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.

demented you need to go on a whole family health kick. it will be very hard for your ds to lose weight while you and your husband are overeating in the same house. give him packed lunch and stop his pocket money, just pay for his cinema tickets/bowling etc without giving him cash. he would lose weight if you did this. no idea how it would affect his self esteem though xx

Helena. That says to me that she needs better friends.

Agree with others it's a perfect storm of different factors. Education, food industry, cynical marketing, acclimatising to fast food fat and sugar content and distancing from understanding how our bodies work. It's shocking how much exercise you have to do to work off even relatively modest amounts of food these kids are eating such huge amounts of crap it would be impossible to burn it off.

Getting angry at being " judged" is childish. As a society we need to change. Family at school, slim little girl when in reception in dds class hugely obese mother. By year 4 the lovely dd is huge, as are both siblings. Given adult sized magnums in the playground. For breakfast.

I was at the park with my kids the other day and there was a boy of maybe 9/10, looked to be with grandparent and younger sibling. He was really overweight and struggled to keep up with all the other kids running around. He was flushed and out of breath. He tried to get up a climbing wall that my 4 year old can do easily and gave up and sat on the grass.
Maybe he had some sort of condition, maybe his parents are really irresponsible with diet. Either way it's extremely sad to see someone so young almost incapacitated by their weight already. His sibling was looked like he was heading the same way too unfortunately.

Pretty sad. I don't pretend to understand it.

Dementedma, (sorry I'm not sure how to tag people), one of my brothers was a hugely overweight child, but when he left home for uni he got into the gym and transformed himself. He also really got into fashion and his appearance and I know liked looking good and attracting girls.

It just wasn't working for him at home, he was the youngest of a big family and ate for comfort. But he had to do it when he wanted and not when his mother wanted him to. He has a great relationship with food and exercise now. He is also still the same lovely kind boy / man as he always was.

I volunteer at the local primary my GC attend. I can only think of one overweight child in the school, he is in my grandson's class and he isn't huge but is overweight. He is 10 and alot of the boys seem to have had a growth spurt but he hasn't so maybe he will shoot up and it won't be a problem.

Like several other posters, I have two skinny kids and one who hovers around the borderline of healthy/overweight all the time. That child shot off the top of the weight scale as an exclusively breastfed baby (before we'd got around to trying to feed her mashed Big Macs or even inculcate an eating disorder) and still finds it harder than average to keep a lid on her eating.
Mid teens, she does have a reasonable handle on what to eat and why, but she's fed up of always having to think about it while her friends and sibs stay stick like.

The criticising of the OP isn't helping at all. Childhood (and adult) obesity is a major problem and a ticking timebomb for the NHS. Yes, there are some children and adults who are overweight because of medical reasons, but they are a minority.

Children should be skinny, their ribs should be visible. That was the case when I was a child. There was one "fat" boy in my year at primary school, he was the exception out of three classes. Diets have changed for the worse, there is more of a culture of eating for treats on a regular basis, and for lots of reasons, people are getting less exercise. Primary school was a mile away and we walked home for lunch, then walked back, so four miles a day from age 5. It was the norm. My walk to secondary school was three miles each way and we thought nothing of it. We used to buy sweets on the way home on the last day of term as a treat. Not every day, not even weekly.

I am a teacher and at my school it seems as if the children are getting larger year on year. We don't police lunchboxes but obviously encourage healthy eating. Some of the food is downright shocking: 2 jumbo sausage rolls, an energy drink and chocolate bar is appalling. Some of our healthier lunchboxes contain enough carb laden/sugary crap that only a marathon runner could burn off.
One girl in my class had 4 slices of bread bursting with coronation chicken, two cartons of pure orange- which are essentially just sugar-a cereal bar - sugar again - cheese and crackers and an apple and kiwi. Too much food for anyone and so many carbs and sugar. It was all carefully prepared in a very trendy lunchbox so whoever made it for her had done so with love.
I hate that children of 10 cannot participate in a normal PE lesson due to agonising joints or getting completely out of breath in 2 minutes.
I am Primary but our local secondary has a snack bar open at morning break selling breakfast baps stuffed with bacon and sausage or pizza slices. The kids have that, then lunch and a quick trip to the chicken shop on the way home. Parents are funding this.

Sadly you can buy a bag of nuggets, chips and tin of beans for the same price as a bag of apples.

I totally agree about raising kids out of poverty.

Although these probably aren't poverty stricken kids on a holiday camp - especially this time of year!

I only know 3 overweight kids. 2 go to independent school and 1 has an extremely tough upbringing.

A lot of people don't have cooking skills these days, and are therefore reliant on the food industry to feed themselves and their kids. Processed foods will usually be higher in fat, salt, possibly sugar etc.
And don't get me started on "energy" drinks. Basically sugar water which only athletes could justify using, but you see kids knocking back lucozade while sitting at the back of the bus. One small bottle has 6 tespoons of sugar.

I think this double lunch timetable that many secondary schools have adopted is very problematic. A break with food available at 11 and again at 2. I bet loads of kids eat far more than they would with one break at 12.30 or so.

That's true TLL, my DS14's school is like a replication of a well known experiment in Nutritional Science: freely available, "cafeteria" style food will result in more calories ingested in 24 hours than 3 set meals. They can get paninis, pizzas, burgers etc from 11 o clock onwards. It's Capitalism that fuels obesity, there's more money and mark ups to be made from junk food than healthy food.

My son has the opposite issue - he's growing taller but it seems like he's just stretching because he's not really gaining weight. It's actually a huge worry and his paediatrician has given him til Xmas to start gaining weight or we'll have to start thinking if some more drastic options than just trying to stuff his face with high calorie food.

One possible cause is the emphasis in the first two years on the desirability of a chubby baby. A friend of mine has a very chubby two year old who is basically always eating. Her mum thinks it's great but she is quite overweight and her husband isn't thin either. When does a lovely bonny toddler turn into a fat child? At what age does it become a problem?

Shapely, I think it's quite clear that the OP is making a general statement and isn't including children with diagnosed or possible health problems that lead to obesity. It's not a nice topic to discuss but that doesn't mean it doesn't need to be discussed. There clearly is a national problem with obesity in society and I see it everyday in children - and yes, I'm seeing it more and more. As a general rule in a 'healthy' person it really is A diet and lifestyle issue. Sometimes it isn't but MOST of the time it is, just people don't like to admit it. My children aren't overweight. They're young, I'm strict about what they eat and lucky my dd likes to be active... Ask me in a few years when she's got more control over her diet and activities and who knows what I'll be saying... It could all go wrong.
Humans now have a hugely complicated relationship with food and it's a very psychological issue, so is exercise. It's often seen as a chore. We need to start with the way we think. Food is necessary and it's fuel over all other things. Our bodies were built to be active but often being active isn't seen as fun or a way to relax. It's also not a part of our everyday routines anymore - we can't walk to work, we sit at desks, we work long hours and have a host of other commitments so time is an issue.
Bottom line still is to eat healthily and move more. Willpower is key.

I live in a posh town (we are not posh) and went to a holiday camp this summer. I was also staggered by how large people (not just kids) were compared to people in the town in which I live.

It's unpalatable, uncomfortable and I wish it weren't so, but it shouldn't be ignored or dismissed as bashing poor people for the sake of it. I'm working class myself. I was a size 12 when I was 18 at 9.5 stone. I'm a size 12 now at 36 and 11.5 stone. Shops are making clothes bigger to make me feel better and I wish they wouldn't.

I don't think it's right to be disgusted or patronising but I do think that there needs to be a real concerted effort by our whole society to come up with a solution.

That's really sad.

I can't say I've noticed a lot of overweight children around.

Though, adding to some of the comments about differences between areas of the uk; we live in the south east of England. I'm originally from the north of Ireland which is a lot less affluent. I've just been home for a visit and noticed the difference in adults there, compared to where we live. Children seem to be about the same; noticeably overweight is definitely unusual in both places. But then, don't they say our perceptions are off now as we're so used to seeing overweight people? I definitely did notice the overweight adults though...

Also, i would like to add that we look a lot at physical appearance and refer to wanting to lose weight to look better. I'm so careful when I'm infront of my daughter never to b talk about my weight in relation to how I look and I never criticise my body. We talk about being strong and healthy, about eating fruit and vegetables to help us not to get ill etc. We never talk about diet and exercise as cosmetic issues.

You didn't look at the link, did you Alex? Because you certainly haven't said anything about my situation with DD.

Why do people feel the need to say all the things you just said in your post at people who have already acknowledged that obesity isn't a simple issue? Willpower? Did you even read what I wrote about my DD?

It is a perfect storm - in the Uk. I live in France... of the 60-odd kids in my ds1's year at primary, I can think of 1 who is overweight. When I come back to Scotland for a visit, I am taken aback by how many overweight kids (and adults) I see around my local town. So YANBU to notice it: it's true.

Having lived outside it for some years it looks like the UK has a food culture designed to create obesity e.g thinking of junky, calorie-intense food like curries, fish suppers, pizza etc as a 'treat' rather than seeing good quality food as a treat. Prioritising cheapness and quantity over quality every time.

In terms of school meals... my kids get a salad starter, a main of meat / fish plus a small side dish, cheese, then yoghurt or seasonal fruit. Chips maybe 3 times a year. Cake / patisserie for dessert once a week. No options, no choices, packed lunches not allowed. And no snacks - play pieces are unheard of here. Very strict rules of not snacking - one snack a day at 4pm and that is it. No morning tea, no bedtime supper.

We ate out in a popular family restaurant with my PIL last time we were back in the UK. For a start, the venue does not exist here: a huge out-of-town site, with a whole range of restaurants, all chains, all selling cheap rubbish as a ´treat'. Frankie and bennys, Harry Ramsden, Brewers Fayre, etc etc. The one we went to had endless free refills of fizzy, sugary juice. The standard glasses of wine were at least twice a normal measure - and the large was huge. The food was... cheap and cheerful was the best thing you could say about it. My FIL ordered this dish.., it was a butterflied chicken breast, smothered in artificial BBQ sauce and grilled cheese, served with a mountain of chips and a tiny salad on the side. There were more calories in that one meal than any human being would need for a week, never mind one meal. The whole menu was like that. And the place was mobbed - as was every other one of the chain places - on a weekday night. Full of people 'treating' themselves to the equivalent of that BBQ chicken thing.

AA Gill wrote a really good article about how rationing affected British cuisine, which was once just as good as that of other nations. In France, a cook was - and continues to be - judged by the quality of his / her 'board'. British housewives OTOH came to be judged by their ability to ´make do', to turn crappy, cheap, low quality ingredients into edible food, thus diminishing the value that we (Brits) place on quality over quantity. So Brits today value large amounts of cheap food over smaller amounts of good quality food every time. And we eat mountains of it, because it's cheap, addictive and ultimately unsatisfactory.

Shapely, I did read. But if you look at my post I said that it's want always Simone but that MOST of the time it was. Of course there are times when it's not simple. I still stand by saying that MOST of the time, it is.

it's very sad. pets and children being overweight.. it's abuse imo.

• wasn't always simple

Ok willpower works for a portion of the population, however somehow we have gradually engineered a society where the default position is being overweight. Instead of leaving it up to individuals and their willpower to prevent this, which patently isn't working for an increasingly large percentage of the population, why are we not trying to re-engineer society in a way that makes the default position a healthy weight and lifestyle? IMHO this is the radical direction in which we should be aiming.