to think these children ARE overweight?

[OkMaybeNot]

The schools in my area have just sent out the results of the National Child Measurement Programme.

There are a number of acquaintances/friends on my social media who have posted their child's result online, along with a picture of their child and an angry rant about how their child is as skinny as a rake, not an ounce of fat on them, 'stocky' not 'fat', perfectly healthy etc etc.

But they are. Some of them are very overweight and plainly so. Others may be a little bit chubby and due for a growth spurt or something, but clearly not slim, either.

There are streams of comments underneath these posts agreeing and expressing their disgust and anger. And I'm wondering if everyone's lying, or they genuinely believe that these children are slim?

I know BMI is notoriously squiffy when it comes to kids, and I have seen genuine cases of it being so totally wrong it's laughable, especially when it comes to strong, athletic children. But that isn't the case for these children, at all.

AIBU to think that you owe it to your child to at least consider the results before going on the defensive?

There was a girl in my class in the 80s who was chubby. Her DC and mine go to the same school, she is really heavy and her DC are definitely obese, otherwise there is probably 2 heavy DC per class.

Like PP I ate crap as a child, processed food, sugar sandwiches, I think it is definitely less moving these days it is a vicious cycle.

I grew up in the UK but have lived elsewhere for most of the last 15 years. Nowadays when I go back to England, I notice how much fatter everyone seems to be compared to the Netherlands, where I live now. It's a national problem!

You say that lizkin, and whilst it’s true that more children are obese in the U.K. than in the Netherlands the difference is not that much. About 4% if of U.K. children compared to just under 1% of Dutch children. In practical terms it’s pretyy similar.

Apologies typo; should have said 3% of British children.

I never felt uncomfortable or was aware of being hungry until just before my meal

That's completely opposite to my experience. I remember being really really hungry. I also remember other children being hungry and us talking about food a lot and being scared to ask for food as we'd be told off. I don't ever want my dc to feel that way.

I think many children now have got into the habit of asking for snacks because they've always been given them. Complaining gets them what they want...instant gratification, never having to wait

I disagree, i think children now feel more comfortable saying how they feel without being dismissed. It was pretty normal to be told to shut up and stop moaning if any discomfort was expressed in the 70s and 80s.

I've also noticed, especially on MN that lots of mothers worry too much that their child is hungry if they don't eat whenever they want. A child won't be in any sort of agony being made to wait until their meal!

Depends when their meal is really. If they aren't eating till 6pm or later then 6+ hours is a long time for a small stomach to go without food. All it teaches them is to eat more than they want/need when they do get food as they have a long time till they can eat again. Surely a snack is better to stave off hunger. Knowing they can eat what they want when they want (within reason) means my dc never over eat.

There are very few overweight children at my dc school and a lot eat snacks. The snacks are usually fruit, rice cakes, oat bars, bread sticks/veg and houmous etc.

I also remember being hungry between meals and being told I couldn't possible be hungry

Even now if i go for a meal at parents I'll not eat before get there and dinner won't be for 2 hours then my parents take the piss out of me being hungry well don't tell me dinner is at 1pm if you mean 3pm.

I think we can sit here and analyse times between meals or whether it's reasonable to wait or the size if kids stomachs etc but the truth is we just can't deal with our kids without food.

It starts off as babies. They won't stop crying we don't know what's wrong so we give them a bottle/feed. Even if they ate half an hour ago. They it just carries on witg a series of excuses. They had a busy day at nursery.they walked and ran around at the park. They didn't sleep well so didn't eat that much for lunch. We have a long walk to or from school. School dinners are too small etc it never stops. We are honestly just lazy . We have all done it it's not singling out one person . We as a nation have done or continue to use food to keep kids quiet .

With junk.foid and snacks so cheap it's easy to justify it. And if we have been at work all day the last thing we can deal witg is tired kids who are whiny and don't wanna wait til tea...

Yet at the same time.we have increasing numbers of children who don't eat long lists of food.

What came first? The fussiness or the lack of need to eat dinner as there's snacks befire and after?

Every singke activity is interrupted half way through with food. From toddler groups to sporting events etc

We honestly can't entertain our kids without feeding rhem. And between technology and increased homework they don't burn it off any more

Bell, thanks for the information

I think that hunger is a totally appropriate sensation, and not one that needs satiating immediately it occurs. And children do need to learn to wait, rather thrashing ther intake by adding snacks every time they feel peckish.

That is not the same as producing cowed DC.

The teenager threads are most enlightening . I was never this way. I'd have honestly have been spanked from here to next Thursday if my parents found me troughing the weeks shopping within an hour of getting it hon.

Whole pizzas as snacks? Tubs if ice cream just gone.

We need to just say no. I don't recall tripping over collapsed teenagers as a kid.

They won't waste away.

We massively over estimate how much food people need.

People say they haven't t got time to cook from scratch , which maybe sometimes they haven't but not every single mealtime.

However if you told them they could meet their favourite film actor every week for two hours they'd find the time but they won't find the time to make some decent food.

Lots of kids today are FAT .
They sit on their arses too much and are driven everywhere because parents are paranoid.
The End.

When I was a kid there was no fast food.
Well...hardly any.
Everyone's mum cooked from scratch.
A burger and chips at the Wimpy was a birthday treat and not a weekly occurrence.
Kids are spoiled brats today.
Fact.

Seriously, that feeling of being ready for your next meal is not true discomfort- it's just a mild a sensation telling you your body needs food soon. This is a prime example of parents terrified of upsetting their little ones. It's not normal to eat the minute you feel a little pang- it's just the first signal you should be thinking about your next meal- you can wait a while!

This is my last post and then I'm shutting up.
When I was a kid we HGVs atdly ever sat around. We were almost always playing out, running around, climbing trees, as soon as we got home from school ( we WALKED home because NOBODY was picked up by their parents, they'd have been a laughing stock ....) ....we played out on our bikes, we made up games, played cricket rounders, you name it.
We also ate sweets every day and had huge school dinners with fatty puddings such as jam Roly poly and custard and had several helpings. But we burnt it all off.
Sitting on the couch on a tablet / phone and being given lifts everywhere does not burn calories..
Sad times.

I think it's a bit harsh to call them btats. After all this is behaviour we have allowed and in fact encouraged it's not their fault.

I just think we all need to stop being so "nice"

Go back to the Times when play dates weren't arranged a week in advance and came with lists of approved chicken nugget brands.

When expectations of kids were higher and makimg a huge fuss about a pizza topping that can just be picked off didn't result in.multiple options being cooked up instead.

When no one had a drawer full of crap in the freezer ready for guests because because you needed that room to freeze the reduced braisng steak and salmon fillet you managed to find in the supermarket.

When we realised boredom was vital for kids to learn to entertain themselves and use their imaginations or read a book and not solved by feeding them that food had to last a week after all.

We worry far too.much about normal behaviour. They will eat some food and leave other meals. That's fine . It's not necessary to have back ups. It's not mean

OMG autotype ..... WE HARDLY EVER SAT AROUND

emu Where did you get the 3% obese ? I don't think that's correct.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/14/parents-children-overweight-survey-obesity
"In 2015, 28% of children were either overweight (14%) or obese (14%)"

I just don’t buy that very young children get fat solely because of snacks. It’s snacks plus adult sized ‘square meals’ imo. My dd is quite skinny. She is 3 and a half. She has regular snacks, which are about the same size as her meals. I’d say she eats about six meals which average about 150 calories each every day - I worked this out after reading this thread - I do not normally count calories for my preschooler! That’s probably around 900 - 1000 calories, so perfect for her weight and age. If she was having three adult sized meals plus three 100-150 calories snacks that would be a problem.

I used to stress about her not eating meals and then wanting snacks, but then I realised she just isn’t programmed to stuff a big meal into her face thrice daily. She is just a grazer by nature. Her dad is exactly the same and is still on the skinny side of normal. I was one of those children who would clear their plates and ask for more - loads of veg, all cooked from scratch. I’m the one who has to keep an eye on my weight and I was a fat teenager too. I’m normal weight now, but I have to work to maintain that.

I did a quick Google and came up with loads of newspaper articles of parents moaning about the letter. Most of the kids were slightly chubby but the astounding thing was them complaining about the effect the letter would have on their kids. These were 4/5 year olds - they aren't going to know about the letter unless you tell them.

I do think we have lost touch with what kids are supposed to look like. Dh thinks 7 year old ds is very skinny. He is slim and wiry, and actually towards high end of normal weight due to being "ripped" - has a 6 pack etc.

In our small school there is only one kid in each class that is visibly overweight, but not enormous. Until you get to the oldest class where there are a few overweight and one hugely so. Interestingly all boys.

As to reception age being too young to weigh them as they might not have slimmed out yet - kids should be their skinnier at 5.

We were almost always playing out, running around, climbing trees, as soon as we got home from school ( we WALKED home because NOBODY was picked up by their parents, they'd have been a laughing stock ....) ....we played out on our bikes, we made up games, played cricket rounders, you name it.

There was nothing else to do but go outside and play after school. There was one TV with three channels and most kids didn't get to pick of any programs after the kids TV slots finished. No watching Happy Days on BBC2 as the news was on BBC1 at the same time.

No computers, no mobiles, no tablets. Main meal was in the middle of the day and it was bread and jam when you got home and nothing else.

We didn't get snacks often and if we did it would be one or two biscuits, a piece of homemade cake or an ice cream if we went to the beach. However with all the activity we did, that would be burned off very quickly.

i think children now feel more comfortable saying how they feel without being dismissed. It was pretty normal to be told to shut up and stop moaning if any discomfort was expressed in the 70s and 80s

Discomfort? I wasn't talking about starving kids being denied food. I was talking about kids moaning they were starving when they only had a meal a few hours earlier!
You are also confusing comfort with saying how they feel with whinging and moaning because they can't wait for anything.
I don't think many of today's parents have the common sense to recognise what is real need from simple moaning because their kids can't wait.

We have a girl at my church she wears size 10-11 years clothing she is 6

Being 'ready for your next meal' for up to an hour or so is what i would consider normal hunger. Being very hungry for 3+ hrs and feeling ill and faint and your stomach rumbling so loudly everyone can hear it is not imo.

I know that if my DS1 says he is hungry then he is really hungry, because before school he never once said he was hungry and hates eating. My kids don't really eat breakfast, so lunch is their first meal of the day, then ds1 has a snack at 3.15 and then his dinner at 5pm. That's all he eats all day and he doesn't stop moving. We walk to school. Go to the park after. He is up playing till 10 most nights.