Child obesity - Your thoughts

[troops]

I think a lot of it is ignorance about food, when i was a school along time ago, you had to eat the horrible cabbage and greens but was told it was good for you.
Plus there were school canteens although not the best food it was fresh/decent, now a days its all contracted rubbish i hear.
As long as cheap sugar and fueled food available a lot of parents take the easy fast food option.
Apparently prisoners have up to 5 meals per day, i wish i did

 

[Kanifee]

If the children are raised by parents who take the time to teach there children what nutrition and healthy life style are about and the consequences of a poor diet and are raised on good home cooked food then yes children are not like i stated but my remark was directed at children who know no better, who are not taught the right form the wrong and are fed crap, give them sweets and junk and they will just eat and eat.

 

[Kanifee]

I don't have kids but i wish you would just tell the people you have umbrage with to their faces, maybe it would actually help them rather than coming here looking for like minded sympathy voters, of which on this forum you know you will find plenty. its just a circle jerk of back patting sometimes.

If more people actually stood up and said what they thought you might help these kids in what you are all perceiving is child abuse.

Seriously try it.

So you would stand up in public and criticize the parents to there faces and expect that to come across as any sort of help or advice?

If i had friends who over fed there children then yes i would say something to them, they are a friend i respect and so would hope they was fully aware my intention was to help not just point blank criticize there parenting skills. joe public i do not know from adam is hardly going to take the same conversation in the same light is he.

 

[Xordium]

But when both parents (presuming it is not a single-parent family) are encouraged to go out to work then there needs to be a consistent message from the state. It was the same when I worked in the NHS - we thought nothing of prescribing a drug that cost 10k per bottle but woebetide if you asked for an increase in the £1.80 per child per day for food. I just think it's not quite as simple as bad parenting. What we need to do is to change these families where the parenting is bad and we may well have to accept the parents are a lost cause and work as much as possible with the kids. But that means we need to support that.

We also are forgetting it is not just poor families with fat kids but also often richer families with thin kids. It was not so long ago you had the Islington type malnutrition where the mums were feeding toddlers fibre and skimmed milk because they had poor knowledge that they extrapolated from Cosmo for them and stupidly presumed it would apply to a 1 year old.

 

[Zefan]

However that is just a little bit too far fetched for a comparison

I would never even think about exaggerating anything, EVER.

 

[fez]

Food nutrition seems to be treated as some degree level study that requires years of training. Its not hard to cook good food on a much smaller budget than you would if you bought fast foods.

When I was a student I learned to cook because it was the sensible thing to do but also because I couldn't afford not to. I had never been taught to cook but I had luckily been taught to read.

If anyone can't cook or wont cook properly for their children then that is entirely their own fault. Go online, read a recipe book, look in papers, ask friends. Its really not hard to be able to cook the basics.

If I don't know how to do something, I find out. Thats how life works. You don't magically become an adult and lose the ability to learn anything new.

 

[elmarko]

Bad parenting in my eyes.

I think a lot of it comes through lack of money, healthy food tends to be more expensive but if these people are eating cake in one of the chain coffee shops then I doubt they are short of money!

It's not all the parents fault, the children should be aware of the dangers of eating rubbish and should try and eat healthily as well.

It's both, but I agree with the point regarding not being lack of money for the family in question.

Bad parenting & poverty are both factors in most cases.

A clear statistical correlation exists between income & health (obesity being one factor).

It's also worth pointing out that depression has very strong links to obesity, depressed people comfort eat & "give up" on health & personal appearance.

To solve it would require a multitude of different things,

1. Increased education for parents on diet/food/nutrition.

2. Increase the income of the lowest earners so more choice is available for food.

3. Government subsidy on fresh vegetables/lean meats/healthy foods (via tax breaks) - if we are going to give tax breaks to company A, B or C, it seems a reasonable cause to give them to for health.

4. Nationally improve our handling of mental health, in part via education at school to teach children how to handle loss & avoid the mental pitfall of comfort eating to deal with problems.

It's like most forms of child abuse, abuse through ignorance of the harm caused.

 

[Dave M]

Good food isn't expensive, they just like the chips and nuggets. If you have somebody who's addicted to starchy foods what can you do? The healthiest food on the planet doesn't do you any good if you have 4 rounds of bread and 1/2 a kilo of chips on the plate.

Education on nutrition is woefully lacking but it is a reasonably complex subject and I'm not sure public health messages are the right place for it, it should be a full and academically rigorous part of the curriculum to ensure the next generation at least know about the food they eat, even if they don't act on it.

 

[Horse Pop]

Lack of cooking skills plays a big part I think. If you can't cook anything that tastes good or you don't know how to cook, you'll buy pre-made food instead. Most of that is full of rubbish, or if not is too expensive for a lot of people. Cooking healthy food is cheap compared to buying ready meals and other crap. I think some people just never learned to cook so they're daunted by the prospect of it, or when they do cook what they can, it doesn't taste great.

I'm going to teach my kids how to cook so they don't fall into that routine. Scrambled eggs with chilli flakes and spring onions on thick crispy toasted brown bread beats a McMuffin any day, only takes a few minutes and costs nothing

Totally agree.

We eat pretty well and with a bit of creative shopping (mostly going by the quality food retailers when they're doing their end of day clearance stuff at 5) it costs less than eating crap does.

The difference is that my wife really likes to cook.

I need to learn really. On my own I don't eat nearly as well.

So in conclusion, marry someone that can cook.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Manslaughter perhaps?

A lack of education is the main reason I would think.

Also, not everyone is savy enough to see through marketing etc.

I also blame Supermarkets, for many many reasons. Too many to list here.

McDonalds get bad press every day from the "healthy eating" brigade yet Supermarkets are like legalised crack dealers in comparison selling cheap crack. I do not mean they should censor the food we eat, what I mean is that they could do more to promote and sell better foods.

They take backhanders from "Pizza in a box LTD" to stick their Pizzas on the end of an aisle for £1.

Ultimately, we eat food to live, by default that means we should all be aware about what we are eating.

 

[Xordium]

Good food isn't expensive, they just like the chips and nuggets. If you have somebody who's addicted to starchy foods what can you do? The healthiest food on the planet doesn't do you any good if you have 4 rounds of bread and 1/2 a kilo of chips on the plate.

Education on nutrition is woefully lacking but it is a reasonably complex subject and I'm not sure public health messages are the right place for it, it should be a full and academically rigorous part of the curriculum to ensure the next generation at least know about the food they eat, even if they don't act on it.

A variety of healthier foods are expensive though and to give a decent range and variety of flavours etc will work out more expensive. Yes, some health food is reasonably priced but then you'd end up having the same stuff over and over again which is hardly healthy.

There is also the time component. A working family is very short on time and this is an important part of it. However, I think a number of the families at the extreme ends of the spectrum are not really limited by these problems. It is the families that 'cope' that are faced with and overcome these challenges.

 

[Devrij]

actually fruit and veg and fresh meat etc is much more expensive that processed food. its one of the problems. since my wife moved in with me we spend much more now on proper food than the crap i was eating before.

chilli egg is a nice meal, but mcmuffin is tastier. its the only mcdonalds i actually like. you know bread isnt healthy, right?

Yes, but bread is delicious. And grain bread is certainly better than the even-tastier white refined bread. It's about balance though.

You can make a lot of meals out of fresh meat and veg though. Spag Bol goes a long way, and made correctly is delicious. Pasta-bake: dead easy, cheap, makes several meals, throw veg in large dish of pasta, cook some chicken in a quick tomato base sauce, put in oven.

If you are clever about making use of your veg before it goes off you can get good value out of it. I agree that GOOD meat is dear though. Our local butcher is very good, but when you're in ASDA and you see sausages made of 30% pork for a quid it's hard to justify the extra expense. Until you eat them of course.

Either way, food keeps you ALIVE. It's worth spending money on. Cheap out on something less important, like booze.

 

[Gimpymoo]

i still use too much salt but when i grew up everyone used lashings of salt on food as it wasnt seasoned whilst cooking. im struggling to cut back as it makes things taste so much better. my wife doesnt even use salt on fish & chips so i hope my son follows suit.

Mashed potato without proper butter and salt is not worth having.

 

[boxman2000]

There are many factors involved in the OPs point:

1) Obesity is now a 2-3 generation issue and bad habits are very ingrained. Only they can help themselves but to be honest I don't see people changing unless they want to - government, Jamie Oliver etc aren't going to win here.

2) Houses/flats tend to have little or no garden available for children to run around. Kids need to get fresh air, not only do they get exercise by going outside but from experience our daughter sleeps SO much better having gone out in the fresh air.

3) Where you have shops like Iceland providing a meal for a quid that you can chuck in a microwave it must be hard to resist if you don't have much money and can't cook or can’t be bothered - truth is these are full of rubbish and you'd probably be nutritionally better off eating dog food.

4) The art of basic cooking has been taken away from a lot of schools and wasn't anything more complicated than soup and the odd cake or scone in the first place anyway. How many young adults get to uni and find out they can’t even boil an egg! Ultimately though it is the parents responsibility.

5) Ready meals, whether cheapy £1 Iceland or £xx M&S just are not as good for you or filling as a home cooked meal. It really is not hard to cook, it just takes time and a bit of effort.
My wife is a bit of a lazy cook (she'd admit it) and has a limited repertoire. I got so bored of the food that I took on the cooking duties myself and it is amazing how easy it is to make a meal, and on a budget that is both filling and healthy.
E.g. last night I did a one pot Indian chicken cous cous dish with a lovely salad which is enough for 6 (big) servings (will do us for two meals) and cost me £5.00 for all the ingredients (not value ingredients either). Took me an hour, or 1/2 hour per meal.

It’s all too easy to give crisps, chocolate bar or a bunch of chips to a child and wonder why they’re getting fat and have little energy or concentration! My parents had potatoes with every meal when I was younger, I was 14 stone by the time I was 13 and we had no garden to speak of - nothing I could really do until I was old enough to take matters into my own hands.

While I’m on my soap (or cereal) box I personally think they should ban all sugary breakfast cereals (i.e. wheetos, coco pops, Special K, frosties etc). We all have porridge with various fruit or wholemeal toast for breakfast and whenever I’ve had to settle for one of these ‘cereals’ I’ve felt like cr@p an hour later as my body tries to break this junk down. I don't intend on letting my daughter eat that nonsense so will try and avoid that aisle for as long as possible!

At the end of the day the government are trying to get the message over but it comes over as ‘typical nanny state’ to the people that don’t like the message they’re hearing. Just as kids rebel against their parents, most parents don't like what the nanny state is telling them, even when it is for their own good.

 

[anything I don't mind]

Fat children usually have at least one fat parent, that is no coincidence.

I would have said something. Can't help myself sometimes. I would have said, are you sure those kid need another cake ? or something like that.

What could they do anyway, you could always run away, lol

Watching fattties run is always funny.

 

[Haggisman]

actually fruit and veg and fresh meat etc is much more expensive that processed food. its one of the problems. since my wife moved in with me we spend much more now on proper food than the crap i was eating before.

I think this is a lot of the problem to be honest. Decent meat, fruit and veg is more expensive than an equivalent ready meal, because more often than not the ready meal is bulked out with potato/corn starch, and has more salt rather than herbs/spices for "flavour". Just take a look at the Asda Smartprice stuff - you can get a lasagne for 4 for £2.98. If you were to cook that from scratch the mince alone would be close to that. Even if you were to make a veggie lasagne, courgettes, tomatoes, carrots, onions, etc. all add up. Cheese/milk to make the white sauce again isn't that cheap. Ok, so you could probably do it for £5-6, but that's still £2-3 more than the ready meal, doesn't sound like much, but over the course of a month that's an extra ~£60, which is a whole week's shopping. On a tight budget that's a hell of a difference.

Of course there will be some meals which are cheaper to home-cook, but overall, ready-meals will almost always be cheaper simply due to the scale on which they're produced and the cheap bulking agents used in them.

Another example:

Asda smartprice 5 x apples - ~82p
Asda smartprice 6x chocolate minirolls - 40p

Of course it's not an excuse to feed your child ****, but I would imagine it's a major contributor (along with inability to cook).

I'd be in favour of cooking classes being part of compulsory education until GCSE level to be honest.

It's also a load of rubbish that eating well costs too much. Bobbins. Vegetables cost a pittance. You can make a stew with fresh meat and veg for less than the cost of a maccy-D's that'll feed a family of 5+ easy!

And not cooking is just lazyness.

Can you let me know where you get your fresh meat & veg from please?!

 

[s0ck]

been told to "eat everything on your plate" or not leave until your plate is cleared. At a young age, this subliminal type message is quite negative and when adults, won't know when to stop eating when food is front of them.

I reckon this counts for most of it. Maybe it goes back to wartimes when food was scarce or something. The parents and grandparents of these families ARE a lost cause; they will never change their ways.

Diet and nutrition should be hammered into kids from nursery upwards and it should be all over the TV and radio too so the hapless may finally realise that the salt laden, tasty, microwave meals they are preparing for young Jonny are pure rubbish.

 

[Dave M]

A variety of healthier foods are expensive though and to give a decent range and variety of flavours etc will work out more expensive. Yes, some health food is reasonably priced but then you'd end up having the same stuff over and over again which is hardly healthy.

There is also the time component. A working family is very short on time and this is an important part of it. However, I think a number of the families at the extreme ends of the spectrum are not really limited by these problems. It is the families that 'cope' that are faced with and overcome these challenges.

Lies, it's all lies - why are we peddling this myth that nutrition costs too much or takes too long?

I am single, do all my own shopping, cooking, housework, work long (10 hour+ days) and I have no trouble.

My food bill is about £25 a week, it isn't expensive and it doesn't take long to create a few simple and nutritious meals and keep the stuff in to make them.

I regularly cook a curry at the weekend, all I do is buy frozen veg, chicken breast, onions, a jar of curry sauce, fresh chillies and a tin of tomatoes - chuck in a casserole dish for 4 hours while I'm busy on Sunday and I have dinner for the rest of the week. Cheap, and prep time is next to zero - making it or re-heating it in the week.

If I don't do that I'll buy in some chops, chicken breasts or frozen fish (bought fresh or frozen they go in the freezer, so I can choose when to eat them). Meat/fish goes in the oven in foil with a few new potatoes on the tray, frozen veg goes in the microwave. Takes longer to cook (45 mins) but I can do other things while I wait, it doesn't need watching.

Breakfast is always instant porridge pots, no time, no mess, not really expensive - but equally you could save £5 a week buying oats. Lunch is always some herby salad, rice and a piece of fish/chicken - not expensive - not hard to prepare.

Or I could accept the dogma that good food costs too much and takes too much time and buy sandwiches from the van, macdonalds for lunch, and chips for tea. Cost myself a fortune and send me to an early grave.

Madness.

 

[Skillmister]

Good food isn't expensive

Good food is far more expensive than processed crap.

 

[elmarko]

I'm on a strict diet & buy no alcohol/pre-made rubbish, no sweets, chocolates or cakes & still my monthly shop is well over £50 a week for two.

Most of the money spent is fresh meat mind, but if I had kids & wasn't on a diet I'd be spending much more than that (as I'd be eating more).

Good quality fresh food (vegetables/meat) are more expensive than cheap rubbish.