To be shocked at the level of obesity of British children?

[MEM00]

Having recently come back from holiday I found myself really shocked by the size of so many other British kids at the resort we were at. It was mostly a mix of British, French and German families and I found it impossible to not notice the difference in the British kids compared to others. DD is 8 and I would say average sized, by no means skinny. She made friends with another girl the same age by the pool, and i'm not joking when i say the other girl must have been twice the size when they were next to each other.

Am i overthinking this? Because it really makes me worry for the future.

This isn't intended by be 'fat shaming' in any way btw.

My ASD 12yo is too immature to walk alone so I have to walk with her. Gives us both a walk. Nothing wrong with that! She'll become independent when she's ready.

Maybe but there's plenty of crisps too!

I've always thought its easier to regulate your child's diet rather than your own.

So I set a good example during the day and after bedtime I may slip up on my healthy eating.

I never give in to snack requests in shops and supermarkets. Because of this they never ask!

Its really all to do with parents not thinking everything through isn't it?

I live in a country on the 'mainland' and never see child size bags of crisps. Small range of large bags, bought for sharing.

Parker231
maybe it depends on the place- I just know my nieces and nephews are always off on swimming days/ camps and hikes with school and that’s true that it’s not up to the school but Germany is a lot more flexible with school/ school hours and work so maybe that affords parents all more time? All just a guess really!!

Not in the ones I get! You're lucky if you get ten! But anyway, it's beside the OPs point. Sorry for diversion.

I used to hate liver!! Maybe your mother cooked it better than mine! 😄

We had lots of crumbles on a Sunday too!

Because children have become "little emperors" and must have what they want when they want it and must never be cold /tired/hungry/stressed/hot/bored etc etc etc

I do remember though at Primary in the 80s lots of kids bringing in multiple packs of those cheap crisps. Our school introduced a rule - only 1 packet of crisps at break!

Not so easy when they are at school!

Loads of good explanations here - not much original to add, but just to reinforce:

Netflix, social media, computer games - many children and adults spend most of their free time doing these things rather than more physical activities.

Fast food or takeaways: I have about one takeaway a year (mainly they're so expensive - I'm no angel!!) but I learn by reading MN that some people have them more than once a week and some almost every night. I count Gregg's and similar into this category.

Fizzy, sugary drinks - say no more. Luckily for me I was never allowed them and have never got the taste for them, and I'm grateful for this.

The idea that you can seriously eat: full breakfast (fry-up and/or toast/croissants/cereal/pastries) then lunch (full meal or carby stodge of some variety plus pudding) and supper (big meal or takeaway, large portions and pudding). Plus snacks, of course. NO YOU CAN'T! This is propaganda. There is just no way it can be made to work with the recommended calorie intake for men and woman. Something has to snap (probably one's knicker elastic).

Lack of willingness to take any personal responsibility - you can see it on this thread from the people who avoid the OP's point and accuse pps of'fat shaming'.

Plus, in some demographics, as pps say, it's become so normalised. People think waddling along out of breath when you're young is normal - it's not! So there's no peer pressure or aspiration to keep fit and healthy.

I don't think we can let people off by saying they don't know about healthy eating. They must have been living on the moon - they just don't want to hear that message.

The wartime generations had to make do with rations and, horrible though it was, they were healthier for it.

I think the latest thinking is that fat (not trans fats etc) are good in moderation and we shouldn't demonise them. Protein and fresh plants - great. The real baddie, I think, is carbs. They are responsible for so much damage in terms of diabetes and raising cholesterol. Shame they're my favourite food group - but at least I know that and I care enough about myself to limit them.

Another obesity thread!

I have noticed overweight children among all nationalities on holiday. It is so widespread that there is clearly more to it than parenting.

In Spain and Holland I have to say the range is pretty big! Although perhaps not quite as big as the UK!

Exactly this. Packed lunches are as awful as school dinner offerings. I’ve just made DS’s for tomorrow - he’s got a cheese and ham wrap, an apple and a packet of snack a jacks. That’s plenty, but the amount of parents who feel the need to jam-pack a lunchbox with ‘treats’ is ridiculous.

FWIW my DS is overweight and I’m trying my best to tackle is as I don’t want him set up for a lifetime of weight struggles like me. He’s 7.5 years old and weighs 38kg at 143cm tall. So he’s heavy but also very tall and whilst he doesn’t look obese, he’s still carrying extra weight. He’s grown 5cm in the past year and lost 4kg because he has no appetite on his ADHD meds.

I think the shift from letting children play out is a massive, massive part of this. At my DC’s age (mid primary) I’d be out for hours playing in the street. We don’t let children do that as much any more. And I think the consequence of this is that parents have less time to do household tasks, so shove children in front of screens more to claw back that time. More families have more working parents too, so school runs are done in the car.

We spend a LOT of time making sure DC get enough exercise and they are a healthy weight, but it is time consuming (and can be expensive if you use swimming pools, clubs etc). I can understand how we as a population are at this point. DC has 2 best friends and they are both obese, and I would consider their parents to be well educated, loving, attentive etc.

Our school is up the road from a Tesco , the kids go in and buy whatever shit is on offer. 5 cookies for a pound, bag of jam doughnuts , 2L bottles of pop. Despite telling parents we would confiscate , and giving g very fair warning, we still get loads of complaints if little Johnny buys a 2L bottle of coke and I suggest he might not want to drink all that in one day and I confiscate, parents are vile and insist they are happy with him.eating 5 jam doughnuts a day and a 2 L bottle of coke. EVERY DAY .

I think that is more true of Germany/the Netherlands. But I thought French DC did only academic at school?

@crochetmonkey74 our PRIMARY SCHOOL banned energy drinks last term and there was absolute uproar. It was ridiculous.

It's mental at the moment in teaching isn't it?
Parents are crazy

😮😮😮

A child is not able to have control over the food that is provided to them, and it is 100% on parents to do better if their DC are obese.
This idea that it’s really difficult/expensive/time-consuming to feed a child healthily is absolute nonsense.
Dinner: 10 mins boil some wholegrain pasta, can of chopped tomatoes, frozen peas, frozen spinach, sprinkle on some cheese, chuck it in the oven for 10mins. Costs less than 90p per serving, protein from peas and cheese, slow release carbs from w/g pasta, and iron + other mins and vits from the 3 types of veg. There are 100s of similar meals.
We are not wealthy at all and that’s partly why our meals ARE healthy. It is so much cheaper to buy basic and make your own than to buy convenience foods.

I can't be alone in thinking WHO IN THE FUCK GIVES A PRIMARY AGED KID ENERGY DRINKS
...last thing my kids need. The thought of it gives me nightmares 😱

I think knowing when you are full is something that’s been lost

I'm very lucky with my kids as both will stop when they are full. I don’t think that’s down to my parenting!

we never had dessert - maybe a piece of fruit but generally it was just a main course. Neither of my teens like cakes and biscuits much. That was how I was brought up though - dessert was once a week on a Sunday and it tended to be non stodgy (creme caramel/choc mousse) and home made. I’d we had cake or biscuits they were homemade.

it’s obviously so much easier to buy ready made dessert/cake/biscuit etc but I do think the UPF are addictive

but ultimately people need to want to change and it’s hard to do as I think a lot of people are addicted

Both France and Germany have shorter days/an afternoon off (often Wednesdays in France and German schools often finish at lunchtime) so the sports provisions traditionally the responsibility of parents to arrange in the non school time

Funny that, we only got dessert on a Sunday too. And it was usually homemade apple tart or jelly and ice cream. Vienetta for special occasions 😂