Child obesity - Your thoughts

[Castiel]

I was 93rd on the list & got mine within 2 years.
Also you'd be surprised just how much you can grow in your own back yard.

When I enquired as to the availability at our local council I was informed that there was a waiting list with over 3k people on it and the potential timeframe was in the region of 25-27 years. (Depending on whether people died in the meantime I suppose)...this is because local councils are selling off allotment land to developers and developers are building homes with little or no usable garden.

It's easy to say do this and do that, not so easy to actually do it.

 

[Morba]

I'm not even going to bother to answer that I'm just going to laugh loudly.

You are moaning in an obesity thread that someone is providing fruit for their child.
Instead of laughing, explain why otherwise i'll go with why I think you are laughing

 

[Xordium]

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.

So you eat pretty much the same old meal every single day for a whole week and think that is a balanced diet? And you kind of forget that kids need to be fed and get to bed at a decent time ... when you are not single come back and have done it yourself come back and tell us how it works out for you.

And btw I never said that good food should be replaced by **** - I merely pointed out the pitfalls and problems. One of which you then admitted to doing yourself. Yes, onions and tomatoes are pretty cheap but most veg and fruit is not. Do you eat fruit it appears you do not - guess that is not a problem for a developing child at all is it.

 

[jas72]

I blame the free sugar that we needlessly make and subsidise then sell cheap making foods with sugar in them cheaper than fresh fruit.

The kids see the adverts and want the snack the parent is hassled in the shop and the snack is BOGOF and the fruit is horrendously expensive or packed so you have to buy 15 at a time (packaged bananas anyone?)

I'm lucky through no work on my own part that my son is indifferent about chocolate and prefers fruit to sugary snacks but he is strong willed about other stuff and I can imagine how tough it must be as a parent of a child who is attracted to that stuff.

 

[Skillmister]

I could eat a loaf of tesco value white bread each day and that would indeed be cheaper while, in theory, satisfying my calorific needs.

The kind of things people are over-eating though (crisps, pop, pies, nuggets) are not cheaper than lean meat/fish and vegetables eaten in the correct proportions and quantities.

A frozen pizza is £1 and provides close to 800 calories. You just aren't going to get close to that value with decent meat and veg and carbs.

 

[4T5]

You are moaning in an obesity thread that someone is providing fruit for their child.
Instead of laughing, explain why otherwise i'll go with why I think you are laughing

You can't see how Real fruit is better than plastic packed processed chunks ?

And my point is that on one side of the aisle is processed **** & tuther side of aisle is real fruit.
Also for the price of the processed **** you could buy a decent selection rather than the few chunks of apple you get & half a strawberry.

Have you actually seen these packs they are selling & do you really think they are as good for a kid than the real thing ? If so I'm still laughing.

 

[Castiel]

Where do you buy your chicken breast? You can buy a chicken breast, never mind frozen pieces to the same weight, for about a pound. In Asda. Not exactly exotic shopping. Of course if I wanted a nice plump fresh chicken breast I'd pay a little more (maybe as much as 1.50 avg) but you're comparing the worst **** food with the highest quality - that makes no sense. nutrition isn't about how it looks in the packet.

Also if you had a small chicken pie, a sensible portion of chips and some frozen peas I wouldn't say that was a ridiculously bad meal. The problem comes when you pile up that kilo of chips, eat it with 4 rounds of white bread+marg then break out the chocolate rolls after.

For feeding 4 people for £2.15 though I'd probably look at bean chilli, tin of toms, some paste, cumin, chillis, tins of mixed of beans - not hard for under £2 and probably more protein than your pie and baked beans. Could bring that right down of course using dried beans, but prep time require planning on that score.

A fresh chicken breast in Tesco & Asda comes in at around £1.56 each...and £1.34 if you choose the value frozen....so times that by 4 and before you begin you have a meal that has cost three times the cost of the entire alternative meal I suggested.

Chilli would also cost significantly more than £2.15... The mince alone would be in the region of £4 and that is if you choose the value 25% fat frozen stuff.

The point is that regardless of what you claim, choosing poor quality, processed, discounted foods is cheaper and more convenient than the alternatives and until we change that obesity will continue to be an issue.

 

[Dave M]

Adding fructose to fresh chicken and sugar to canned veg and all the other little things that supermarkets do to extent shelf life do not help either.....
.

A little dextrose in the chicken portion or a few grammes of sugar (not that I've seen any tbh, but I only buy tinned beans, maybe other stuff is different) in a tin isn't going to hurt.

Eating your bargain 1kg of chips in one sitting will. Then washing it down with the bargain 3l of pop you bought on offer 3 for 2, and the bargain 12 bags of crisps for the price of 6.

Still, nobody made anyone buy it, and it's their own stupid fault for eating it in one go. Honestly the only bit I care about is my taxes will pay to keep the poor sods alive in 20 years.

 

[Skillmister]

The point is that regardless of what you claim, choosing poor quality, processed, discounted foods is cheaper and more convenient than the alternatives and until we change that obesity will continue to be an issue.

There really isn't any argument against this.

 

[UncleRuckus]

A fresh chicken breast in Tesco & Asda comes in at around £1.56 each...and £1.34 if you choose the value frozen....so times that by 4 and before you begin you have a meal that has cost three times the cost of the nitre meal I suggested.

Chilli would also cost significantly more than £2.15... The mince alone would be in the region of £4 and that is if you choose the value 25% fat frozen stuff.

The point is that regardless of what you claim, choosing poor quality, processed, discounted foods is cheaper and more convenient than the alternatives and until we change that obesity will continue to be an issue.

To be fair Cas, from experience the people in poverty I have seen aren't that hard up and always have enough money for there scratch cards and white cider, let's not forget the lastest phones on contract too.

It seems they put their luxury items before the actual needs of their children.

 

[Skillmister]

To be fair Cas, from experience the people in poverty I have seen aren't that hard up and always have enough money for there scratch cards and white cider, let's not forget the lastest phones on contract too.

It seems they put their luxury items before the actual needs of their children.

However true this is it doesn't really matter. **** parents will be **** parents whether good food is cheap or not. People who get their sky tv while scraping by aren't the type of person to spend time cooking fresh meals every night.

 

[anything I don't mind]

My parents never cooked ready meals, my mom used to cut her own chips. First time i had oven chips was when i was in my late teens.

I was talking with the guys from work and none of us ate veg or fruit when we were growing up and do not remember as much push from media and everywhere about eating fruit and veg. I used to eat beans, never liked peas, would eat orange juice and apples and that is about it. This was all the way up to about age 15 or 16 when i started to try more foods. never liked indian food either until late teens. So pretty much lived on pizza, burgers, mash and mince, sausages, pies, pasta, stirfry and that is all i can remember tbh.

IMO the biggest factor is lack of exercise and large portion of food, i used to play outside until 9-10pm when i was 7 years old and i used to cry when i had to go in and fight with my parents because the older kids were allowed out late. I used to leave the house at 8am on saturday morning and come back in for some lunch which would be a sandwich and then come back in for some dinner which would be some light and then stay out until it got dark, playing soccer or cricket or swimming etc.

Since benig in the uk i never see children playing in the street and can't remember if i have ever seen more than two children playing in a park. I have seen older lads playing football late teens, but never any 8-14 year olds. I have seen some kids around my area playing on a bike and one lad on a skate board occasionally but that is about it.

 

[Haggisman]

A little dextrose in the chicken portion or a few grammes of sugar (not that I've seen any tbh, but I only buy tinned beans, maybe other stuff is different) in a tin isn't going to hurt.

Eating your bargain 1kg of chips in one sitting will. Then washing it down with the bargain 3l of pop you bought on offer 3 for 2, and the bargain 12 bags of crisps for the price of 6.

Still, nobody made anyone buy it, and it's their own stupid fault for eating it in one go. Honestly the only bit I care about is my taxes will pay to keep the poor sods alive in 20 years.

1kg of chips between 4 people isn't really an excessive portion size to be honest. Implying that they're going to drink all 3l of "pop" and 12 bags of crisps in 1 sitting is also a bit silly. Just because someone is buying unhealthy food, doesn't automatically mean they're going to have excessive portions.

 

[Dave M]

A fresh chicken breast in Tesco & Asda comes in at around £1.56 each...and £1.34 if you choose the value frozen....so times that by 4 and before you begin you have a meal that has cost three times the cost of the entire alternative meal I suggested.

Chilli would also cost significantly more than £2.15... The mince alone would be in the region of £4 and that is if you choose the value 25% fat frozen stuff.

The point is that regardless of what you claim, choosing poor quality, processed, discounted foods is cheaper and more convenient than the alternatives and until we change that obesity will continue to be an issue.

Why does it need to be fresh, why does it need to be a whole breast (what is an acceptable portion - how much lean protein are you getting in your 25p chicken pie for a fair comparison?) and why does it need to cost less than 50p per head?

Also I said bean chilli, that means no meat.

And it is not the convenience of preperation, cooking or shopping that is the barrier but the convenience of not thinking. It's easier to not think and pick up what's on special or what you've always had.

 

[RaohNS]

Just to echo what everyone else here thinks, it is bad parenting skills. Ultimately parents should be seen as role models to follow. Unhealthy parents often have unhealthy children. I'm sure everyone knows a fat family.

My pet hate is seeing a small child stuffing their face with a packet of crisps. My daughter has had one packet of crisps that i've allowed her ever in my care... Treats are fruit or a small spoon (2.5ml) of honey (real honey from someone i know). At night she will have a chocolate digestive/toast/cracker.

As with everything i think its all about moderation, encouraging children to be active should imo be one of the main expectations of parenting. Some kids having kids don't help matters much. The teenage diet is without exception on the whole the worst diet, naturally this will be palmed to the children.

I've known some parents give their children energy drinks and one memorable mum when offering her daughter a strawberry didn't know if she would like it because she'd never tried one... the child in question was over 2... and never tasted a strawberry!!! Her usual food was chips and something from the chippy at the bottom of the road on the way home from work/nursery. Absolutely unbelievable.

Without being a nanny state, i do think that schools should have the school nurse become involved if a child at school is classed as obese and that there should be a mandatory requirement for parents to attend health/diet sessions. One of my college friends brother was 13 and weighed over 22stone! His nickname of "The Planet" was no exaggeration either!

 

[Castiel]

A little dextrose in the chicken portion or a few grammes of sugar (not that I've seen any tbh, but I only buy tinned beans, maybe other stuff is different) in a tin isn't going to hurt.

It does hurt because it adds to the overall calorific content of food, not to mention that dextrose and sugars are more quickly metabolised and unless you burn them off shortly after consumption they will be stored as fat.....

Eating your bargain 1kg of chips in one sitting will. Then washing it down with the bargain 3l of pop you bought on offer 3 for 2, and the bargain 12 bags of crisps for the price of 6.

No one is suggesting otherwise, equally you can sit and eat chicken pasta and get fat....the issue is one of cost, education, convenience and availability. But you hit on the BARGAIN part of the issue, for many families cost is an important and overriding factor, and the way supermarkets follow discounting policies it is invariably cheaper to buy low quality processed food than to buy high quality fresh produce...and until we change those policies we cannot hope to effect change in people's habits.

Still, nobody made anyone buy it, and it's their own stupid fault for eating it in one go. Honestly the only bit I care about is my taxes will pay to keep the poor sods alive in 20 years.

You can eat small portions of food and still gain weight if you are eating the wrong foods or not getting the required exercise and so on....it isn't as simply as pointing the finger at people in judgement of their circumstances without actually knowing what they are.

 

[Dave M]

1kg of chips between 4 people isn't really an excessive portion size to be honest. Implying that they're going to drink all 3l of "pop" and 12 bags of crisps in 1 sitting is also a bit silly. Just because someone is buying unhealthy food, doesn't automatically mean they're going to have excessive portions.

250g of chips is 400kc in the oven, call that 600kc fried (as poor people like to fry stuff). The chicken pie is 350kc and lets say a portion of beans (just a qtr of a tin) is 100kc.

Poor people also like cheap white bread with marg, so lets say another 400kc for 3 slices.

Hello portion control? If this isn't excessive I don't know what is.

And if you've never bought a multipack and scoffed the lot well done, you obviously know a little more about whats good for you than most. Sadly many people won't even think what eating the whole bag will do to their insides.

 

[Morba]

You can't see how Real fruit is better than plastic packed processed chunks ?

And my point is that on one side of the aisle is processed **** & tuther side of aisle is real fruit.
Also for the price of the processed **** you could buy a decent selection rather than the few chunks of apple you get & half a strawberry.

Have you actually seen these packs they are selling & do you really think they are as good for a kid than the real thing ? If so I'm still laughing.

I think I'll still go with why I think you are laughing, thanks for confirming

 

[Castiel]

To be fair Cas, from experience the people in poverty I have seen aren't that hard up and always have enough money for there scratch cards and white cider, let's not forget the lastest phones on contract too.

It seems they put their luxury items before the actual needs of their children.

There are also parents who struggle to give their children a healthy balanced diet on very low incomes who do not fit into your stereotype....and until we address this imbalance in discounting policies then the issue will remain....

 

[antijoke]

White bread and marg with a main meal?

WTF?