Childhood obesity

[Unopenedpackofmenssocks]

New report lists 9 areas of England where the majority of children will be overweight or obese by 2035.

It’s got me thinking about what causes childhood obesity. I have an 8 year-old who doesn’t like football, can’t ride a bike, never took to his scooter. spends a lot of time on a screen at home. Has does run about at school playtime and PE lessons and he likes climbing so goes to a class once a week for an hour.

He has an incredibly sweet tooth. I don’t allow unlimited desserts/sweets but I know for a fact we are much more liberal than many of his friends’ parents. The only things we are strict on are no fizzy drinks, Haribo type sweets maybe once a week, and no sugary cereal.

But he has something chocolate after every dinner and also when he gets in from school. Breakfast is a toasted fruit tea cake dripping in butter. He steals honey and Nutella from the cupboard when he thinks we aren’t looking.

We drive to school. We don’t go on family walks and our favourite joint family activity is watching Saturday night TV together. Our garden only has a small patch of lawn 2mx 4m and he has no siblings so doesn’t naturally run about playing at home.

He eats limited vegetables and his favourite foods are nuggets and pizza. He eats pasta with tomato sauce and cheese every single day at school lunch, won’t touch anything else. He has never eaten large portions though. We have no issue with McDonalds/fast food in general but he’s not a huge fan, maybe eat it once a month. Subway usually.

He is very slim and his teeth have no decay (was last at dentist 2 weeks ago).

My husband and I are both overweight BMI, on the brink of obese, but we were both naturally slim as kids too. I imagine it will catch up with our son when he is an adult, or maybe even sooner. (We all need to make changes and will work on that).

What we most definitely are is financially and socially privileged.

My question is this - these areas where obesity is running rampant are low-income and socially deprived. So what are the other factors caused by social/economic deprivation that mean these kids are obese but mine is not? Or are we literally just a very lucky exception?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/23/majority-children-overweight-obese-nine-areas-england-by-2035-study?CMP=ShareiOSAppOther

I think a social factor that is causing more child obesity is that parents are not being strict enough when kids are young to teach them to make healthy choices.

And the onus is on making healthy choices - not being 'slim' or making the focus on how our bodies look.

I have 2 boys (5 and 8) who, like most other kids, would much prefer to watch a screen than play out, and who love chocolate/sweets/beige food. The things I do to encourage them to be healthier are:

1. Limit snacking. If no snacks are allowed, they will be hungrier at mealtimes and eat more of what is offered (recommend the book "French Children Don't Throw Food"). If they refuse to eat dinner, they can have fruit, bread and butter, or nothing.
2. No choc/sweets during the week. Yoghurt or fruit for dessert Mon-Thurs and then on the weekends, sweets if we have a film night, or an ice cream if we go out etc.
3. No xbox/tablets during the week. They can watch TV only after school. Not food-related but health related as it lessens their addiction to screens.
4. Take them for a walk/outdoor activity, every day if possible. We have endless arguments of 'not wanting to go,' but we don't give in, and take them for a walk in nature, local playgrounds, woods. Once they are out there they enjoy it, and their stamina has gotten much better. Also provides opportunities to talk to them and find out about their lives.
5. Encourage them to participate in a sport. We have tried rugby tots/swimming/football all without success, and now finally our ND 8 year old is interested in attending cricket club. Our littlest likes swimming so this will be his 'sport.' Encouraging sport not only keeps them healthy but helps in later life with their mental health and to make friends.

I see a lot of posts on social media (particularly from mums of little girls) who post lots of 'body positivity' stuff for their overweight kids. I get it - as a millennial woman, I wouldn't want my kids growing up and being taught to hate their bodies as we did, but I also want my kids to learn how to make healthy choices as in spite of body positivity activism, it is likely they will struggle later in life if they are overweight, whether this is not being able to be as active as your peers, or physical or mental health problems.

IMO, the best thing we can do for our kids is teach them to be confident, teach them to love their bodies, yes, but also teach them how to make healthy choices.

Of course children in deprived areas are more prone to obeisty.

Buying 10 frozen items in iceland for £10 and feed you kids for 5 days is much cheaper than making fresh every day.

The kids in deprived areas dont have access to sporting hobbies outside of school clubs and PE. Children in more affluent areas have gymnastics, dance, football, tennis etc.

They dont have the area around them for safe outdoor play. The grey tarmacd park in the middle of a council estate with young adults smoking weed of injecting harder drugs isnt the same as the lovely parks surrended by fields woods and greenery other children get to go to.

One family maybe be able to afford day trips to theme parks, zoos and iceskating, bowling etc, 2 weeks holidays spent in pools and exploring the towns and culture where they go. The other family may only be able to afford to treat their child with an ice cream once a week.

Why on earth are you concerned about anyone else right now? You need to turn things around with your son ASAP.

In my opinion, allowing a child to eat absolute shit and sit on a screen all day, all whilst doing 0 exercise is child neglect.

From your OP he doesn't eat big meals and does move around a bit at playtime so may be eating about the right quantity of calories, even if half of it is utter crap.

Imagine the same child but -
loves their food, eats seconds of everything;
lives in a home where everything is cooked in ghee or butter;
not interested in running around at breaktime/no space for it.

Their weight may increase slowly, but it'll be increasing and over a year you'll notice it.

I'd echo what others wrote though, whether you want advice or not - you seem to have a clear understanding of how you all eat and move. You are shoring up some potentially serious problems for your family. You'd do really well to think of a few very simple changes you could make to benefit you all, and implement them. One walk instead of drive to school a week? One breakfast of porridge? One walk together somewhere on the weekend? One idea for a treat that isn't food? A dessert of something other than chocolate?

Dirt poor immigrant areas don't have obesity afaik.
Why is that?

It's not all about cheap food.

It's about too much of it and lack of exercise.

Food poverty has always existed, but such a huge amount of childhood obesity hasn't.

Constant snacking, games consoles, tonnes of TV channels and kids no longer being allowed to play out all day is why we have an obesity problem imo.

So many parents moaning about the 'tiny' portions when their kids have school dinners - they're not, they're a child suitable portion.

But you should see some of the banquets brought in when they take their own lunch.

One of my three children is overweight despite my best efforts to combat this. She doesn't have a sweet tooth but loves crisps and cheese, which I limit. She drinks only water and milk and I cook from scratch 90% of the time. takeaways are a rare occurrence. We walk to and from school each day, she plays team sports weekly and and swim regularly. Her dad is a 'big build' as are his siblings and parents and we joke that he puts half a stone on just by looking at a mars bar. Genetics have a bigger influence in my daughters case I think.

Thank you to those who understood my question. Since it’s obviously not clear to many, I’ll do a TL:DR.

Research shows poor/socially deprived kids are fat and getting fatter. My kid eats pretty badly and could do more exercise but we’re rich and he’s at private school. Is he just lucky not to have felt the impact of our terrible parenting so far or is there something else about being of lower socio-economic status that makes you fat?

Totally agree. It’s bizarre to read a parent so very aware of the unhealthiness but seemingly completely unwilling to do anything about their child’s health.

It's hard to tell. Both of mine are really skinny in comparison to their peers, but look exactly like their Asian dad when he was their age, so it's genetic. On the other hand I've been told that the favourite food of the most of the class is McDonalds'... people in general were much more lean 50 years ago - I think it's mostly due to the culture of snacking. It was not there when I was a kid and we only had sweets at Christmas.

Lack of education.

I was obese as a child and my Mum would swear I ate healthy. To be fair we didn’t eat junk. No chicken nuggets, burgers or other beige foods. Everything was home cooked but my portions were HUGE. I wasn’t allowed to leave the table until my plate had been cleared- this mindset also definitely contributed towards me developing an eating disorder.

We bleat on about healthy foods but some people still have no awareness of portion sizes and how many calories are in food. Just because it’s not frozen doesn’t mean a 6 year old can have a huge portion of pasta with seconds because they have a “healthy appetite”.

The something else is poor food culture and lack of cooking knowledge.

I grew up in a deprived immigrant area. No child was fat. Because they ate lentils, veg and fish.Didn't eat processed food.

I wouldn’t say he’s lucky to not have had the effects. He might not be overweight but he’s probably not healthy. And as you’ve said both you and your husband are overweight, I think it’s unlikely that the combination of genes, lack of exercise and crap diet will keep him slim.

Whoosh!

II think the OP is wondering why her son is slim in spite of the things she lists. Diet, sedentary lifestyle, overweight parents.
So why is he slim in spite of this? Is it because he is not underprivileged?
A lot is in the genes IMO. Diet can overcome a natural tendency to be fat or thin but not entirely.
You don't give his age, my guess would be he's still very young and these factors may well lead to weight gain just prior to puberty.

We are slim parents from slim families, used to eating what we like. Both DC were skinny up to age 10 in spite of being allowed to pretty much eat anything as long as they ate the healthy stuff as well .
The elder one spent his teens trying to gain weight and as an adult is very slim. The younger one started to look chubby around 10 and still is age 25. It was difficult to manage as he was never able to eat the same as his sibling.

I do believe some people are just more drawn to food and find it more difficult to resist than others. And lots of people are just not sporty...i have one DC who loves sport and another who absolutely hates it and dreads pe. But, you are the parent and it is your responsibility to try to get him into good habits now....for his future health at least

Yes, this.

I’ve been slim all my life but I haven’t always been healthy or done much exercise. In my twenties I survived almost exclusively on pizza and chocolate but not enough of it to make me overweight. I had friends who were heavier but probably healthier as they were eating more nutritious food (but more calories overall than me).

This is an interesting topic so I’ll add my data. I’m a single parent on a below- average income. I have two children who are slim and fit. They eat way too much sugar at the weekends and we are a pescatarian family who eat lots of carbs. We have active dogs so walk a lot and have easy access to beautiful walks. They walk to school and have lots of physical chores to do at home such as mowing the lawn. One does karate and goes to the gym after school. If we do Parkrun, they can easily out pace me. So I would say that regular physical exercise plays a big part. I also cook from scratch 80% of the time and was raised that way.

I was a slim child and adult right until my 30s but then stacked on weight due to sedentary life style and wine. I’ve lost all the excess now and trying to instill the importance of exercise and moderation in the DC. In our community, I see so many obese kids. Our neighbours would drive their very obese kids to school each day (10 minute walk).

Based on mine and DH's genetics and the DCs so far, there's a lot of luck... until 30 when we need to be more concious about fuelling our bodies. So we do need to be raising our DCs with knowledge of good nutrition and movement habits to give them a good foundation for life even if teenage growth spurts are giving them a lot of slack at the moment.

My observation of some families I've known long term (poverty not being a factor) is that their children were always heavy early on... it was just "puppy fat" to begin with... then the yR and y6 letters were obviously wrong because they're just "big boned". They were children not naturally inclined to be energetic to start with, but the heavier you get, the harder it is to be energetic.

I've known Cubs struggling with basic movements like getting up off a floor, or climbing around age appropriate play areas. Any attempt at running rapidly ends up in a red-faced, sweaty mess and it must feel so unpleasant for the child, and it's discouraging for them to keep participating. Even walking is very slow and ploddy. When they do sport like football, there's a lot of still time loitering (often in goal). The parents massively over-estimate the quantity and quality of the movement that their children are getting, and out of balance with their intake of food.

On one walk the pace was painfully slow to the point that the organisers thought we had an incident because it took so long to reach a checkpoint. The children had huge lunch boxes rammed with sandwiches, yoghurts, cakes, biscuits, crisps, cheese, peperami. It was something of everything; not a cake or a biscuit, a cheese or a peperami. And the volume of food (and drinks) made the bags really heavy for the children to carry.

It's not helped by the marketing of sweet, bland aesthetic foods at children, or the prevelence of excessively sweet/ fatty items like freakshakes. Traditional diets of regular adult food aren't promoted, and it's difficult if children don't have a taste for a balanced range of food. (Sensory issues are a whole other league)

There's also an issue of Disney Dads/ NRP or childcare by extended family where children are regularly over-fed with love or to keep children quiet, and that's difficult for the resident parent to balance the consumption up. Weekly patterns aren't treats, they're routines.

It's incredibly sad and is setting the children up for a difficult unhealthy life that is hard to turn around. The parents often have their own poor habits and are often in denial or lack knowledge, but its such an emotive subject to deal with.

I am alarmed at what your child eats tbh... he might not be fat now but he will be quite soon!

Probably the type of food available, at least in part. Orwell was writing over a hundred years ago about how the availability of sugar changed the face of food in poverty in the west and it's clear to see the effect the progression of that over that period of time.

Also, I know you will say "not the point of the post" but then why list his diet?

It's difficult to pin point what's caused it.

I was raised eating half good homecooked food, and half absolute junk. I had chocolate wheetos, Frosties, Sugar Puffs or coco pops for breakfast. I had jam sandwiches on white bread for lunch, a wagon wheel and a can of coke!
I ate SO many sweets.

I'm 41 and just had my first filling last year! I've also only ever been slim, despite never being encouraged to do any exercise,although I've ended up an exercise fanatic as an adult (mum has never done any and has been overweight her whole life). I'm from a working class background, but my middle class friends had similar diets (lots of chicken kievs, "micro chips" (remember those?) and other junk foods). When we got to secondary school and had our own pocket money, everyone bought doughnuts by the bag, and chips from the chippy at lunch time, on top of their packed lunch. We were all stick thin.

Is it the sheer availability and portion sizes of food now? I ate lots of crap, but never in the form of massive takeaways. And portion sizes across the board were very small. I had a can of coke a day, but it would have been one of those mini ones - we never had access to big bottles to pour our own. Remember how tiny an old school packet of Walkers crisps used to be?

Mum was fanatical about making me drink a lot of milk! I still love it today, I don't know if there's anything in that.

Google epigenetics + obesity.