To be shocked at how many overweight kids there are here?

[glasgowsfinest]

Have got my fireproof hat in place, here goes...! I'm currently at a Butlin's-type holiday park on the south coast. As you can imagine, it's jammed full of kids of all ages. I'm genuinely shocked at how many of them, from pre-schoolers to older teens, are significantly overweight. I don't think puppy fat can be used as an excuse for all of them. Thinking back to my childhood, overweight kids were the exception, not the rule, but now it seems the opposite. I have two children who by no means have a perfect diet, and eat more chocolate and watch more TV than I thought I'd allow, but they're active too and don't seen to have any fat on them at all! Maybe they're just "lucky", I don't know. But the sheer numbers of chunky kids made me feel quite sad.

In my city which has classy and not so classy areas, the number of obese children in town at lunchtime today was insane. Poverty may well be a contributing factor but it sure as hell isn't an excuse. The ones having adult size burger and pizza meals in the food court of the shopping centre were spending a lot more than I did on my (admittedly far less enticing) lentil curry that I brought to work for lunch today.

The problem is so many parents are unwilling to accept their is a problem - you only need to look at the "the school nurse says my child is overweight" articles which appear every year to see that!

Add to that when parents do reach out for help to change habits it is exceptionally hard to access.

Judging doesn't do anything to help the situation really.

I was on the south coast this week. On the beach. I hope you weren't the adult staring at and mocking my Ds OP!
The poor kid has had so many health issues. It would be nice not to be talked about!

I feel really sorry for these kids. Being judged by adults like you and probably bullied at times by other children. Yes it's a problem. But the problem is with the parents. There are overweight adults and children. The adults need to tackle their own food issues to be able to teach children to eat properly.

Perhaps it should be more spoken about in pregnancy and before.... Having said that though most of the health care professionals I've met through my pregnancies have hardly been a good example.

The kids certainly weren't ruining my holiday, I just found it a depressing observation. I'm sure I sounded a bit smug saying my kids have no fat in them. But mine really don't eat anywhere near as well as is like them too, and my parenting is certainly far from perfect in so many ways. The few kids that I knew at school who were overweight have stayed that way their whole life. Will that happen to these kids? Regarding poverty, I'm certain itsca factor, but not one that will be changing anyone soon if the Tories have got anything to do with it :(

Was the OP judging? Commenting on here isn't the same as pointing and laughing at someone in real life.

My DS goes to school in one of the poorest areas of town, I think there's about 10/15 kids in the whole school from what I see on the school run and their parents arent exactly slim

I'm on a low income and one of my dd is slightly overweight but it's nothing to do with over feeding as I can't afford treats so why do some people think it's only from low income families? Not out for a bun fight, I am just generally inquisitive

SongForSal I would never stare at and mock a child, that's horrific and I'm sorry he's been through that.

Portions and fast food. When I were a lass, portions were smaller (a Big Mac was tiddly compared to today) and people didn't really walk along eating snacks (and sandwiches, burgers - a bag of chips on a night coming back from the pub maybe) and drinking high calorie coffees/smoothies/mcflurries.

It's good to hear that splendide. I've seen an increase in numbers of very obese children. Do you know if there are figures to support this?

splendide Tue 29-Aug-17 18:20:28
Obesity is falling in children overall but rising in lower income groups so you're probably being unreasonable to be shocked yes

I know what you mean op, and the problem is talking about weight is a taboo subject. You can't say someone is overweight for fear of being shouted down however it is deemed ok to call someone skinny or too thin.

If your weight whether obese or underweight is causing health problems or preventing you doing day to day activities eg running then I definitely think something should be done and if necessary the schools/social services should step in and assist these families.

The problem begins at weaning when you are encouraged to constantly offer snacks, this encourages bad habits, as the child gets older the snacks become bigger and when they choose for themselves possibly unhealthier. My daughters are 8 and 5 and I'm still trying to break the snack habit, not helped by their friends who have entire bags of crisps or family size sweet bags when being picked up from school.

There's so much more ready meals or fast food options now available and adverts are promising us easier options for everything from lunch box items to dinners.

There was a study done in the inner city of Dublin a few years ago (Frances FitzGerald was involved if anybody Irish is interested) and the poorest kids in the inner city flats were thinner than the children of two blue collar workers in the suburbs. So that was interesting. It mightn't hold true in the UK though.

Also interesting, the mention of ''classy'' places. Yes, of course. Social Contagion - very well documented. This is a real factor for adults. The number one clue or indicator to a fat future for a young adult is marrying a fat spouse. The fewer fat friends you have the less likely you are to become overweight from the starting position of a normal weight. (This study was Massachussets, The Framingham study) although newer studies have questioned original results I believe.

One of my children are overweight. Trust me, we encourage them to exercise, in a fun way,for example take them to the trampoline park frequently etc. My other child is the total opposite and is always running and playing outside working up a sweat. We are not poor either or have a bad diet. My child just will not stop eating and dive into food. I've started portioning everything so that they no longer have the chance to grab everything. We aren't all fat slobs that have overweight children. Neither myself or my husband are overweight either.

YANBU

What's that school where the kids have to run every day and no one is overweight?

A little bit off topic, but I do think that portion size has a lot to do with it. I think our vision of what is a reasonable portion has been skewed, and also, I know it sounds daft, but plates tend to be a lot bigger, making a normal portion look small. I know as a child after a meal I could always have eaten more, which is how you should feel after a meal, you shouldn't feel stuffed, except perhaps at Christmas. I don't know what the answer is long term. I write as an overweight older adult who was a very skinny kid.

I think childhood obesity dipped a bit a few years ago but is rising again.
My DS1 is going into year 7 and has got a bit of puppy fat around the tummy, but definitely not chubby. However I will be keeping an eye, as I was skinny until his age, then got pretty chubby, lost it in late teens then regained when pregnant.

Kids seem to do less physical activity as they get older, unless they are sporty, which DS is not. However there are only 2 kids in our school of 180 that I would say are obese. We are in a fairly well off area though and not that many parents are obese compared to the poorer areas nearby.

St Ninians in Stirling I believe stabbyjoe. They've started it here too (central belt) and it seems to be working.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-33006631

Yes! That's the one

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/03/chief-medical-officer-obesity-school-warning-letters-parents

And these quotes from it:

The new figures, from NHS Digital, show that obesity rates are higher in poorer areas, although nowhere is immune. Among children both in reception class and those in year 6, Richmond upon Thames had the fewest overweight and obese children – at 5% and 11% respectively.

Obesity in poorer areas was more than double that in affluent areas – averaging 12.5% in reception compared to 5.5%. In year 6, the obesity rate was 26% in deprived areas and 11.7% in the least deprived.

In Barking and Dagenham, more than a quarter of children in year 6 were obese – 28.5% – the highest number in any district in the country. Middlesbrough had the highest proportion of obese children just starting out in school – 14.7%.

A lot of schools are starting to introduce a "daily mile" which is a great start in getting children more active.

Sadly though with both food and exercise schools can only achieve so much if it's not carried on at home.

My cousin's kids used to go there stabbyjoe