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Original poster

Childhood Obesity

110 replies

speedymama · 28/02/2006 12:41

Just read \link{http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4756370.stm\this} and I must be missing something. Surely what a child eats is the responsibility of its parents? Unless you live in a cave 1000 metres beneath the earth's surface, how can you not know that too much junk food is bad for your overall health? How can you not know that a diet containing fruit and vegetables along with protein and carbohydrate sources is much healthier than a diet laden with processed saturated fat, processed refine sugars and far too much salt?
Isn't time that people stopped blaming everything on the government and accept responsibility for their own actions? Most of the meals that a child will eat will be in the home so the responsibility for their diet is with the parents. Fortunately, it appears that schools are starting to address the nutrition in the meals that they provide thanks to Jaime Oliver. Time for parents to do the same. There is plenty of free information in the library, health clinics, doctor's surgery, internet, TV, even the supermarket's free magazines are getting in on the act. In my opinion, too many people can't be bothered to feed their children properly. Please note that this is my personal opinion and it is based on what I have witnessed in my own extended family plus with friends and acquaintances.

OP posts:

Caligula · 28/02/2006 16:18

Bugsy I agree that on HWKTK it's all about motivation, but the motivation comes from a realisation of what they're doing. Until they actually see the consequences put in front of them, they don't really understand the cause and effect of their behaviour.

Very much like smokers who give up once they have a heart attack

Kathy1972 · 28/02/2006 16:29

Tarantula - exactly, like the people who buy Sunny D because they know it's important their child gets fruit.

moondog · 28/02/2006 16:32

A lot of people have unrealistic ideas and expectations.
They expect for example that their small children chomp through chunks of indegestible raw vegetables (eg carrots and celery),things that they would never eat.
Most kids haven't the energy to rip into a stick if celery like me.
lol (but also appalled) at 20 stone boy's parents lamenting 'lack of help from the government'.
Sign o' the times eh??

Bugsy2 · 28/02/2006 16:32

Yes, I agree about learning how to cook. Unfortunately, I think that as long as all the unhealthy stuff is still marketed and sold, then people will still buy it.
I feel sure that convenience food has led to fatter people, because it is quicker and easier than ever before to fill your face!

hunkermunker · 28/02/2006 16:33

Anyone seen the ads for the chocolate Coco Pops straws that are meant to make your children drink more milk?

The world has truly gone mad.

moondog · 28/02/2006 16:34

I saw an advert for a cereal the other day that is in the shape of a straw,to encourage children to slurp up their milk.
This strikes me as deeply wrong.

Leith goes on in his book about the plethora of snacks now available-all shit.
I feel the same if I buy yoghurt in a supermarket-usually a whole aisle of yoghurts. The only one I will ever buy is a plain (not low fat) one.

moondog · 28/02/2006 16:35

THAT'S the one HM.
Mentalists.
Bet it's Nestles.
Not content with fucking around with babies' meals,they start on the bigger kids.
How do these people sleep at night?

Kathy1972 · 28/02/2006 16:38

But Moondog, the people who make those straw things probably see themselves as benefiting humanity by helping to persuade kids to drink more nice healthy milk.

My kids are only going to be allowed Coco Pops once a year, on their birthdays. :)

moondog · 28/02/2006 16:40

my kids dont drink milk at all. thry're positively amazonian too

tarantula · 28/02/2006 16:42

PMSL laughing at the straws. Dss bought a packet of those the other week (with his own money I must stress) and dd thought they were great till the straw went soggy and bits got into her milk oooh the strop on her after that. She also refused to eat them after shed had her milk Straws after all arent for eating now are they??? ah the wisdom of 2 year olds

desperateSCOUSEwife · 28/02/2006 16:45

agree that diet has a major part of obesity but also the lack of exercise is a major cause

how many kids sit there playing on computers and playstations
or sit there watching cbeebies

need to get kids into sporting activities from early age

tarantula · 28/02/2006 16:46

Dss is 14 and I am really beginning to see the effect that advertising has on him. Its amazing. He'll ask me to buy actimel or whatever 'cos its got good bacteria in it' or tell me that them french yogs are good for dd cos they have calcium in them and so on and so forth. He really cant see the effect that advertising has on him but it is very striking and rather depressing. Hopefully he wil grow out of it in the course of time.

Original poster

speedymama · 28/02/2006 16:54

I'm glad you mentioned that straw monstrosity. My DH and I could not believe what we saw.

True story coming up. My HV told me about a group of young mothers who she was working with to help them learn to feed their children properly. They were going to start by cooking some potato and carrots. She went away to fill the saucepan with water and left the mothers to peel potatoes. When she went back to check on them, no potatoes were peeled. Why? They did not know how to peel them !

From the same HV, young mother giving toddler skittles because it contains fruit !

Something has gone wrong somewhere in educating huge swathes of people about basic cooking and nutrition. If it does not happen at home, shouldn't it happen at school? I had cookery lessons at school (late 70s early 80s)- doesn't this happen any more?

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desperateSCOUSEwife · 28/02/2006 16:57

tarantula I believe (and you can call me silly on this) but it is part of a higher agenda to get more milk and good bacteria into kids
so to stop or at least prevent the amount of bowel disease and osteo-arthritis that is prevalent in this country

Filyjonk · 28/02/2006 16:57

But speedy, you do know you shouldn't actually peel spuds, don't you? The skins where all the nutrients are

Seriously, thanks for posting this, v interesting.

tarantula · 28/02/2006 16:57

oh yes SM they teach them how to cook....

Chocolate and mashmallow pizza

dinosaur · 28/02/2006 16:59

I heard a similar one from a HV, speedymama. She suggested to one mother giving her child mashed potato. Reply "Oh, you mean like Smash, yeah?" Concept of peeling, boiling and mashing a REAL POTATO did not compute.

tarantula · 28/02/2006 16:59

Sorry desperateSCOUSEwife confused which what where. (Its 5 o'clock and my brain has turned to mush sorry )

Kathy1972 · 28/02/2006 17:01

I heard that cooking in schools has been replaced with 'food technology' where they learn to design packaging.....

tarantula · 28/02/2006 17:02

Well Off for my 2nd dose of exercise for today and to dice with death in the london traffic. And they wonder why so many kids dont cycle these days

Original poster

speedymama · 28/02/2006 17:07

It is all too depressing. I'm off to enjoy a slow oven cooked beef goulash that I made at the weekend with broccoli, carrots and a jacket potato washed down with water.

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MarsOnLife · 28/02/2006 17:26

When I was senior school hunting I asked each technology teacher whether or not they taught cooking. They all said no, but they teach them about food packaging. What kind of food packaging I asked......PIZZA boxes!!!!!!!!!! WT...???????????????????????????

Me, I'm teaching my kids (and their friends when they come round) how to cook real food! Who the hell needs to know how to design a frigging pizza box?

TwoIfBySea · 28/02/2006 21:43

With you on that one Mars. I think part of the problem was not knowing how to cook simple, good meals. The whole obesity thing must be linked with convenience foods. My intention is to have dts leave home when they are much older and be able to cook from scratch at least 4 main meals if not more. I'm starting with, when we go shopping, they choose the veggies for me so they know what they look like. I do have to stop dts1 filling the trolley with pineapple though as he loves the shape!

Having said that though I do give them yogurts, I'm careful to choose ones that don't have sugar as the first ingredient although it is hard to find good ones. Anyone have recommendations or are they all to be consigned to the bad bin?

NotQuiteCockney · 28/02/2006 21:56

Rachel's and Yeo Valley yogurts are ok. I mix them with plain yogurt, to reduce the sugar content. I do this for both my DSes, and for me.

I do think a lot of it it down to the parents. If parents only like rubbish food, then how can we expect them to prepare and serve lovely home-cooked meals for their kids?

(Pre-children, we lived on ready meals. It was only when I started weaning DS1 that I learned to cook!)

Original poster

speedymama · 01/03/2006 08:44

I tend to give my twins plain yogurt and fruit which I have pureed myself. I will also buy fromage frais but I'm scrupulous about checking the ingredients.

When they are able, I will teach them how to cook from scratch but also teach them to understand how our food arrives at the table. If I recall, a recent survey revealed that many children did not know that chips were made from potatoes! Something is seriously wrong with a society when children know more about the shenanigans of a z list celebrity non-entity than they do about the basic building blocks for life or am I just a geek?

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