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.

I often think this.

Judgement and shame are evolutionary traits for the greater good. They get us to act in the best interest of the group.

If you feel "bad" when you're shamed for negative behaviour, that's normal.

Our society should bring shame back for many things.

Exactly. And the 2005 Augustus had to be a lot bigger because the 1970s overweight boy wasn’t overweight for an audience 35 years later.

85% yanbu
I sometimes do fundraising event which involves finding clothes to fit kids...
The sizes some of them wear, at 10-12 yrs old, but still far from adult....

I'm tall & proper brawny & only like loose fit while so many of these kids < 14yo are wearing clothes sizes much bigger than me to get anything to fit at all (even a snug fit). We constantly short of the larger sizes (>38 " chest or 28" waist). 28" is too small a waist on many pre-teen children...

They have Big waists, big chests (not the girls who went thru puberty). The arms are a top are long enough but no way can they button that item up across their chest.

The sporty trim kids really stand out, whippet like more energetic and we have plenty of clothes in their sizes.

I wonder how the parents feel about their large offspring. The parents seem oblivious rather than pragmatic. It's not my problem, the future will sort itself, the kids just need clothes. Thing is, I can't help but notice.... there are a lot of big kids.

Don't be shocked.

Look up the causes of obesity and understand why.

Of course supermarkets are commercial entities but you still have agency in your choices. I can't help but notice the mountains of crap people pile into their shopping trolly, literally all processed high salt and sugar laden shit. It's not cheap either, it's just appallingly bad diet as a result of appalling choices.

Firstly, regardless of the kcals it is teaching DC that it is normal to eat junk everyday.

And secondly - a DC could have 3 doughnuts for lunch if they like at secondary. I doubt that is only 300kcals!

But average size these days IS overweight …8 years olds SHOULD be skinny…you SHOULD be able to see ribs…..clothing sizes for kids is much bigger than it used to be ….eg bigger waists and hips….my 3 GD would all be classed as ‘skinny’ these days …..but they are no different to my DD and in turn myself when we look at photos…..and we were ‘normal’ size ……it won’t change now …..lifestyles have changed too drastically

It is neglect. Same with state of british children's teeth compared to others. Heart breaking

I don't tend to think too much about it until they hit puberty tbh, my eldest was chubby as a kid, real chubby, though ate perfectly balanced.Then he hit puberty at 13 and within a year was a 6ft2 gangly thing and has remained that way at almost 20. Yet my middle one has severe SN and ate mostly beige food throughout his childhood and had to have extra calorie smoothies to help him keep weight on!

My youngest was referred by the GP for being underweight. When we went to the dietician she shook her head and said she has seen it all now. She said he is perfectly healthy and that we have lost the sense of what a healthy weight is.

I can notice it in school photos. I am a solid 14/16 and short so I look quite like a little barrel, there are kids in my form (year 9) who are much much fatter than me. It's the first time that's happened (last few years) in my whole teaching career

If you want to see fat, go on youtube and look at American teenagers.

Our food system is fucked. A junk diet has been normalised.

@Riversideandrelax I agree depending on what the meal is, pasta meals I can feed 5 and have leftovers but people complain if it’s say a chicken meal with potatoes and veg always complaints of it being too small but it’s probably what a normal portion is really

So if it was that simple why didn't you do that? Why did you put on weight?

I must admit I don't know how a cat can be overweight. They get as much exercise as they want and very picky about what they eat and don't just wolf down anything in sight like a dog!!

We have American friends and none of them are big, it depends where you go I guess. My kids are slim and I have always been told about them being too thin, skinny etc etc when they are just a normal weight. You can see toddlers who are going to be overweight and their parents just don't see it. Four year old used to be skinny, now you see them very solid looking with a belly and people think that it is normal.

My DC is not overweight, but it costs a lot to provide a good nutritious diet. We really spend a lot on food. I think it must be really hard for people who don't have the money.

I'm not making excuses. I'm stating facts. There may be a whole internet of nutrition advice, but you're not going to be looking for it if you already think you're doing ok.

I haven't read the whole thread but think it's down to multiple factors. As a nation our diets have changed to include a lot more carb based meals like pasta, burgers in buns, etc. In the past meat and two veg was more of a staple diet. Snacking seems to be a huge industry and you can't walk down a high stretch without tripping over coffee shops selling drinks loaded with cream and an array of cakes and snacks. Kids are less active, often busy working parents don't have time to facilitate walking to school, kids sport activities cost a fortune. I worked in an area with deprivation and many of the teenagers were quite overweight, I now work in a selective school and the intake is affluent and many of the children to multiple addional (expensive) sporting activities and there are very few overweight students. Plus gaming is now a much more common way for teenagers to connect, they no longer go out and meet up so much. We also spend a lot more time sitting down watching TV with all the many streaming platforms. Plus food quality is poor, many foods are loaded with sugar, salt and palm oil, none if this is any good for us.

You don't need to heat a fan oven or an air fryer.

@SlowlyForward I disagree, I actually think healthy can easily be cheaper. Take aways, fizzy drinks and unnecessary snacks like crisps and chocolate can quickly add up. I drink water and the healthy food I eat such as fruit, vegetables and beans don't cost much at all. I love the Aldi tofu block and that's only 99p.

Too much time being sedentary, not enough exercise, PE in schools being cut etc.

Weight is almost entirely about diet.

Exercise massively contributes to weight control.

Just been having a similar conversation this morning. It seems like everyone I know is overweight even friends from the gym in the main are still weighty. We seem to have moved the goalposts on what is normal and if we don't face up to it I don't know where it's going to end. I was in B&M whilst discussing this and looking at the aisles of cereal it's not surprising kids are fat as most of it was crappy coloured sugary rubbish

A lot of it is because of this American junky fast food coming over here, parents not saying no, nowadays a lot of babies eat crisps for dinner and weaning