum cooked us a selection of meals, a lot were frozen foods and we would have a fry up once a week, roast dinner on Sunday's and maybe stew during the week ( made with left overs )
. We often ate fish and chips or Chinese as a treat.

I don't think it's just food that is the issue but the lack of exercise some kids are getting, the life styles we now lead that doesn't make time for exercise, the fact it's not safe to let our kids ride miles on bikes or play out late.

I don't think school meals are the problem, yes they get the odd cookie or cake with the school meals but this is ok as part of a balanced diet, it's the fact they are going home and eating more cookies and cake, being fed happy meals, take aways and fizzy drinks whilst sitting in front of the tv and not burning any of it off.

"In my experience, the people who eat better tend to spend less on food, and eat less of it. "

I'm not sure this is true. Aren't people constantly complaining about how expensive it is to feed a family a healthy diet and that's why they resort to iceland-type foods?

It's the snacking. Was always struck even when DC were tiny at how many mums (mostly) felt their children needed to eat at least hourly. We eat well but not consciously 'healthily' - nearly always have dessert, for example, always make a cake at the weekend - but none of us eat between meals and we never have crisps, biscuits etc in the house. It just wouldn't occur to me to buy them.

I'm a 70's child but I can honestly remember the JOY of a one off treat between meals..... I remember 3 occasions from my childhood

1/ my mum offering me half an apple.... She was pregnant and had the other half

2/ playing out with friends in the woods miles from home and we found a blackberry bush laden with fruit!

3/ my mum again... And dad. I remember sitting outside a pub one hot summer evening and dad brought out a bottle of lemonade and packet of crisps! I tried to recreate this joy for my own dc once but they were less than impressed

I used to go on long walks with my dad and the dog.... No snacks came with us, we didn't have them! The shop didn't sell them. My parents were dancers and I'd go with them to competitions. We had dinner when we got home. No accompanying snacks. Ever. Life was so different back then but the only obesity I remember was from beer drinkers. Dads with beer bellies