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?

Lazy parenting and not taking responsibility are to blame.
everyone knows about sugar and junk food and portions.
there is no excuse for it !

And to add to this, many overweight or obese children/adults are also suffering malnutrition through lack of fresh produce and reliance on upfs.

Body positivity has a lot to answer for... being fat is not ok.

My kids are very fussy and difficult to feed and for their packed lunches especially I rely on snacky biscuit things and crisps. I do my best to feed them decent food especially for dinner but we are far from perfect.

They are definitely not even overweight though, even the youngest who is soon to be 8, he will demolish a homemade roast and then a bit later want something else.

They are very active though, they are always in the park, on their bikes and we walk to school and back most days so that's 2 miles a day for them.

I have never been obese although I have been a touch overweight after the kids and after lockdown because I was eating too much and not doing as much exercise. I've put on some weight recently too because again I've been eating too much and my exercise levels have dropped so I'm attempting to do something about it so I don't end up back where I was.

The kids see me going for a run or to the gym, walking to the shop and I eat a good diet on the whole so I'm definitely trying to encourage them to follow my lead. I have no idea how to get them to eat better, my youngest is the worst, he will only eat carrots as a vegetable but if they taste just a bit different because they've been cooked a bit longer/less/more salt/less salt he won't eat them. He will only eat strawberries, apples and grapes but again if they don't taste just quite right that's it.

There are 2 obese children in my child's class and they also have extremely obese parents, so I think unfortunately they are just continuing a cycle.

I am overweight now, but I didn't grow up that way and my child is a healthy weight because I understand how children should be eating I suppose. It would be very hard to implement a normal healthy diet if you've never eaten that way yourself.

It’s weird isn’t it?

Like, are we just more aware of dangers what with modern journalism and social media?
Or has the danger genuinely grown since we were kids?

We are currently living in one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It’s one of those places where the city centre, which is one of the biggest tourist destinations on the planet, is all very bougie! Very well taken care of, millions of dollars spent on making it beautiful, safe and pretty lovely…..but you drive 10 mins outside of that? And there’s the suburban neighbourhoods like ours which seem like pretty normal, middle class housing developments, but then one street away is abject poverty 🤷🏻‍♀️ We have an enormous homeless population (which is aggravated by the attempted gentrification of the suburbs), we are also quite a transient city in the sense that people move here for work, stay a little while and then move on again - so we don’t know our neighbours from Adam 🤷🏻‍♀️
Its also an open-carry state - so I don’t know who’s casually just strolling down the street with a gun on their belt.
DH is a gun owner. It’s a requirement for his job that he carries a gun every day, but he’s a responsible gun owner. We have a biometric gun safe in our walk-in wardrobe which only opens in response to his thumb-print. The second he gets home, the gun is unloaded and put in the safe, where it stays until he goes to work the next day. He’s also supposed to carry his gun locked and loaded when he’s on duty - so full magazine AND one round in the chamber…..but he doesn’t do that until after he’s arrived at work because in his mind, carrying a gun with a round in the chamber while the DC’s are around is just a risk he’s not willing to take.
I have no idea if my children’s friends parents are gun owners 🤷🏻‍♀️ and if they are? Are they responsible gun owners who follow proper storage procedures? I don’t know the answers to those questions. So my kids don’t go over to play at their friends houses unless I’m there either.

The poorer the area & the further 'inner city' you go the bigger the problem.

I'm guessing your DD is not in a school in an inner city area surrounded by council tower blocks.

I was the fat kid in primary school but had a healthy diet and was out playing from dawn till dusk, played sports etc, but as soon as I started puberty I lost it all. I’m now paranoid about my daughter becoming the same as I was bullied. But trying to give her a healthy relationship with food without restricting but teaching.

I did gain weight through unhealthy eating in my uni days but losing it and trying to limit the upf in my house.

I’m not gonna lie, it costs me a stupid amount each week for shopping and then spending my evenings batch cooking which a lot people don’t have the time or money to do!
iceland are doing 10 items for £10 pretty much all unhealthy crap. I can see why people struggling will go there than spending £10 on nearly one meal.

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?

because in most cases their parents are overweight.

Hehehe. You share Thatcher's philosophy that there is no such thing as society

Maybe a mixture of both? I do think we were more naive back then, well our parents were. But again, we only had 5 channels and the internet wasn’t a thing so we would only know about news stories that were reported.

I’m from the UK so can’t comment about gun ownership. I had to double check what I had read 🤣 but I guess it’s the same anywhere, UK and US. Quite frightening really that society has changed so much since the 90s and not for the good.

It's a lack of education as well as poverty though. Rice, beans, mushrooms, tins of oily fish and frozen veg are cheap enough. You can hunt for reduced meat, batch cook and freeze. And children do eat them if they're used to them, help take part in the cooking process, and if everything's seasoned nicely.

It's a double whammy, too much food, not enough exercise. If you let your DC snack all day then they sit around playing the X box then they're going to get overweight, they don't have a chance to wear it off. A lot of people on here like to say it's more complicated then calories v exercise but it's a damn good start

No she's doesn't but she does have something going on because it's not the only issue, she has issues with sleeping too and behaviour

Plus junior park run is free. Playing in the park or taking a walk to a further away park is free. Swimming in the sea is free. Rock pooling costs a bucket and net.

I’m going to guess that you live in a fairly nice/well off area. Before the MN police come at me for being classist, I’m not. There is a direct link between poverty and obesity levels

Yep. I have a friend who I meet for a walk occasionally with our kids and she brings a Tupperware full of snacks for a 45 minute walk to the park because god forbid she has to say no if they ask. It’s bizarre

This is not my experience at all. I live in a very middle class area, and there are a lot of really overweight children.
I’ve definitely noticed an increase in obese British children around the pool when we’ve been on holiday.
I caught up with an old friend recently, haven’t seen her in over 20 years and she lives on a council estate, I noticed when sitting in her front garden that there were kids everywhere.. Knocking for each other, playing knock down ginger, football, dodgeball.. It was like going back in time 30 years and was actually nice to witness, I don’t recall seeing any fat kids.
I get the feeling that a lot of children and young teens are living very lonely lives because they aren’t aloud out to play, parents feel guilty so they compensate with gifts (iPads/phones) and these children are probably so bored they eat because it’s addictive and there’s nothing else to do.

I think about a third of my class would be classified as at least ‘overweight’. Some are much heavier. I would guess that some weigh more than me. I teach Year 6.

That might be. But the chances are it is not and that those poor kids are in for a lifetime of obesity related health issues that will affect everything from their job choices, their fertility and their life expectancy. It is a crisis about to explode and making very specific excuses for what is a nationwide issue doesn't acknowledge the fact and gives often poor parenting choices an excuse. It's like how all the people who for years have claimed it was their "poor metabalism" for being overweight can lose weight once their appetite is restricted by medication. Yes some people have metabolic problems but many people just ate too much.

There may be a genetic factor.

But genetics would not explain the exponential rise in childhood obesity in the UK (and many other countries) in recent years.

Diet would.

It has to do with socioeconomic factors as well. When my ds was in state primary atleast 4 children were obese/heavily overweight in his class. In y 7 secondary private school there are none. I haven't seen any obese pupil in that school to this day. All parents aren't wealthy (one of the cheapest schools) but all are well educated (know the basics about healthy eating) and there is no poverty (they can buy healthy food).

It's addiction. A glass of tap water is free so it's not about the cost of quenching one's thirst.
UPF, Fructose corn syrup etc are addictive in that they can give a dopamine high.

Fast Food got its name from being 'fast' and no prep.
Buying, preparing, cooking fresh ingredients takes time. And people have other things to fill that time.

I don't blame any parents or 'class' of people, I do blame 'Big Food'.
You only have to read what one company did in the Amazon to see the issue.
Apols, it's a DM link but it's the only one that came up on the search. It was from Ultra Processed People book.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9601477/Children-young-SEVEN-living-remote-regions-Amazon-developing-diabetes.htmlChildren as young as SEVEN living in remote regions of the Amazon are developing diabetes

My daughter is overweight. I know she is overweight.

She has depression, anxiety, ASD, ADHD, hormone issues and has been referred to the paediatrician for tests and genetic tests.

Ive swapped her from school dinners to packed lunch so I can control and see what she's eating.

I have changed our meals, cut any junk out. Signed us up as a family to the local health centre. Im doing what I can

Maybe it is harder to tempt children out to do sports in colder parts of the country.