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

Pretty sure breastfeeding rates have risen in the last few decades. We can't blame this on FF.

So, yes, white-skinned people are set up genetically for Northern latitudes, and are able to produce vitamin D from exposure at low levels of sunlight. Obviously people with darker skin are genetically set up for high level sunlight exposure and are not able to produce enough vitamin D from regular exposure to UV light as is available at northern latitudes.

I'd absolutely use a supplement if I was dark-skinned and lived in the UK. This is information that people need.

What we need is good old fashioned public health interventions. My dear old dad was a public health inspector, way back in the 50's and 60's. They did so much work on local interventions, specific to local needs. Public health was a big thing back then, still seen as a crucial part of health services, and coming from a place before the NHS existed to cure, rather than prevent, the ills, many of which were and are still preventable.

Chicken thighs aren't overly expensive. Chuck them in the slow cooker at 8am before work with carrots, parsnips, leeks, and stock.

After work turn it up to high with the lid off and put some spring greens or cabbage in.

That's not hard or expensive is it? Surely a take away is at least 2x the cost.

What a load of cobblers.
All the men in the family on both sides are over 6ft apart from me.
I'm 5 ft 8. Similar diets and incomes growing up.
We grew up in the countryside and the other cities-towns.
My children are due to be above average for girls.

You can also poach chicken thighs in minutes on the hob and then shred and add to whatever you please!

@Orchidgal has nailed it imo.

My stepson's daughter , nearly 8, is a giant, tallest in her year by quite a bit despite being a July birthday and among the youngest. She's dairy intolerant, so it's nowt to do with eating lots of dairy.

My friend was brought up vegan (he isn't anymore) he has massive hands and feet but is only 5'7" and his overall frame is scrawny. He ate tofu, veg, fruit, nut spreads etc. He was always hungry though despite eating constantly.

His Dad is 6' 3" and his mum is 5' 8"
He blames his diet completely.

It doesn't matter what you can or can't do to chicken thighs. UPF isn't just for the poor undeserving underclass who can't cook. Look at all the ready meals in M&S. They aren't made for the chicken nugget givers.

I really wish that we could stop moralising food as a nation. It does no one any good and there are UPF across the board from poor to rich. The rich get a better quality of UPF but they still consume them at the same rates. Lets not blame people for not making slow cooker soups instead of nuggets, blame the gov for letting food agencies get away with putting so much UPF out.

The most marked example of these I have seen is in the Greek people. When I first started going to Greece nearly 40 years ago, most adults were really short, particularly the older/ middle aged ones. This would include the generation that was born in or grew up around the time of WW2, when a million (I think) Greeks starved to death during the Nazi occupation.

As I continued to go through the years, I noticed that people my age or younger (I'm nearly 50 now) weren't short at all- in fact, some are whoppers! Loads of massive young Greek men nowadays 😆

It's the same in Spain, short elderly men and women but much taller youth.

How often is typical to get D&V? DS had a V bug at 2 then at 11, breastfed until 5.

People arguing about breastfeeding should note that not all breastfeeding is equal and if you have a bad diet yourself, formula can even be preferable.

However of course breastfeeding is preferable if your diet is healthy with healthy fats, meats, fish etc.

No. The immigrants, whatever else you'd like to castigate them for, are not responsible for British people's shortness. I know it would have made for a perfect soundbite to add to Suella's Rwanda plan along the lines of 'regain our borders, regain our height too', but alas tis was never the case.

Crazy! on another thread people are working themselves up into a frenzy because Europe might get 'taken over'.

The racist rhetoric on here which passes for mere 'discourse' could put 4chan to shame.

Peanut butter is loaded with so many good, health-promoting nutrients, including vitamin E, magnesium, iron, selenium and vitamin B6. Research shows that people who regularly eat nuts and nut butter, including peanut butter, are less likely to develop heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

There you go.

Plenty of healthy cereals. Wasn't suggesting Sugar Puffs.

That is absolute bollox.

I won't deny for a second that food culture in the UK is very complex and interesting, but that's not down to a single government. More that countries that have had progressive policies regarding women in the workplace have a conversantly higher uptake of pre-prepared foods for obvious reasons. That is a conversation that needs to be had, but it's a long, difficult and multilayered one. It's not simple.

UK food culture is not simple. Don't try and distill it to one factor. UPF is very buzzy at the moment, but the UK's odd relationship with food goes much, much deeper.

And it's not all bad! We do, as a nation, have one of the most sophisticated and wide palates in the world, I can't think of another country where it's so easy to buy world-foods to either cook at home or to eat out.

i concluded the Norwegian twin had the better life

The American twin might beg to differ. Who are you to judge?

I’ve been through serious poverty in the past so I know what is actually happening to women and children in this country. My son never went hungry because I bought an Xbox. How could you think that’s what the media was referring to re hungry children the last few years ? If I had expenses that took from food budget it was heating clothes shoes and travelling expenses to school for my son. A new bed. Necessary expenses. He did have lunch, but there are times when eating pasta over and over they can’t eat it anymore. People become sick without adequate nutrition and will refuse the pasta and bread at some point. During growth spurts boys eat a pack of apples in a couple of days and there are none left. If you restrict it to spread further they will still be hungry. The government also sanction single mothers and children’s UC for three months at a time for punishments for missing one appointment reducing them by hundreds of pounds per month.

@FFSCarrieBradshaw I think you've just jumped on one post of what I've said rather than the conversation before..

Ok. I didn't jump on it, just noticed it!

Shall go back and look. Apologies if I've misconstrued.

Another day, another thing to feel guilty about. So my DD is shorter than the rest of her class because I don't cook from scratch every single day. I'm an even worse mum than I thought I was, thanks for this info.

Oh common..

My experience is of children being taller.

When my husband was at school in the mid 1950s he was the only tall person. By the time he was 13 he was 6ft5 and eventually stopped growing at 6ft6. He used to have to stand with the teachers on school photos. In contrast I am 5ft 2.

DS1 was tall from the start. At 4 I had to prove he wasn't too old for under 5 tickets at places. At 12 he was almost 6ft and was head & shoulders above his peers. He stopped growing at 6ft. Most of his friends have overtaken him in height or at least caught up.

DS2 was a bit taller than his peers but not hugely. At 17 he was 6ft1 and of the 9 people in one of his A level groups he was the shortest. Now he's 21 and 6ft3. Most of his friends are about 6ft and quite a few are taller than him.

I have 5 sisters. The shortest of us is 4ft11 and the tallest 5ft4. At least half of our children (14 between us) are over 6ft.

I'm pretty sure genetics is more in force than food!

Feel free to play games if you want, I don’t.