What the fuck is wrong with parents?

[TheBlueKoala]

Not fat shaming. Just pointing out the obvious: obesity is a serious health problem. So now we got WLI for adults who need medical assistance to eat less. But why are they giving shit to their children? You can't say it's because you can't resist it- not your body. I think it should be a reason for a safeguard alert when you have an obese 4 year old. SS should get involved just as if someone would be starving their child because it's parental neglect to serve your children shit and make them face a future of illnesses and eating disorders. AIBU?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/25/uk-gp-obese-children-research

What’s wrong with the entire system that has destroyed common sense and forced people into dependency on corporations and their shit chemical food?

Social services doesn't even slightly have the capacity to treat this as neglect! Caseload are already far too high.

I don't disagree with the sentiment though regarding junk food.

I agree 100%

What's the outcome expected from social services?
Fat kid foster care?

I don't know, I have a friend with 2 kids - one is obese and the other slim. They generally eat the same. My friend is a very loving mum, and 100% could never be considered neglectful.
My own children are slim. My boys in particular, my girls now hormones have kicked in are gaining weight but are a long way off being fat. I can be honest and say my children's diets are bad. They skip breakfast at home for toast and bagels at school. They spend school dinner money on sausage rolls and cakes and cans of pop. They come home at 3.30 ravenous and eat crisps or chocolate or anything they can lay their hands on. They eat a good main meal each evening. IMO they are lucky they aren't fat and that's because they have their dad's genes (he's slim and I am not).
I am no more or less neglectful because they happen to be slim. They could easily be overweight. They aren't healthy. And yes, I am addressing it but they are teens and make their own choices even when provided with healthy options and knowledgeable about better options.

I started a thread about the scourge of junk food and snacking in the house and despite the fact I made it perfectly clear that weekend treats and special occasions are abundantly full of treats and such - I was told by the majority that I was being very unreasonable for trying to restrict the kids consumption. That yoghurt and fruit are inadequate in between meals and not offering crisps or a biscuit wasn't good enough.

There seems to be a very prevalent idea that trying to restrict food in any way will cause further problems later down the line. It's a belief which runs very deep - and I disagree with. But I think this goes a long to explain these levels of obesity.

It's ignorance, laziness or a combination of both. Usually laziness imo. People know this stuff is bad for us. They don't care.

I simply don't buy the low income excuses anymore. It costs a lot of money fatten up a child on junk food to the point of them being obese. A banana is cheaper than a chocolate bar. But a chocolate bar is more convenient and keeps them happy if that's what they're used to.

But I don't know what the answer is. As long as junk food is produced, people will fail to to consume in moderation. Given that people throw a hissy fit over their children having their BMI measured at schools, I think governments are on to losing battle in terms of trying combat childhood obesity. People don't want to be told their child is fat and it's their fault.

It doesn't give any accurate numbers. So just under 25% of GPs have at least 1 overweight young child on their patient lists. 75% haven't.

It doesn't actually say how many children in this age group are overweight.

Obviously no children being overweight would be best and junk food is a problem but there's always been some fat babies and toddlers in every generation.

Fuck knows but I got laid into on two separate threads for being "a sanctimonious bitch who clearly has an eating disorder" because on a thread about chocolate and biscuits for toddlers I was adamant that my toddler never has any added salt or sugar in her food and won't until she 2 as per NHS guidelines and on a thread about the baby pouch scandal I said it was obvious that parents who only feed their babies pouches of baby food and nothing else were stupid because it's obvious living on puree pouches full of preservatives and sugar is going to be bad for babies. Apparently it wasn't clear, the packaging had vegetables on so we're missold as healthy 🙄 parents don't have time, they can't afford fresh food blah blah blah.

Pointing out that people are shit parents and their children deserve better is outrageous apparently and makes it clear I have orthorexia. People are just fucking stupid and their kids deserve better than cretins squeezing pouches of paste in their mouths followed by chocolate..it's disgraceful.

She's not wrong though is she? People come up with every excuse under the sun to justify their ignorance and shit parenting. Very few people in this country would be unable to use Google and do some reading if they aren't sure what a healthy diet for a toddler looks like. They could pick up a baby and toddler recipe book for a few quid. Loads available. Information is handed out by the NHS.
There is more free information and guidance available than ever. They either don't bother to educate themselves or, I hate to say it, a lot of people just prefer to take the easy option. Unfortunately, all the guidance in the world won't ever win over the willful ignorance of humans.

I think that part of the problem is that schools don't teach domestic science (as they used to in the 1970's when I was at school) and we have a generation of children who rarely (if ever) see a meal being cooked from scratch, don't know about food groups & so don't have the skills to compile a nutritious meal.

I learned about the importance of veg, fibre, protein & carbohydrates. I remember having to write an essay about how to make a basic cheese sandwich more nutritious-talking making it with wholemeal bread, adding a salad into it, some grapes on the side.

I've never had biscuits in my house unless I have builders, workmen or visitors in, in which case I would make some for them as I feel it polite to be able to offer them a tea/coffee & a biscuit. My <now adult> children used to love making shortbread & biscuits for our work-men & used to hope that there would be some leftover. I was brought up by parents who lived through WW2 &, if we were hungry between meals would be pointed towards the fruit bowl. I did the same with mine, and I've observed that my children do the same with their DCs.

We never had 'treats' in the house unless there was leftover cake from a celebration or biscuits leftover.

edited for typos - sorry if there are still some that I've missed.

Agree. Basic skills aren't taught anymore and if parents don't have those skills, they aren't going to pick them up at school either. Eldest DCs school doesn't do food tech full stop anymore. Teacher retired and they've just dropped the subject.

Apparently my child is borderline overweight. Never thought I'd be that parent refusing to accept nhs advice but you can see their ribs!! So now I really doubt these stats. Or understand them. Because 25% of kids are definitely bigger than mine, but maybe don't visually look heavy.

We didn’t even get yoghurt as a snack when I was a child; we could have something from the fruit bowl but that was it. We didn’t starve!

My DD was pulled up by her school for giving her daughter chunks of cheese with raisons as a break-time snack. My GD is no way over-weight, in fact she's probably rather slim for her age as she does lots of sports, dance etc. It seems that they objected to the cheese as being 'high fat'. My DD confronted the school asking why - they said because they discourage 'high fat' snacks. DD pointed out that healthy children of a good weight who do lots of activity need 'good' fats & the calcium that's in cheese. School backed down.

But they do teach it. DS did food groups in PHSE in KS1 (can’t remember whether it was Y1 or Y2). They did a very similar exercise looking at making a bowl of pasta healthier by using wholewheat pasta, adding vegetables and protein and not adding cheese or creamy sauces. They made fruit skewers, and tried some exotic fruits they hadn’t eaten before (passion fruit, dragon fruit, lychee, mango, etc). He is always asking about what counts towards his 5 a day.

If anything I was a bit irritated because we are vegetarian and he was worried about his protein intake (which is fine, we eat a lot of eggs, tofu, beans etc but those weren’t on the food wheel).

I bet you're of a similar vintage as me when you could only buy olive oil in tiny bottles in Boots &, unless you had a 'Health Food' shop locally, yoghurt was regarded as something only Hippies ate & was impossible to get hold of.

I think it's sad these days that slim kids have to suffer not being allowed any snacks just because of the number of obese kids. As someone who has always eaten a hell of a lot of chocolate and other snacks, I feel confident that it's not down to snacking. My mum bought me way too much chocolate but I was never overweight (at least not til puberty hit!) the difference was we rarely ever got take-aways or ate out much. I think that's the crux of the issue these days. Big meals, take-aways. They used to be a treat now it's a once or twice a week (or more) thing.

Really pleased to learn that. Concerned about the lack of awareness for vegetarians. In 1974-6 when I took O'level DS we had to learn about vegetarians & did a whole 1/2 term on vegetarian food. I still make the lentil & bean 'cottage pie', lentil & bean chillie, cheese & onion pasties & the veggie curry recipes that we learned from then.

I don't disagree that restriction can be unhealthy but it's about what you buy in. Sweet unhealthy stuff doesn't last long in my house and I let the kids eat it freely but we don't rush to replace it so they have to choose healthier options most of the time.

What about the huge amount of underweight kids whose diet is absolutely shite.
I work with a majority of skinny kids whose entire diet is high end UPF.
It’s not making them fat as they are either picky or very hyper active. It’s clearly obvious they have next to no real nutrients in their diet and they suffer massively.

I dunno I mean you see people with trolleys loaded with big bottles of full sugar soft drinks and there is no need for that at all. I’ve a fussy eater who eats a lot of crap like fish fingers and it’s challenging to get him to eat a balanced diet but I try. I guess what I’m saying is that my child is skinny but his diet isn’t exactly healthy so I don’t really feel like I’m in the best position to judge . But I do think some people make zero effort whatsoever.

I think the problem is eating is no longer about nutrition. It seems to have become a national pastime; everything revolves round food, preferably as much as possible.

Tripadvisor reviews are awash with people praising "big plates" or "large portions" rather than the quality of the food.