Many kids have noticeably gained weight

[Lazt]

We’re a few days back in school now and I’ve really noticed that many many kids have put on weight since March, quite a number are now noticeably overweight. We’re in a reasonably affluent area where I would’ve said pre lockdown the slightly overweight kids were very much in the minority.

I include my own kids in this who were pretty slim before are definitely chunkier but not overweight.

It’s just so shit. This is not a judgement on parents, just the terrible situation we’ve put our children in.

Yes snacking from boredom and more sedentary lifestyle. It’s Different for different children. I am still shocked by the decrease in appetite of my younger (primary ages) DC - they just say they are full very early in the meal.

My dd’s have gained weight, not too much. I’m a teacher & plan on getting my little class exercising everyday from September!

This is a massive problem, I still don’t understand why teachers/PT’s/sports coaches who weren’t actually working couldn’t have run outdoor distanced classes that were compulsory. Gets everyone out, helps with mental health and a chance to check in on those vulnerable students. I think our children have been massively let down in all of this.

@brakethree

Anyone who thinks that their child has piled on the pounds because they havent been exercising during this are deluded. Weight management is about the food, including the type of food, you consume. The exercise is an added benefit. If children have gained that much weight that it is noticeable it is linked directly to what they have eaten i.e the food that their parents have purchased and given them. I can't believe people are saying that missing 2 session of PE a week has made a child put on weight! Take responsibility.

It's not just the 2 sessions of PE though is it? It's play times, after school clubs, playing in the park, playing football with their friends, swimming...... Everything which had stopped. Of course it's about food too, but clearly it's a lot more than two hours of exercise a week

@brakethree it's ok, no-one is more critical of my parenting than me (and maybe my mother!).

I'm sad that during lockdown my kids have suffered mentally and physically due to having both parents out the house and their mum on the front line. Dh isn't a keyworker but had to also put full time hours in to keep his business afloat.

Anyway, hopefully things will change for the better and I can sort their health out in the long term. I feel like back to school will give less opportunity to snack which I think is the crux of the problem, plus more moving, walking and exercising.

@Groundhogdayzz

This is a massive problem, I still don’t understand why teachers/PT’s/sports coaches who weren’t actually working couldn’t have run outdoor distanced classes that were compulsory. Gets everyone out, helps with mental health and a chance to check in on those vulnerable students. I think our children have been massively let down in all of this.

And just to clear this old line of bull up again...... Teachers never stopped working. Just nipping it in the bud before this becomes a teacher bashing thread

That's a great idea Happymum.

Drivingdownthe101, thanks for your maths back there!

I only have the one child at school, the rest are pre-schoolers but mine are the opposite. None have put on weight despite not going to our regular activities, walking to school etc. We went for long dog walks and bike rides most days, trampolining, playing in the garden so have been just as active if not more so.
Also been eating better as had more time, did notice early on though we were eating a lot of biscuits so cut back and balanced with healthier stuff.

Other parents I know have said their kids have gained weight, some haven't. sadly many of the already overweight kids are bigger. Its been a thoroughly rubbish time for many, and some of us use food as a coping mechanism or comfort. kids have been dealt the shit end of the stick throughout which will no doubt continue.

@ballsdeep
Absolutely

@ballsdeep hardly teacher bashing, half my friends/family are teachers and all were in part time on a rota. They would have happily done extra sessions on days they weren’t on the rota, so please don’t twist my comments.

Yes, I totally agree. My DC has noticeably put on weight, and every parent I have mentioned it to has said theirs has too. Thankfully mine has started to lose the weight as restrictions have eased, so I am hopeful that being back at school will sort the rest, but it is shocking what an impact all of this has had on our children.

It's understandable.

We’ve eaten much better in a way as had none of our daily travel load and more time to cook from scratch and also to grow veg. Plus more time to do outdoor things so our children are looking very fit and healthy but I do think it’s been so hard for many and I long for w our old ‘normal ‘ to recover

I can see why they didn't do outdoor exercise classes as the message was to stay at home apart from exercise with family near home and it would have been hard to keep them 2 m apart and would have taken up space for others to exercise

i think for active kids who eat well it will drop qhite quickly . Its the other children that are a worry.

@Groundhogdayzz in the early days of April- May we were still all locked down completely while the scientists discovered more about how the virus spreads and the level of risk attached to specific activities. I’m not sure sports clubs or schools would have been insured to carry on with lessons, distanced / outside or not, at that stage in the pandemic. Easy with hindsight but we just hadn’t got to that point at the time.

Parents were in an impossible situation though. How many adults want 3 simultaneously running jobs - the job you’re trained for, plus 6 hours per day teaching responsibilities, plus dietician - promoting healthy choices (when it was as much as you could do to get round Tesco without feeling like you’re murdering everyone over 70, and busting for the loo as you’d already queued for an hour to get in).

Impossible. Like bunging on a pair of reeboks and feeling bad that you didn’t make it to the top of Everest and subsequently let your team down.

I think it's easy to forget how frightened many of us were back in March, April.

I can remember wondering how it was all going to work. I liked to run and cycle but how was that going to fit in with a walk with my little one when you were only allowed out once.

There were people back then calling for running to be banned and cycling to be banned.

Someone who stopped to eat crisps on a bench was a murderer.

Very stressful times.

This government has prioritised pubs over schools. It’s appalling.

I hate this government - but they did try to get the schools back before the pubs, remember?

Agreed in the early days it would have been harder to run outdoor sessions, but it’s now getting on for 5 months! Instead of just some year groups back, all kids could have benefitted. Other sports facilities not just schools, could have run these sessions over the summer. We have outdoor activity centres and sports clubs running now. Great for my kids, but what about the vulnerable? The gap is going to be getting wider and wider.

Mine have been fortunate and come off lightly, more to do with a lean build that will see them well until they hit 30 than any great virtue on my part. Even so, they need good foundations of activity and diet for life.

They tend to be good at eating to their needs, and they have probably on balance eased off. Normally between school and evening activities they would have a "light tea" which there hasn't been demand for. If they have grazed too much early in the day, they ease of later. Not optimal for nutrition maybe, but they have sustained their usual physique.

We have a short brisk walk to school. My waistline misses it! Swimming, martial arts, parkrun, Scouting, football for DS2. Some of those are walking distance so extra activity. None of it is back on although I've managed to get DS2 into a sports camp for a handful of days. We got out walking virtually every day for the first few months, then fatigue and poor wearher hit in June and we lost momentum. Around then DS2 was quite depressed and missing friends. It was time to start jumping over fences into playgrounds. It is a bit easier to put some purpose into walks now compared to then. They did go a bit pasty, but that's recovered again.

Children have had a very difficult run of it. Their leisure activities have been bottom of the pile. Most pools are putting on adult swimming and family provision is poor to non-existant. Gyms are open but groups like Karate where at least some of the practice can be done solo is not. Golf has been avaliable for months.

The objectivity of this thread is positive. The sensible, self-awareness makes it far more likely that long term these children will balance out OK. Denial is much more challenging.

I've been surprised at how many children are noticeably bigger. I hope that we can redress the balance and get them running around and enjoying some
Additional fruit and veg.

I hate this government - but they did try to get the schools back before the pubs, remember

They went for the silly option instey

pe should be a priority when school are back.
where I am (not uk) schools do 3 hours of pe a week, mandated by the curriculum.
but I have noticed it too.

I'm doing c25k with dc to counteract a bit, but I can't replicate the cycling to school, playing tag during breakes...

My ds definitely did less exercise during lockdown so I was very surprised that he is much thinner. I think it is because he did so much growing. He has started high school much taller and thinner.