Why are British kids fat?

[VogueVVague]

So time, two parents working, low budget/cost - all these things can result in ready meals being served up etc. but that still doesnt explain why, compared to the rest of Europe, our kids are the fattest.

So whats the reason?

Is it political?
Cultural?

Something must have changed for us and mot the rest of Europe in the past 50 years (doubt kids before 1960 were chunky).

I did like taking my two over the park with their bikes or just for a go on the slides or swings. it was cheap and cheerful and they enjoyed it.

we liked going for walks to country parks and things and making sure were back in time for the car before the car park ticket run out! the days out though all ended once they reached 14 - ' its boring' etc etc. it does get harder to do family things then and the days of kids being allowed out on their own is fading fast for all manner of reasons.

Also I think people in Britain are so worried about being seen to judge, or being seen as rudenetc that people aren't frank, here if I put on a kilo my friends will tell me, I will tell them, it isn't a moral judgment just a statement of fact. It isn't rude either. And you drink a lot in UK.
Maybe we are just rude French. My children are normal here, in Britain they are considered super skinny - and they are not super skinny.

our obsession with it.our obsession with cutting this lowering this no added that.other kids in Europe etc are much more natural and balanced.they don't have people pushing for no added sugar or low fat they are body shaming young kids.it just goes with the flow lots more.from what ive seen anyway.
there is more interest in the people not the look.they work to make the kids happy and therefore its a link down to how they want to look after themselves.they invest more in time instead of these bloody useless weight loss schemes.
things seem so much more relaxed.the kids will be how they are so lets work to make them happy not weight weight weight shite.
there is so much body shaming in this country.so much is focused on looks.on faddy diets.or the government bringing in idiotic diets that will never work.
depression and lower mood also links to how peope can look after theselves and their kids.
the cutting of sport or group acitivitiies.cutting out self care or cooking lessons in school and focusing on how "clever"they are or league tables.
lack of care.

It’s true . So true

I went to a place in the UK and was pretty taken aback actually by what I saw

It’s very very worrying

And people will bleat on and deny it

I live in a wealthy part of central Italy where it's unusual to see overweight adults and I'm always shocked by the number of overweight and especially obese adults when I return to the UK. I teach and overweight teenagers are the exception too, whereas a huge number of my under 10s are chubby or out and out fat. So the speed of the shift in diet and/or lifestyle is pretty shocking.

I know a couple of cases where grandparents were overfeeding kids with treats and snacks even when begged not to by parents, and it got so bad that professionals had to intervene.

I have seen adverts over the last few months basically telling parents about the importance of play. I think that says a lot - for that advert (and even an app with “play ideas”) to be necessary, there must be a massive cultural shift as we’ve lost sight of how kids are supposed to be. Running about is sometimes seen as boisterous, hyper etc

Not that it’s all about exercise as I agree you can’t outrun a bad diet, but generally being fitter and stronger, getting more exercise and vitamin D (when the sun actually appears at least ) and not being stuck indoors eating in front of a screen.

also days out.i have such fond memories from childhood of being out with mum or dad.bike rides.national parks to play rounders.
a day out and treatwould be a picnic and games. wheras now a mums isn't seems good enough if she isn't planning epic trips.
the fear that comes to parents now about how to keep kids entertained in the holidays.when are kids allowed to be bored nowadays and then finding activities to do.
plus the "allergys and intolerance" bollox that some people have now

And my eldest child whilst not obese has waist padding and emerging moobs that worries me . Not because I am am vain but I know it’s our fault

Schools weigh and measure the children - this information must work its way back to the parents? it did years ago and it did to me and mine are only early 20s now. has this stopped or are parents not paying attention and doing something about it?
something is going wrong somewhere, its obviously very complex.

Banana I think we cross posted on seeing empty parks, so sad. This is such a massive cultural shift, I mean honestly in the whole of our species evolution this has never happened - we have always been active, usually by dint of the fact that we were poorer and didn't have modern conveniences. It reminds me of the Walle film where they are so fat they fly around in little remote sling cars. Maybe that is our destiny..

It is rude for adults to comment on people's weight gain though. It doesn't make anyone feel good to know that the wider world has noticed they've got a bit porky! You might notice, you might even judge, but pointing it out is plain rude. Not to mention pointless, as the person in question is hardly likely not to have noticed themselves!

I was driving through west London recently - or crawling, actually, so I had time to stare around and was surprised to see those fried chicken shops stuffed to overflowing with schoolkids at 3.30pm. I doubt whether that was their last meal of the day so presumably the fried chicken was just a pit stop.

As others have said, they are getting the money from somewhere. Fried chicken, or crisps, or lattes (as one boy in dd’s year brings in every morning )are not free. Trying to stand up to teens and all the peer pressure is tough, but needs to be done. Just like another thread at the moment where a considerable number of posters seem to either have no problem with or a hopeless attitude to a couple of 14-year-olds wanting to have sex. Just abdication of responsibility.

Ironically there's a thread going how where a poster is being ripped to shreds because she doesn't approve of the local toddler group serving shit as a snack half way through.

But this is where the messages start
That you can't go anywhere or do anything without treats or junk or food being involved.

So groups that start what an hour after breakfast? Still serving snacks and stuff to babies and toddlers when they have only just eaten and haven't got long til lunch and possibly still have a bottle in between.

technology and computer games

Skinny me and my skinny little brother were the ones who played computer games all day long. Our obese elder brother wasn't interested.

Irma I can't bring myself to read that thread about the 14 year olds having sex, it is just too bloody depressing for words.

This means nothing. What size are you? People always say others don't need to lose weight, it's politeness, you wouldn't say "thank God for that fatty, get dieting" would you?

I disagree. What it means is that we are used to seeing overweight people so It doesn’t register when they are overweight. The people I told weren’t just being polite, they look at me like I’m being OTT and argue with me that I have no weight to lose. The fact is I did/do.

my dad had a shed with a couple of old buckets and brooms, we would balance the brooms along the buckets and pretend we had a horse and jump over it like proper jumps - space hoppers were big too, when they actually didnt deflate they were good for exercise - out on my roller skates and bike over the park, playing bull dog and football. its easy to be misty eyed, but being stuck indoors was not an option most days in the holidays and there would be crowds of us doing this too! ( must have been hell for the people on the estate though having us roaming around, but i dont recall any trouble and we always came in for our tea! ( of veggies and meat mostly)
It wasn't a thrilling childhood, but we could go out and do things.

Snacking is definitely a huge part of the problem.

Eating 3 appropriately-portioned, nutritionally-balanced meals a day, allowing yourself (and kids) to get hungry before a meal, and not snacking is the healthiest way to feed yourself and stay slim.

Brits tend to snack way too much.

Too many game consoles. Kids get addicted to them and don't run about outside anymore.

Too much shit in the shops. Isles of chocolate, crisps, sugary drinks and sweets.

Fast food chains everywhere. When I was a kid there was the chippy, the Chinese and McDonald's. Now there are several Chinese places, kfc, 3 greggs. It's ridiculous.

Working parents too tired or lazy to cook proper meals.

Lack of time so grab and go breakfasts, not enough healthy options for pack lunches.

Prices of children's activities. Swimming, horse riding, or any recreational sport can be hundreds of pounds for block booking.

School dinners not healthy enough. Biscuits and cake served up with their sarnies, on top of their crisps for snack and then snacks when they get home.

No healthy options when you go to a theme park or bowling or zoo or soft play it's all burgers chips and hotdogs and slushies

Grandparents not in everyone's case giving their grandkids sweets and ice cream after buying them a MacDonalds earlier in the day. My mother got my dd a new bag and filled it with utter shit. I had to hide it and empty it out before I gave it to dd.

My dd isn't overweight but I am so paranoid because today's society is horrendous with junk food. It's so hard to keep your kids fit and healthy. My dd would sit and eat all day and stay glued to a screen if she was allowed it.

astormontheway yes, it is a depressing read. Some people can’t bear to say no or in any way be uncool. Sex, drugs, any old meal times of junk food... can’t possibly interfere and put a parental foot down

People can't let them out these days though - if anything happened ( and its more likely to be a car related accident) you would be flamed , big time. attitudes to letting children out have changed a lot - you could blame the media or games consoles or just the ' fear factor' that we didn't have back then ( although there were things that happened still)

having so much available food hasnt helped either. too much temptation.

Probably because of crap like this
metro.co.uk/2018/05/29/morrisons-launches-a-supersized-fry-up-for-6-7586497/?ito=desktop.article.share.top.twitter

Parents seem to want to be their children's 'friend' rather than parent them - been a bit like it myself i admit that but the big things they didnt get away with, but i did buy into the whole ' lets have a day out with cinema and a meal out' instead of just one or the other- treats etc. maybe because i didn't have it as a child myself.

You have to be careful its not all the time though - you do have to draw a line somewhere - otherwise you end up with entitled children and they become entitled adults i suppose.

i have seen this in action, it even amazes me what some parents let their teens get away with!

The80's our childhood was exactly the same! The thing is on our estate everyone's children roamed around together in big packs on bikes, pretending to be horses, fishing for sticklebacks in the river climbing trees. Also agree that it is easy to be misty eyed and there must have been days when we were indoors due to weather or it being winter, but then I remember playing with Action Man horses, Lego, Pippa and her wardrobe ! All that stuff, telly was only on for about an hour a day. I designed stud farms for my horses on paper and had little plastic farm animals, I mean fgs I was probably 13/14 then not 7! Things are so very different now.

One good thing though, I did read that gang crime is down due to lots of older teenagers being in more often on consoles than roaming the streets and hanging out at bus stops. That said the current wave of dreadful stabbings doesn't really bear that one out either .

I know - i do remember one man coming out saying ' i'm a night worker, pipe down a bit' once, so we had to go elsewhere. we didnt go anywhere near that house again.

kids are also grown up a lot quicker than we were, teenage girls at 13 or 14 around here look 16 or 17 to me if not in school uniform.
i wasnt given money for make up and clothes at that age.