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.

Unless you live somewhere around the polar circle, it's not really a harsh climate.

British kids are definitely much chubbier than overseas counterparts- and it starts young-

Babies with rolls of dimpled fat on them- that is down to overfeeding, surely, as a baby cannot exercise much.

Some children are lean- but these are probably physically active.

Ok this has the potential to be a can of worms but do our breastfeeding rates have anything to do with it compared to other countries where more babies are breastfed? Especially now people seem to be told to formula feed on demand.

What happens after weaning (from breast or bottle) is far more influential on long term health. You could be breastfed for a year but spend the next 15 years eating chicken nuggets, chips and pizzas.... And please dont think that never happens!

DT’s were formula fed on demand but never had any weight problems growing up. Minimum treat type foods (didn’t have crisps and chocolate bars available at home), no cooking different meals (no fussy eaters), lots of sport activities = healthy young adults.

You’ve misstepped here I’m afraid. Mumsnetters enjoy agreeing it’s all the parents’ fault for feeding chicken nuggets and being lazy shits but are not up for discussing breastfeeding. Apparently formula is the only UPF that is totally fine to make up 100% of children’s diets.

How can you formula feed on demand? It doesn't change it's consistency does it?

I think introducing non-natural food for a baby increases inflammation. But how significant that is, I don't know.

Why cant you formula feed on demand?

It’s been very well studied and there is a link but it’s small - not enough to account for the rise by a long way

When you breastfeed you milk changes consistency based on if the baby is hungry or just thirsty or just needing comfort so they baby can never eat too much.

But formula remains as 'food'.

As I said it’s been well studied

You can - we fed them a bottle whenever they wanted one. They very quickly self regulated to every 3-4 hours.

I know you can, I was wondering why that poster thinks you cant

Because that was always the advice we were given. That you shouldn't demand feed a formula fed baby. And it makes sense. If every time I breastfeed my DC they were getting the equivalent of a formula feed it would be too much. Formula babies would put on a lot more weight than breast fed babies even if being fed every 3-4 hours so I think that's where the concern came from. If you give them a bottle when they just need a drink or comfort then it's not good for them.

The staff at the baby clinic did say Breast Fed babies were leaner than Formula Fed babies.
Interesting hypothesis.

They are. Lots of us have health visitors panicking that our babies weren't putting on enough weight because the growth charts are based on FF babies that have a different pattern of weight gain.

Worked for us - healthy babies and happy parents.

That's great to hear!

I suspect in reality a parent of FF babies doesn't feed them on demand in the same way a breast feeding mother does so not so much of a problem.

Links between childhood nutrition and cognitive performance throughout life.

So you meant you shouldnt, not that you cant

Most dont give a full feed though in those circumstances, just a small amount

And to be honest I think babies are a bit of a red herring.

I think its linked directly to poverty and parents mental health.

It is a worry, but its symptomatic of so many other things. I work in a school in pastoral support and most parents that use the food bank are working. The food we can provide is basic pasta and canned foods. Childen get a healthy meal at school but outside of school parents provide what they can and often its cheap junk.

Not all parents though. Some are too permissive about junk food and takeaways.