To think that schools should do more to help kids stay healthy?

[BatmansWilly]

Just lately I've noticed my 14 year old son putting on a lot of weight. He was normally very trim but I put it down to puberty etc.

Then last weekend he got weighed for his karate competition and he was too heavy for the catagory he was entered for! The judges very kindly 'doctored' the entry forms and allowed him to go into the 'heavy-weight' catagory.

He was mortified.

I just couldn't understand how he had put on so much weight.

So we went through his daily diet, trying to see what had changed.

Breakfast - bowl of cereal, 2 slices of toast, glass of orange - all fine there ...

10am at school - A bacon buttie and a packet of crisps!!?!

Lunch - Burger/Pizza and chips, a chocolate cake, a packet of crisps and a can of coke.

Inbetween lessons maybe 3/4 times a day - a snickers bar from the vending machine ...

3.10pm - A bacon buttie before whatever club he was going to.

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So I know DS has his own mind and should have the sense to eat properly but surely it's not a great idea to be offering unlimited bacon butties, chocolates, burgers etc to teenagers??

No wonder he's getting bloody fat

Oh yes swanriver, and girls!

There's always going to be temptation there, especially at that level of education - tuck stops, chippies, etc. around that the school can't control.

Yes Batman, I think swimming is the answer (unfortunately he can already put his foot on bottom of pool - super tall, so doesn't try that hard to swim lengths...)
I think what's frustrating is the way you have to squeeze all your keep fit efforts into such a small part of their day, when at school they've been so sedentary...and then they come home and the school is suggesting they do more sedentary stuff like sitting in front a computer researching homework.

swanriver, my dcs go to karate once a week they would love to do more sports but it is financially not possible. What we do to exercice instead: walk to school, play out with friends and on WE we go to the park on our bikes (about a mile ans a half, so not major) In the park they just run arround ,play football or gymnastics type of things it is not exactly "sport" as such (like in a club with maybe high expectations that can put a less sporty type off)but every thing a bit active is a good thing, even if it is just playing outside IMO!

I'm sure there are healthy 'options' at school and I think at 14 kids are old enough to make a choice about whether they want the healthy or the unhealthy option. And you'll probably find at most schools that snacking or using the vending machines in between lessons is actually against the rules, so it's not their fault.

Hopefully the embarassment at karate will spur him into taking the healthy route in future. I think when you're 14, you realise these things are bad but you generally think you're invincible so it won't matter.

My eldest walks to school and back every day. About 2 miles I suppose. Sometimes he cycles. He also walks or cycles to his friends house or into town. Sometimes he goes out on his skateboard although that is out of favour atm. He doesn't really do any organised out of school activity but he does rugby and football in school. I think the answer is to find a way of incoporating exercise into the daily routine rather than making time for it specially.

He is a bit chubby round the middle TBH but I know from his uncle that will dramatically fade away in his mid teens so that he will end up like a beanpole.

Oh and he eats like a horse on steroids. But mostly fruit, sandwiches etc.

i found it to be all about exercise at that age. like most teen boys i ate like nothing on earth (still do) but i never weighed over 10 - 10.1/2 stone because i was playing football for around 4 hours a day plus going to the gym. now i know getting someone who doesn't want to exercise to go from 0 hours a day to 4+ is never going to happen, but if you could get him doing half an hour a day or so i'd say you'd see a big improvment.
is there no team sports he's interested in?i always found people kept up team sports more because you have people depending on you to show up, and the banter etc makes it enjoyable

Waaaay too much sugar. Try to get him to have some porridge for breakfast (loaded with a stack of cream and some chopped fruit), the bacon butty is probably the healthiest thing on the list!

Let him have his butty but see if you can't get some salad into him. And see if he will eat the bacon (even two sandwiches worth) without the bread.

I am going to get hammered for this, but sugar is IMO the main reason people get fat, not the fat the sugar, and that breakfast you described is pretty much entirely sugar (in its various forms).

It is very difficult. There's no way you can control what they eat away from home at 14. And may be we shouldn't.It's a bit like cleaning their teeth you can remind the to do it properly but you can't do it for them.

At that age it's not cool to take a pack-up even if they could fit one in their bag.

My 15 yr old DS has £3 per day for food. I'm sure (well maybe hope!), he spends it in school on a proper meal or at the sandwich bar if he's got something on over lunch. I do however realise that some of this money, along with spending money is disappearing into the tills at the village shop before school even starts! Other than see them through the gates 5 mins before the bell goes what can you do!

The school though is I think doing all it can. My 3 eldest were at the same school 10-15 years ago. Then there was a mass exit at lunch time to the chippy, bakers and sweetie shop. Now at least yrs 10 & 11 are caged in kept in school with the aid of a 6ft metal fence and staff maning the 2 gates. Post 16 are still allowed out. Also back then DC could buy choc bars, crisps, and cans from vending machines on site. These are now gone. The only thing pupils can buy now outside of the canteen is bottled water.

My youngest DS aged 13 &12 are at a different school. THeirs as a cashless cateering system which means we can order a printout of what they buy from the canteen. Thanks to this we soon spotted when 13 year old started to spend just £1 per day on a school meal and the other £1.50 at the garage in the village. Well if I was being totally honest 12 yr old grassed on big brother. The printout simply confirmed his guilt!

Why didn't crossing out work?

The only thing we can really do is make certain they eat very well at home. I'm very mean to my boys and never buy fizzy drinks or crisps for home.

Also if you were wondering why 13 year old was going to the garage, it was to buy sweets & packets of buscuits. Little git was jumping off school bus and running there before registration.

My first instinct on seeing the thread title was that it's up to the parents, but schools should (and in our local schools do) take a positive approach to healthy eating.

I know we have a responsibility as parents to teach our kids the essentials of healthy eating and to point out the problems that can occur if the diet is skewed towards the fat/sugary side but schools shouldn't be adding to the problems by offering easy access to this kind of thing.

Schools now are much better than they were and those my DC attend do everything they can to encourage healthy eating and excersie.

I'm lucky that all my boys are very active and take part in sports, both in and out of school. They eat like horses and are built like stick insects. It's the damage they might do to their teeth that worries me the most.

When DC are little parents can have near total control over what they eat. It's much harder when they are teenagers. If they really what something they will find a way to get it.

All schools should be part of the governments new 'healthy schools' drive ,and it is definately not allowed to have vending machines supplying chocolate, crisps or fizzy drinks at any time! Teachers are not supposed to be using chocolate or sweets as rewards, actually my tutor group did say they'd happily share a basket of fruit!! When Im on break duty I see a real mix, students buying bacon butties, pizza slices, sandwiches etc at break and the kids who have bought in carrots and houmous! Some kids were doing a roaring trade in covert selling of chocs and sweets and those energy drinks like 'relentless' they are banned and we can confiscate, this has meant the kids are smuggling them in ten fold and downing 3 or 4 a day! Does nothing for behaviour in lessons!!! Schools can only do so much and the break time selling is a boost to the caterers usually contracted in to do 'meals'!

Its ridiculous to say the schiool do not share responsibility for healthy eating of a 14 yr old kid! They are there over 7 hours a day 5 days a week !There is absolutely no excuse for them having unhealthy vending machines or tuck shops ! Also I don't think 2 sesions of PE per week is enough.Teenagers don't do so much of the running round games that younger ones do and by the time they have got home ,had tea and done their homework , it is often too late to do anything .

IMO 14 year olds are old enough to know full well what they should and shouldn't eat. Schools/parents can only do so much.

There is no excuse for vending machines in schools. As I said there are none in my DCs schools and I would be very surprised if any school still had them. In the past they were an easy source of income for some schools.

There probably isn't enough PE in schools either but by the time a child is 14 GCSE options take up most of the school day. Some kids (maybe most girls ?) have given up on school PE anyway. PE can be timetabled and they can be told to put their PE kit on but if they don't want to break into a sweat they will not.

"Teachers are not supposed to be using chocolate or sweets as rewards"

uh oh...this is all i use to control the kids i coach for football.
should i stop?

Sporty kids need choc for energy! mayorquimby

One DC teachers used to use the squares on choc bars as an aid when doing fractions. It was kids favourite numeracy lesson. Is that not allowed anymore?

He certainly wouldn't be able to do that at my school - we have a cashless system, no vending machines and no Coke, crisps, chocolate or crisps available onsite (much to my frustration sometimes ). Year 10 and 11 are allowed offsite which annoys me, but if parents top up cashless cards instead of giving money, at least they can't buy much junk out of school.

Not a granny - Of course 14 yr olds KNOW what a good diet is , my 3 yr old knows that but KNOWING isn't really the issue is it ?

The trampoline is a fantastic way to burn energy. My kids jump for hours (whereas I pass out after a minute or two), and they come off puce in the face.
notagranny - for crossing out, you need to put the dashes round each word.
Batman - if your son was mortified to be too heavy for his karate category, was that not a wake-up call for him? We've all taken our eye off the ball at times. But at leaast now you've noticed there's a problem, you can address it - provided he's willing.

Katiestar you can have your 3 year old next to you 24 hours a day and what his every move if you wish. But you will not be able to do that when he's 14. At that age they have to start making judgments/mistakes for themselves. Parents must advise yes and keep tight controll of the purse strings but buying sweets is not against the law.

Sorry that should read watch

I think school meals should be healthy, but encouraging children to have a healthy lifestyle is largely down to parents. If you as a paremt exercise regularly and cook healthy food the kids generally follow. Don't buy crisps sweets and biscuits, and cut pocket money if they're buying alot and putting on weight.
Getting kids involved in sport is better at keeping them slim than fussing alot about diet. My kids get dragged along to sporting stuff with me and usually reckon they may as well join in as they're there and enjoy it so can then eat a bit of junk food.