About childhood obesity?

[imamearcat]

I was reading an article in my closer magazine (high quality reading!) about childhood obesity. It had a section about 'what can you do to help your kids'. It was ALL about diet. Didn't mention once about exercise and activity levels!

I think this is the main problem. I was brought up in the country and we were on the go all the time! Yes we had home cooked food but I had my fair share of fatty chips, Chinese and sweets as well. I was thin as a rail as were most of my friends.

AIBU to think that although diet is important, actually activity levels are mostly to blame? I'm all for a bit of screen time but along with a walk / scoot / bike ride / Bounce on the trampoline etc etc. That they need every single day, multiple times if possible?

Snacking is a lot to do with it too. When I pick my son up from school there are so many parents who pick their kids up with a gingerbread man or a donut - and most of them are driven home, it’s not like they’re fuelling a 4 mile hike home!

I think snacking has a lot to do with it as well as the rise of "quality time" with DC that's based around food - soft play where they serve full meals, going out for ice cream/afternoon tea, cake-away, DVD and pizza night, cinema with huge tub of popcorn plus pick-a-mix plus ice cream, going out for dinner and how 'good' a venue is being based around their portion sizes, etc. There are a few chip shops near us as we're close to the seaside and loads of people think Shop XXXXX is the best because they serve portions that are basically whale and chips, the shop is always packed with queues out the door on sunny days. Really is that it's very greasy even for a chippy, the chips are often overcooked, and its overpriced but people go because you get loads for your money therefore it must be the best. Even the penny arcade at the seafront has started selling bags of candy floss and ice cream cones so that you can eat while you play.

Having said that though I don't think what people consume has as big an impact as how much. You could eat 1500 calories of junk food and you would still only have had 1500 calories, you wouldn't be the healthiest in terms of nutrition so looking at it purely from a calories in vs energy burned POV. So someone could have a Gregg's sausage roll for lunch (317 calories) and a chicken nugget Happy Meal for dinner (310 calories) and still be well under their recommended daily limit, if not in dire need of some fruit and veg. Whereas someone else could have a Gregg's Steak Bake (405 calories) and a large Big Mac Meal (540 calories for the burger and 510 calories for large fries so 1050 total) and they've consumed almost double the amount of calories. I've recently lost two stone of stubborn baby weight/middle aged spread through calorie counting alone. I was really amazed at how quickly it came off and I didn't limit my food choices at all, no gimmicky diets, I just tracked what I was eating and how much of it via an app (MFP) and made sure to stay at or below my daily calorie limit. It's the easiest diet I've ever followed.

I have 3 dc & all were breastfed for 9-12 months each.

First 2 dc are both very slim, DD is on the 7th & DS is on the 16th percentile for weight & height.

DS2 has a much bigger appetite, is taller, has thicker ankles & wrists. I can see that he's putting on weight, instead of wrinkles of skin when he bends over or pulls his knees up to his chest there are little rolls of fat. He's on the 50th percentile at the moment but I'm keeping a close eye on what he eats.

I'm overweight, DH is healthy weight but would nudge into overweight quickly is he wasn't careful.

DD 10yrs & DS 9yrs naturally chose healthier foods & although do eat biscuits & crisps I'm almost positive they would self regulate if given free reign. Neither eat past being full & eat reasonable sized portions (neither could eat 2 slices of bread at lunch for instance).

DS 7yrs would/does eat much bigger portions & only recently has started leaving food if he feels full. I'm hoping this means he's been storing up for a growth spurt!

I've been upping the protein & vegetables on his plate & snacks are more often carrot sticks & chunks of cucumber rather than fruit. Snacks like crisps are only for picnics now.

I think some of the childhood obesity problem is simply down to personality/genetics & parents not recognising it early enough to keep an eye on it.

In families where both parents work full time this isn’t necessarily something that parents will have much control over as the children will be at school/after school care all day then come home to eat and sleep.

It’s a combination but personally I think the culture of snacking is a massive part of the issue.

Kind of agree. My ds is overweight. He has medical conditions however that mean he really struggles to exercise he gets tired easily which in turn triggers seizures. We are fairly strict with his diet and compared to most kids he eats very healthy and sensible portion sizes, however he is always hungry ( partly due to medication )

I know this post isn't about those with medical needs however, I really think a lot of the reason he is overweight is lack of movement. If he was in a calorie deficit he'd probably lose weight, however I can't do that at age 7 so he stays the same or gains. For how sedentary he is, he probably is eating too many calories hence the weight gain, but he doesn't overeat when compared to other children by any stretch - so whilst I think realistically it's more to do with calories... exercise plays a huge part also.

I was a child fifty years ago. Most working class families (which we were) weren't well off enough to feed children more than the basic three meals a day (we had a cooked breakfast, school dinner and whatever was for tea). There were very few fizzy drinks (too pricey), not a lot of fruit (one piece per day, too expensive) and sweets when it was pocket money day. We walked to school - in fact, we couldn't afford a car so we walked practically everywhere.

Nowadays there seems to be an 'eat all the time' culture. People eat crisps while walking along, they have daily 'snacks', they seem to think they will fall over and die if they feel even a little bit hungry. We've lost sight of what actual hunger feels like.

And bloody 'snacks'! Nobody needs THAT much food!

I'm guilty on the snacking front. Getting a bit better now kids are a little bit older.

Do you think the whole 'you can't have pudding unless you finish your mains' encourages kids to over eat?

I'm not sure about when people make a huge big deal about 'treat' food as well, like having an ice cream as a really exciting special treat. I'm just not sure it sets the right frame of mind about unhealthy food?

Well my DS7 eats twice what I eat!! And I'm over weight!! I'm talking a massive bowl of shreddies and shredded wheat and honey! And often a bowl of porridge as well!! Snack mid morning, big lunch (chicken sandwiches, fruit, veg sticks, museli bar or something), afternoon snack, and then big dinner! (in the hols has been burger and chips! Or pizza etc....)!! His brother eats a lot of cake and chocolate (DS1 doesn't like it, but would if he did)!!!

But both DS are pretty skinny, sometimes slim, never overweight (athough they were both 75th and 98th percentile as babies til age 2!)

I out this down to the fact they are on go the non stop!! Swimming 4 or 5 times a week in the holiday, football, gymnastics,running outside, playing out, cycling etc....

If I did that much excercise I don't think I'd be overweight anymore!!

My kids eat 3 meals a day. No snacking. We walk anywhere that's a mile or less which is most places for us! . In the summer hols we've been out rain and shine in the park. You have to make activity habit and the natural choice. They have pudding every night, fruut and veg and decent portion sizes. They are all slim and normal size. We do not have snacks there is no reason for them. They don't have fizzy drinks only milke or water or the odd juice.
Sweets are a Friday treat and they can have what they like. I ha e a lot of friend who say their child don't eat properly at meal times yet fill them with cereal bars, grapes and milk an mid morning and mid afternoon.
It's also about seeing what parents eat I eat a balanced diet, always have 3 meals a day and run, swim, dog walks and do weights. It's what they do and what they see that makes the difference.

I think there's a huge "let's get a costa"trend where parents take their kids to sit in a coffee shop (why???) and they all have cake and drinks whilst being completely sedentary.

As many PPs have said you can't run off a bad diet.

Also when you are obese and run into insulin resistance, you are naturally less active while skinny people just naturally want to be more active.

High insulin levels tell your body it's on the verge on starvation and needs to protect itself - despite it not being - and so you tend to pick carby foods and preserve your energy.

I was stunned when I lost weight how much more energy I had despite eating half what I used to.

So you can't just force an obese kid to do more exercise - chances are they will loathe it, and it's not their fault, it's biology.

As they lose the weight mainly by diet, and a bit by exercise, the enthusiasm for exercise and activity will rise.

Two of my children have just got back from PGL bigger than they went. Apparantly they spent all of their money on sweets and so did their new friends and they are whatever they wanted all week. Honestly my usually waifish DD looks very different! Definitely more food than exercise. Hopefully it will resolve now they're back home and back to normal.

Do you think the whole 'you can't have pudding unless you finish your mains' encourages kids to over eat?

My stepson has such a sweet tooth would eat nothing but junk food if we let him. We got around this pudding thing by removing the idea. He gets a treat on weekends at 3ish so away from either meal which is the treat he would previously have been allowed as pudding.
He now eats his dinner without complaining and tells us when hes full. If he finishes what hes given and is still hungry he is allowed fruit.

I think completely demonising sugar and never allowing them access makes them crave it all the more. I think it's about moderation.
The huge portion sizes everywhere is so bad. Last time we went out I ordered a child meal due to some morning sickness and the portion was an adult size. I could only muster half. Theres no way any kids should or would eat that much.

Do you think the whole 'you can't have pudding unless you finish your mains' encourages kids to over eat?

We only have 'pudding' after dinner on a Sunday, so no I wouldn't say so. I don't count a bit of fruit as a 'pudding' though like some people do.

I'm not sure about when people make a huge big deal about 'treat' food as well, like having an ice cream as a really exciting special treat. I'm just not sure it sets the right frame of mind about unhealthy food?

Ice cream should be a treat though, rather than a normal everyday food. I've never known anyone to make a 'huge big deal' about it though or to class it as a 'really exciting special' treat....more just a treat.

That sets exactly the right frame of mind about unhealthy food imo, because it should never be totally off limits but nor should it be available every single day.

I agree with past posters, eating out is a lot more common now and quite frankly children’s portion sizes are ridiculous. Tbh they are equivalent to adult portion sizes when I was a child and would more than adequately feed me.

These portion sizes are then the norm at home too. Exercise is important too for good physical and mental health, but it is the diet that will mainly govern how overweight a child is

Do you think the whole 'you can't have pudding unless you finish your mains' encourages kids to over eat?

Advice from the dietician who DS sees is that the main meal of the day (either lunch or dinner) should be two courses of a main followed by something like fruit or yoghurt and getting the fruit/yoghurt is not dependent on how much of the main is (or isn't) eaten as it is one complete meal. There should be no cajoling, persuading, bargaining, or insisting with regard to how much food is/isn't eaten and their plate should be removed at the end of the meal without comment about how much is on it. He only recommends snacks as and when needed for hunger rather than as part of a routine where a snack is given at a set time each day and no snacks at all for an hour either side of a meal.

A lot of people do BLW now which I think it's great, but only if you do meals which are at least relatively healthy. I think some people take the 'feed them what you have' and see anything such as takeaways and convinience food as fair game. People in my baby group were so keen to wean, not sure if it has an impact, but is there a need for a 4 month old to be eating processed snacks, probably not. I don't think you're being unreasonable to be honest, yes diet is a huge thing but being active has so many more benefits than just being about weight loss

quite frankly children’s portion sizes are ridiculous

They really are. Some of the sample meals and portion sizes in the literature given to us by the dietician are:

Sandwich made from one slice of bread, matchbox sized piece of cheese, small apple or banana.

4-6 potato wedges/chunky chips, two fish fingers, tablespoon of peas or sweetcorn.

18g of cereal with whole milk.

Half a baked potato with two tablespoons of baked beans and a tablespoon of grated cheese.

DS is on a very low centile for weight and has a very restricted diet, hence the dietician, he doesn't eat any of the foods given in the examples but the portion sizes still apply even though he is bordering on underweight. It looks like a minuscule amount for a 4/5yo when it's on the plate but the idea is to put out what they need and then, if they're still hungry, offer more rather than whacking the whole lot on the plate at once.

The exercise is more important than food thing is pushed a lot by those who have a vested interest in selling sugary low nutrient crap to kids. Why do you think Coca Cola and McDonalds sponsor sporting events? Its so they can more easily pass the buck and say that its a lack of exercise that is causing childhood obesity rather than diet.

Food is the most important factor for both adults and children. We are lead (incorrectly) to believe its all about calories when it is not. This is why people fail to lose weight on calorie restricted diets.
Obesity is a hormone condition not a calorie or exercise problem.
The food you eat controls your hormones. Your hormones control if you store fat or release it for fuel.
We are constantly eating and snacking. This means the fat storage hormones are in control and weight gain is easy.
However, if we were all to eat to hunger with a minimum of 4 hours between eating our obesity problems would be greatly reduced.
It's about not eating by the clock but eating when you are genuinely hungry. Not 3 meals a day a snacks. This means not eating low fat as fat siates and stops you overeating and it controls your hormones. We live in a high carb society: 10-12 portions of carbs and grains a day..... recipe for disaster. Still, Doctors love to push the failed eat less move more, food pyramid way of eating. And many parents think they are doing the right thing by following thus advice. We have enough mass studies over decades which is evidence this is not the best way to eat for long term health.
I have noticed in mainstream media that this information is finally being challenged...it's about time.

I do agree slightly with you but I've also been aware of making good food habits for my children. So they have 3 meals a day with fruit as a snack if they moan about being hungry. No super or pudding or anything like that. Obviously it's not like that all the time but their general diet is that. We also walk every where and go to the park a lot and they are just generally active children. I will say I have noticed that my middle child seems to have inherited my bottomless stomach when it comes to food so she would happily snack all day or eat an extra portion. She isnt over weight but she is a little big bigger than her 2 petite sisters. I assume it's her activeness that keeps her weight in check.

It's a mixture of both.

I think children are given more food, particularly snacks and treats these days.

They are also far less active than they used to be. We rely on cars to get to school more, parents working longer hours, lack of freedom to roam the streets parks by themselves, schools cutting back on playtime and screens becoming more prevalent are all part of it.

Even playgrounds these days seem to be less demanding of children. Half if the newer ones don't gave traditional swings the child has to pump to swing themselves or things like monkey bars. They often look good but ask less of the child in terms of skills/ energy.

So the children of the past may have had a similar diet, but we're using more energy up.