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.

I wish people wouldn't keep referring to twice removed relatives as proof that being poor doesn't make it hard to be healthy and thin.

Unless you have experienced actual poverty first hand or at least worked with people who are poor, your uncle's sister's experience doesn't inform you enough to make that claim.

That doesn't mean you can't have an opinion. You can say what you like about what makes people fat. But you don't have experience of it.

Oh my goodness, just been looking at some of the other articles at the link in the OP. Childhood obesity rates in Egypt and Greece are set to rise to 36%. It really is shocking. Poor children.

j. I was at primary school in the very early 80s. No homework back then like there is now so less time spent sat at a desk.

goodness there is a lot of patronising going on on this thread.

I gave an example earlier of how unexpected costs can eat into a budget if you are poor. over £9 for school cookery ingredients.
Also due this week are: £2 for a dress up day (they are 12 and 9, ffs)
and £30 for one child and £20 for the other for a residential.
(this is with reduced cost due to fsm)
someone will now tell me to forgo the residential. yes, as that is going to help a bullied child with SEN integrate, isn't it?
My utilities cost s£65 per WEEK. I have had a check meter installed, the heating is old and ropey, the landlord wont change it.
there is my budget for blueberries and polenta gone...
and, no, my 2nd hand counter top fridge (as I am disabled and cant bend to an undercounter one) doesn't have a freezer, so when that gold plated cinnamon loaf goes mouldy it will have to be chucked.

but, I expect that is just me being poor and making the wrong choices

Laziness and bad choices.

Eating healthily is expensive.
You can't bulk buy to reduce costs as you have £10 to feed you for the week, you don't have store cupboard ingredients to add, like stock cubes, herbs, curry paste etc.
Fruit is expensive, frozen fruit is great but you need freezer space for it.
The fuel for something like a stew costs a lot, if you've got a slow cooker or a pressure cooker your ok, but you need cash to buy one.
Cooking from scratch is cheaper, if you already have store ingredients, freezer space to bulk make and a slow cooker. (does anyone remember the james martin program where he bought an OAP all the basics as his pension wouldn't stretch to the extras you need to make tasty food from scratch).
The 50p man on benefits street had it right, yes its the most expensive way of buying things, but that £10 stretches to the week if you haven't got to spend £3 on washing powder.

When your skint its about stopping that tummy rumbling however you can.

People saying half hour in the park after school. Thats fine if you have the time, but what if your working kids in after school club, you pick them up at 6, its homework, reading, dinner, bath and bed. When do you fit that half hour in??? In the dark???? You can't afford the after school swimming/karate/gymnastics/dance like the wealthier families.
Years gone by portions were smaller, you would walk to and from school, you would be able to play out after school as there was no homework.

There's a lot of shit about what's healthy now too.

Mixed messages all over, fruit is too sugary, carbs are bad, feed more protein. Potatoes, rice and pasta are bad.

Unless you're educated enough to filter it all out it's quite possible someone might think a diet of burgers, bacon, sausages and cheese is "healthy". And they won't be buying decent quality, they'll be getting the cheapest they can find.

Lots of clients I supported were in accommodation where it was not possible for them to cook (yes, really really not possible!). This was meant to be temporary but in reality often works out that they are there for years not weeks.

Helena poor white boys do less well at school so I doubt very much they're all chained to their desks.

And sorry re blueberries and polenta.

My budget meals are tinned tom,garlic,onion pasta sauce,pasta and cheese on top,followed by an apple or savers fromage frais.

Or jacket potato,grated chees,grated carrot,beans.........

This myth that healthy eating non obese making food involves exotic expensive products doesn't help.

Fleuricle

You need to take the cooking issue up with the school. I remember my sister as a single parent complaining about having to take a huge amount of out of season fruit for her DD to make fruit salad. She simply couldn't afford it and they didn't eat fruit anyway.

It is complete madness for any child to bake three loaves of bread, whether you can afford it or not. Do they not think? If their expectations are ridiculous, challenge them or things will not change. Tell them you cannot afford to spend so much on extra ingredients or let good food go to waste like that.

Why can't the school send someone out to bulk buy the ingredients so no one is buying raisins or cinamon when they only need a tiny fraction of the packet? The cost of the ingredients to make more than one loaf of bread can't have been more than a pound.

On the cost of gas, ours is so cheap because we are on DD, but have you gone through Moneysavingexpert's advice on saving if possible on prepay?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/switch-prepaid-gas-electricity

You can get a slow cooker for a tenner at Wilco.

fleuricle i got involved in a fb discussion two weeks ago about expensive school uniform. I pointed out how things like this and constantly being asked for charity donations can eat into the income of low income parents. Cue the emotional blackmail about why i objected about giving to charity. Total gaslighting IMO. And these comments were from some of the parents.

Im not even a parent. Im childfree by choice. But i am a full time carer for a husband who had arthritis COPD and heart disease. We were living on £40 a week at one time. This is when i gained back 4 of the 10 stone i originally lost and had to go back to SW in 2013 to lose the 4 stone regain which ive now done. It took 3 and a half years but when you lose weight slowly you dont gain it easily i find.

a new fight though is about to begin DH had his PIP letter yesterday

I will keep eating healthily though even if it is hard. But it shouldnt be hard should it.

fleuricle agree about the school cookery lessons. I remember 10 years ago having to pay £5 for my sons ingredients (for a potato bake thing)then I had to chuck it in the bin as the teacher made him put sausages in even though I expressly told him not to put any meat in. It really adds insult to injury when you have to pay the equivalent of 3 or 4 dinners and then can't even eat it. Just a fucking joke really.
As for all the non uniform/christmas jumper days, I've just got to the point of ignoring them now. Luckily my daughter doesn't notice (special needs).
It is true that some people don't understand about poverty. At the moment every single penny I have has to go on the electric meter and food and I still feel cold and hungry half the time.
to everyone on the thread who's been there, or still is. Hopefully things get better for us.

GreenGinger2: This is exactly what I am talking about. When you are truly in poverty, the odd tenner on a slow cooker night as well be £1,000. It's a weekly food budget or a school uniform.

Sorry HAS arthritis heart disease and COPD

"Takeaways are not the cheap option"

In chicken shops local to me there is nearly always a £1.99 snack box offer - chicken and chips, sausage and chips, chicken goujons and chips. In kebab shops chips and cheese, chips and gravy, chops with kebab mixed meat - same prices, certainly never over £3.

Honestly I think some of the posters on this thread are living in cloud cuckoo land as they make their confident statements regarding What The Poor Should Be Doing.

Fattening, sugary, greasy food gives the brain an immediate hit.
It fills you up.
You're poor so you haven't got all the ingredients you need to make the food you'd like to.
You never saw anyone make food from scratch growing up.

Could be one of these things or a combination of any of them that's why it's so hard to pin down and address the actual problem.

For the people who've mentioned the lack of decent food in nearby shops and expensive public transport, online shopping could be a good option.

Tesco do a thing called delivery saver which is £6 per month for deliveries on any day or £3 per month for deliveries mid-week. Minimum spend is £40.

But you could save for it over a couple of months just like our parents had to.

Plenty of these boys have phones and xboxes.

£1 a week for a couple of months is nothing compared to monthly phone tariffs.

I have read the thread..I think some people really have no idea how depressing it is to be poor.To many benefits programs telling you how great it is on benefits.

I am on lowish income but can afford a slow cooker, can buy cheaper cuts of meat to put in it. buy in bulk and freeze.

I bought a stock of fish pies reduced to 49p the other week. . I could freeze them so just add veg one meal 49p.

Re school meals. It costs £2 per day for school meals. I can make a packed lunch cheaper but all my DS's friends eat hot dinners so he wants to be with his mates. He has cake for pudding every day.

As for a chest freezer only costs £95 thats great but if you run out of electric regularly you could loose anything in the freezer. .

Ms I couldn't afford £10 or £15 on crappy take away food.

My budget meals cost way less than that and fill up.

I think the difference between sexes is down to girls being more likely to feel pressure to stay slim. And that will probably be more about controlling food consumption than increasing activity. Unless they are taking part in sport at a high level then children aren't going to be burning off lots of calories eg at a 1 hour swimming or karate lesson.
Also yes to the constant chugging of protein & energy drinks, only ever see boys wandering around with these.
The 'proud mum of hungry teen boy' trope is alive & well on mumsnet too.

For my family of 5 that £10/£15 on one takeaway meal x 7 days a week is more than I spend on my whole weeks shop of 3 meals a day.

And as for energy drinks they cost a fortune.

Where is this money coming from?

Greenginger
you know that £1 is needed for the electric meter don't you?
It is that close for some families, and its more than you would think

But not everyone thinks like you greenginger and there's a multitude of reasons that have already been discussed extensively on this thread. £15 for your family approx £6 for mine if I chose buy that food. There's a difference between yours and my situation that might drive my food decisions for my family right there.

In chicken shops local to me there is nearly always a £1.99 snack box offer - chicken and chips, sausage and chips, chicken goujons and chips. In kebab shops chips and cheese, chips and gravy, chops with kebab mixed meat - same prices, certainly never over £3.*

And the whole family will eat one between them?

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.

In so many situations the lifestyle is a result of culture, not the product of poverty (but it is in some).