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.

It's not half but in secondary school, we are seeing far more. Generally bigger but we are having students now where their weight is actually stopping them doing things like having lessons on the 3rd floor etc never seen that before. Our school uniform stockist has now had to expand sizes significantly.
I'd say 30-35% of our kids are overweight at a noticeably obese level

But the difference is their dad did not have a childhood of healthy eating to fall back on. My DC do.

Waffles aside, a lot of the problem with secondary schools is that lunchtimes aren’t long enough.

Those at the end of the queue in a half hour lunch break have to grap and go. They don’t have time to eat properly.

mine boarded and the food was fantastic
( really nothing like trad school meals at all ) and there was plenty of it but yes they had tuck money and did spend it Ours on sharing ( twins ) a once a fortnight delivered subway but others with their £250 a week to spend certainly didn’t hold back on a pizza delivered.
Mine have attended two PSs and the food in both I’d say was outstanding as I often ate it as well if I was there.

Its not easy! Humans seek out food, seek out high calorie food. We are designed that way

But we also have agency and choice and you have to make that choice.

Im incredibly greedy, love my food and was bought up on massive portions. Ive learned the hard way that its no great hardship to feel hungry for a while and its ok to have a small portion, it really is all you need.

But the reasons Dc may not be given a healthy diet are about their parents. So therefore likely to be just as complex!

I don’t think it’s easy.
It requires an awful lot of willpower.

Secondary school is different I'd say. I was speaking on primary school because we have the usual thread about how English parents are lazy and stupid and feed their kids nothing but chocolate and crisps while the French are perfect and eating fillet steak and asparagus. With previous poster claiming half of primary school kids are obese.

At secondary age it's impossible for parents to control what their kid eats even if you don't give them pocket money/lunch money they can get a newspaper delivery job or just eat the junk their friends eat. Popping in the shop on the way to school and buying a load of sweets and chocolate I remember almost every kid did this at my secondary. We can only really educate them on healthy food and hope they listen

Another thought
My kids didn’t send out for their ‘subway’ because their school food was bad they did it because they liked the independence
paying, ordering, receiving and away from home as well…yay!

Ultra processed food is a massive problem in the UK (and many other countries).
Highly recommend reading Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken. Will change the way you eat and feed your children.

As he says, it's not you, it's the food.

For some people it will require a whole relearning about food, and the harmful effects of UPFs, for example, so informed "choices" can be better made.

Yes the NHS funds lots of anti obesity treatment. I mean whether they work and people are crying out for them is another thing! We fund them all the same.

But there are health coaches and online programmes. There are certain programmes for people with particular illnesses. There are drugs that are prescribed. The injections you could get here but the programme has been paused due to demand exceeding the amount of the drug that is available.

Meant to say in person groups too and Weight watchers and Slimming world are sometimes funded.

The conversation is literally about how normal it is to see children who appear bigger than children in our youth. It's not normalising it to keep your mouth shut, because it IS already statistically and anecdotally normal. To think that your judgement will change anything for any child on a day to day level other than making them feel terrible, is very deluded of you. Unless you are aiming to give children mental health problems? Is that what you are hoping to do?

Really think about it. We can never know what's going on in a family's life. I've worked with children who have to take medication for some very serious conditions and significant weight gain is a side-effect. Those judgemental side-glances from adults obviously thinking that all the kid needs is some carrots, are absolutely devastating at what is already a very difficult time. Perhaps there could be scope for education and healthier eating in some families but I promise you that rude judgements about the children in the family is not the way to support and encourage healthy eating.

So what are the anti obesity treatments

We dont fund injections, Ive never heard of anyone getting the injections unless they're type 2 diabetic

Or are you talking about Orlistat?

Are you talking about referrals to the health programmes (which I personally couldnt access because it was in work time)

Are you talking about referrals to slimming world and such like - what is the efficacy rate of those?

I believe its also at home, not just kids buying junk. I firmly believe they've put shit in the food to make it cheaper and its messed all our taste buds up . Very simply and anecdotally, I've not had much to eat for the last two weeks as I've been ill and lost my sense of taste. I've been eating lots of crunchy veg, homemade soup , dry toast etc 2 weeks ago, I'd need a sugar or sweetener in a coffee or I found it too bitter. My friend took me out for a coffee and cake today as a treat for feeling better coffee was fine with no sugar and as for the cake. I couldn't eat more than 2 bites, it tasted so sweet! I really believe everything is messed up with us and food. They have commodified taste and texture to be addictive.

and obesity transfers into adulthood most of the time. Diabetes and so many other medical issues in the making. Sad and tragic for the individuals, but a disaster for the NHS and our taxes.

They do before school, lunchtime and after school sports clubs at my DD's state school. Some schools have shortened lunchtimes so no time for clubs which is a shame as such a good chance to get the DC being active.

That's good to hear.

Wouldn't it be lovely if government or charity funding (eg Nat Lottery) were to back small businesses who aim to deliver healthy foods to low income areas preferentially?

A girl can dream, I guess.

Again a very specific situation which doesn't account for the wider general trend

If there was any other lifestyle choices that were harmful to children, no one would be claiming that to judge a parent for that would 'give the child mental health problems'

If I was working with a child who is habitually drinking energy drinks, smoking dope, cigarettes, drinking etc etc, I can easily work with that child with the message 'no'. You dont do this, this is bad for you, you must stop taking these substances, we will help you stop but you must stop.

But the minute its about weight loss its going to give the child mental health problems is it?

We always used to think chip portions were stingy if they fitted them in a tray!! But we only ever got one portion for 2 of us. I'd still never buy a portion of chips per person or a takeaway pizza each. What a waste of food!

Most private school have the space for exercise.Those attending have manjor advantages already. Genetically,early life and so on.

It affects a lot more than that too.
The cost to the NHS is huge.
People living with obesity are also more likely to be out of school or work for physical and/or mental health issues... which in turn has major (negative) impacts on society.

I always did the playground on the way to and from school. In fact my DD and I still go to the park every morning before school and often stop off at a playground on the way home. I think it is good to try and put it into your routine so it's a non-negotiable or just what you always do!