If you're poor and you have boys, read this.

[user1477282676]

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/11/obesity-soar-boys-girls-poorer-homes-deprived-backgrounds-overweight-2020

I am sorry if that sounds offensive. But I am so, so angry about the state of things right now in terms of inequality in the UK (and the world!) and I have started another thread along the same lines...but this one is slightly different.

According to this article in the Guardian, obesity among boys from the most financially strapped families is going to be rising whilst obesity in wealthy children will fall.

How is this even a thing? We know what schools do in their attempts to "educate". They weigh, they police lunch boxes...but that doesn't fix anything it would seem!

I am so cross that children...and it would seem boys especially, are going to be suffering.

Rhoda good for you that your school allows generic supermarket bought clothing.

All THREE local secondaries COMPULSORY uniform.

Logo Blazer (One school is wool)
Plain blouses
Logo Tie
Logo Jumper
Logo specific style skirt
Logo Trousers

PE KIT
Logo Shorts/skirt
Logo trackies
Logo Polo Tshirt
Logo Jumper
Logo Socks

Local primary school which while dc was there allowed any thing in school colours and own clothes pe kit.

Logo Jumper
Logo polo top
Logo tracksuit
Logo Shorts
Logo pe top
Logo coat

Our area does not have a uniform allowance scheme any more.
Schools only have so much budget to help.

In dc school they get the blazer free. HUGE help after paying out for other stuff, it is £60 to replace if they outgrow it though.

In the west (not just uk) the poor have access to cheap, unhealthy, sugary processed food.
It's also a sad indictment of the teaching of food and nutrition in schools (or home economics as it was in my day)
I see kids walking to school eating crisps and coke for breakfast.
I think most people would agree that that is nutritionally awful and costs a lot more than, say, pancakes (egg, some flour and milk and takes about 4 mins to cook)

You don't even have to be able to cook though. Giving kids a cheese sandwich, some cucumber and a banana requires no cooking facilities or skills, yet the cost would be far cheaper than a takeaway or
Ready meal. Even some tin soup and bread. Add yogurt after. Cheaper than takeaway or ready meal

Wrt uniforms...my sons secondary now insists on logo PE kit too
It's insane.

It's because more and more boys are sitting inside gaming.

I live in a deprived area and have worked with deprived children and children from very wealthy homes. Almost every boy had some sort of gaming device, xbox, PlayStation. This was regardless of family income. I've noticed that many parents like their boys to stay in these days- I know it's always been a bit of a stereotype to worry about girls out on their own, but I think that's changed. Parents fear their boys will be the victims of crime, gangs, mugging. In my area there was a massive campaign about "one punch" deaths. Better to keep them inside on the xbox

The difference was that the well off boys had big gardens, and parents who were able to pay the fees for rugby club or Duke of Ed. So they get activities throughout the year. Whereas the poor boy may have an expensive xbox costing £300, but that's his activity budget for the year (saved up for or bought on tick)

Basically, boys have their need for male groups /competition met by having a kick about in the park. Now it's through call of duty

Added to that, and this is anecdotal- boys in my area walk to school in the morning, stop off at lidl or Poundland and buy energy drinks and bags of cheap sweets and crisps. Family packs. They eat them at break and lunch instead of canteen food. I have lived in this area and worked with the children here all my life and this is definitely a fairly recent thing.

I don't notice it as much in girls. I can't see a girl standing in the canteen and eating a huge bag of Doritos and three choc bars- she'd be whispered about. Whereas when I see the boys doing it, they treat it as a man vs food style badge of honour.

Ditto gaming-it isn't as popular with girls

Art...exactly.

Yes but that is nothing to do with poverty Badders, I have worked in a private school and seen that, chocolate sandwiches, several chocolate bars, chocolate milk...

But Green you are spectacularly missing the point.

"GreenGinger2 Wed 01-Feb-17 18:07:16
But excuses are being made that don't stack up.

If you are spending £100 a week on a daily take away meal alone let alone energy drinks and other crap you can afford to boil a pan of pasta"

If a family is spending £100 a week on daily take aways then they aren't a family in poverty because they wouldn't have anywhere near that left over on benefits after bills are paid. We lived off around £15 a week when we were really struggling

We ate bulk frozen cheap chips and then bulk frozen cheap sausages and bulk frozen cheap burgers and masses of (then) 17p bread and Jam to fill up.

That's true broken.

My DS and his mates attend one of the most expensive schools in the UK.
They eat all manner of crap when it's down to them.

But its balanced by parents cooking healthy meals at home, plenty of sport etc so none of them are fat.

I have to point out that a lot of families in poverty are in work and fall just above the line to qualify for free school meals etc.

A friend of mine works less than 16 hours and earns less that the 16k and qualifies for free school meals.
I work more than the 16 hours, earn less than the 16k and don't
My friend has a higher weekly wage than me as she gets a greater hourly rate...

It's fucking relentless and depressing that you can't feed your kids good quality healthy meals.

Broken, your spot on. Most are working so time poor, if your not on the right benefits your not eligible for a lot of extra help out there.

I think this problem dopes exist in other parts of Europe and is well documented in USA.

I live in a fairly large university town in Germany and it is evident when out and about that obesity is a problem here. Sadly the Kurdish /Turkish communities seem to have far more issues with obesity and they are generally living in the poorer areas of the city. There are many Turkish food shops in these areas that are cheap (we go for corriander and lamb fix) but it doesn't seem to be stopping obesity in this group of people. I don't know what the reason is for this but it is happening else where.

Recently overheard someone remarking that they wondered how long it would take for the the Syrian refugees to catch up

Whilst the article is no doubt accurate it is as someone upthread said maybe not surprising given the high levels of adult obesity in the uk.

Just for comparison Art if I went to our local shop now (no transport )

It would cost £1.45 for a loaf of bread - they have no cheap bread.
Around £2 for butter/marg - see above
The cheese is £2.50 or 2 for £3 for slices of cheese or grated.
A cucumber is 69p (on offer at the moment)
and then fruit (I don't buy bananas so not sure how much but five apples cost me more than £2 from there)

In the freezer they have Lasagna and frozen curry and rice for £1...

I say that as someone who has a child who is not obese and very slim and fit.

I am obese as I have food issues as a result of having not enough food or non on occasion when living with and after leaving exh and do over eat.

Frouby, great post. Nail on the head imo.

Wrt daily PE - my DCs get this in high school in the US. It doesn't make a difference that I can see in the scale of the obesity in the school, though who knows how much worse it might be without the daily PE..

A poster up thread said she buys chips from chippi as she cdnt do a baked potatoe as it takes two hrs in the oven and she doesn't have a microwave . ..
I'm struggling with the logic of this one ( unless of course chips are for the treat aspect rather than anything else - of course treats are good . But it didn't seem to be about treats but because can't do a heathy baked pot )
Well I'm not poor but I consider chips from a chip shop expensive !!!! A micro wave could be bought in a couple of weeks - a cheap one like I have for £ 20 - if the chip shop is avoided ?

Well, yes, teenagers I would agree :)
But 7/8 year olds? :(

Broken I wasn't the one insisting that was what they were eating. Loads of posters have said they buy fast food because it is cheaper. It isn't.

And sorry when I do an oven chip meal you don't need many to fill up. A handful/side of chips,2 sausages,baked beans and an apple does not an obese person make. You do not need to fill up on bread and jam after chips.

Family of 4 = £8. Even those cloud cuckoo land who know What The Poor Should Be Doing can spot a combination of meat and vegetables in the shop that are less than that, in fact even some of The Poor can.

Yes a family of 4 would eat for 8 quid, but at 700 calories or so a meal, that is not going to make them fat. Yes the diet is bad, yes there would be long term health concerns, but the number of calories from that 8 quid is not enough to make them fat unless they're sedentary, and eating lots of other stuff.

Not really sure what your point is here. My post (the one in bold) was in response to a poster suggesting takeaways were cheap (her comment saying that was responding to my saying 'takeaways are not the cheap option). So overall nothing to do with calories but more to do with cost of takeaways not being cheaper than buying meat and vegetables

Broken...is it a co op by any chance?

For those of you struggling I really recommmed austerity housekeeping by a mner called boffinmum (I think that's her name!)
She has a website and a fabulous emergency meal plan for a month
Also jack monroe...her website has really cheap meal ideas

Half of these posters on this thread have no idea and seem to think living in poverty means the chippy or Chinese every night or not having hummus in the cupboard. A friend of mine thinks being skint is having less than a hundred quid in the bank for a week after bills are paid.

We ate cheap processed filling crap because I could get it for a fiver for the week, with masses of cheap bread.
We also ate 50p giant bags of broken biscuits from B & M. You know why? Because it is relentless and depressing and down right bloody miserable when you are that stuck that you cannot give your children a £1 each for non uniform the next day or when your kids like mine did not bother giving the trip letters or party invites to me because they did not want to upset me by asking for money they knew I did not have. (which made me feel worse when I found out) and you just want to give them SOME kind of treat when you have to constantly say no to everything.

A 50p bag of biscuits isn't going to make you obese if it is a meal.

We are not talking about nice takeaways being cheap.
Dirty chicken shops sell chips and chicken for 99p round here.
What would a hungry 12 year old prefer, a Dixy Chicken special on the way home from school or a lentil casserole followed by a savers fromage frais when he gets home?

Its the same old crap about poor people having to be more worthy than affluent people.

Affluent people can stick two fingers up at the Food Police and stuff their faces on cheese and steak and drink a nice bottle of red every night.
But God forbid someone poor eats something unhealthy

Yes Badders. Nothing else nearby apart from a newsagent which doesn't sell food. Thankfully as I said we are not (for now) in as bad a situation as we were.