To think some people on here make too many excuses for parents feeding their kids unhealthy food to the point they become overweight or even obese?

[Giselle374]

I know a lot people are in really difficult situations financially, and the country overall has become harder and harder due to COL.

But I feel uneasy with the way some posts on this seem to imply that being in a hard financial position means unhealthy food almost can't be avoided.

People usually choose to have children, and food is a basic thing. If you didn't wash your child, or clothe them as best as you could, would that be similarly excusable? Arguably food is more important than many other potential areas since cancer and other illnesses are a very real danger if kids are overweight or obese young.

My mother had financial difficulties when I was young: she was a single parent and on minimum wage, and she hated cooking, ate very badly before I was born. But she ensured her meals (porridge, fish, eggs, veg based mostly) were healthy even if they were plain. I was barely ever allowed sugary or processed food. That's one of the things I'm most grateful for.

I do understand families in a depressing situation with few things for the kids to enjoy use food as something enjoyable sometimes
..areas need more resources, green space, libraries etc .

This isn't to deny the challenges of feeding kids healthily. But I think some posts on here lean too far to taking responsibility from the parents,,and I don't think that's helpful.

I don't know. I don't have young kids but more and more I'm having to eat really basically, just eating things like eggs for dinner, noodle sandwiches, frozen macaroni. I don't waste money on things that will go off quickly and I buy to last 10 days so at most I have fresh food for the first few days of that

If you're absolutely starving all the time it's just not possible to control yourself and deny yourself food forever'

Not one person has suggested denying food forever, obviously.

When you have hunger pangs you can drink coffee, tea, water etc, all fill stomachs and calm cravings. If you really are 'starving' snack healthily, not a whole pack of biscuits.

It's the inconvenient truth that we all feel hungry at times, if you gorge you become obese and when those habits are passed onto kids we end up with the obesity crisis that we have.

Nurses work tough hours, I've heard canteen food can be poor & food can get used as a crutch.

GPs cliche is that they get given reward chocolates etc by patients. Not the whole truth but probably a factor for some..

Unhealthy diet causes problems apart from weight though.

I can see it's difficult if child is picky..Exercise is good definitely, hopefully if you keep serving same they eventually get used to it..?

There's something that's went wrong with the metabolism though to make someone so hungry they become obese. This needs to be treated rather than that person just being hungry every day to maintain normal weight

I've just eaten, had a dessert still feel a bit peckish. I could eat another dessert, but I won't because if I did that every day then I'd become overweight.

People need to manage expectations this mythical goal to 'feel full' probably only happens after a massive 3 course meal.

Feeling hungry/not feeling full is ok. It isn't metabolism, it is different people's ability to cope with greed for want of a better word.

There comes a point with hunger where a coffee just won't cut it, you need to eat. And people with hormonal differences that drive appetite will reach that level before other people.

I really don't understand why you're pretending everyone feels the same level of hunger and that it can be saved off with liquid alone. There's scientific evidence that's not true. There's also scientific evidence that will power is limited and if your blood sugar is through the floor because you're insulin resistant or have high levels of ghrelin, both of which are raised by endocrine disorders, stress or lack of sleep you will run out of will power at some point and eat.

If you have higher appetite levels, all of the time, due to these biological differences, you do have to fight hunger FOREVER to remain slim, because you will be hungry all day everyday unless you overeat. The hunger won't just go away if you ignore it enough or drink enough coffee and making out it will just shows you don't understand biology.

Emotions are wrapped up in food, it feels good, it tastes nice, it gives you a sugar rush after a bad day. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that it isn’t simply about hunger.
I am the opposite, food repulses me when I’m feeling unwell physically or mentally but I can easily understand that it is a go to for people suffering from trauma, depression, sexual abuse, addiction and trauma are entwined, food is a legal high that’s easily accessible and available in abundance, nothing to do with just feeling hungry really.
Like all high moods, addictions, you need more and more of the vice.

FFS this posts alone shows you have no idea what you're talking about.

It's not being peckish. It's gnawing hunger and feeling light headed because your blood sugar is through the floor because the hormones in your body stuff it all into your fat cells instead of letting your cells burn it for energy. Read about insulin resistance, it's the main metabolic driver for obesity and is depressingly common. It's the reason insulin sensitising medication makes these people suddenly lose weight and not want to eat their body weight in bread anymore!

Everyone can ignore being peckish. They can't ignore being ravenous.

The ignorance is breath taking.

Well this just demonstrates that we all experience hunger differently, because I always feel full after a normal meal. I don’t eat dessert because I’m not hungry after my meal. I don’t eat big meals, either. So feeling full isn’t a ‘mythical goal’ for me, it happens after every meal.

Of course emotional eating is a thing. Enhanced hunger due to metabolic factors and hormonal factors is also a thing that is real and separate.

Women with hormonal imbalances, insulin resistant people, people with too much cortisol and ghrelin rushing through their veins caused my sleep deprivation or stress aren't just eating because they're sad FFS!

I'm just speaking from my own experience. I was skinny as a rake, then went on olanzapine and gained approx. a third of my body weight. When keeping track, I worked out that I ate approx 2000- 2300 kcal per day. I went through months of trying to calorie restrict before I came off the medication and even going a few hundred under would leave me starving at night.

I've lost about a stone, off the olanzapine, and am eating maybe half of what I did. Weirdly I put on half a stone in the last month despite eating less than ever. My blood sugar is about to tip into diabetes level

Strangely when I was a nurse 38 years ago I was the slimmest I’ve ever been - I think it was the sheer amount of excercise, up and down to theatre, up and down wards, making beds etc -

Sorry there have been so many good replies! I will try and start replying tonight and finish tomorrow...

This is important and needs to be remembered.

However is this the main driver for increasing childhood obesity though? Have levels of these conditions increased a lot? Since if a few decades ago levels were much lower, it suggests these conditions are not the main driver for the big increase.

readily available cheaper highly processed food which is designed to be addictive, many fast food outlets with many fast food delivery options

• this is key too. I still think it is possible to feed cheaply on more healthy stuff but aside from time issues, cooking etc definitely there has been a lot of breathtakingly cruel and predatory behaviour on the part of the food & takeaway industries. It's disgraceful they've been allowed to behave this way for so long.

And obviously once a child is addicted to UPFs, it's very hard to wean them off...

Yes, there should be some sensitivity due to eating disorders the other way, but I think it's very poor for doctors to ignore it as part of overall health.

are you sure it's type 2? I know type 2s can end up on insulin but in the early stages, it isn't usually necessary. Sure it's not type 1?

I do partly agree with this.

I think it's a bit harsh though. Money does affect quality of cooking implements : I think pp mentioned quality of cooking pans etc being worse if you have little money.

Moreover, luckily as a child loved cold food so my mum bought a lot of salad, hummus etc which saves her cooking as well. But it's human nature for a lot of people to want a hot meal after a hard day, I don't think cooking most meals without heat is the best solution if there's an issue doing that.

Especially at 14.

Oh absolutely not obese children are just being fed shit by their parents.

I was specifically addressing the ignorance about obesity being due to greed and claiming fat people think no one else gets hungry as the thread seems to have moved on to fat bashing and hasn't been about what parents feed their children for a few pages now.

I absolutely think it's abhorrent what parents are feeding their children.

But your individual experiences don’t alter the overall significant statistical shift which illustrates a larger problem.

She might be on a GLP1 like ozempic - very effective at managing type 2 in teens, better than Metformin.

To be fair, the PP didn’t claim that they did. She was directly addressing posters who were telling her that she personally should be doing more to improve her child’s diet.

As part of that wider problem, I don’t believe it’s right to teach children about “social embarrassment.”

I would believe that if my child wasn’t disabled too.