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.

Schools can't do everything for parents, they actually have to do the parenting themselves.

It's not hard to provide cheap and nutritious food even on a budget. Throwing more money at people won't change their habits, it will just make it even easier to buy junk food.

An over weight child, is the main, is down to poor parenting. Like safeguarding, schools should have the ability to report to the relevant agencies so they intervene.

Green are you being deliberately offensive? Not increase benefits no. But how about we start with paying a living wage to everyone, making 0 hours contracts illegal, making rent affordable, making homes energy efficient, making utilities affordable. Not all families living in poverty are on benefits.

Not all parents are stupid or uneducated. But when you live from hand to mouth, when you probably have rent arrears and council tax arrears, and end up on payment cards for your gas and electric because you can't find the £200 pcm every month to pay by direct debit, when your kids are growing up living next door to drug addicts and on a main road you worry about them crossing, when you can't afford clothes for yourself so buy from charity shops and that £2 top is a treat to yourself, when having to take another day off to looks after your child with d and v, when you are still paying the doorstep loan off you had 2 Christmas's ago to try and make it nice for the kids, when your boss is a wanker who doesn't give a fuck about your bus you have to catch to pick your kids up and your ex doesn't pay maintenance because he is self employed so can't afford it and besides he has his holiday to pay for so is skint. When you have all that going off on a constant fucking cycle year in, year out you struggle to find the energy, literally and figuratively to turn a cheap cut of meat and misshapen veg into a healthy and nutritious meal to feed you all, and save half in your non working, wank fridge freezer that doesn't even keep the ice pops frozen in the summer.

It's sometimes just more than you can cope with.

But you know. Chuck them a few more crumbs and the uneducated, uninspired poor might just break out that £7 slow cooker and cook up a storm.

The biggest sector in my school is the time poor wage poor. Working long enough to warrant the kids having childminder breakfasts and suppers but earning and so not able to claim school meals. Parents who are working, hard, but have to do quick winners in changearound times between two shiftworking parents. Parents who love their kids but would rather serve up, as I do myself after a days full teaching, fishfinger butties andvthen have the time to read a book or play or talk with their kids.

There's a hell of a lot of judgement on here. I don't doubt that many parents would love to go and play footie in the park, but they have to work unsocial hours, or the other parent has the car and the nearest amenities are a 45 minute walk away with no buses ( we live rurally, many parents in my school are agricultural and factory shiftworkers).

Several children in my class are overweight. They eat normally, they run about at school. But they're often completely sedentary all evening through no fault of their own. I struggle to fit activities in with my own kids by the time I get home, and I'm lucky enough to drive and earn enough to pay for the pool as well as having just about enough time to take them. Low wage earners round here are underpaid, lack transport ( are still picked up in vans) and yet don't qualify for any help. Over Christmas the local foodbank said that they were the highest group of people helped. The people in work. That's shocking.

Can I also point out that over 90% of new housing benefit claims are from people who are in work.

So a lot of those below the poverty line are working.

There are many reasons why someone may be in poverty, doesn't mean they have always been poor, doesn't mean they are uneducated, doesn't mean that they are the giant flat screen tv owning , chain smoking, beer swilling people that some posters think people on benefits are.

Ironically prior to fleeing exh I had been to uni, been a manager and helped RUN a cooking healthy food on a budget program with the Sure Start Centre.

The recipes we were given were great and nutritious and delicious BUT they were also very reliant on people having a store cupboard of staples already and people just did not have it.

In other words, if you took a very typical cross section of upper middle class families and plunged them into poverty (real poverty; no end in sight and no family safety net), they would in all likelihood adopt the same spending and dietary behaviours as we see in the working class poor

Damn right SitsOnFence and this is because PEOPLE are all basically the same. Because of being well, you know, human.

Actually I agree, I don't believe you would have Newbrummie. Not every poor family has fat kids, short-term thinking affects people in many different ways. For example, being tempted to splurg a £5 windfall on a day out for you and your DC, rather than sensibility putting it to one side for a rainy day, because your immediate need for joy seems more urgent than your need to long term plan.

Yes exactly that phlebasconsidered.

Ironically I was writing an assignment today on signs of child neglect and a child being under weight is considered to be one but not overweight.

"By that I suppose you mean increase benefits.Not entirely sure that would work as nobody is going to miraculously stop over eating,buying junk and doing exercise because they have more money"

Actually, if you Google the health outcomes of Guaranteed Annual Income experiments (such as Mincome), that does seem to be exactly what happens.

Not terribly practical, sadly, but very interesting reading.

You know what Frouby plenty of people have it tough. Plenty of people struggle. Struggling whatever the reason doesn't give you carte Blanche to let your children become obese and stay obese.

Phleb obesity is mostly caused by too many calories,not lack of exercise.

YY SitsonFence my post upthread is an example of that.

Green i think you are all about the aesthetic You are not concerned about health.

Because upthread you posted how a packet of biscuits wouldnt make someone overweight.

But you completely omitted to mention how bad that would be for someones teeth.

And being in a position to judge 'phlebs' doesn't give you carte blanche to judge either. And I think you will find the word you are looking for is Pleb.

If you are going to insult poor people at least have the decency to get the terminology right. They might be struggling but some can actually read and write and spell.

Not everyone who is poor feeds their kids into obesity. But non get up in a morning, check the calendar on the fridge and see a note saying 'start feeding Kylie and Jason into childhood obesity'.

Not if you clean your teeth properly.

And we're talking about obesity not teeth.

Um I was replying to Phlebasconsidered 's post.

Oh as you are so concerned about poorer ppls health i thought you may want that included. Sorry My bad.

Green It shouldnt have to be a struggle Thats what you should be questioning.

But you desperately need a group you can feel superior to.

Surely it's mainly the responsibility of the parents more than the schools or the NHS?

It's possible to eat healthily on a low budget. Dilute squash is cheaper than coke or other fizzy drinks. Plenty of poorer families manage to provide healthy meals. I think it's more to do with the ignorance of the parents than money. Surely if you have children you want to keep them healthy so wouldn't you at least look at healthier options.

Apologies for that then Green. It wasn't clear that you were reply to someone from your post. It makes it easier on a thread like this if you use the bold function when replying directly to someone. Then people don't get usernames mixed up with content.

But my bad.

"But you desperately need a group you can feel superior to"

There is also a need to establish that the poor and the overweight (of which I am neither, btw, no axe to grind here) are deserving of their predicament, in order that we might be released of any personal responsibility to do anything about it. Part of that is 'othering' them and convincing ourselves that it is due to some inherent weakness of character. That it could never happen to us.

Of course Helena.

Lots of things are hard,we'd all love to eat fries and junk with no ill effect. There is no easy way to use self control. You seem to want somebody to wave a magic wand and make obesity disappear in one effortless swipe.

Never going to happen.

So do we think that girls from poor families are choosing not to overeat at the same rate as boys or are poor parents allowing their sons to eat more?

Barbaraofseville It sounds like you and I had very similar upbringings, and I agree that there is still a lot that people in poverty can do to help themselves.