are parents and family at fault for obese kids?

Andy From Sligo

I think I heard latest safe food advert on radio today telling parents and grandparents to learn to say no when they are asked for sweets from their kids, grandchildren. So are parents and grandparents at fault now why their are so many obese children about now then?

Barry Badrinath

It's all your fault Andy!

Stop fattening up the kids! This isn't Hansel and Gretal like! Ya bollox.

edbrez

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

why their are so many obese children about now then?

Sugar.

One eyed Jack

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I think I heard latest safe food advert on radio today telling parents and grandparents to learn to say no when they are asked for sweets from their kids, grandchildren. So are parents and grandparents at fault now why their are so many obese children about now then?

Parents and relatives attitudes to health and nutrition is no doubt a contributing factor in children's attitudes to health and nutrition. Are there really any more obese children about than there were before though?

Personally, I think a greater concern is the amount of underweight and poor musculature children there are about nowadays due to poor diet and sedentary lifestyles.

MilesMorales1

Probably a bit of both. Parents should take responsibility for their kids eating since kids eat primarily what parents serve them. If parents can't be arsed to anything but slap processed food in the oven for their kids to eat, or endlessly fill them up with coke and crisps to keep them quiet, the writings on the wall.

freshpopcorn

That ad has being on for years now.
You can see the disgust on the parents face when they imagine having a fat child/teenager.
It's actually an ad I hate.

Ruu

Somebody think of the children! Wait..they're too fat already.

The_Valeyard

edbrez wrote: »

Sugar.

Yep. Stop buying low fat stuff. Pumped with sugar. At least with full fat your body knows what to do with it.


Everything in moderation.

nkav86

There's a lot to be said for buying and preparing Healthier meals and depending on kids age, that responsibility is with the parents. That being said there are a lot of kids getting pocket money that choose to spend it on all kinds of crap food. I also think there are some parents that play the 'well I didn't know that was unhealthy, they shouldn't be available' card that need to use more cop on and take responsibility for their choices.

Staplor

Parental fault.

Society means I can't feed my kid 3 nutritious meals - take a hike, pick some fruit and veg on the hike. Give it to your kid instead of Mars bars.

Kiwi in IE

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I think I heard latest safe food advert on radio today telling parents and grandparents to learn to say no when they are asked for sweets from their kids, grandchildren. So are parents and grandparents at fault now why their are so many obese children about now then?

My child is seven. He's not obese. He eats healthy food and gets loads of activity. I jobshare and spend pretty much all the time that I am not at work preparing food, shopping for food, growing food, driving my son to various sports and activities. This is only possible because I work part time night shifts, and OH also works shift work opposite me, so that on days I'm working, he is home doing all that. If both of us worked full time and came in at 6 every day, there is not a hope in hell that we could manage healthy breakfasts, lunch and dinners every day and lots of physical activity.

No, I don't think it's always the parents fault at all (although sometimes it undeniably is), it's the fault of society in general and governments. It takes a lot of time, effort and resources to ensure that children have healthy, nutritious food and enough physical activity. We are a long way from being a society where everyone has those things.

uck51js9zml2yt

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

My child is seven. He's not obese. He eats healthy food and gets loads of activity. I jobshare and spend pretty much all the time that I am not at work preparing food, shopping for food, growing food, driving my son to various sports and activities. This is only possible because I work part time night shifts, and OH also works shift work opposite me, so that on days I'm working, he is home doing all that. If both of us worked full time and came in at 6 every day, there is not a hope in hell that we could manage healthy breakfasts, lunch and dinners every day and lots of physical activity.

No, I don't think it's always the parents fault at all (although sometimes it undeniably is), it's the fault of society in general and governments. It takes a lot of time, effort and resources to ensure that children have healthy, nutritious food and enough physical activity. We are a long way from being a society where everyone has those things.

I've heard it all now...its society and the governments fault our kids are fat!
Its the parents who put food on the plate. My neighbours don't feed my kids, neither does enda Kenny.

Saw a kid today about 6 who was clearly fat and in his hand was a tub of ice cream. It was his mother's fault..not mine.

murpho999

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

My child is seven. He's not obese. He eats healthy food and gets loads of activity. I jobshare and spend pretty much all the time that I am not at work preparing food, shopping for food, growing food, driving my son to various sports and activities. This is only possible because I work part time night shifts, and OH also works shift work opposite me, so that on days I'm working, he is home doing all that. If both of us worked full time and came in at 6 every day, there is not a hope in hell that we could manage healthy breakfasts, lunch and dinners every day and lots of physical activity.

No, I don't think it's always the parents fault at all (although sometimes it undeniably is), it's the fault of society in general and governments. It takes a lot of time, effort and resources to ensure that children have healthy, nutritious food and enough physical activity. We are a long way from being a society where everyone has those things.

Don't agree with this at all.

Why couldy you not eat healthily if you both worked full time and got home at 6.
Eating healthy takes very little effort, all about buying the right products and a little plannng.
For example , a large healthy dish can be made , and portions frozen to eat the following week, thus saving time that week.
This notion that eating healthy is a chore is a myth.
Also people have to take responsibility, it's not society's or the government's fault if they are fat.

FTA69

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

My child is seven. He's not obese. He eats healthy food and gets loads of activity. I jobshare and spend pretty much all the time that I am not at work preparing food, shopping for food, growing food, driving my son to various sports and activities. This is only possible because I work part time night shifts, and OH also works shift work opposite me, so that on days I'm working, he is home doing all that. If both of us worked full time and came in at 6 every day, there is not a hope in hell that we could manage healthy breakfasts, lunch and dinners every day and lots of physical activity.

No, I don't think it's always the parents fault at all (although sometimes it undeniably is), it's the fault of society in general and governments. It takes a lot of time, effort and resources to ensure that children have healthy, nutritious food and enough physical activity. We are a long way from being a society where everyone has those things.

I see where you're coming from but it is possible to prepare healthy meals on a busy schedule and to do that on a constant basis, it's simply a matter of preparation and knowledge.

Come in at six, whack some sweet potatoes in the steamer, season and grill some chicken breasts and then stir fry some green veg or cook them on the hob or in the steamer. Job done in 20 minutes or less. Cook double the amount you need and there's your lunch for the next day. While you're at it boil some eggs, cut some cheese and maybe make a few sausages and there's your breakfast for first thing as well. Cooking healthy and fresh food is not a massive ordeal by any stretch of the imagination.

More complex things like curries and stews etc can be mass made at the weekend and frozen in freezer bags for the week.

The Raptor

I was overweight as a kid, not obese but it was curry chips for dinner or some other crap.

Kiwi in IE

Alright, so suggestions have included taking a hike and picking fruit, foward planning and making meals on days off. If both parents work full time, get home at 6 and therefore have about 2 hours before the kids need to be in bed, when is all this meal preparation, hiking and forward planning going to be done? On the weekends? I guess if your spending all weekend cooking for the week and shopping, there wouldn't be much time for that hike, or any other form of physical activity.

Those who are saying that healthy meal preparation isn't a chore clearly don't have a family who they provide regular meals for. It's certainly a chore and I imagine when you're tired and frazzled after a day's work, the kids are hungry, whiny and tired, the chipper looks like a pretty good option as opposed to getting straight into chopping vegetables the minute you get in the door and spending the next hour making dinner.

biko

Fat parents with fat kids.

I saw a "working class" family recently and all the kids were fat as hell, it was sad as you can image they were probably brought up on chips and soft drinks, and never saw a vegetable in their life.

fatknacker

It's not handing kids some sweets that's making them fat. It's the hidden sugars in absolutely everything that they eat. Juices, cereals, "healthy" bars, sauces...most parents are aware sweets and take aways are bad...but not so aware of hidden sugar in everyday food.

FTA69

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Alright, so suggestions have included taking a hike and picking fruit, foward planning and making meals on days off. If both parents work full time, get home at 6 and therefore have about 2 hours before the kids need to be in bed, when is all this meal preparation, hiking and forward planning going to be done? On the weekends? I guess if your spending all weekend cooking for the week and shopping, there wouldn't be much time for that hike, or any other form of physical activity.

Those who are saying that healthy meal preparation isn't a chore clearly don't have a family who they provide regular meals for. It's certainly a chore and I imagine when you're tired and frazzled after a day's work, the kids are hungry, whiny and tired, the chipper looks like a pretty good option as opposed to getting straight into chopping vegetables the minute you get in the door and spending the next hour making dinner.

Well there's your answer then, if people choose to go the chipper instead of cooking because they don't know how to cook or because they couldn't be arsed then doing that regularly will result in weight gain. It's about what you want to prioritise basically.

I cook first thing when I'm in the door, it's just what I do, tired or no; and while it can be a balls it's better than throwing sh*t in the oven or eating takeaway. As I said in a post above, it's possible to come in at six and lash out a healthy dinner in no time at all. Likewise doing a big weekly shop and having a full freezer doesn't mean sacrificing your entire weekend and free time on the altar of healthy eating, a bit of preparation isn't the end of the world.

Pretzill

When I was a child there wasn't too much temptation about and sweets were only a Friday evening treat (homemade chips were another Friday treat too)

We rarely went out to eat and takeaways weren't invented (if you don't count Vesta curries yack)

Now I'm sure it's very hard to make the right choices when there are so many goodies available -

But one thing that kept us trim was playing outside, chasing, skipping, hiking with the family, swimming - etc. But yeah there's a lot of food now that is either high sugar pretending to be low fat, or just obvious junk. Having said all that I do remember being really hungry as a child and really looking forward to dinner, after running around like a mad thing before!

One eyed Jack

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Alright, so suggestions have included taking a hike and picking fruit, foward planning and making meals on days off. If both parents work full time, get home at 6 and therefore have about 2 hours before the kids need to be in bed, when is all this meal preparation, hiking and forward planning going to be done? On the weekends? I guess if your spending all weekend cooking for the week and shopping, there wouldn't be much time for that hike, or any other form of physical activity.

Those who are saying that healthy meal preparation isn't a chore clearly don't have a family who they provide regular meals for. It's certainly a chore and I imagine when you're tired and frazzled after a day's work, the kids are hungry, whiny and tired, the chipper looks like a pretty good option as opposed to getting straight into chopping vegetables the minute you get in the door and spending the next hour making dinner.

And none of the above is either societies, nor governments fault. It's parents responsibility for their own children, it's a parents business to ensure their children are healthy. Their priority should be their children's health, not their own convenience. It's easier to come up with excuses for why people can't take responsibility, than it is to actually accept that they are responsible for their children's health and well-being.

Kiwi in IE

fatknacker wrote: »

It's not handing kids some sweets that's making them fat. It's the hidden sugars in absolutely everything that they eat. Juices, cereals, "healthy" bars, sauces...most parents are aware sweets and take aways are bad...but not so aware of hidden sugar in everyday food.

And many of them are in the foods that busy parents resort to to get what they think is a decent meal made faster. Packets and sachets and jars of ready made stuff designed to throw into meals so that they are made more quickly. Healthy meals are meals made from scratch with proper, whole food. These meals generally take a lot of time to prepare.

lollsangel

Both me and my partner work full time on shift work. Meals are planned ahead of time, and at least 6 of the 7 evenings there is a fresh healthy supper. Breakfast is normally porridge with a hot grill once a week. Both kids participle in athe tics and gaa. I have taken to giving them just a snack for school as they have 10 minutes to eat, normally they don't have time. They were obese when they were younger, they're almost 7 now this wad when they were 3 or 4. It was more so hidden calories like in fruit juice that caught me out.
In my mind it's all about moderation. It's okay to have a biscuit or a bun etc once they've eaten the healthy stuff they should. I do think it's bad to be putting so much emphasis on the evils of so called junk foods. I think it would be better promoted in telling people about the hidden calories and sugar where you may not expect it.

MilesMorales1

When I was a young un, if I'd had chocolate/sweets/ any food I wasn't supposed to have that I hadn't been given by the parents, I'd have been walloped for it, and I didn't get enough allowance to waste it on sweets. Don't give it to them and they can't have it etc.

Xaracatz

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Alright, so suggestions have included taking a hike and picking fruit, foward planning and making meals on days off. If both parents work full time, get home at 6 and therefore have about 2 hours before the kids need to be in bed, when is all this meal preparation, hiking and forward planning going to be done? On the weekends? I guess if your spending all weekend cooking for the week and shopping, there wouldn't be much time for that hike, or any other form of physical activity.

Those who are saying that healthy meal preparation isn't a chore clearly don't have a family who they provide regular meals for. It's certainly a chore and I imagine when you're tired and frazzled after a day's work, the kids are hungry, whiny and tired, the chipper looks like a pretty good option as opposed to getting straight into chopping vegetables the minute you get in the door and spending the next hour making dinner.

It's not easy - there's no doubt about that. But cook and then freeze the leftovers if you can, which means it's not a daily chore.

The alternative of going to the chipper is a woeful one if done regularly. If time is really tight, stick some frozen veg in the microwave, shove some chicken under the grill, and heat up some beans.

FTA69

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

When I was a young un, if I'd had chocolate/sweets/ any food I wasn't supposed to have that I hadn't been given by the parents, I'd have been walloped for it, and I didn't get enough allowance to waste it on sweets. Don't give it to them and they can't have it etc.

It's different nowadays though, in the UK you have those bloody fried chicken shops everywhere selling wings and chips for a pound. The kids are never out of the places and are piling into them every day after school. As easy as it is to cultivate a healthy eating and athletic attitude in the home, the gets knocked if kids are surrounded by their peers eating freely available rubbish non-stop. They'll want it too.

It isn't feasible to restrict the ability of a 13 year old to buy rubbish unfortunately.

Kiwi in IE

If we have an 'epidemic' obviously it's something that many people are struggling with. Rather than judgemental, sanctimonious attitudes and useless adverts and campaigns from government organisations that will do diddly squat, wouldn't it be a better idea to try and get to the root cause of why people seem to be struggling so much with healthy food/adequate physical activity and address that? It's very easy for those of us who do feed our kids well and ensure they get physical activity to sit here and judge, with our life circumstances that allow us to manage it, but what if some of those comparatively favourable circumstances were taken away? Could you still do it if you and your partner had 3 kids and you were both were working physically demanding minimum wage jobs with long commutes on public transport every day?

Kiwi in IE

Xaracatz wrote: »

It's not easy - there's no doubt about that. But cook and then freeze the leftovers if you can, which means it's not a daily chore.

The alternative of going to the chipper is a woeful one if done regularly. If time is really tight, stick some frozen veg in the microwave, shove some chicken under the grill, and heat up some beans.

I don't do it myself, I spend half my life preparing and obtaining food and healthy meals, I can just see why some people might simply not be able.

One eyed Jack

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

If we have an 'epidemic' obviously it's something that many people are struggling with. Rather than judgemental, sanctimonious attitudes and useless adverts and campaigns from government organisations that will do diddly squat, wouldn't it be a better idea to try and get to the root cause of why people seem to be struggling so much with healthy food/adequate physical activity and address that? It's very easy for those of us who do feed our kids well and ensure they get physical activity to sit here and judge, with our life circumstances that allow us to manage it, but what if some of those comparatively favourable circumstances were taken away? Could you still do it if you and your partner had 3 kids and you were both were working physically demanding minimum wage jobs with long commutes on public transport every day?

It's not their means, or their circumstances that causes the issue though. It's their attitude to their children's health and well being is the problem, and they're passing that attitude of convenience on to their children, who will pass it on to their children.

The obesity, or the undernourishment, is only a physical symptom of the deeper, underlying issues going on there. It's very difficult to get through to people who think more about themselves and their own convenience than they care about taking responsibility for their own children.

Lau2976

The argument of working full time is ridiculous. Both my parents worked full time and we ate healthy, home cooked meals nearly all the time. It's an issue with time management more so then anything else.

I think we have a tendency to not prioritize what we put into our bodies because it's easier not too.

meeeeh

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

If we have an 'epidemic' obviously it's something that many people are struggling with. Rather than judgemental, sanctimonious attitudes and useless adverts and campaigns from government organisations that will do diddly squat, wouldn't it be a better idea to try and get to the root cause of why people seem to be struggling so much with healthy food/adequate physical activity and address that? It's very easy for those of us who do feed our kids well and ensure they get physical activity to sit here and judge, with our life circumstances that allow us to manage it, but what if some of those comparatively favourable circumstances were taken away? Could you still do it if you and your partner had 3 kids and you were both were working physically demanding minimum wage jobs with long commutes on public transport every day?

Actually the most obese kids are in the areas with higher unemployment. It definitely is societal issues but not because of lack of time to cook properly. There are cohorts of society that don't have the knowledge and neither they don't appreciate healthy food because they never learned to enjoy it. So blaming working schedule is nonsense and while I don't have the slightest desire to eat chicken breast with steamed sweet potato, there definitely are healthy foods that can be prepared quickly. Unfortunately our junk loving daughter doesn't appreciate them. There is not a pick on her but in comparison to her older brother who is very good, healthy eater, she is pull your hair out in frustration type of a child. So sometimes even best intentions are met with a brick walls

But yeah I think it's up to parents, we are responsible for our kid's wellbeing until they can fend for themselves.

rizzodun

I've skimmed the 30 posts in this thread so maybe I missed someone saying this, but if it hasn't been said then I'm amazed.

Part of the problem is that kids these days are too sedentary.

When I was younger there was one TV to fight over, a games console hooked up to the same tv, no pc or internet, so just by those reasons alone I spent a lot of time outside.
I could eat pretty much anything I wanted when I was younger, and as my family owned a restaurant I pretty much did, and never gained weight.

Basic rule to losing weight, burn more calories than your take in, so, the more active you are the more calories you can have.

There's two tv's in my house, a laptop, games console, and internet enabled mobiles, my kids can spend the whole day without moving from the couch, of course it's easier for kids to gain weight, but food is only a part of it.

So, regarding parents being to blame? Yes, absolutely, if you couldn't be bothered to turn off the tv, laptop, or take the mobile or gamepad, and encourage your child to step outside and burn some calories, you're to blame, and possibly more so that the parent who does the above but possibly could spend a bit longer making a healthier dinner in the kitchen.

Samaris

I'd say there's a whole lot of reasons, most of which have been brought up already.

- Children are more sedentary and/or there's less allowed space outside for playing. A lot of kids aren't allowed to play on the street anymore, whereas go back a couple of generations and there were a lot less cars on the road. Add that to the explosion in gaming devices and, well, can see how that happens!

- Connected to the above; today's children are the first generation to grow up with the example of gaming and parents buried in their phones. Go back ten, fifteen years and a parent would probably tell you to get your head out of that device and act like a human being for a bit.

- More fast food places around, although there were several that got a load of us on a Friday lunchtime in secondary school too.

- A huge variety of cheap, generally mildly rubbishing food about, quick prep stuff, hidden fats and sugars etcetera.

- It's far more common now for both parents to be working all day now, rather than one parent staying at home and one working. As discussed above, it can make it harder to prepare healthy dinners. Not impossible, ofc, but certainly more difficult.

anothernight

Blaming the government for what you choose to feed your children is ludicrous.

Lau2976 wrote: »

The argument of working full time is ridiculous. Both my parents worked full time and we ate healthy, home cooked meals nearly all the time. It's an issue with time management more so then anything else.

Same here, and my parents didn't use readymade sauces or anything. We came home for lunch every day and there was always homemade food for us. As we grew older they made sure to gradually teach us how to cook bits and pieces too, which decreased the amount of meal planning my parents had to do.

byhookorbycrook

Many children get very little exercise. some parents at primary schools who would drive into the classroom if they could.There are children who don't know how to play, unless you mean on a games console. Deli counters every day are crammed with secondary students buying their lunches -and let's be honest, it's not fruit and wholemeal bread they are buying. I think some parents choose the easy option ALL the time and that in turn impacts on a child's eating and exercise habits.

_Brian

rizzodun wrote: »

I've skimmed the 30 posts in this thread so maybe I missed someone saying this, but if it hasn't been said then I'm amazed.

Part of the problem is that kids these days are too sedentary.

When I was younger there was one TV to fight over, a games console hooked up to the same tv, no pc or internet, so just by those reasons alone I spent a lot of time outside.
I could eat pretty much anything I wanted when I was younger, and as my family owned a restaurant I pretty much did, and never gained weight.

Basic rule to losing weight, burn more calories than your take in, so, the more active you are the more calories you can have.

There's two tv's in my house, a laptop, games console, and internet enabled mobiles, my kids can spend the whole day without moving from the couch, of course it's easier for kids to gain weight, but food is only a part of it.

So, regarding parents being to blame? Yes, absolutely, if you couldn't be bothered to turn off the tv, laptop, or take the mobile or gamepad, and encourage your child to step outside and burn some calories, you're to blame, and possibly more so that the parent who does the above but possibly could spend a bit longer making a healthier dinner in the kitchen.

Id agree that exercise is very important...
But even active kids need a healthy diet.. No point in building a lifetime habbit of crap food and hiding it with activity when they are young.. soon as they hit secondary or college or work they explode as they know nothing only eat crap and nothing else..
You can't exercise away a bad diet..

anothernight

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

There are children who don't know how to play, unless you mean on a games console.

That is incredibly sad.

byhookorbycrook

Unfortunately, even children who play a lot of sport often don't have unstructured play time and literally don't know what to do. I LOATHE the term "play date" where it seems the children must be amused and entertained by the adults instead of just figuring it out for themselves.

Xaracatz

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Xaracatz wrote: »

It's not easy - there's no doubt about that. But cook and then freeze the leftovers if you can, which means it's not a daily chore.

The alternative of going to the chipper is a woeful one if done regularly. If time is really tight, stick some frozen veg in the microwave, shove some chicken under the grill, and heat up some beans.

I don't do it myself, I spend half my life preparing and obtaining food and healthy meals, I can just see why some people might simply not be able.

But that was my point - people are simply able to do this.

galah

Maybe it's just semantics, but when i hear playdate, i understand you arrange a time for two friendly kids to meet and the rest is up to themselves? Wouldnt cross my mind to entertain them; they're getting together to play with each other. But maybe my English isnt that good...:pac:

Back on topic, it's unreal how much sugar is in everything these days. It's very hard to find, for example, full fat no sugar yogurt (that has flavour as otherwise the kids wont eat it) or any other products. I dont like low fat stuff as it's usually full of other crap - rather have them eat less of the full fat stuff than more of the low fat foods. Same with sugar.

Sometimes it can be hard to make good food under time constraints (we also both work full time) - but i find frozen veg are your friend (chips dont count!) as you can bung them in the wok with sone rice noodles, throw in a few prawns, done. That takes under 10 mins even on a busy day. For example.

And maybe instead of taxing sugar and drinks, the government should tax couches and game consoles when there's kids in the house? Just an idea. Or run the power for these off a bike that generates electricity or something :P

byhookorbycrook

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Unfortunately, even children who play a lot of sport often don't have unstructured play time and literally don't know what to do. I LOATHE the term "play date" where it seems the children must be amused and entertained by the adults instead of just figuring it out for themselves.

I know this is a bit off topic but people got annoyed when I expressed amazement at the idea that children need to be occupied all the time. They thought the after school and holiday care was great in the local child care place because they organised activities for the children all the time, no question of children developing an inner life and learning to manage themselves without adults.

pwurple

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

If both of us worked full time and came in at 6 every day, there is not a hope in hell that we could manage healthy breakfasts, lunch and dinners every day and lots of physical activity.

We kinda manage it so far both working full time. Two kids just back from their PHN assessments last week, both normal BMI thank feck (the toddler was a bit of a fatty up to now, but has run it off). Most meals are homecooked and healthy. Weeknights are nothing fancy, usually meat or fish, spud or pasta and random veg. We have treats alright, like proper homemade cake, mini scones, and yup, chocolate. Maybe three or four treats a week. I personally think too restrictive with treats completely backfires when they get some independance and you get overeater teenagers. Somewhere in the middle of the sugar-nazi and 100% deep fried diet is moderation.

We have loads of help. Family live nearby, and we have an awesome au pair.

Most important of all... we live in an urban area where we don't need to drive much. We are walking distance to school, so they walk there rain or shine. We have a nearby gaa club, and a place to cycle/scooter etc. Plenty of friends around.

They are in a car on the weekend, to go visit grandparents or to the beach/woods/hills. It's a tiny house, the most we could afford here, but location location location is the best thing ever for keeping us active and out of the car.

Andy From Sligo

kupus

edbrez wrote: »

SugarParents .

fixed your post

xLisaBx

While I think that parents can be at fault for overweight and obese children, I think at times they can also be at fault for sparking the notion of starvation and going to extremes to be skinny.

All we hear about are campaigns to ban size 0 models and photoshop and the likes, but really, comparisons and gossip between mothers outside school gates and whispers about other children does much more damage IMO.

I think a positive body image environment is crucial to children and teens, but there comes a point where somebody is dangerously overweight, and "loving your curves" is no longer acceptable- risks of heart failure, pulmonary failure etc. are much more pressing issues.

Keane2baMused

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Alright, so suggestions have included taking a hike and picking fruit, foward planning and making meals on days off. If both parents work full time, get home at 6 and therefore have about 2 hours before the kids need to be in bed, when is all this meal preparation, hiking and forward planning going to be done? On the weekends? I guess if your spending all weekend cooking for the week and shopping, there wouldn't be much time for that hike, or any other form of physical activity.

Those who are saying that healthy meal preparation isn't a chore clearly don't have a family who they provide regular meals for. It's certainly a chore and I imagine when you're tired and frazzled after a day's work, the kids are hungry, whiny and tired, the chipper looks like a pretty good option as opposed to getting straight into chopping vegetables the minute you get in the door and spending the next hour making dinner.

I have a family of 4 and cook healthy meals in under 30 minutes 5/7 days. Sunday is a roast which takes longer and we may eat out once.

It is absolutely the parents fault up to a certain age. You nurture your children and have to decide for them what is good food and what isn't. They look to their parents as role models.

If you eat crap they will too. If you only have healthy food in your home they will love it also.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

100% without question the parent/s fault.

Government? Society? Sugar? What a load of horse sh*t.

If you have an obese kid, take a good look in the mirror parent/s... that's your doing. Celebrate by buying your kids a packet of crisps and let them wash it down with a can of coke. When your kid doesn't eat his dinner, sure just give him or her an ice cream or a mars bar. :rolleyes:

Into The Blue

freshpopcorn wrote: »

That ad has being on for years now.
You can see the disgust on the parents face when they imagine having a fat child/teenager.
It's actually an ad I hate.

Why?

rizzodun

_Brian wrote: »

Id agree that exercise is very important...
But even active kids need a healthy diet.. No point in building a lifetime habbit of crap food and hiding it with activity when they are young.. soon as they hit secondary or college or work they explode as they know nothing only eat crap and nothing else..
You can't exercise away a bad diet..

I agree 100%, I was more so pointing out the value of exercise that hadn't seemed to have been mentioned from what I could see. My diet when I was younger wasn't unhealthy, more that I didn't have to be picky and focused on healthy eating, and the love for the outdoors and being active when I was younger means that now I'm more keen to keep a healthy diet so that I can continue that active lifestyle, that's something I want to hopefully pass to my kids.

Latatian

Microwave some frozen veg (green beans, cauliflower, spinach, peas), add whatever will persuade the little feckers to eat it (butter, nutmeg, ketchup, whatever, don't care). Add some spuds/mashed potato/noodles/pasta and a fast-cooking protein source. All pretty quick and easy. You can cook such a dinner in about the same time that it takes to do a microwave dinner, if you pick the right ingredients.

It starts to fall down when you realise that kids aren't robots who eat whatever you want them to. Some will. Some will pick up from their friends that vegetables aren't what the cool kids eat. And sometimes they just won't eat for apparently no reason. Sure, you can offer small portions, etc. and deal with the crying hungry child- or you can make them the same basic palatable thing that they liked yesterday. Or whatever the food is that they've seen on TV now.

Another problem is that parents (and all of us) get told healthy eating is hard, and complicated, and filled with pitfalls, and probably tastes awful anyway ('kale and quinoa salad' or 'ricecakes and lettuce'). Kids certainly won't enjoy it, kids like 'kids food', which is processed potato, processed meats etc. And cooking is hard. So you shouldn't do it and should instead go buy something ready-made or get takeaway.

This, of course, is not necessarily true but if you have that mental block and skill gap the time to work through it is not at 6pm after a full day's work when you're facing kids who may very well not eat what you make anyway.

There are problems of ignorance (not necessarily the parent's fault, you don't know what you don't know) and of these weird cultural memes that spread about food. "The baby is so BIG and STRONG" "Look at him he hasn't a pick on him, what is his mother doing?" "That's all he got for lunch?" "Sure let the poor child have a biscuit- ah I'll give him just one." I see kids going to relative's houses now and they have the same thing I had when I was small. You get fed, much too large amounts of food often for the size of the child, because food is love, 'treats' even more so. And because people are really, really bad at estimating portion sizes and do not want to underfeed children.

Yes, of course, the parents absolutely have a huge role to play in child obesity- there are just things that can hinder even those parents who *want* to change, from being able to do so or knowing how.