British children shorter due to poor diet

[Catosaurus]

Experts have said a poor national diet and cuts to the NHS are to blame. But they have also pointed out that height is a strong indicator of general living conditions, including illness and infection, stress, poverty and sleep quality. Food experts point out that a diet of cheap junk food makes people simultaneously overweight and undernourished.

Has it really become this bad? I’m not from England, but this is on the news today.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/21/children-raised-under-uk-austerity-shorter-than-european-peers-study

"Parents seem much more clued up on basic nutrition now."

I don't know. There's one on here arguing that cereal is healthy.

Your body is always renewing itself and needs movement to do so. Exercise isn't just about burning calories. I wonder if the latest generations of children that haven't walked to school, had an hours lunch break plus morning and afternoon, walked home then played out on top of swimming lessons, bike rides, made to walk to the library or the supermarket instead of driving and actually we're underestimating how important exercise is in relation to all things health and development wise.

A diet of processed bread and peanut butter is not a healthy diet at all

*Someone commented on poor kids back in the day being raised on things like stew.

Have you ever looked for a recipe on how to make stew or mince?

Almost impossible to find. *

I said my husband early 30s was raised on stew, he learnt how to make this from his mum, she learnt as a child.... Historically most of us learn this basic cooking from watching our mums.

I know people don't eat like this now, I was just saying how much diets have changed.

Cost of energy is putting people off making stews and casseroles. Also not an option unless you have time about 3pm to prepare it

I make stews and casseroles all the time. Cheapest cuts of meat and root vegetables are very cheap.

Slow cooker is your answer here. Mine is used regularly

Poor housing is the greatest of all evils for children at the moment.

Illnesses spread easily in overcrowded conditions, parents unable to cook decent meals when they're in hotel rooms for months/years and instead spending all money on takeaways every day.

Mould and damp massively increases respiratory illness, which hampers growth and brain development.

Lack of play space too.

Air pollution is known to stunt growth and even kill children.

This country and the tories have severely harmed a whole generation of children with their policies.

The poor kids in my generation were raised on deep fried oven chips, chicken nuggets and beans. Not stews. I think it's time we stop romantising the past like the food was good! It wasn't all good. There was a lot of UPF around, a lot of sugar and a lot of fried food. There wouldn't be one child in a whole school that would be eating brown bread.

Derailing the thread completely, but being taller is linked to shorter lifespan. Just another interesting observation.

And low blood pressure.

But short height that is not genetic is linked to poverty. Pretty worrying if a population as a whole is getting shorter.

@Catosaurus i found that documentary about the separated twins fascinating and heartbreaking - nature vs nurture in action. i concluded the Norwegian twin had the better life.

i think the key to it is time and skill - before I was wfh I didn’t get a lot of time to cook properly from scratch so our food costs were higher (it is definitely cheaper to cook most meals from scratch). I’m now much more competent and efficient in the kitchen - I can sneak healthier food past my kids and we can all sit down together to enjoy our food. We talk about what goes on our plates, whether it is good for helping us stay healthy, and whether it is good for the planet.

My kids still won’t eat mushrooms though! 😩

I watched the follow up documentary too, lovely girls and parents too. It really is a fascinating story, and their environments and daily life growing up were just so different to each other!

@Maireas i saw a thread the other day saying that they cure it properly without the added nasties so it’s actually fine. I then went on a hunt for some decent chorizo, which is cured the ‘right’ way without all of the chemicals. It’s also bloody delicious! So I think they’re right, and Spain do it properly.

This is spot on.

DS is under the care of a top peads respiratory professor and he is doing a lot of research into the impacts of poor housing and poverty on children’s well-being. The findings are scary.

I wouldn't eat mushrooms either, @BestServedChilled ! 🤢🤮

Me and DH have discussed this in the past. DH felt he never reached his full height potential and we hypothesised the reasons why. In his case it was a home environment where the food was of poor quality e.g. low fat/diet cooking sauces used all the time, little fruit or veg, rice crispies for breakfast, tiny cheese sandwich for lunch etc. Even as a teenager there was only ever allowed the odd babybel as a snack. He used to be starving at school and by year 11 was buying packets of cookies and pringles from the shop for lunch. Consequently he must have been quite malnourished.

This is obviously pure anecdote, but on a population level these kind of behaviours must have an effect, particularly the low quality UHPF foods.

I also wonder if the UK has a comparatively higher burden of treatable childhood disease compared to the rest of Europe. The inability to get a GP appointment and the refusal to adequately treat infections (e.g. timely and accurate prescription of antibiotics) must have an effect. Children go for longer with untreated ear infections, tonsillitis, chest infections etc. If your body spends more energy fighting off infection, then it has less time for growth. Other European nations have better healthcare than us...and it shows. The Euro health consumer index 2018 ranked Switzerland, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Belgium as the top 5. The UK was down in 16th place, between Estonia and Slovakia.

As another anecdote, I had a horrific bout of bacterial tonsillitis at age 10 (middle of growth spurt). The GP refused to treat it with antibiotics for over a week, until I was going downhill quite quick. Was off school for 3 years in total. My DM attributes this to me never reaching my "future height prediction" which was calculated when I was a toddler (by about 2 inches).

Because that is not the case, height isn't always the case of lack of nutrition

Is anybody claiming that late Millennials and Gen Xers had a good diet?

I've heard it claimed for the greatest generation - people saying to eat like your grandparents, but my grandparents ate white bread and jam for breakfast and the men had sugar in their tea. They did cook more though and grew some of their own food.

And some look at the much smaller picture and just become defensive.

"Because that is not the case, height isn't always the case of lack of nutrition"

I didn't say that though, did I?

We're not looking at one person and wondering why they're short. We're looking at a change over time at population level.

By 3 years...I obviously meant 3 weeks....🙄