Do people really not know what to eat?

[WilderHawthorn]

Watching ‘what not to eat’, and the family they’ve found are just hopeless. Four small children all shovelled full of UPF junk, parents both obese, freely admit to eating crap constantly.

How adults choose to feed themselves is their choice, but to feed four small kids that much junk? It’s bordering on abuse. An apple/banana costs the same as a packet of crisps, jacket potato is one of the cheapest meals you can make, basic porridge oats and milk for breakfast, it’s not difficult to eat whole foods, so why rely on packaged things?

Freely admit I judge those who feed their children this way and truly despair over childhood obesity stats. I work full time, have 4 DC, DH works full time and I volunteer. I’m very time poor and partially disabled, I still feed my kids well and it doesn’t cost me a fortune. Taught myself to cook. There’s no excuse!

I think the argument re SEN children is not appropriate when talking about a larger problem. It is common sense that there will be circumstances where choices are limited due to disabilities or special needs.

I think we need to focus on why this is a problem for people who dont have special needs. It may even be interesting to find out if there is any correlation between the rise in special needs and our poor food intake (as well as many other modern day ills).

we Are free to reply to any post made by others, you’re welcome to ignore my post

I agree with you and have considered the same.

If there wasn't an appetite for such poor programme making shows then this example wouldn't have been aired. I cook from scratch but choose not to judge those that don't. You've got no idea what goes on in other people's lives.

Things like ARFID aren't the same as fussy eating and simply growing out of it, especially when SEND is involved.

Every time we have a thread like this on here, I think about a recent BBC programme that was following illegal immigrant families in hotel rooms. Families there were turning the hotel bathrooms into kitchens and using a single hot plate to turn out fresh food because they were despairing of the industrial slop that was provided for free

I remember an ocassion when I was working as a youth worker about 22 years ago, being on residential in the middle of nowhere in the lake district.

We had to do our own catering and meal planning was done in the sessions before we went with the idea that everyone e would like the food.

When we were at the centre, the kids wouldn't get ip as agreed to make breakfast, fell out over main meals. One lad's parents had a corner shop and had been to the cash and carry for him and he brought with him a second suitcase which was filled with chocolate and sweets so that didn't help. The staff couldn't believe it!

One of the girls, who hadn't been in this country long, (she was from either Ethiopia or Ertrea, )I cant remember, promised that she would get up early next morning to make breakfast. She kept her word and was up before the staff and we walked into the dining room to the most amazing breakfast spread that she had made with the food we had. She had made bread, fruit salad, put out the cheeses . I cant remember what else was there but it was impressive.

When we were talking to her about it later she said it was normal in her country to make and share food and meals were important family time. She said she was expected to help with cooking from a very early age but it wasnt a chore, it was something nice that she did with her mum and nan and siblings.It was all very wholesome.

My kids were very young then and of course school mornings were very busy but that expierenced changed the way we, as a family, did breakfasts on a Sunday. We ate later,and ate more food than just a bowl of cereal which we then gave up and it became ( looking back).an expierence. I know that sounds a bit twee but it slowed us down, the boys helped me and their dad prepare the food. The boys tried different foods without pressure and we talked about different tbings. It was enjoyable.

Once every 6 weeks or so I have continued this. The boys and their partners will come round mid morning on a Sunday. Usually a couple of their cousins and aunties or uncles will come to as well as a few friends. I will make breakfast muffins, pancakes differently cooked eggs, meat and cheeses as well as different breads and Yogurt. Its a social occasion that I enjoy.

My point to this rambling is that I agree with the poster about different nationalities often do eat and cook better and its done from a very early age so its perfectly natural for them to cook for themselves.

Are 50% of dc overweight in private schools? I don’t believe it’s even 1%!

No because the parents are more likely to have more sophisticated tastes, to have weaned children with avocado, fruits, veggies, small versions of what parents are eating. They get more exercise at school and are more likely to come from families that walk/ cycle / play tennis.

Our children's school ( independent) almost every child is a healthy weight. In facts I saw a quite overweight girl of 11/12 a few weeks ago and it caught my eye as it's so unusual.

In the UK, we appear to think that children have to eat processed rubbish. I can't get over how little fruit and veg children eat and how normal the "nuggets and chips" mentality is. Our children have only eaten that at parties, at home they have eaten normal "adult" food from 6 months old. Our children know what venison, olives, hummus, asparagus, purple broccoli tastes like because we gave it them, without assuming that they should be given a potato waffle and baked beans.

I made this point earlier. I dont think the problem with children is so much obesity and this can be seen by the number of posters who comment that they dont 'see' obese children walking around in their neighbourhoods.

The problem with children is probably more malnutrition or at least poor nutrition and this manifests itself in adulthood as obesity as we mature.

The problem with children is probably more malnutrition or at least poor nutrition and this manifests itself in adulthood as obesity as we mature

Good point

No - but earlier and more frequent poor quality diagnoses of ARFID absolutely limit the ability of a child to grow out of it.

And you only have to look at the amount of effort and energy people are prepared to put into new food crazes such as air fryers. They’re more than happy to spend large amounts of time and money on new ways to heat up crap, but don’t direct that energy into better quality food.

Poor nutrition and unhealthy eating habits will show up in children in different ways eg poor school performance, poor concentration, behavioral issues etc

Its less likely to be physically visible as it is in adults. At least this is my view.

I see obese children all the time, not 50% no that sounds a little exaggerated but I still see a lot.
And funnily enough since ozempic I see a lot less obese adults? So these people I know don’t want to be obese themselves but subject their children to it. I’m convinced in some cases it’s a case of munchausen by proxy

Ironic isn't it.

This reminds me of one of my children’s class mates. He was severely overweight and his mum kept talking about how healthy he is. One day she listed everything he eats in a day and we were all like, what?! A small child ate more than our husbands and most of it was processed junk food! Honestly did not know how she afforded to feed him so much as processed food is more expensive! If my kids are hungry they get yogurt, fruit, rice pudding, toast.

There is not really a proper food culture in the UK, same as US (and some other countries like Holland, Norway)

cooking healthy tasty nutritious food requires effort and time

in most families here both parents work, so buying fresh food and cooking it feels like a slog when you get home from work at 5 or 6!

I was one of those healthy cook from scratch mums but only in the years I did not work FT 😁 It is a lot of effort IMO and now that my kids have left home I happily eat scrambled eggs on toast with a tomato instead (lazy) after I get home at 6

I think programmes like What Not to Eat are created for the middle classes to feel smug about how fatter poorer people live 🤔

I've got 3. I get up at 5:30 so there is time for exercise, making decent lunches and throwing stuff in for slow cooking all day.

how do you think my child was going to grow out of autism?

We were under dieticians at the hospital from 6 weeks. FYI.

they’re still allergic or intolerant to almost all the foods they were back in the day - long and patient work by us and them has meant that they have now a wider range of foods than I ever thought possible.

I often notice richer families have really thin children like BMI 16 I'd guess or a size 2uk for teen daughters. The mum usually up to a 12uk. There must be a genetic element as well as diet.

@StroppyLabWontMove much more pressure to be skinny. At my school eating disorders were rife.

Anorexia is big in boarding schools

Where are you getting earlier and more frequent/poor quality diagnoses from? As far as I can tell, it is still largely misunderstood and underdiagnosed.

This is true and I think sometimes the anti obesity messaging is quite unhelpful because it emphasises reducing calories and reducing carbs as the priority. So people feel that low carb, low calorie foods are the gold standard because they support weight loss but they often are worse for cardiovascular and metabolic health overall.

Faddy eating has been with us for years but I think it’s done profound damage to attitudes to food. And while weight loss in general is a good thing it shouldn’t come at the expense or a balanced diet.

Id imagine a private boarding school would offer healthy balanced meals as part of what you are paying for. This would be in contrast to what would be available in the fridge of a poorer child when they get home from school.

Like pp have said the programme makers will have chosen an extreme example.
I actually now feel more annoyed that editors make programmes designed to make people feel judgy or superior to the people in the programme. And it makes me wonder how they advertise for people to go on them....do you want to come on tv and have lots of people feel judgemental about you....?
I watched a programme last year called the gluten goddess, each person on the show had a health issue they had been struggling with, she put them on her special diet - the health issue subsides....but of 4 people, all of them were portrayed as mainly eating upfs/"junk" food with barely a fruit,vegetable or meal made from scratch , in sight. (Who knows if this was their actual diet or the way they edited it) But i wanted to know if tweaks to a more varied diet would have the same impact....but that wouldn't have made such good tv

@Thepeopleversuswork there are mixed messages & as @CodifyThis a lot of disordered eating often displayed on MNs.

I actually think a huge factor in the nations health is how time poor & stressed people are.