Kids won't automatically be overweight & unhealthy if they don't do sports

[Echobelly]

MIL every now and then frets that our kids don't do enough sports and often buys them things that will encourage them to be more active in a heavily Dropping A Hint Manner - she's a bit of fatphobe and I think is convinced our kids will become overweight and unhealthy if they're not doing sporty stuff (other grandkids are very sporty). Kids (11 and 14) are not overweight, nor unhealthy as far as I can tell, DS in particular is a skinny little stick.

I grew up in a household where we all stopped doing sports as soon as GCSEs were over, none of us was ever in a sports team or did any extra-curricular sports and my sister was the only one of us to ride a bike (and that was only about for a year or two) and none of was or is overweight. But we ate a decent diet and were not ferried everywhere by car - neither are my kids and they both walk 1.5 miles each way to and from school every weekday, so it's not like they're totally sedentary. Anyone else had to deal with someone who thinks kids have to be doing sport to be healthy?

I hated sports and never did any. I did walk a lot though. I didn't even do the compulsory P.E lessons half the time as I skived off them. I have always been a healthy weight, (well, until Covid that is).

Of course, there are other benefits to sport than staying slim (so I'm told). Also, it is very important to remember that slim doesn't necessarily equal healthy. You can be slim and unfit. But things like walking to school and the shops will help with that too, you don't have to join a football team if that's not what you're into.

That said, it sounds like your MIL is overstepping quite a lot with her hints... at the end of the day if your kids don't like sports then their granny nagging them isn't going to change their mind.