Obese children

[Scarfitwere]

I notice so many obese (primary age) children around these days, it was very apparent at my childrens' sports day and these poor kids could barely do the races. One sat on the side as they were too large to participate at all. I understand overweight adults and it's hard to lose weight etc, but these are young children, their parents control their food intake. Why are so many parents letting their kids get like this? Its setting them up for bullying, not being able to join in sports etc, and health problems. I just don't get it AIBU?

When I was at primary (1960s, so post war, not a lot of food choices) there was ONE overweight child in the entire school. She was my good friend, and so I know her mum was plump too. Back then we had no snacks, there was no eating between meals and very little in the way of prepared food, our mums cooked from fresh every day (and often had to walk into town every day to buy it, we didn't all have fridges). My friend was overweight her entire life - but was always picked out as 'the fat child' in all school photos etc. All the rest of us were skinny and bordering on the underweight.

It is a sad fact that good healthy food can be expensive compared to UPF which is cheap to manufacture. With so many people struggling with the cost of living it is easy to see why people in deprived areas may choose to feed their kids this way . Lack of transport may mean they are restricted to shops within walking distance. Unsafe for kids to walk to school , lack if outdoor spaces and it is no wonder some families are all obese .

some parents just can’t say no to their children. There’s a woman on tik tok who films what her child eats. He’s 5 and eats as much as an adult. He got like 30 Easter eggs at Easter, the mum won’t listen when called out about it. Parents just can’t say no to their children anymore.

And this is why it should be treated as child neglect, the poor kids so unfit at that age. Normally it is when you are at peak fitness and buzzing to be running around. I’m so sad for them

She will probably grow out of it, but just in case she doesn't, look up ARFID.
Meanwhile, make sure she drinks lots and lots of water - not juice, not squash (not even zero calories ones - don't encourage a sweet tooth). Also offer milk, but in addition to water not as an alternative to water.
The liquid will fill her stomach so she will eat less of the 4 food items that are making her put on too much weight.

Agree. I’ve got two children and one is super skinny and the other isn’t fat but definitely heavier built. They have the same diet but the skinny one gets it from her dad and the other I suspect is more like me. I’ve struggled with being slightly overweight all my life. I find it really difficult because both constantly ask for food and I can’t really say yes to one and no to the other. Neither of them are very good at eating protein and things that would fill them up in a healthy way.
People are overweight for all sorts of reasons.
In DD’s class there are probably 6 overweight kids. Three boys and three girls. A couple of them I guess will be on low incomes but not all of them.

Snacking is a big culprit. It's everywhere and is not usually a banana or an apple either.

I don't mean to sound bad, but honestly when I read some of the posts on MN I wonder sometimes if people can last for five minutes without something in their gob! And of course that filters down to children apart from the angels of those perfect parents on MN of course....

I've read things like, I'm going to a wedding, won't get fed till five, what will I bring for the two hour journey and the wait. Then what will I do as I'll be hungry again at ten. Can I bring my own snacks on the plane, I have a big coolbag. Where's the nearest services to X since we'll have been on the road for two hours and will be starving. And so on. It's either boredom, greed, or made up.

There's a lot to be said for three decent meals a day and no snacking (except for special days). How could anyone be hungry with that. Although I do realise that teenagers (especially boys) have hollow legs! But the whole idea of grazing all day is getting on my nerves. So there!

Do you live in a low income area op?

I do know a parent who has an obese child and neither she nor the dad are overweight. Do I win a prize?

I was born in late 1950's and always lived in poorer neighbourhoods until I left home. Council House, "worst" school in area etc etc.

There were zero fat kids. Barely even slightly overweight. Everyone around us was as poor as we were BUT

All meals were home cooked. Fish & chips maybe once a month as a treat - no other takeaways.

Chocolate was only available at Christmas and Easter - or what you could buy with your shilling pw pocket money. Certainly not every day! Same with crisps and pop.

We played outdoors if not raining. All day.

We caught the bus to and from school or walked - 1 1/2 miles each way. Dad drove but never, ever, took any of us to school in the car - no-one did.

Food I think is the biggest factor. Just too much of the wrong type and honestly too cheap by comparison to my childhood.

This thread makes me incredibly sad, that parents are sitting around, judging children and other parents when they have no idea of what could be happening behind the scenes. My daughter has an autoimmune condition which means her thyroid no longer functions. She was always tiny, then slowly started to gain weight around 6 and we couldn’t figure out why as she has a good diet and is active. Now at 8 years old, she’s on the correct medication to control her thyroid levels and the weight is starting to slowly to come off. But the thought of adults judging her, a little girl over something she has no control over is incredibly disappointing.

Yeah but they’re eating a pizza per child and adult. If 3 kids 2 adults that’s £5. For £5 you could get mince, mushrooms onions and spaghetti and make a nutritious spag bol so this argument doesn’t really hold up 🤷‍♀️

DD's in infant school and there aren't many obese kids tbh. However we went to the summer fair last week with the joint junior school and so many year 5s and 6s were obese. Genuinely shocking. I think it's a complex issue though, I assume the parents are aware and not living in complete denial

There’s also a culture of snacking that just wasn’t around when I was a kid. I got three meals a day and maybe an after school snack. Now kids get snacks given to them all the time.

I’m going to get flamed for this, but there was a thread on here a while ago asking how to keep an active toddler entertained during their sibling’s swimming lesson. So much of the advice was to strap them into a buggy with an iPad and snacks. And we’re surprised that toddlers strapped into buggies with screens and snacks turn into overweight/obese kids. 🤷‍♀️

I’m sorry to hear that but you have to see with your own eyes when in a high street / playground / school etc that there are massive kids and massive parents everywhere who have nothing wrong with them and it is just pure greed.

you are in the minority thankfully I wish your daughter well.

There are a lot of lazy and or ignorant parents who take the easy options when feeding their children. My granddaughter gets comments about eating weird food at school in her packed lunch and it's only things like pasta, felafel or soup for instance whilst the comments come from those eating meal deal sandwiches or left over fast food.

When my DC were at primary school a few years ago, it was a regular occurrence to see children being walked to school eating crisps / sweets / fizzy pop at 8.30 am. I would see one child every day struggling to walk they were so big, and they always had a can of pop in their hand.

Honestly, it doesn't cost the earth to do a piece of toast or cereal for them before leaving the house, does it? And if they are pushed for time, then a piece of toast can be eaten on the way - far better than a pack of crisps or sweets IMHO. 🤷‍♀️

My mum was born in 1947 and her grandmother was obese. It was unusual for the time and area (poor) and the doctor prescribed her something called thins, which was ineffective. Fast forward a few years and my mum, her mum, aunt cousins were all diagnosed with thyroid issues (mostly under, a couple over). So poor old great-grandma likely had an underactive thyroid too.

No, quite rural so a mix of incomes

If you look up whole class school photos from the 60s & 70s, working class areas, you will see that there will be one, possibly two, overweight children in a class of 30.

Nothing to do with genes - it's down to bad diet, i.e. eating too much and rubbish processed food at that.

That’s rare.

I was watching a news report about poverty and the reporter interviewed a family who were saying they can’t make ends meet. They were all very overweight. Contrast that to poverty in the 50s and 60s when kids were very thin if poor. There are high streets of cheap fast food now instead of shops . A McDonald’s opened between 3 schools in my town. There was much push back by residents but council approved it. Now we have litter and kids in and out on their way to and from school. So sad.

It's not just food.

Forty years ago there were only three cars parked on our street. The thought of being driven to or from school was pretty much unthinkable, and was really exciting if it happened.

We also all played outside for hours. We weren't allowed to aimlessly roam the streets, but we'd be in the back yard or the lane outside climbing walls and running about playing for most of the day.

I'm very, very aware of the difference between my childhood and my son's, from my having a sister and him being an only child, the difference in activities and diet - complicated in that DS is autistic and has moderately restricted eating - the fact he has no friends living in our area, so has no-one to go anywhere with.

I don't know? Why do average heights differ so much? Anyway lifestyle factors have a huge effect (so someone in France may have the genetics but eat differently enough that the expression is different to the UK)but the evidence is very clear that propensity to obesity is very much defined by your genes.

Yes, I appreciate its rare, however my concern is the judgmental attitude she’s potentially going to face as she gets older.

Without disclosing her medical condition, people will assume she’s ‘greedy’ or ‘lazy’ which obviously isn’t the case or that my husband and I are poor parents who can’t be bothered to feed our children healthy food.

I just think a thread commenting on young children’s weight, where children are being called ‘fat’ isn’t particularly nice. Regardless of whether it’s a medical condition or the diet provided by the parents, it’s certainly isn’t the fault of the child.