To think we’ve lost sight of what a healthy child’s weight should be?

[Winniethepoohandtiggertoo]

Walking through town today as kids were leaving school and I was quite shocked by the size of them (primary kids). But then I noticed that so many of them were overweight that in a way it isn’t surprising that maybe their parents haven’t noticed or realised there is a problem? When I was little kids were skinny things, now it seems the norm for them to be built like shot-putters! I know a few parents with overweight children but they insist they’re ‘strong’ or ‘solid’, or ‘they run around so much they just burn it off’. When so many kids look like theirs it probably isn’t surprising they think that?

It's interesting how society has gone from seeing being fat as a sign of wealth to it being a sign of poverty. Those on lower incomes can't afford to join the gym for example so if they are in a sedentary job it's harder for them to be active on a daily basis.

If you look at the thread about 80% of women being too unfit to be healthy, very, very few people are citing financial reasons for not getting to the gym. More common is time, dislike or discomfort due to men or being judged.

exactly

I have a sedentary job
I am financially comfortable and could easily afford the gym
i am very slim
am not a member of a gym

I run 3x a week at 6am
I do a free online weight class followed by free yoga online class 2x - week

expenditure on exercise? Zero

It’s the same when I see talk about how much more expensive fruit and veg is compared with crisps and biscuits

bag of carrots? 29p in Lidl the other day.
HUGE cabbage? £65p in sainsburys
bag of apples? 95p Aldi

The gap between overweight/obesity rates between lower and higher socio-economic groups (class) is actually getting much smaller, as basically everyone is overweight or obesity apart from a minority (75% of the population 45-75 are overweight or obese in the UK). For some weird reason, only that normal or slim 25% ever post on these threads (seemingly) to tell the rest of us how to do it!

Satsumas have practically no vitamin B12

What study are you referring to with those stats?

Which show the gap is getting smaller

Which is great if you can get to those shops.

it’s great if you know it will be eaten.

but otherwise if your on a tight budget will you pick the food which will go off and may not get eaten or do you go for what will last and be eaten?

when your living hand to mouth it’s often not as simple as it seems

Don't buy foods that "might not be eaten" then?

Or if it’s healthy food such as fruit and veg… bloomin well eat it!

Just don't eat added sugar. That will make you extremely fat in time.

And don't raise your kids on sugar. That's a lifelong problem you are giving them. Fat might actually help. Sugar (except as part of fruit) is nutritionally useless.

And yes, many children are overweight. So are adults. It's the fault of the adults, not the kids.

Thanks for the intelligent argument.

all I’m saying is that an overweight child who is taught to eat healthily is not going to be overweight forever, and a short period of being overweight as a child doesn’t induce heart disease etc.

equally thin children with a fast metabolism often find this catches up with them and they gain weight as adults.

I was fat as a child so always learnt to watch what I ate, it didn’t help me until puberty but now I’m a perfectly healthy weight. It’s also genetics though, I’m not what you’d consider skinny by any means.

all I’m saying is that an overweight child who is taught to eat healthily is not going to be overweight forever, and a short period of being overweight as a child doesn’t induce heart disease etc.

the number of threads where mumsnetter date saying they eat healthily but still overweight / obese would suggest otherwise!

This. I came from an extremely well educated family where we were taught healthy eating habits form a young age, both my parents did tons of exercise and ate very little/were healthy weights. Me and my brother were both overweight as children, this changed as we got older. It’s simply genetics- both parents have a tendency towards gaining weight so watched what they ate and exercised closely.

What children look like is totally irrelevant compared to their actual diets and the habits they are taught. I think a lot of people are really projecting their own eating disorders onto children.

I agree that people have lost sight of normal.

My son is 98th centile for height and around the 25th for weight.

The health visitor freaked out, asked me to feed him more, add oils, etc.

I said no.

He ALWAYS measured “off” - his abdominal circumference when I was pregnant was 2nd centile and his femur was 75th, head 50th.

It’s just his shape. There is nothing wrong with him. He’s followed the same centiles since birth.

He was 8 months old at the time, he had the whole recommended amount of formula, plus 3 heathy meals a day, and snacks.

The health visitor said “maybe he is tall and slim like you”

… I’m a size 14, 5ft2.

Health visitor was significantly heavier than me so I didn’t really fancy take healthy eating advice from her.

They’re not eating a caloric deficit then, we need more education nationally on calories and exercise etc.

I was taught to eat a wide range of foods, a balance of protein/fats/carbs etc, lots of veggies and fruits (came from a culture where these were eaten a lot), but also taught about calories/exercise/how these can add up.

A naturally thin child who is not taught these things will end up overweight when they are older, as will a naturally fat child.

@Whatislove82 I don't have time to look it all up in an academic database, here's a sample type of article. The relationship between class/SES and weight is incredibly complex and I wouldn't be surprised that recent pandemic/COL have an effect as well, but I'm just pointing out that pretty much most people are overweight/obese over the age of 45 in the UK and they must get there somehow, so pointing the blame at poorer parents alone doesn't really make sense, these 45 year olds were all children and teens relatively recently:

twww.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2277382/Middle-class-children-MORE-likely-obese-poorer-backgrounds.htmlp

You didn’t bother to check the date did you?

a decade ago that article was written

@Highdaysandholidays1

pretty much most people are overweight/obese over the age of 45 in the UK

bot sure what you mean by ‘pretty much most’ but I’d disagree, lots of people are under BMI 25. Shape changes a bit which might lead you to believe they’re overweight.

But they aren't sweet. Why would someone want to eat them especially as it might require chopping and peeling...

Part of the problem with childhood obesity is it does make it tricker to stay slim as an adult.

As adults, we all have a fixed number of fat cells. When you lose weight, you don’t lose fat cells, it’s just that the amount of fat stored in each fat cell reduces (and vice versa when gaining weight).

The number of fat cells you have as an adult is determined during adolescence. If you are an overweight child/teenager, you will have a greater number of fat cells than your slim counterparts, and that will stay with you into adulthood. Thereby making adult weight loss more challenging than if you had been a slim child.

Childhood obesity sets people up for a lifetime of weight problems (the above is just the practical side, before we even get into how it can cause difficult relationships with food). It is irresponsible to suggest otherwise.

I've not read much of it but will do tonight or tomorrow but a quick google brought this:

researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN03336/SN03336.pdf

It was published last December so it is up to date.

People aged 45-74 are most likely to be overweight or obese with a prevalence of 70%. Scary.

100% more education on calories.

People vastly underestimate the calorie content of most food, and don't understand how much they should be eating for their size.

The number of people who hide behind the 'healthy eating' stuff and don't know the calories in/out stuff too is mind boggling.

You, unfortunately, need to know both and be educated on both.

I know there is an argument about how it leads to disordered eating because it promotes obsession over this, but I don't think we can avoid the conversation.

People don't know how much meat is a serving. Or cheese. Or pizza.

Like it or not we have a pressing issue to do better with this.

Fwiw I think the worst thing going is the normalisation of snacking which is being firmly led by schools.

People vastly underestimate the calorie content of most food, and don't understand how much they should be eating for their size.

This is probably the biggest issue. Some people think as long as food is healthy that they can eat as much of it as they like and it's fine, but thats not the case, it soon adds up. Also agree that people aren't aware of their BMR, but also how to calculate this for children. It is possible to educate people on this and for it not to evolve into an eating disorder as often seems to be the assumption on here.

When i did used to keep an eye on calories I was pretty shocked as I thought I didn't eat that much but I was still a consistent 600 or so over my recommend amount. I don't track anymore as I can tell now whats in what, but it was eye opening, the majority of people would be shocked I think.