Obese Kids

connundrum

When it comes to the issue of obesity and children, ultimately, responsibility lies at home according to Dr. Donal O'Shea - article

To me that statement seems fairly obvious, after all who is giving the kids the crap food but their parents. My question is - isn't allowing this type situation continue a form of child abuse??

If it were found out that a parent was exposing their kid to constant high levels of UV light which would probably lead to skin cancer down the line (sunbeds etc) their would be uproar.. no? What the parent is doing is slowly contributing to the kid's early death.

Parents who don't seem to give a sh1t about their kid's diets are surely doing the same? I'm not talking about the family who have a McD's a coupla times a month, I'm talking about the family who live in McDonalds! We've all seen it at one stage or another. Parents give the excuse that they don't have enough hours in the week etc etc.. bollocks. What they are doing is leading to an explosion in obesity rates in this country, which in turn is adding to our already huge amount of heart condition and diabetes cases.

Today I saw a kid in a shop with €10 with which he got a breakfast roll, 2 bottles of coke, 2 packets of crisps and the change was spent on sweets. Now that could have been for him and his ma, but I would really doubt it. It sickened me, this kid was about 10/11 years old and I'd say he'd had to have been at least 9/10 stone.

When is someone gonna take responsibility? The state can't be blamed, the shops can't be blamed, if you try to blame McDonalds for their advertising then there's something wrong as we all do have free choice, no one made you go there 5 out of 7 days in a week. Child abuse I tell thee, kids should eat what they are given and its up to parents to feed em properly.

Ruu_Old

There are too many families I know that shut their children up by bringing them to McDonalds, has to stop.

Amazotheamazing

Too many parents want to be both a parent and their child's best friend, doesn't work. Kids need some limits (obviously not crazy, make them serial killers, discipline though).

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the goverment should subsidise liposuction clinics in every county

biko

My kids are going not to get unlimited supply of sugary drinks.
I blame Coca Cola.

imeddyhobbs

child services should be brought in to deal with the parents of fat kids,i think people should be prosecuted for having obese pets too

super_furry

Fat kids love cake!

Nehpets

Mordeth wrote:

the goverment should subsidise liposuction clinics in every county

+1

Collie D

Ruu wrote:

There are too many families I know that shut their children up by bringing them to McDonalds, has to stop.

Very true, I worked in a McDonald's years ago and you'd see the same people bringing their kids in every single day and ordering the exact same thing, I actually started to wonder whether they'd ever been to a supermarket to buy a food.

New_Departure06

I wonder would lipotrim help? I am not a child admittedly but it's the fastest diet I've ever been on.

AnTaoiseach

its a sad state of affairs when half the world is dying of starvation and the other half is dying of obesity

projectmayhem

my youngest brother is bigger then me or my middle brother were at his age (about 11). he's starting to loose weight now, but the reason is simple: there's food there, and we're not broke. when i was a kid if i asked for kit-kat or whatever it was mostly "no, you're dinner'll be ready soon" etc., but for my brother, he's let eat what he wants, when he wants. now he's not brought to macd's all the time, but when i was younger we went for birthdays or other "special" occasions... and that was it.

that's changing now because even he realises he's gotten too big. but at least he realises it.

my point being is that it absolutely starts at home.

Rollo Tamasi

biko wrote:

My kids are going not to get unlimited supply of sugary drinks.
I blame Coca Cola.

The government should ban ads in Ireland that feature teen idols like Beckham and Beyonce. Companies like Pepsi prey on the naviety of young kids and use product correlation to sell ****e. It ain't right. You shouldn't be allowed target kids like that.

^ sweeping statement in there but i don't care.

1huge1

super_furry wrote:

Fat kids love cake!

finally a comment that i can understand

seriously though blaming the companies is stupid
no one is making us go

Ruu_Old

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

The government should ban ads in Ireland that feature teen idols like Beckham and Beyonce. Companies like Pepsi prey on the naviety of young kids and use product correlation to sell ****e. It ain't right. You shouldn't be allowed target kids like that.

^ sweeping statement in there but i don't care.

Here is something related to what you were saying. Id like to see more fruit and water ads.

herbieflowers

Shouldn't parents be wiser in all fairness?

New_Departure06

Parents need to learn to say "no" more when their children demand sweets, biscuits, crisps, cakes etc. I realise it may be seen as necessary to surrender to the demands to keep them quiet but ultimately confining it to once in the week will arguably be more productive in that regard cos the parents can say "behave and you'll get sweets later in the week".

ThrownAway

New_Departure06 wrote:

Parents need to learn to say "no" more when their children demand sweets, biscuits, crisps, cakes etc.

Parents need to introduce healthy eating to their children from the start. That way they won't need to say ''no''. It's all about habit.

Winters

Dont make me run, im full of chocolate

DOLEMAN

When I was a teenager I spent a lot of my time running away from skangers. It kept me skinny.

Booming house prices have converted the skangers into millionaires.

Michael Jackson is our only hope to get kids skinny again.

Lirange

It's definitely the parents

TerrorFirmer

Lirange wrote:

It's definitely the parents

That picture always creeped me out.

Sleipnir

"I blame the parents"
"Brilliant, well I don't see why this committee should meet anymore, we know the exact and only cause of obesity in Ireland. Thank you all for taking part"

It's easy to blame someone else for everything. Do you think that the poorer families of this country can go to the local italian for some hand-made pasta?
Or only buy fresh organic fish and meat at Superquinn?
Could it be that convenience food is cheaper (a lot cheaper) than healthy food? Could it be that a mother of 4 kids living in a flat in some dive can't afford to feed her kids the same healthy stuff you can CHOOSE to eat?

Or should we just "blame the parents" and go for a skinny latte with probiotic yoghurt afterwards.

How many of the 13 poster above still live with their parents?
Or how many of you have kids?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

for the price of 4 mcondalds happy meals you could buy potatoes and some meat, veg for a day or two's meals.

that's absolute nonsense sleipner.

TerrorFirmer

That doens't make a whole lot of sense slepnir in fairness. Convenience food is bad for you without a doubt but if you eat it as you would a normal meal it's still pretty much impossible to become "obese" regardless of the health implications.

The problem is overeating generally speaking, not what is actually being eaten. Sure, we all eat mcdonalds once every few weeks or whatever, and it doesnt do us much harm in moderation. The sad thing is that there are some for which its almost a daily thing.

The problem with obesity in Ireland is without doubt due to the availability of money to children from their parents so freely - not a lack of it.

But of course its the parents fault, they are solely responsible for supplying their children with their diets. I don't eat Mcdonalds all that often but I know people that eat it several times a week, use their fryer several times a week, and eat chocolate several times a week.

It's hard to expect a young kid to know any better when they are living in a household where the cupboards are always stocked with junk, and this is the case in alot of households these days. Sadly.

GrumPy

When I see fat kids it really bugs me, Its a massive form of abuse on the parents part! Imagine the poor kids going to school Allowing your kids to get overweight by not providing them with a healthy diet is one of the most rampent forms of child abuse in Ireland.

Lust4Life

Originally posted by Sleipnir:
It's easy to blame someone else for everything. Do you think that the poorer families of this country can go to the local italian for some hand-made pasta?
Or only buy fresh organic fish and meat at Superquinn?
Could it be that convenience food is cheaper (a lot cheaper) than healthy food? Could it be that a mother of 4 kids living in a flat in some dive can't afford to feed her kids the same healthy stuff you can CHOOSE to eat?

Or should we just "blame the parents" and go for a skinny latte with probiotic yoghurt afterwards.

How many of the 13 poster above still live with their parents?
Or how many of you have kids?

Sleipnir, although I agree with your post to an extent - A lot of low priced foods are quite fattening and it is difficult to keep starch to a minimum -teaching our children to eat a well balanced meal and make healthy choices from the beginning will make them healthy eaters all their life (or at least we can hope!)
Fresh fruit and vegetables can be expensive, but no more expensive than chips or a trip to McD's. And Soda is a total waste of money!

I do have kids. I do not buy soda or stock junk foods in my house unless we expect guests. We save a lot of money that way, and my kids really do not miss it! When they do get some it is a treat - which is as it ought to be.

It was not always this way. I just finally wised up and quit buying it! Husband was upset for a while, but then he saw we had calmer more behaved healthy kids who eat veggies and drink juice for snacks!

And yes, we do go to McD's once a month. I'm not a total freak of a mom!

L4L

connundrum

Sleipnir wrote:

It's easy to blame someone else for everything.
How many of the 13 poster above still live with their parents?
Or how many of you have kids?

It is easy to blame evryone else for everything, yes. I don't buy the excuse that parents don't have time, I don't buy the excuse that kids put too much pressure on parents these days and above all I don't buy this crap about the 'corporate world' being at fault.

When a kid hits 16/17 then he/she will have enough cop on to decide what food they wanna eat cos at that stage most will have a part time job and it would be impossible to stop them from going to McD's 24/7.. but up until that time, the value of good food should be instilled in these kids. Its frickin essential!

As someone earlier said, how is it that half the world is dying from starvation and the other half dying of obesity?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Sleipnir

connundrum wrote:

It is easy to blame evryone else for everything, yes. I don't buy the excuse that parents don't have time, I don't buy the excuse that kids put too much pressure on parents these days and above all I don't buy this crap about the 'corporate world' being at fault.

When a kid hits 16/17 then he/she will have enough cop on to decide what food they wanna eat cos at that stage most will have a part time job and it would be impossible to stop them from going to McD's 24/7.. but up until that time, the value of good food should be instilled in these kids. Its frickin essential!

As someone earlier said, how is it that half the world is dying from starvation and the other half dying of obesity?

Well that's it isn't it, what "you buy" has nothing to do with it.

If half the world is dying and starvation and the other half of obesity, where are you sitting?

Lust4Life

Original post by Daveirl:
Why are poeple saying that parents should say no? Why would they? It's not like they're fit and healthy themselves. In the interests of transparency do the posters here want to say how healthy they are? How many trips to the gym? How many servings of fruits and veg?

That is what made me change the diet of my entire family. I was getting fat and had to look at all of our bad lazy habits! Hubby's family has a history of heart desiese. I am the only one of my siblings not on high blood pressure meds, diabetes meds, thyroid meds, cholesterol meds - because I turned it around in time. And my family is really benefitting for it!!! Our kids will live much healthire lives because we are setting the example.

L4L

connundrum

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Transparency? If I'm 30 stone by the age of 30 then that would be my own fault as I was brought up on a healthy diet with more than adequate portions of fruit & veg. I would have had free choice and would be the only person to blame for my weight gain.

If a kid of 12 is 15 stone.. then who is to blame? Where was his free choice? What educated decisions did he make?

Sleipnir

HavoK wrote:

That doens't make a whole lot of sense slepnir in fairness. Convenience food is bad for you without a doubt but if you eat it as you would a normal meal it's still pretty much impossible to become "obese" regardless of the health implications.

What is a normal meal for you is well out of reach for many families in this country. Fresh grilled white fish plus fresh veg? A nice lean chop maybe?
If you think that the majority of people who live day-to-day 7 days a week on minimum wage with 3 or 4 kids can afford that then we're all living in a dream world. I'm not saying that parents don't play a HUGE part in their kids diet but there are many families they can only afford the cheap meat from the butchers and a bag of frozen chips.

I am really not saying that parents aren't to blame partly, they are without a doubt. What I am saying is that people who sit in their parents house, in front of computers which they bought for €1500 euro and say "I blame the parents" shouldn't be listened to. It's just not that simple.

Sleipnir

Lust4Life wrote:

That is what made me change the diet of my entire family. I was getting fat and had to look at all of our bad lazy habits! Hubby's family has a history of heart desiese. I am the only one of my siblings not on high blood pressure meds, diabetes meds, thyroid meds, cholesterol meds - because I turned it around in time. And my family is really benefitting for it!!! Our kids will live much healthire lives because we are setting the example.

L4L

Very comendable Lust4Life, well done.
You choose to get rid of all the crap in your families diet and that's great. Many parents just can do it. When it's 3 days before you pick up your dole and you have €12 euro in your pocket and 3 kids in school asking what's for dinner, you just don't have a choice.

TerrorFirmer

Sleipnir wrote:

What is a normal meal for you is well out of reach for many families in this country. Fresh grilled white fish plus fresh veg? A nice lean chop maybe?
If you think that the majority of people who live day-to-day 7 days a week on minimum wage with 3 or 4 kids can afford that then we're all living in a dream world. I'm not saying that parents don't play a HUGE part in their kids diet but there are many families they can only afford the cheap meat from the butchers and a bag of frozen chips.

I am really not saying that parents aren't to blame partly, they are without a doubt. What I am saying is that people who sit in their parents house, in front of computers which they bought for €1500 euro and say "I blame the parents" shouldn't be listened to. It's just not that simple.

I eat normal dinners of lean meat, potatoes and vegetables, but thats not totally relevant, if you read below....

My point is not that Convenience food isn't bad for you, because it absolutely is. But look at some of those kids in the pictures? Are they fat because they ate convenience food for dinner, slepnir? No. Absolutely not. They're fat because they're eating a whole load of other stuff on top of their basic meals, be they "normal" balanced ones or convenience foodstuff.

Convenience food is unhealthy, chocolate is unhealthy. But they won't make you fat unless you eat TOO MUCH of them, which frankly, is what is happening with the fat kids these days, they have access to too much junk.

And finally to be honest, when I went to school I knew alot of normal, rich and poor families.

If you really had to generalise, the poorer people were the slightest, with the wealthier kids being by far the biggest core of the chubby kids. Because simply they had money to buy all the extra crap they were eating.

New_Departure06

daveirl wrote:

In the interests of transparency do the posters here want to say how healthy they are? How many trips to the gym? How many servings of fruits and veg?

17 st but I was 19 st 10lbs when I started the lipotrim diet just over a month ago. All I eat or drink is what I get from the pharmacy once a week and that's gonna have to stay that way until I'm a slim dude again (probably 3 months to go).

Exercise? None. I recall I used to go on 3 hour walks every day when I was 3.5 stone lower than at present. Where did it get me? Nowhere. Exercise is an unnecessary part of dieting.

Zascar

People blaming companies like Coca Cola an MacDonalds etc is a total cop out. 99% of people are able to enjoy these products in moderation without serious consequesnces. Everyone knows they are bad for you, but to turn around and say its their fault is pretty pathetic if you ask me.

I definitely think more pressure should be put on parents. Aparantly if a child is largely overweight by the age of 8, they only have a 20% chance of growing up with a normal figure, the vast majority spend most of their lives overweight.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

TerrorFirmer

New_Departure06 wrote:

Exercise? None. I recall I used to go on 3 hour walks every day when I was 3.5 stone lower than at present. Where did it get me? Nowhere. Exercise is an unnecessary part of dieting.

That's stupid, sorry to be so blunt, but that truly is a terribly lazy attitude to have and completely false to boot.

Being thin does not equate to being healthy, I hope you realise that the same as you made the intial realistation that thin was better then fat.

I lost nearly 5 stone by exercise and weight lifting over the last few months - and never considered going on a diet that essentially was based on me waiting around for something else to do the work I couldn't be bothered doing myself. I think it defeats half the purpose to be honest.

Personally, I'm not knocking Lipotrim itself, but....I would find your attitude a bit silly.

I am 11.6 stone, 6ft and got down to this level by pure exercise and correct diet, not by falling into the rip off trap of commerical products that essentially prey on fat people who suddenly decide they want to be thin, but aren't bothered doing anything physical about it themselves.

Karl Hungus

Hehehehehehehehehehehe... Childhood obesity...

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Demetrius

Anyone here remember the Fat-Boy slim video of "Right Here, Right Now"? All the creatures that evolve are running as fast as they can until we reach the modern era. The Man that has evolved now starts to stroll and become obese. He sits at a busstop.

I think in many ways obesity, stress and depression are ways that nature is telling us that we need to change. Humans are built for foraging and hunting in wide open spaces, and our way of living does not seem to be doing us any favours.

New_Departure06

Skinny people die of heart attacks all the time. Why are you losing the weight without exercise you must only be doing it for looks because without exercise you'll never have good health. Sure you may be healthier than when you were fat but nothing compared to actually being fit and healthy.

I am doing it Because:

A: Double-chins aren't particularly attractive.

B: I want to be able to get thin enough so I can have the occasional fast-food bite or crisps, soft drinks, sweets etc. while remaining under 12 st. I was able to accomplish this for a while when I was thin before. The problems started when I got a motorbike from dad and then I gorged myself every day. I originally came from a rural area. This got me up to 13 st 5lbs. Then when I got into town to live (next to a shop) I couldn't really restrain myself no more after 6 months.

C: Breathing was actually getting physically painful at 19 st 10.

I think I was fit enough when I was slim. Apparently not getting a "stitch" pain when walking means your fit. When I started long walks years ago I had it but eventually it went away. It seems to have since returned but I just don't walk anymore. Besides where I live there is a big hill and I resent the thought of having to walk up it on the way home. It's simpler this way.

I am 11.6 stone, 6ft and got down to this level by pure exercise and correct diet, not by falling into the rip off trap of commerical products that essentially prey on fat people who suddenly decide they want to be thin, but aren't bothered doing anything physical about it themselves.

If it was a rip-off it wouldn't be working. I lost 12 lbs in week 1, 8.25 lbs in week 2, and around 5 lbs each in weeks 3 and 4. I feel that the means justify the ends. Its expensive but I won't have to use it forever. The demand for it (5 people per appointment in the pharmacy and I had to wait a month) indicates that word has gotten around from people using it that it works. My mother was the first person to tell me about it but I said "no" because of cost. But then online and offline friends started bringing it up so I thought I'd give it a try and I've never turned back.

Lust4Life

Posted by new Departure:
am doing it Because:

A: Double-chins aren't particularly attractive.

B: I want to be able to get thin enough so I can have the occasional fast-food bite or crisps, soft drinks, sweets etc. while remaining under 12 st. I was able to accomplish this for a while when I was thin before. The problems started when I got a motorbike from dad and then I gorged myself every day. I originally came from a rural area. This got me up to 13 st 5lbs. Then when I got into town to live (next to a shop) I couldn't really restrain myself no more after 6 months.

I think I was fit enough when I was slim. Apparently not getting a "stitch" pain when walking means your fit. When I started long walks years ago I had it but eventually it went away. It seems to have since returned but I just don't walk anymore. Besides where I live there is a big hill and I resent the thought of having to walk up it on the way home. It's simpler this way.

L4L saves breath. Shakes head, Walks away. Time will be the factor for point to sink in.

L4L

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

G-Knome

I think it's so sad to see so many obese kids around these days. I know when i want a young 'un (I'm 24 now) there was only one or two kids of equal proportions in the whole school, now it's much more common to see 10 stone plus preteens. Alot of people here are blaming the parents but the problem goes back further I believe.

In my experience, growing up we always had a press full of sweets, fizzy drinks and all sorts of crap. But being a kid, stuffing my face with these things was an everyday obsession and always a delight. However, I don't blame my parents for anything because in their eyes they weren't doing anything wrong. The real problem was that they weren't educated on what a rich and wholesome diet constitutes and that's the key here.

People everywhere have got to see that all this mcdonalds, coke and sweets is not food but it's just fcuking crap. I wouldn't give it to a dog to be honest. Thankfully for me I said enough was enough and in my late teens I educated myself after seeing this guys transformation in a totally random viral email http://www.johnstonefitness.com

I don't want to sound like a spammer now for the site but it's on those forums that I got my education and i've never looked back since. I never thought I could change myself and my body but I'm proud to say that I have and I really get so much fulfilment now from eating good wholesome organic food and also from exercising regularly. Within a short while I noticed huge improvements in my health and general well being. You wouldn't believe the satsfaction i now get from just doing someting frivolous like feeling my pulse and seeing that my heart rate is under 48 BPM. Also i play football every week and can run my ass off for two hours solid without ever getting completely exhausted and am easily the fittest person playing.

The most exciting other side effect of my new lifestyle was when my friends started commmenting on my physical changes. As I like to keep somethings to myself I never told anyone that I had taken a step in the right direction. This completely escaladed when we went to the beach after I had been dieting and exercising quietly for a few months. To say that they were completely blown away when they saw my new six pack would have been the understatment of the year! That my frineds was a feeling that no amount of mcdonald eating could ever give you and it's one i'll cherish for the rest of my life. I plan to run a marathon next year, i really think that would be the crowning achievement for me.

What bothers me now is that even I still have cravings every once in a while for the aforementioned garbage. I think this is probably due to the psychological effects that years of conditioning on sugar highs had on me as a child. Thats why I believe education is they key. I strongly believe that our primary schools should be enforcing these ideals and healthy eating principles and getting the parents involved too. I can't see why not to be honest and this is not a problem that is going to go away unless it is tackled in this manner as soon as possible.

Thanks for listeing, sorry for length, atari jaguar, etc..


P.S. Departure, your posts scare the living beejaysus out of me. I urge you to contact your GP immediately. It sounds like you're doing irrevocable and untold damage to your body. Seriosuly mate, you have to stop what you're doing because you're incredibly mis-informed, trust me on this one.

JustCoz

Tubby children are an eyesore

Nevyn

A lot of people dont know to budget and how to cook and so buy crap food and don't teach thier kids how to cook, or what a balanced diet is.

Madge

Thaedydal wrote:

A lot of people dont know to budget and how to cook and so buy crap food and don't teach thier kids how to cook, or what a balanced diet is.

I don't know about that... Sure nowadays everyone knows what food is healthy and whats not. We are constantly told by the media etc, that we should be eating 5 portions of fruit and veg to stay healthy.
I think its habit and lazyness with alot of people, they can't be arsed cooking a decent dinner, like a pot of veg and / or pasta, which only takes 5 or 10 mins so they have a greasy curry in the microwave for 2mins

Nevyn

When it comes to household budgeting and buying in food for the week it is easier and cheaper to by crap and ready meals then it is to plan a menu for the week and by fresh fruit and veg,
There are certain skills which are not being passed on.

Sleepy

Sleipnir wrote:

Very comendable Lust4Life, well done.
You choose to get rid of all the crap in your families diet and that's great. Many parents just can do it. When it's 3 days before you pick up your dole and you have €12 euro in your pocket and 3 kids in school asking what's for dinner, you just don't have a choice.

Sleipnir, if it's all about money how come we were all thinner in the 80's when we were all broke? Think back, our mammy's cooked proper dinners and we spent our days kicking footballs or running around causing mischief. We eat better and exercised more. Today's kids don't get either.