Obesity and birthday parties

[Currywurstmitpommes]

I have been obese all my life and I’m determined that my DCs grow up a healthy weight and so I try very hard to make their diet the best that I can. We do have occasional sweets and junk food in our house but it isn’t often and portions of it are limited.

Now though DC1 has reached Reception age and is being invited to numerous parties. 30 children in the class and most are having whole class parties. It’s nearly one a week! And at nearly all of them there are loads of sweets, junk food and a whole load more in the party bags.

If this carries on through primary it does make me wonder if this is one of the factors behind our obesity crisis?

I'm sure 1 party a week isn't the factor behind the obesity crisis.

however, the desirability of junk food, sugar and sweets probably is.

Kids birthday parties being a contributer to the obesity crisis?

No it is irresponsible and lazy parents feeding junk to their children

It probably won't carry on through primary. As they get older they tend to have smaller parties. Even if it's nearly one a week, they won't become obese from party food if they're eating healthily the rest of the time

yep - celebrations becoming the norm is definitely a problem!

treats being an everyday thing...

That's why we don't have sweets in the house because there's no need. I limit and threw some away.

If most, not all, of thirty are having a whole class party then it’s nearer one a fortnight which seems much better.

The parties don't continue throughout primary school. Kids build closer friendships and the guest list is a lot smaller ad they get older.

You get the whole class invites in Reception and maybe year 1.

It's also about keeping kids active...swimming...and other sports.

Generally at age 4 parities involve a fair amount of running around so that probably balances out.

One plate of party food even if weekly isn’t the biggest issue that needs tackling!

I can't see that would make any difference at all in a child who has a healthy overall diet and enough exercise.

But It is a fact that children with obese parents are 12 times more likely to be overweight than if their parents were a healthy weight.

Taken from More Life link

If children eat healthy nutritious food most of the time they can handle cake or hot dogs or whatever once a week.

Moderation. Always been the key to a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle.

If you’re worried they’re eating more stuff like this out of the house, compensate by not buying it and having it at home.

I have been obese all my life and I’m determined that my DCs grow up a healthy weight and so I try very hard to make their diet the best that I can. We do have occasional sweets and junk food in our house but it isn’t often and portions of it are limited.

I'm going to ask a very pointed question here - are you still obese? If so is there a valid reason why? because if you are monitoring your childrens diet then you should be doing the same for your own plate. Children learn by example and watching, so if you diet is less than perfect they will be noting you have double standards.

sirzy it’s one plateful of party food.

If that was the case it wouldn’t be a problem. Lots of the party’s seem to be browse the buffet affairs with bowls of sweets there for the taking. Perhaps everyone else DCs have great self control and only take a few. Some will sit and eat them till they are gone!

I don’t think this is as important as a healthy diet at home, just that by the time the DCs have 1 sugar fest party a week, then perhaps a meal in a restaurant, their own family birthdays and celebrations it can all add up.

I'm surprised most are having whole class parties. My reception aged dc has been to 1 party all year so far, my eldest went to 3 in reception I think (misses point of thread).

For adults I agree with you - my office has a treat table, and every day it groans with someone's birthday cake/sweets or treats from a holiday destination. It's v v hard to resist at key times like 11am or 3pm.

For kids - one meal at the party isn't going to do any harm, esp if they otherwise eat healthily and run around a lot. And you can control the party bags, can't you (my DD is only 2, so I might be naive here!) - just let them have a bit of it?

It won't add up if they get enough exercise though.

new year I am trying very hard and have recently lost a fair bit of weight. To be honest we don’t really have any junk actually in the house anymore. Treats tend to be things like home made pizza. I meant that I don’t actually ban them from eating treats.

Thing is it's not just one meal at a party once a week, is it? There are other celebrations going on too. A party should be fun enough without having to have loads of crap food. Party food can still be party food with just one or two "treats".

I used to throw away the crap in party bags and just let them keep the toy. Call me cruel! I don't care - I think they were cruel to feed my kids harmful shit.

No, they will not become obese from going to birthday parties. are all of the other children obese?

What matters is what you eat day in and day out.

you mentioned that they regularly go to "restaurants"and also their own family celebrations. I wonder what you mean by restaurants - McDonald's? My kids eat in restaurants and don't eat anything unhealthy there. they also take part in birthday parties like normal children and are not overweight. but then neither am I. If you have been obese your whole life you probably have very little idea of what a healthy and appropriate diet looks like.

I think they were cruel to feed my kids harmful shit.

Did they feed them arsenic, washed down with a weed killer chaser?

If other DCs have great control that probably comes from learning from their parents’ eating habits.
I don’t think you need to offer your kids junk and sugary treats, that’s where the problem starts.

Worra agree that they do burn a lot of it off.

Although I also worry about their teeth. DC1 has had some heritary dental issues and has a health condition that potentially makes them more serious.

The state of some DCs teeth in this area is shocking. I did a work shop with some 8 year olds recently and there was only one person out of thirty with no fillings in the room... and that was me!

The main reason my children are well within healthy BMI is because they exercise constantly as part of daily life. Not just organised sports, but their free/play time is mostly outside - bikes, scooter, kicking a football around etc, my elder (12 & 13) children walk if they want to go anywhere (mates house, leisure centre, retail park) I rarely give them lifts. My eldest for routinely walk 20-25K steps per day. My 8yo probably 10-12k and my 3yo 6-8k.

They also have healthy diets. More so now while DH and I are dieting. But before that our diet has still moderately healthy. They all maintained healthy weights while also going to a zillion parties and eating the accompanying crap though, because it's balanced against an otherwise healthy lifestyle.

Yes I can see the overload of sugar leading to dental problems.

But I think child obesity is more about large portion sizes, regular snacking and not enough exercise for the most part.

It's annoying when there are unlimited sweets on the party table but if my child was going crazy I would just say "that's enough sugar now" and move them on to something else. (I assume you're still staying in year R). I then allow them to eat 1 thing from the party bag and the rest goes in the cupboard. It often gets thrown away if there are a lot of parties in succession but the number of invitations decreases a lot after year R.