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.

Why though? It's free to do daily excercise for both genders (park, climbing trees, walking, running, football),

our local park is full of dog poo. someone was murdered there and some seriously assulted in the last couple of years. it is listed as one of the parks that is used for grooming kids..

to get to the park you have to cross several busy roads and walk alongside busy traffic/canal.

oh and there is only a shared garden, open to the street, that is used as a public toilet.

There are people who are poor but they are incredibly resourceful in how they shop, budget, manage and cook.
If you look at the 'Girl Called Jack', blog or get the recipe book, she gives recipes for really good nutritious food that costs literally pennies.
A good friend of mine who went through a horrible divorce and was left living in a hostel with her three kids spent some of her family allowance on an electric crock pot, half price in the sales and made cheap, healthy curries, casseroles, spag bols and stews for herself and her kids one winter.
She had nothing except benefits to support her after her house had been repossessed but she was determined to do her best for her kids even though she was in the direst of circumstances. And she did.
It isn't impossible.

And I was budgeting as, despite dc's being on fsm, I had to provide the ingredients for his cookery today at school.

£9.38 for the flour, eggs, spices (£1.75 for cinnamon) yeast etc .
let's hope he brings home something edible, and the left over stock

user:
"Boys. Why?"

They're not under the same social pressure as girls that thin=pretty and that their appearance is the most important thing about them. Girls are much more likely to be weight-conscious and possibly reluctant to eat substantial meals or snacks in public, for fear of judgement.

we live close to a chicken shop, and after school there is always a massive queue of pre-teen boys - I don't think I've ever seen a girl there - ordering fried chicken sandwiches with chips. It seems just to be how the boys around here socialise after school. I'm not sure what the girls are doing, but it's not surprising that the boys are setting themselves up for obesity..

isn't that what all those Children's Centre's are meant to be doing?

We used to live in an area which was very mixed - some very low income council estates, private rented accommodation and areas where people were better off and owned their own homes. There was a local Sure Start centre and it was amazing - always something going on whether it was art and crft classes for kids, cooking classes for mums or story time for everyone. We used to go lots, but I would say 80% of the people I met there didn't "need" to be there. They weren't struggling, knew how to feed their kids, were competent in the kitchen, and were using the classes as a freebie and a chance to get to know other local mothers. HVs were constantly bemoaning the fact that they couldn't get enough people along to the centre and the resources weren't being directed at the people in most need.

You can lead a horse to water but can't force it to drink.

I do my absolute best to feed my DS's well at home. DS1 always has a healthy packed lunch too. He had school dinners until two years ago.

My youngest is entitled to free school meals, and tbh I just can't afford to provide him with a packed lunch when he gets fed for free. That money pays for our gas for the week (and we still shiver as I can't put heating on much).

The quality of the school dinner has drastically deteriorated since the free school meals for KS1 was brought in. It's gone from well balanced, cooked from scratch meals with loads of fruit and veg to cheap, fatty stuff. This week for example the menu is:

Mon - Chicken or Quorn Nuggets, Chips, Peas
Tues - Bacon & Sausage or Veggie Sausage, Eggs, Hash Browns, Beans
Weds - Tuna Pasta Bake/Macaroni Cheese
Thurs - Chicken Pizza/Cheese Pizza, Potato Wedges, Veg
(Every)Fri - Fish & Chips

Plus a biscuit or bit of sugary cake for dessert. DS2 isn't a big breakfast eater, and is often too tired to eat much at dinner time, so his diet has gone downhill a lot since he started school. That's not right, especially after all the Jamie Oliver led improvements a few years ago. I feel awful that I can't give him a packed lunch but things really are that tight money wise!

I totally agree with you pocket, that it just takes parents to lack confidence, drive, funds, time, to cook and therefore resort to a diet of convenience food, and you have their children repeating the cycle, which almost certainly will result in obesity. Education on cooking on a budget is crucial, but not sure how it can be implemented to reach those that really need it. And as PPs have said, there are many obstacles to cooking from scratch such as having the money for gas/electrics, utensils, pans, spices/herbs etc.

I think obesity is higher in boys because they possibly care less, and are more likely to spend time gaming than girls. As previous posts have said, for years people have been serving males larger portions than females.

Exactly right cake. I've had the slightly less common experience of coming from a fairly middle class background in terms of attitudes and education (but not financial wealth) into a very low income bracket when my son was born and my husband's disability was just starting to damage his employability. Sweet food is a cheap and nice treat when other things are out of reach. We were financially more stable from the point when my son was about 8, but the pattern was already set then and a couple of years later we had to declare bankruptcy as my husband was unable to continue working. That was stressful and upsetting and again, cheap treats... At that point my son started secondary school and each year I had less control over what he ate, while he developed clinical depression (inherited from yours truly) and comfort ate as well. He has just started making a concerted effort to lose weight and get in shape at 23 and has already made big inroads.

I absolutely accept that was bad parenting on mine and DH's part. We were very young, son was not planned due to DH's problems being genetic but we were not careful enough. However, at the time this was all happening, it was a very gradual creep of crap food which went completely unnoticed or disregarded due to other problems being so much more pressing. If it can happen to educated, employed people with English as a first language and culture it's hardly surprising that it can happen to people with fewer advantages.

As for it being more common with boys, it is down to media and cultural pressures to stay thin if you're female- girls are more likely to go down the smoking route. Thin doesn't always indicate a healthy lifestyle.

I don't buy takeaways and we don't drink pop.
I don't drink alcohol or smoke
I shop at Aldi mostly and cook from scratch as much as I can.
but, it is a 28 mile round trip, so about £8 in petrol in my old diesel.
by bus, with 2 kids, it is 13.40
I'd rather go 'into town' and buy cheap spices, and veg from the market at the end of the day, but I cant get there.
I live in the countryside and a lot of it is fenced off.

it's not always so simple

I am blessed. my fsm are amazing. but, they are closing the school :(

Re food I would really favour a system where children are going to nursery for 2.5 days a week and get lunch there 3 days a week. All from 2yo (for those children who are from poorer background)
At the same time, I would want to see schools able to deliver properly cooked foods with a range of foods so that, right form the start, when they are still very young, children can get the opportunity to eat fresh and varied food at school. Especially the ones whose parents can not afford that sort of stuff.
And I would insist that these children would TRY those unusual foods. Most of the time, they end up eating it when their friends are anyway (see what happens in private nurseries).

Then you might have more chance to see children actually eating vegs and have a better balanced diet - note the meals proposed at the canteen aren't balanced at all, in primary or in secondary.

That wouldn't solve the issue of what they can eat at home though. Because yes, no one is dying of hunger anymore. But it doesn't mean that everyone is eating well either :(

School cooking is ridiculous. In your example fleuricle the school should provide the ingredients and ask for money, especially for things like cinamon and yeast where you would only use a small part and not everyone would have them in.

I would have thought everyone would have eggs in unless allergic, same for flour, but I simply can't see how your list comes to £9.38 unless you have missed off something major - A pound or two at most.

Roomba those menus look similar to my DS school and I checked the standards for healthy school meals and apparently they are allowed to have a sweet pudding daily as part of a main meal, and chips are apparently OK ditto. We don't have chips daily - just on Fridays I think.

When you are skint you look for cheap treats. When you are skint you might not have a microwave. Your parents were probably skint too. Maybe working shifts so you were brought up on quick tea of freezer food. Because no one had time to make a stew or Shepherds pie. Because you are skint the element might have gone in the oven so you only have the stove to cook on. Because you are skint you darent experiment with tasty looking recipes you see Jamie Oliver bishbashboshing out. You can't afford for food to get wasted and anyway you don't have a wok or big frying pan or any sesame oil.

You buy fruit but the kids prefer biscuits and crisps and after a 10 hour shift you really don't have the energy to say 'maybe an apple darling, lets save the biscuits' because you are too busy trying to get a load of washing in for their uniform to be clean the next day.

Because you are skint you do a little shop on monday and a top up shop on a Thursday. You can only afford to buy enough food to fill them up, not anything fancy to try. You buy yoghurt because it used to be healthy. And some cheese strings (or supermarket own brand) because cheese is good for them right?

You don't let them play out because you live in a rough area and you worry too much. The park is full of dog shot and used syringes so you don't go. And anyway you work all weekend to get bit of extra money so the kids are with your mam who has dodgy knees and angina so can't go far.

Anyone who can't appreciate how long term poverty can impact on your health should try living it for a year. Skint people aren't stupid people. They know what they should be doing and eating. It's just really fucking difficult sometimes to swap a biscuit for an apple, for 2 hours in the park from 2 hours on the playstation.

And boys are probably gaining weight quicker than girls because girls are still hopeful of marrying out of the shit they saw their mam put up with. Their figure and attractiveness might be what saves them. Sad and outdated and incredibly sexist but probably sadly true.

OP didn't you read the study? They say the following about the gender gap:
"These stats also illustrate an obvious gender gap with boys, especially those from the most deprived areas, much more likely to be obese. Whilst it is difficult to comment on exactly why this happens, there could be a number of reasons including girls usually being more conscious about their physical appearance, and boys being more brand loyal and therefore susceptible to the billions of pounds spent on marketing to children through brand characters and sports stars. Either way, this area needs a lot more attention.”

Living in a Southern country (Spain), I think that it has got to do with the fact that the British have no real cooking culture (because there was never much of a cooking culture to begin with, and it was destroyed by the Industrial Revolution).

In countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, or Greece, people grow up watching their parents and grandparents cook, and they know how to rustle up an omelette or a soup or a salad quite easily. Also eating fruit and vegetables is a given. For example, no school here, public or private would give children a burger and fries PLUS a jam tart, and nothing else.

I live a very deprived area in a council estate which the school is on. Huge number of single parents who are on benefits (not knocking that just stating financial situation) and I can't recall a single child in my sons school who is obese, I genuinely can't! I wonder what the difference is in various locations - does anyone know?

These are some examples taken from the weekly menu of a State school in Leganés, a working-class district in Madrid:

LENTILS WITH VEGETABLES
CHICKEN AND TURKEY MEATBALLS WITH VEGETABLES
FRUIT

CHICKPEAS WITH CARROT STEW
RIBS WITH BARBACUE SAUCE
WITH LETTUCE AND TOMATO
YOGURT

PARMENTIER CREAM (POTATOES AND ONION)
BEEF, VEGETABLES AND FRENCH FRIES RAGOUT
YOGURT

RICE WITH VEGETABLES
FRIED EGGS
WITH RATATOUILLE
FRUIT

As I say, I think it's mainly a cultural thing.

I grew up in a household parents on benefits etc fgs people focussing on the tumble dryer ...ive had to dry clothes on stair gates and bedding on doors ...like i said i thought the comment was very daily mail.

Food is relevant obviously but I think some of it is activity levels too.Just anecdotally at work I see kids from a variety of backgrounds but the better off ones may be in private school,doing more organised sport at school and at home.And more of them seem to do more out of school sport/physical stuff and they go skiing and on activity holidays...
Of course I may just be editing out the ones who don't fit this theory!
( I don't ask about levels of activity but I do ask about health and what they like to do so lots of them tell me!)
My DS is older now.We aren't a sporty family,no one ever wanted to run around kicking a football.We've all had physical activities we enjoyed - but they have all involved spending some money,except walking. That's free but the fun walking is only available because we live in a rural area. DS walks to the school bus,and round school.School is too far to walk the whole way so no other chance to just fit physical activity in.So...its hard.

I suspect it is because long term poverty is utterly depressing, because low pay work is long and utterly depressing, because benefits are utterly depressing, because poor people are at the mercy of employer's eeking out every last drop of energy for the least amount of money and keeping the threat of being replaced ever present to ensure compliance which leave people feeling vulnerable and helpless, because relyinh on benefits mean that you are vulnerable and helpless.

Then you come home to the place you live where you may or may not have the equipment to cook decent food/ enough extra cash to afford ingredients rather than the cheaper - stack it high sell it cheap 'food'.

And if you have the fortitude/ good health not to be broken by all that, you might be inclined to cook from scratch.

Thank fuck I'm not poor. Thank fuck I am blessed with enough imagination not to judge.

I've never allowed fizzy drinks nor have they full access to the biscuit tin (which is never full anyway).

The only overweight children I've seen in the 15 years my children went to primary were those who had secure home backgrounds and it was most puppy fat (yes) and they are now teenagers who are slimmer.

Longer school days for secondary schools - breakfast served in school at 8am followed by 1 hour of something cardio/fitness-related, no exceptions, and then at the end of every single day, life skills learning including a LOT of cooking, what we used to call civics, and financial management. You might as well tell them who the PM is while you're teaching them to make a healthy dinner.

45 mins of PE once a week is ridiculous. My dd's go to an independent school and I think DD1 in Year 3 has something like 3.5 - 4 hours of activity a week: swimming for 45 mins, games (hockey or football) for a whole period (so 2 hours?) and gymnastics for 1 hour, and as an extra (so not counted with the "standard" weekly curriculum) she has tennis.

It''s about keeping people ALIVE at this point. Obesity is going to lead to heart disease, alzheimer's and earthy death. We HAVE to spend the money changing this now for children from all walks of life, or our taxes won't be enough to allow the NHS to treat them in 40 years time.

Organic vegetables have no more nutritional value than non organic.

All the shops have bags of veggies for 50p and cheap pasta and rice.

Vegans don't eat meat and it's considered 'clean eating'.