Junk Food Kids

[BMO]

So frustrating watching this - surely some of this parenting falls into the neglect category?

One word.
Neglect.
What on earth is up with these parents?
How do the HCPs keep their temper?

i have just started watching the programme. The jacket potato meal that tallulah's mother has served up is the size of meal i would serve to my 15 year old son-and he is six foot 5. I am shocked that she can sit there and say 'i think it's her thyroid'.

Incidentally my son has never ever had tooth decay either.

it's not difficult ffs. Don't fill them up with shit all the time.

possible neglect from the 4 year olds mum. because of the way she did not follow up appointments. and where she said herself she wanted an easy life... but then with the teeth thing in general she could have had the same problem that has been spoken about on this thread

I found this programme shocking.

What about that doctor who said a parent had complained as she had referred to their child as fat. All those kids were fat. What on earth is wrong with these parents. They seemed so passive and resigned.

All this dancing around using euphemisms doesn't seem to help or is using the word 'fat' considered an insult?

I ended up thinking that the obesity is a symptom and that really the parents and kids needed therapy of some kind.

i think tallulah should be taken into care.
her mother is abusing her.

that poor [poor child-carrying all that weight with a mouth full of abscesses[cross]

Does anyone know if it is widly recommended to use adult fluoride toothpaste on children? If so at what age do you switch from the baby stuff?The dentist near the end said he would recommend it.

I felt sorry for the teenage girl, it all seemed a front. Desperately pretending she didn't care, using the mobile, the laptop to block people out. The look on the Consultant's face was priceless! The mother took far too long to take her phone away.

Poor Tallulah, she doesn't have much of a chance of turning things around, it's so sad. Admitting on national TV to sticking a bottle of juice into the cot to save you having to get your child to sleep was probably not the best idea.

and how much would putting tallulah into care damage her? mentally and emotionly. taking a child away from her parents should be the last choice.

parenting classes yes diet type education yes. but not to put the child into care

widely recommended

i am sitting here open mouthed
the teenage girl's mother just watched her putting baked beans in a bowl WHILE SHE WAS COOKING SUNDAY LUNCH!!!!

wtf?

why didn't she say 'get out of that cupboard now!'????

yeah the teenager might have been better managing things more privately. ie maybe talking to her doctor alone. doing what needs to be done away from the camera probably just made her feel shit.

if her mum bucks her ideas up gets better educated regarding food tallulah does have a chance but it all comes down to her mum. not sure if her mum wanted things to change or not though. did not come across that way to be honest

Ijustwore I would also like to know about the adult strength toothpaste recommendation too.

I think the teenage girls mum is scared to death of upsetting her tbh, she's lost 4 stone herself, so knows how to eat healthily,I do think she wants to help her, but seems reluctant to be firm.

i have never used childs toothpaste on my kids. dentsit asked me what i use and i said adult. and she just said thats good and i never questioned it.

a big part of the problem seems to be the parents not wantting to actually parent.
there is no authority-pavia's mother doesn't seem able to be firm at all.

I can't believe what I have just seen. I am horrified.

Tallulah's mum really needs some parenting classes. We all give in occasionally and let our kids have sweets etc, but she is down right lazy and using food as a substitute for any kind of parenting. It didn't look like she had used a toothbrush before filming by the looks of it.
She couldn't even get her to an appointment when she was in pain, then to see her losing all her top teeth was heartbreaking..

I live in the North and was shocked to hear the doctors 50% statistic. Very sad!

Sorry avocado i probably overreacted a bit.

I think the education of people on nutrition needs to start earlier at school. I felt very sad for all the children in the programme and their parents nobody wants that for their child. This is lack of knowledge on the part of the parents, all I can hope is that their shock tactics may have made some parents think a bit and improve their children's future. Otherwise the whole programme was pointless.

Every case on this programme was down to laziness. The parents just can't be bothered to deal with the fuss saying "no" creates.

It's probably difficult to say to DCs you are seriously overweight when you are seriously overweight yourself, how can you 'starve' DCs whilst you stuff yourself?

Why would you take your DCs to the supermarket. Just go when they are at school.

Why would you buy bbeans, crisps, kindereggs. Just don't buy them in the first place - likewise oven chips which imo taste like salty cardboard anyway.

People must be brainwashed into thinking that this stuff is kids' food. Of course it does take about 5 mins to actually peel tatties and 20 mins to cook them. Some simple food classes early in the DCs' school years could maybe help this, tell parents some simple rules eg chips no more than once a week, crisps OR biscs not both, don't have fattening snacks in the cupboard.

If all parents were sent to these classes (maybe 1 hour in the first term of school) it might help, no good expecting people to volunteer for this as they all think they aren't doing anything wrong. But I would have gone to this (grudgingly) if it had been made clear that there was 50% obesity in the area and the lesson was to cut this one look at the parents would show who it was actually aimed at

I think you could have given Tallulah's mother all of the nutrition classes in the world, but she wouldn't have paid a blind bit of attention, as it would not have contributed to her having an easy life.

Pavia's mother did seem scared of her. I was never allowed to help myself to stuff from the fridge or cupboards as a child, and mine aren't either. They have to ask, and if I'm dishing up dinner, the answer will be no.

DD1 had no "off button" when she was small. We used to fill her up with vegetable and fruit (fortunately she wasn't a fussy eater).

If you read the small print most children's toothpaste has the same amount of fluoride as adult toothpaste. Toothpaste for under 3s has slightly less.
As a dentist I buy whatever is on offer. There are lots of fancy brands around but they all do the same thing.
When asked for advice regarding toothpaste I always recommend a fluoride toothpaste that you like the taste of.

Pavia's mother did seem scared of her

Is it the low self esteem of the DM which is at the bottom of it (don't say no as they want to be loved) - or just pure laziness?

I watched this on plus one last night.

I felt sorry for the teen she must have felt so ganged up on. She reacted (phone lap top etc) exactly how I would expect a girl her age to. her mum's heart was in the right place but it was all too confrontational I thought.

tallulahs mum seemed in denial. lock teh cupboards ffs. and that jacket potato was enough for 4 children her kids aren't toddlers under her feet this convenience bollocks was just that. bollocks. what does she do all day of she can't get out on time for a bus outside her house.

more importantly where's the dad's input. turn up at the hospital looking like the hero. where was he the rest of the time?

I usually take these programmes with a pinch of salt as they are usually edited a certain way and I have no doubts that this isn't representative of lots of cases.

That said I was furious watching Tallulah's mother. She laughed and belittled attempts to help her, was lazy to the point of abuse and seemed almost smug about her 'cop out' parenting. If I was searching for uniform for my 4 year old and a uniform designed for a child twice her age was too tight I certainly wouldn't be chuckling away. Likewise for when she was laughing about missing the bus and making jokes about her bad teeth. Her child was in pain and it was entirely her fault. She broke down crying 'what can I do'. It must be difficult to be a single mum to two, but it seemed like there was help available but she couldn't be bothered to do it unless it was a quick fix. She said she 'tries' but in then says that crisps are convenient and that 4 year olds would rather watch TV rather than brush their teeth (of course there are more exciting things a 4 year old could be doing- it doesn't mean you let them!), so obviously she's not trying too hard. It seems like the damage is done and it's too much effort for her to now go back.

I am by no means a perfect parent. My DS is only 14 months and I am sure that there are challenges regarding his diet and oral hygiene ahead that will be a struggle but the completely lax attitude displayed in this show was devastating.