UPF, poverty, obesity.... children’s healthy eating - an impossible challenge?

[PaminaMozart]

This is truly frightening: Food Foundation says height of five-year-olds falling, child obesity up by a third and type 2 diabetes by a fifth

The average height of five-year-olds is falling, obesity levels have increased by almost a third and the number of young people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has risen by more than a fifth, the report by the Food Foundation said.

Aggressive marketing of cheap ultra-processed food, diets lacking essential nutrition and high levels of poverty and deprivation are driving the “significant decline” in children’s health, researchers found.

Obesity levels among 10 and 11-year-olds in England have increased by 30% since 2006, with one in five children already officially obese by the time they leave primary school, researchers found.
Cases of type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity, have risen by 22% among those aged under 25 in England and Wales in the last five years, the study added.

Babies born in the UK today will also enjoy a year less good health than babies born a decade ago, according to the report.
Baroness Anne Jenkin, a Conservative peer, said children’s health had “never been worse” but warned that almost no one was talking about it. “This is a timebomb waiting to explode if action isn’t taken.”
Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, said: “When the height of five-year-olds has been falling since 2013, and we’re learning babies born today will enjoy a year less good health than babies born a decade ago, every mother and father in the land will be concerned and shocked at what is happening to children through lack of nutrition, living through the hungry 2020s in food bank Britain.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/19/uk-children-shorter-fatter-and-sicker-amid-poor-diet-and-poverty-report-finds

The only surprise to me is that any of this isnt already common knowledge.
The politicians should be campaigning on how to make the food supply chain healthy AND affordable.

Right there That would take a load off the NHS and school behaviour issues…

Time poor people can still make good decisions.
The amount of food banks in uk is horrific.
But to get good bread in uk is difficult in some areas. The bread sold in my mums local bakery isn’t great either. I work in Belgium and the long life bread here is niche. Babies are given veg and nutrition is a topic at school. I think though all European countries are struggling at some level.

Agree with not having a total ban but I am shocked at the number of posters who claim allowing free access to everything and children to ‘self-regulate’ is the answer. My children would not be able to resist the temptation of sugar laden foods over natural foods if all were freely available as they are too young. The desire for the ultra palatable stuff will always win so we don’t keep it in the house. When at parties, they are not restricted and same goes for holidays

Parenting seems too passive in many cases... They don't want to upset or challenge their poor poppet and give in far too soon on subjects like nutrition, screens, uniform, respectful behaviour etc.

I think that's quite well known now, isn't it?

The problem for some comes when they're a teenager if you've never given them a chance to develop self regulation. Many of DS's friends don't seem to have much control! One of his friend's mum gives her no money now as she just spends it on rubbish. But once she gets a job she'll be able to buy all the rubbish she likes! Hopefully she will be able to learn self regulation pretty quickly herself but personally I'm glad mine learnt much younger. Like you I allowed them to not be restricted outside of the house so they learnt.

Yes, food banks are a massive issue. How do we expect our poorest youngsters to be thriving on our awful school lunches and then tins and packets at home with little fresh food?

When I was younger, all home cooked meals, not huge portions and a treat was Sunday roast and home baked dessert, also only takeaway fish n chips very occasionally or extre Chinese leftovers. Mum walked us everywhere, to school, visit friends, as teens we walked or cycled everywhere.

Now, guilty of the same, going out to parks, the beach etc usually involves some sort of fast food and we drive DC to school (primary).

So much has changed, especially food delivery. We do this maybe every other month, friends do it weekly, some several times a week!

There also seems to be an obsession about kids being full and feeding them far too much. They're always hungry! Xx

Out of interest when did you grow up?

We always had elevenses and tea between meals but the bread and butter wasn't homemade although the jam was! This was in the 80s.

At a lecture given by the head of Christian Aid (Loretta Minghella) she emphasized that no family is below the poverty line in UK. The need and desire to cook from scratch has been eradicated by Just Eat et al and a lack of motivation, despite the hundreds of hours of cooking channel in MSM & Social media. Nutrition is not seen as important until it’s too late.

Spot on.

Sorry, but I call bullshit.

I live in a deprived area and I don't know a single person who regularly eats takeaways more than once a week.

A family friend owns a takeaway and he, and others who he speaks to who run takeaways are struggling massively with rising costs and low sales. People are not using Just Eat instead of cooking, they simply cannot afford to.

Sorry, but I call bullshit.

I live in a deprived area and I don't know a single person who regularly eats takeaways more than once a week.

A family friend owns a takeaway and he, and others who he speaks to who run takeaways are struggling massively with rising costs and low sales. People are not using Just Eat instead of cooking, they simply cannot afford to.

Loretta Minghella gave a lecture at Keele World Affairs, you can check it out from the archives, where she stated no one is below the poverty line in the UK.

Add to that, my sister has a sandwich shop and has signed up to Just Eat. Her most notorious order was for two slices of toast . . . 6 doors away.

So no bullshit, I disagree with you @frequency, it’s too easy to dial a delivery, far more time consuming and difficult to cook.

As you walk into my local Tesco Extra, the main aisle as you walk in has massive baskets full of junk foods. This week are Fox Chocolate cookies, Bahlsen chocolate biscuits, Big bags of crisps, Lindt chocolates, and more. All on Clubcard promotional pricing.

I realise they do this because they’re impulse buy items but it seems very manipulative and cynical in an obesity crisis.

I imagine the government will ban this kind of merchandising at some point, but I’m surprised that Tesco, with all their focus on cutting out all added sugar from kids food like yoghurts, are not proactively reducing this prominent, in your face style merchandising and showcasing of junk food.

Pretty hard for a DC to get good nutrition from school lunches and the food bank.

The only thing Tesco - and most supermarkets- care about is profit. Processed foods have higher profit margins and are less perishable than fresh items, added to which sugar is addictive,of course they are going to push them.

Reduced sugar yoghurts etc. for DCs are to try and pretend that they actually care about nutrition. If you want a healthy yoghurt, buy greek plain and add your own ingredients ( I didn't when DS was young,I confess but I do now).

Tesco has always been particularly cynical.

So many people seem to love berating others, snooping on their neighbours and tracking what they eat for breakfast, and piously judging their every move from their personal pedestal.

Pretty sure none of that will solve the health crisis.

I agree, tbh. When people claim they see all these DC off to school eating sweets for breakfast - it does seem a bit odd. I've never once stood at my window watching school children going past looking at what they are or are not eating (having also been spying in to their kitchens to check they hadn't already had a nutritious breakfast of course!) I think perhaps some people exaggerate. The whole thing of everyone brings a snack to the school gates - I never have and I rarely saw her friends eating a snack either (unless the birthday sweets!) I mean yes, I'm not saying I never saw a DC being given a snack but it was far from universal.

I went to the Tesco Express at the end of my road for frozen peas and they don't sell them. Pretty much all of the frozen section was meals and the rest was puddings.

Add to that, my sister has a sandwich shop and has signed up to Just Eat. Her most notorious order was for two slices of toast . . . 6 doors away

I've done similar before. I ordered a coffee from Gregg's about a 10-minute walk away. The kids drank the last of the milk overnight and I was alone at work (WFH) until 9am so couldn't get out to the shop. I needed coffee and couldn't face black coffee that morning, so I ordered one until I could get to the shop.

Gregg's sent water instead by accident. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. It was almost a year ago and I still haven't forgiven that Gregg's worker

There will be a similar story behind the toast order. No one Ubers/Just Eats toast because they CBA to make it themselves.

I've seen teenagers eating the most disgusting looking processed shit that I've ever come across. It's stuff that's not even in regular supermarkets. Just weird cakey things with stuff oozing out.
It's sad seeing them eat stuff like that. They trust it's food and they probably understand it's junk but not that it's harmful. It's such a deception.

No one Ubers/Just Eats toast because they CBA to make it themselves.

Yes they do. My brother is a Uber driver and is constantly amazed at what people order and how much they pay. Stuff for breakfast is where he makes the most money. People will order a hash brown from Macdonalds and he will get their, having been paid £9, and they hand it to a child in a school uniform. In the evenings people will order one magnum from the corner shop. Or a 7up. Which will cost them about a tenner.

Check out Jack Monroe. Both inspirational, motivating and helpful.

My poor sweet summer child.

There definitely people ordering toast because they can't be bothered.

My friend spent £16 getting 2 tubes if pringles delivered because he couldn't be bothered to walk across the road to the corner shop. He also spent over £20 to get a pizza delivered because he couldn't be bothered with getting one out of the freezer and cooking it. He got a cup of hot chocolate delivered at around £8, because he couldn't be bothered to make one in the kitchen.