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.

Frouby

Good post

A microwave and slow cooker can go anywhere. (I personally hate slow cookers). All fridges have a freezer compartment. A little chest freezer can be stood anywhere too. You can get an essentials chest freezer from Currys for £95.

We live in between 3 market towns OhtoblazeswithElvira, 2 affluent and 1 much less so. The 2 affluent ones still have local authority swimming pool/leisure centres with highly subsidised prices. The 1 in the poorer town was rebuilt some years ago under a PFI agreement. It's a beautiful facility and by far the best of all 3, but the swimming prices have crept up to over 3 times the price of the pools in the neighbouring towns. I really struggle to understand how the fuck it was allowed to happen.

I see my shopping costs seem to have been accepted:

he came home with no flour, 3 eggs, no butter, no sugar, some yeast cinnamon and a lot of salt.

and 3 very large loaves of cinnamon loaf. no freezer. guess what we are eating this week???

More opportunities for girls. ..more girls go to university, there are less 'male' working class jobs than there used to be and more 'girl' service jobs. A pretty girl has always been able to marry up a class! Perhaps there's just a little more hope for the future for them. Plus the X box..boys can literally play X box all day everyday. Girls for whatever reason just don't seem to.

I think it's the electric and gas that is the problem and in some cases the water too, so all the utilities which are expensive. People are not stupid, they know how to put a can of beans into the pan and toast some bread. Unfortunately, this costs money.

And it's costing me money to be online posting this too.

I wonder if the actual research mentioned epigenetics? There is mounting evidence that if your mother, or grandmother, were malnourished when they were pregnant, this alters gene expression in the foetus in such a way that that child is far more likely to end up overweight or obese. I don't know much more, but the theory is that the unborn child is 'working out' what the world is like, and if it detects a world where malnourishment is likely, it is programmed to eat, eat, eat whenever food is abundant. In the west, in the 21st Century, food is almost always abundant, and, unfortunately, for those at the bottom of the heap, the most abundant is the most fattening. This doesn't explain why the problem is more prevalent for boys, but it's entirely possible that epigenetic factors do favour one sex over the other.

The comment about Muslim girls above. My dc are in a school with a very high number of Muslim girls and many who are 'strict'

They all do PE.
School has a range of PE kit that all children can choose from so that they feel comfortable.

Many of the muslim girls wear tracksuits or the skirt with leggings under.

They all do PE.

A microwave and slow cooker can go anywhere. (I personally hate slow cookers). All fridges have a freezer compartment. A little chest freezer can be stood anywhere too. You can get an essentials chest freezer from Currys for £95.

Fucking patronising much? Like i'm just being difficult choosing not to have a freezer and a microwave?

Freezer compartments in fridges won't fit anything in, and they're only ice boxes so only freeze for a week.

Seeing you know so much, where do you propose i put this microwave and chest freezer that can "go anywhere"? Maybe i should chuck the sofa and they can go in instead? Can you see my flat through the computer screen?

I'm in a shitty rental with barely a working oven. Where do you suggest i get the cash to buy a microwave and this "only £95" freezer? I'm currently walking to dd's school and back to save bus fare- it's 5 miles each way, so about 3 hours a day. I do that to keep fit and get some fresh air, obviously, because it's only saving me £6 a day, which i just don't have.

Dc school dinners are awful (secondary)
Sometimes there is a proper dinner but more often than not it is £2 for a pot of cheese laden pasta or mac n cheese.

As a result few of the kids eat it (or eat at all tbh but that's another story!

They are looking at improving it though.

I haven't read the article, but there is another thread running currently about obesity and the poor. I was going to post on there about literacy, but my thoughts might be more relevant to the discussion about boys.

I worked about 20 years ago with an inspirational lady who ran a project about low literacy levels and health. This was in an urban area where around 20% of adults had poor literacy and numeracy. As a group they tended to have very poor health outcomes; lived lifestyles that made them more prone to illness, and had poor strategies for getting help.

I can only imagine in the years since that as we have become an increasingly digital society, people with poor literacy will have been left further behind.

Is this relevant I wonder to the gender differences? I think poor boys tend to have the worst outcomes at school.

But surely many of these families aren't just buying McDonalds. They are cooking and using fuel but they are cooking shite and supplementing meals with more crap in between.

Also chips aren't cheap. My DC never have them from the chip shop because of that. Simply can't afford it.It would cost best part of £15 to buy just chips for my family. I could easily cook a meal waaay cheaper than that.

i dont have DC but here is a list i put on another thread.

I live in a poor area and am maintaining a ten stone weight loss.

But i have to fight to do so.
a. In the few months before Christmas supermarkets shoved all the sweets and choc out and my usual healthier food kept getting moved around so i had to keep hunting for it.
Theyve just changed the freezer items around again as well as discontinuing my usual frozen veg so ive had to switch to another brand a couple of months back and had to spend longer traipsing around again.
The biscuits and choc and crisps always stay in the same aisles year after year and dont get moved.
Im not daft. I know thats because this is a poorer area and that is what sells. So ppl who want them dont have to risk groin strain getting them from a high shelf like i now do the frozen veg because they have moved them from a chest freezer to a high shelf in one of the door freezers. And this is Sainsburys.

b. A lot of the streetlights in my area have been turned off to save money. When i do the 45 min walk to my parents one evening a fortnight or ive wanted to go out for a power walk a lot of it has been in complete darkness. And a lot of the pavements arent maintained so its possible to trip over.

c. a lot of recreational areas where kids play are going to be built on (ppl need homes understandably) but there are also things like climbing frames which are being taken down even in areas where no housing is being built because the council has no money to maintain the equipment to a good and safe standard.

d. When i first started excersizing again a sports bra was out of my reach PRICE wise as well as size wise so running was out I could only power walk.

e. When i walk into town (i walk everywhere) it takes bloody ages to get across two main roads and drivers rarely stop for you. There is no way of avoiding these roads if i aim to walk because of where my flat is.

f. certain organisations are very keen to espouse healthy eating because its great PR for them but as soon as it inconvieniences them then they contradict themselves.

Ive seen housing association tweet about the health benefits of healthy eating but then advise tenants that they will have to live on takeaways for six weeks while their subcontractors take 6 weeks + for a kitchen repair or refit.

g. An ex of mine who worked for a car rental company was told he would have to get a takeaway for lunch every day because employer didnt want to give him proper breaks or provide a microwave.

h. When it snows in winter the roads get gritted but the pavements NEVER do.

i. A new shop has opened in my town selling American sweets which are astronomically high in sugar. Yet another shop selling food. But at their prices at £1.80 for small choc bar they might not last long.

This so called obesogenic environment is not just the fault of overweight ppl.

Corporates have to take some of the responsibility

Eldon, at my poorest you may as well have told me to get a £5000 freezer, as much chance as I would of had getting a £95 one.

I spent a summer standing milk in a bucket of water because I had to save the £30 to get a second hand fridge. I was lucky no other 'unexpected' costs came up, like unusable shoes, a higher than expected utility bill or a crisis needing travel costs (likely with sick elderly relatives prone to falls and late night A&E visits).

That would be the poverty premium at work, people can not afford to save money 'in the long run'.

I cook all the time. We're pretty careless with the lights and have the heating on full blast too because I'm always cold. DP is a bit paranoid about security so we have loads of outside lights and even due to all that we spend less than £3 a day on gas and electricity.

No way is eating takeaway cheaper than warming up beans on toast. You can't argue that all these boys sitting round playing on very expensive games consoles that require an internet connection etc are in families that can't afford a £30 microwave oven.

There are also more obese people than there are without microwaves.

Of course some people will be in B&Bs or whatever and genuinely have nothing but plenty will have at least a kettle, toaster, microwave and cooker and some basic cooking equipment. You can do a baked potato in 10/15 minutes if you start it off in the microwave.

So Really how do you feed yourself and your children?

Would it be patronising for me to say that I think you're living in poverty? How are you funding the cost of posting things online?

People are making an unbelievable number of ridiculous justifications for lazy parenting and self-indulgence, having no pride, sense of limits or self-control. It is this that is at the heart of the matter, not that someone can't afford a slow cooker (they're about £27). Its very sad for the kids, but now this is also being passed onto the next generation.

Not all fridges have freezer compartments
£95 for a chest freezer is a hell of a lot of money to a lot of people.

The problem with being in poverty is if a large item breaks you cannot afford to fix it. Or the debt on your meter means that if you top up you will lose half of it.

Not that it's any of your business but i have a laptop a family member no longer needed. I'm using a bt openzone hotspot near my flat.

I feed my kids by budgeting carefully. But i admit it's not the healthiest, and we are gaining weight since we moved here. I do actually like to cook and bake, but there's just not the room. Chips from the chippy here are less than £1 per big portion, so the four of us can eat for £3, which is cheaper than the bus fare to the shop.

Why is cooking with lentils and vegetables seen in the UK as a niche middle class hobby rather than the optimum way of feeding your family well on very little money?

This.

Because class perception is unusually strong (and damaging) in the UK, and fucks everything up. I suspect that many people won't touch lentils because they think it's posh or middle-class (never mind that half the world population lives on lentils). And peer pressure is lethal.

Helena I think you are making excuses. Many,many people live with those issues and aren't obese.

Re kitchen refit.

My kitchen is horrendous. All our white goods are on their way out,my oven is on it's knees. Cheap crappy fitted one. Dp fixed the fan to get it going again,seal has broken and the inside is horrendous,handle broken outside. Tap gone in sink,needs propping up,no dishwasher( never had one), tiny crappy fridge.

We can't afford a new kitchen so we make do. I cook every meal for 5 include a weekly roast from said crappy broken oven.

You don't need a kitchen refit to cook half decent food. You just need an oven and a few pans.

Good points, Helena. There are things that could be done to make a healthy lifestyle more achievable. It was done to reduce smoking rates. I find it easy to be a non smoker now, due to the smoking ban and other measures. I'm sure if everyone still smoked everywhere like in the old days I wouldn't have managed to stay quit. There needs to be a similar approach to weight loss and fitness.
Apart from that (and I am speaking as someone who has experienced a fair amount of poverty) I think it comes down to a lack of motivation and knowledge. In extreme cases there is a lack of money for fuel, cooking equipment, etc but most people have the means to prepare simple meals.
One thing I have noticed from several forums (and in real life too) is that British people often really hate being told what to do by the government(NHS, schools, etc) and often take a peverse pride in doing the opposite to official advice. I don't know if this happens in other countries but personally I think it can be a factor.

Perhaps it's nothing about the price of food. Perhaps it's just shitty being poor and stressful being at the low rung of society. When anxious and stressed, sugary and fatty food is really comforting. So yeah, I can see how these boys are getting fatter

Barbara how is your bill so low?!

If I turn ONE of the economy seven heaters on in our flat it costs £3.50 just for that.
I know as we have pre payment meters due to landlords wishes.

We're struggling financially at the moment and our diet has definitely got worse as a result. Food shopping is simply cheaper when it's not as healthy. Thankfully our situation should be temporary but I really feel for people who aren't so fortunate.

On the boy/girl divide I think the issue is the expectation levels of what boys and girls eat. It's widely known and accepted that boys can 'eat you out of house and home.' It's joked about etc. The same isn't true for girls. It doesn't mean that girls aren't as hungry, it just means it's not as socially acceptable for girls to be hungry. Instead of being met with "boys will be boys" and an eye roll when asking for food (and receiving it) girls are more likely to be encouraged to wait for lunch, dinner etc.

I remember a thread a while ago about teenagers where the OP asked if girls are as hungry as boys and how bad she felt that either her DD or girls in general were going hungry when their male peers were practically being encouraged to eat huge quantities of food. A lot of posters on that thread remembered being hungry as a teen and that's really stayed with me.