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.

Also babies are tough because you can't know what they are crying about half the time so it's a relief when a bottle settles them. Doesn't necessarily mean they were hungry. With BF they can get that comfort even when you're not ready with milk for them yet so they aren't getting much food. I guess that helps with regulating intake.

Both my babies were FF and they refused to drink it if I tried to feed and they weren't hungry. FF babies also self regulate. Perhaps unless they are genetically predisposed to put weight on which perhaps mine aren't? I think in my experience the above is just utter nonsense. I fed both as much as they wanted and they stuck rigidly to the 25th centile.

One thing I notice is how often obese children have a parent who is diet-obsessed or into some extreme form of 'fitness'. I say the mostly opposite!
But have noticed a very slim friend, I would describe her as a feeder - she gets enormous pleasure from other people eating and she pushes food constantly. I called her out on it, as I got bloody fed up declining food....and I think this is a thing, they often force food on you and it can be hard to say no all the time.

lauging

Yes most people know that. But unless you are clued up it's easy to fall for the tricks.

People who think it's cheaper to buy crap, some may not have the skills to work out if something really is a better deal or how much the meal might actually cost per head.

Manufactures and supermarkets are very clever and manipulative it can take years to wise up to the tricks. Many people probabky think they are being healthy

The secondary school points made by pp are interesting. Hadn't really thought about it before, but yes, they are going to school independently for the first time and away from the watchful eye of parents can end up with new and damaging habits very easily. Thinking about my walk to work when, in term time, I pass a couple of secondary schools and have been shocked at what many of the kids are eating at 8am (huge boxes of chips etc etc) I'd sort of observed and moved on but thank you, useful to actually have this in mind when we reach this stage

Newsagents near schools selling half litre bottles of energy drinks to school children before and after school

That is a big issue, was over here so they put age restrictions on energy drinks which has helped (but it's only 15 so older teenagers are still able to drink far too much of the stuff). Do they have an age restriction yet in the UK?

And I remember when I was in high school, we had a garage across the road and chip shops at either end of the road and we were allowed to leave school at lunch time so of course many of us were getting chips for lunch or sweets and crisps from the garage.

Thankfully DD's walk to school doesn't go past any shops or fast food places (it's half hour walk through the forest so the only food available are berries and mushrooms!), no vending machines in the school and no leaving during breaks.

Yes, it worries me when my dd will start secondary school and she will have more freedom about food choices. I'm by no means smug, and pretty sure it's probably a fluke that she is currently a thin healthy 8yr old. I can only arm her with the tools, which I like to think I'm doing by playing the "5 a day game", involving her in cooking and meal planning etc but once she's out there making her own choices well, yes, she may choose to eat crap for lunch and all I can do is feed her a healthy breakfast and dinner.
I have heard that overweight kids often turn into overweight adults, and the longer you can keep them thin the better. I'm also aware that, while dd is sporty now, puberty can make girls self conscious about their bodies, periods may mean they give up on things eg swimming (and yes, of course I will explain how tampons are the way forward and ensure we can still carry on as normal)

I know people always say you can't make a teenager do anything but surely if you come down on things like chips at 8am and fuzzy drinks from the shop like a ton of bricks it may not always stop them but might stop them some of the time and might also make them think twice.

I sometimes defied my parents but still respected their rules somewhat till I left home. So I just feel that people are too quick to say teenagers can't be controlled with rules when I don't think that's completely true. I think it's a lot harder but doesn't mean you don't make some serious rules with consequences.

I'm with karatekitten-it's the same as parents who say their kids will only eat a chocolate brioche for breakfast, so that's what they end up having; the adult buys the food, and as adults we have some control over what our children do, whether it's through fear of reprisal (and I don't mean that to sound as harsh as it does-discipline takes different forms in different homes), or respect for what the parents are asking/telling them.

Ultimately, if you know your teen is spending money on crap, the parent needs to take action, cutting off the source of funding if necessary. Easy to say, but if the child is making decisions that are harmful to themselves, the job of the adult is to step in.

I ate stuff that I wasn't allowed to as a teenager. I took money from the bus fares pot and spent it on school dinners - fried stuff every day - because my friends did and I wanted to eat junk. I was supposed to make my own healthy lunch but I wanted to eat what my friends ate.

My mum was very strict and very concerned about my weight. I wasn't fat when she started on all this, but I became fat with a "fuck it" attitude. I was stressed, lonely, had low self esteem and junk food (and being with my friends) helped - and I didn't see how it could hurt anyway as I was just hearing how fat and ugly I was every day anyway.

[looks back at pictures of gorgeous teenaged me and weeps]

To be honest, I could count on one hand the amount of overweight teenagers I know, who weren't already overweight at Primary school.

Most of their parents won't have it though and have convinced themselves the problem only arose when their kids went to secondary.

Even when they look back at school photos, they still can't see it but I suppose that's due to them having gained a lot more weight as teens, so obviously they're always going to look slimmer when looking back.

Most eating/exercise habits are formed at a young age, which is why it's so important to get the portion sizes right when they're younger.

An acquaintance of mine from school was very very slim throughout her teens twenties and thirties but in her 40s she is gaining weight quite quickly. Its carbs and booze. white bread and lager.

She could get away with eating chocolate crisps sweets when we were teens so has just carried on doing it. She eats a lot of white bread.

"Ultimately, if you know your teen is spending money on crap, the parent needs to take action, cutting off the source of funding if necessary"

So - refuse your 15 year old any pocket money unless she shows you the receipts and proves she didn't spend any of it on sweets?

Do you have teenagers?

I don't have teenagers, but I have been one and I know enough of them to know that they don't just turn into irrational monsters once they turn 13. When mine become teens, if they are getting fat because of what they buy and consume, I would be talking to them, respectfully, about why it's an issue and what it will mean for their health. This wouldn't be a surprise as healthy habits were laid down in early years, so whilst they may enjoy the new found freedom, I wouldn't allow it to continue for long if it was making them fat, as difficult as that conversation may be.

And yes, were they wasting money on shit food to harm their health they would be told they wouldn't be getting pocket money in their hand-it would be going into a bank account or would be used to pay for something directly (like a mobile phone or Amazon pre-pay they could exchange for games etc), until they show they could be trusted again.

If I knew my teen was spending pocket money on cigarettes/alcohol/drugs I would do no less-in some ways it's the same issue.

So - refuse your 15 year old any pocket money unless she shows you the receipts and proves she didn't spend any of it on sweets

Yeah. Like I would if they were spending it on cigs or drink. Pocket money is a privilege not a right, if they're not using it sensibly - so much so they're damaging their health - they're not getting it. They can ask for what they want and I'll buy it.

Many teenagers don't even get pocket money!

In 2007 I read that the Britains consume 40% of EUs total consumption of fast food. I couldn't find an update to that statistic, but there are these articles inews.co.uk/essentials/news/health/cancer-research-uk-takeaways-ready-meals-obesity-rates/
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/takeaways-british-favourite-fast-food-spending_n_5033233.html
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9016251/Fast-food-becomes-the-UKs-meal-of-choice.html

Also Britain is the one of the countries in the world with the lowest breastfeeding rate, but I got flamed on MN when I suggested a connection. Fine, don't believe me. Continue down that path. See what you will find.

Personally I think it has little to do with breastfeeding and far more to do with weaning.

Honestly, the amount of threads on MN where people are saying they're feeding their 10 month old babies 3 Weetabix and other adult sized portions of food, then people always come along and say, "My child could eat more than that" are quite alarming. Just because a child could eat something, doesn't mean they should.

Then by the time they're toddlers, they're used to having their little stomachs over-packed in one sitting...add to that the snacking in between meals and a lot of small children are consuming the same amount of calories as adults, or sometimes even more.

I am sorry if i am repeating anyone but there is a huge correlation between the crap teenagers eat and some of the worse behaviour I see where I teach.
The first rule I put in place was that no energy drinks were allowed through my door. If I catch them I pour it away- a rule that I have had parents moan about. They consume toxic amounts of sugar then bounce off the walls.
As soon as I started opening up earlier and bringing in a proper breakfast they settled. Lots of our parents don't get up and blame the school for behaviour/ issues.
I work in a PRU so things like this have a huge impact.

Honestly, the amount of threads on MN where people are saying they're feeding their 10 month old babies 3 Weetabix and other adult sized portions of food, then people always come along and say, "My child could eat more than that" are quite alarming. Just because a childcouldeat something, doesn't mean they should

Yy worra

Some of the competative eating threads are incredible. I'm not skinny myself but I couldn't put away the quantities if food mentioned and it's all washed down with literally gallons of milk a week.

I think dd was probably 3-4 befire i actaally started buying her her own meal in a restaurant now kids are fucking into the kids menu (all three courses) at like 9 months ok. These kids menus are aimed at kids up to 12 the fact a 9m old manages to even eat half a one is astounding.

People just seen to manufacture some day that ends in a y sleep regression/growth spurt/ developmental stage to explain why their kids are eating far more than they should be.

Tucking

Honestjy autocorrect

wannabestress Would that be down to E numbers.

Yeah I agree Worra with that

@HelenaDove even the smell of those things make me feel ill. I would say all our residents either long term or short have appalling diets and know nothing about nutrition. We try and give them at least an hour of life skills a week...
Their favourite part of the day is circle time and 'what we had for dinner the night before'. We also do lots of cooking from a budget. Life is hard but pouring that crap down their necks won't help them.

God this makes me so tense. I'm terrified that I'm going to make DS fat like me. I have always loathed the way I look, now I have this beautiful beautiful boy and I don't want him to hate himself like me.