Fat kids

quickbeam

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I'm watching one of my own kids put on weight every week. Unfortunately, while they are normally very active in sports, a sports related injury necessitating surgery has made them basically immobile. The difference is incredible, it's like watching one of those sped-up nature films. No doubt the OP would be judging myself and mrs corm very harshly as parents.

If your child is putting on weight now that they're not doing sports, then they are eating too much.

John_Rambo

Car reliance due to bad planning is a disaster for kids too. Traditional walking and cycling methods of transport to school and sports are impossible for some parents that thought it was a good idea to build on unsuitable sites. Great when you're twenty something, but not so good for kids mental and physical health when they come along.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

What total horse shi*t. Are you actually linking obesity to breast feeding? What an idiotic mentality.

Hammer89 wrote: »

Said this before but, on the whole, Irish people aren't very happy and from very, very early on life we're given tools to sooth stress or unhappiness through an oral means, be it a nipple or a soother.

When we grow into adults, the default response to these feelings remains but it's not practical - or legal - to whip your ma's tit out and nibble on it, or go around sucking a dummy, so we turn to the next best thing in regards to oral satisfaction and that is food, which we're abusing more and more because it has positive temporary results, even if the long-term effect is detrimental for our mind, body and spirit.

AndrewJRenko

John_Rambo wrote: »

Car reliance due to bad planning is a disaster for kids too. Traditional walking and cycling methods of transport to school and sports are impossible for some parents that thought it was a good idea to build on unsuitable sites. Great when you're twenty something, but not so good for kids mental and physical health when they come along.

There are still many, many parents using the car for many, many short journeys - more than half of all <2km journeys were being done by car according to the CSO. Dept Education do nothing to encourage cycling to school - no decent locking facilities, no lockers, no showers. That's why we have more secondary school girls driving themselves to school than cycling to school.

Hammer89

Xander Orange Ewe wrote: »

What total horse shi*t. Are you actually linking obesity to breast feeding? What an idiotic mentality.

I'm no idiot, sir. I'm just someone who has been obese, and someone who has studied it as a hobby because it interests me. Not that my opinion is any more valid than yours - I just wish you could express yours without calling mine horse sh*t or suggesting I'm an idiot.

Valmont

I find the fattening a very interesting phenomenon. I am the only man in an office of ten women and they regularly gossip about women who are too skinny. But their code of honour impels them to never discuss overweight women lest they contribute to attitudes that result in people starving themselves. Now I don't particularly care who they do and do not talk about but a side effect of this is that the skinny odd ones out are fair game and the fat ones get a free pass. I'm not saying they shouldn't or anything but I see all this as a sign of a society that is getting very fat.

Another reason you can't criticise fat people is the ludicrous theory that they must be fat because they're too 'poor' to know how to cook or afford healthy food. Never mind the fact that poor people in actually poor countries are malnourished and thin, but the idea that x number of euros can only be spent on sausages and oven chips is delusional. One week of effort and it is easy really easy to cook healthy food on a low budget.

Next time you see the ads on TV, take a note how many of the actors are overweight or obese. My biggest fear is the fattening will get me too and I'll get big and fat and not notice because I'll look just like everyone else; we'll all be involved in the conspiracy together.

LirW

Hammer89 wrote: »

I'm no idiot, sir. I'm just someone who has been obese, and someone who has studied it as a hobby because it interests me. Not that my opinion is any more valid than yours - I just wish you could express yours without calling mine horse sh*t or suggesting I'm an idiot.

Well, there are studies confirming the opposite of what you say: breastfed infants have a lower risk of developing obesity. Doesn't rule it out but that's not really a matter of opinion, isn't it?

Hammer89

LirW wrote: »

Well, there are studies confirming the opposite of what you say: breastfed infants have a lower risk of developing obesity. Doesn't rule it out but that's not really a matter of opinion, isn't it?

Read my post, not his post about my post, which is interpreted incorrectly.

I said there's a definite link between stress reduction, and increased happiness temporarily, to behaviours which occupy our mouths - breastfeeding, sucking on a soother, sucking on a thumb, cheek biting, biting nails, smoking, using chewing gum and, of course, eating.

I'm not strictly talking about breastfeeding - a lot of behaviours which involve chewing or sucking do relieve feelings of discomfort temporarily in a lot of people.

LirW

I know what you mean, a common thing would be thumb-sucking, I know one or two people doing that in their early 20s. But it's fairly difficult to draw a line there since this is one of the basic needs of a baby and some children do need that a lot longer one, some barely have the urge after a few months. So from when on can you say this isn't "normal" anymore (age adequate).
It's a phenomenon that you also see in cats that left the mother too early, a lot of them develop some sucking-behavior.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

In my opinion, your view is exactly what I stated.

The thread is about obesity in children. Your posts suggests that comforting a baby by breast feeding increases our dependency on comfort eating later in life.

Also, I did not suggest you were an idiot.

Hammer89 wrote: »

I'm no idiot, sir. I'm just someone who has been obese, and someone who has studied it as a hobby because it interests me. Not that my opinion is any more valid than yours - I just wish you could express yours without calling mine horse sh*t or suggesting I'm an idiot.

pickarooney

Hammer89 wrote: »

Said this before but, on the whole, Irish people aren't very happy and from very, very early on life we're given tools to sooth stress or unhappiness through an oral means, be it a nipple or a soother.

When we grow into adults, the default response to these feelings remains but it's not practical - or legal - to whip your ma's tit out and nibble on it, or go around sucking a dummy, so we turn to the next best thing in regards to oral satisfaction and that is food, which we're abusing more and more because it has positive temporary results, even if the long-term effect is detrimental for our mind, body and spirit.

Nah, breastfeeding rates and the International Happiness Index make a mockery of everything you've said here.

LordSutch

Parents of fat children should be assessed & issued with special Credit/Debit cards that only allow healthy food & drink to be scanned & paid for at the till.

Example; Parent goes to pay for 2L six pack of Coke at the till, which then beeps* Warning* Fat Kids* transaction rejected!

Sorry, madam your 'fat child card' won't allow you to purchase this item, may I suggest you swap the 2L X 6 fizzy drink for mineral water or semi skimmed milk. Same principal in McDonald's, or wherever they take the fat Kids.

Maybe incentivise the fat card with cherry points for every healthy eating transaction!

Lady is a tramp

cbyrd wrote: »

Oh Lord, I've been expressing for the last 11 weeks for my baby who was 6 weeks premature. It's like having twins.

Can so relate to all of your post.

I only expressed for 2/3 weeks for mine (he wasn't even premature) and I always said it was like having twins! First you have the expressing session with the Medula or whatever, and then the actual preparing and heating and feeding with the child. It's exhausting.

You're a deadly mum and fair play for doing it for this long.

Samaris

Valmont wrote: »

Another reason you can't criticise fat people is the ludicrous theory that they must be fat because they're too 'poor' to know how to cook or afford healthy food. Never mind the fact that poor people in actually poor countries are malnourished and thin, but the idea that x number of euros can only be spent on sausages and oven chips is delusional. One week of effort and it is easy really easy to cook healthy food on a low budget. .

Just to mention, the malnutrition caused by not having enough food and the malnutrition caused by too much of certain unhealthy foods and not enough healthy foods are very different. One shows up as a distended belly and skeletal frame, the other shows up as having large deposits of unusable fat all over the frame, particularly the belly.

So comparing the two, and assuming that malnutrition = thin is incorrect.

The idea that "poor people buy rubbish" is semi-true though. Food on a lower income tends to be stuffed full of sugars and preservatives and are easier to cook with limited facilities - say, just a microwave rather than an oven or grill. Yes, you can buy fresh fruit and vege and prep from those fairly cheaply and in theory, it should be able to stretch (meat is more difficult, although possible by using cheap cuts - mince, bacon lardons, ...mince. From my own student days, a bag of frozen chicken bits was useful too, although I highly doubt they were a) particularly healthy or b) not pumped full of water and frozen). Ease of use tends to have the same effect everywhere though.

aidoh

Some seriously funny one-liners throughout this thread.

I'm now 100% prepared in the event of an improptu "yo momma so fat..."

It wasnt me123

Has anyone ever done bag packing for charities? its some eye opener.

The amount of fizzy 2L bottles/multi packs, packets of processed food, multi packs of crisps, biscuits etc that people buy is astounding - and they can't all be having celebrations that week.

This sort of food is the norm for lots of families in Ireland.

You are what you eat - if you eat crap you will look like crap.

And its nothing to do with budget - in fact its a damn sight cheaper to feed a family of 4/5 on stew (a bit of stewing steak and loads of veg), a curry (same but change steak for chicken) than it is to buy takeaway - its laziness that is the problem. A chicken can cost €4 in lidl, you could have a lovely dinner for less than €10.

Shame the parents into buying healthily - add a huge sugar tax on biscuits and multipacks (not the single pack for a person having the odd treat) - add a salt tax on the takeaways, McDonalds, Chinese - make the lazy fe*kers cook

Nagnata

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

That's not what he said at all. He said you would be punishing children by removing children's allowance. And it's not the children's fault.

PE is just 30 minutes twice a week in some schools. And healthy food doesn't just mean not bringing a penguin bar Monday - Thursday so their policies are often rubbish.

The whole PE or excercise side of it isn't a major factor for why kids are getting fat. It's down to diet mainly. PE is just 60 minutes a week as you say but they also have lunch breaks too for running around. But we sent our kids to school to get an education mainly not to play games. Kids should be active in sport but it should be done by parents after school hours.

On your first point yes the kids will suffer short term but money talks and it's the best way for people to change their habits. I like how the UK has fines for parents who allow their kids to miss school maybe instead of cutting welfare we should fine parents of obese kids.

The kids are already suffering due to lazy and stupid parents and will have an increased chance to developing health problems in their life.

Pinch Flat

It's a problem, for sure. My local swimming pool in west Dublin is an eye opener - you sometime struggle to see a kid that's a healthy weight. It's definitely an socio-econmic trend.

But some people are also genuinely unaware of what food does to the body. Was watching "Doctor in the House" last week. They had a fat family - he was 44 (I was in shock - younger than me but could have passed for late 50's), wife the same. Basically living on take aways. The only food they cooked was processed food - pizza, no veg. White bread. No fiber or fruit in their diets. He drank 2 cases of beer - 48 cans - a week and was surprised when his liver was showing signs of packing in. The kids were all carrying 50% body weight in fat. Again they were all in shock with their prognosis - diabetes, heart disease, fitness levels of someone in their 70s. Sometimes it's just plain ignorance, lack of education and probably a good bit of laziness about what the wrong food does.

whoopsadoodles

Nagnata wrote: »

The whole PE or excercise side of it isn't a major factor for why kids are getting fat. It's down to diet mainly. PE is just 60 minutes a week as you say but they also have lunch breaks too for running around. But we sent our kids to school to get an education mainly not to play games. Kids should be active in sport but it should be done by parents after school hours.

On your first point yes the kids will suffer short term but money talks and it's the best way for people to change their habits. I like how the UK has fines for parents who allow their kids to miss school maybe instead of cutting welfare we should fine parents of obese kids.

The kids are already suffering due to lazy and stupid parents and will have an increased chance to developing health problems in their life.

I'm just sticking up for Arcade Tryer as you jumped on him because you completely misinterpreted his post.

It wasn't even my point that kids will suffer if the money is taken from their parents - that was Arcade Tryer's point but you tried to call him a lazy parent because of it.

I agree with Arcade Tryer's point about better education for parents and children. It's no coincidence that the poorer children in society are likely to be the fattest.

I agree with you that it's mainly diet. However I also know that if my kid ate the amount of food she eats without doing the amount of sports she does, she'd be probably obese and so those quantities of food get reviewed based on activity level. I'm well educated when it comes to healthy eating though. Not everyone is.

I reference it a lot on boards, but have a watch of the netflix documentary "fed up". It's an eye opener. It shows that even parents who are trying to do the best for their children (by buying low fat for example) are failing miserably because of their sheer ignorance. As per my previous post though, claiming ignorance is often bullsh*t. If you know your child is fat you shouldn't be handing them a large ice cream. That's not ignorance, that's pushing on abuse.

On the whole I agree with what you're posting, not entirely, but generally. Calling people as lazy parents though because you picked them up wrong will be called out.

LordSutch

LordSutch wrote: »

Parents of fat children should be assessed & issued with special Credit/Debit cards that only allow healthy food & drink to be scanned & paid for at the till.

Example; Parent goes to pay for 2L six pack of Coke at the till, which then beeps* Warning* Fat Kids* transaction rejected!

Sorry, madam your 'fat child card' won't allow you to purchase this item, may I suggest you swap the 2L X 6 fizzy drink for mineral water or semi skimmed milk. Same principal in McDonald's, or wherever they take the fat Kids.

Maybe incentivise the fat card with cherry points for every healthy eating transaction!

North Korea is that way

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Zubeneschamali

Xander Orange Ewe wrote: »

Would any parent reading this thread admit they have an over weight child? Be honest with yourself...

Parents of obese children often have no idea their kids are fat:

The NYU researchers found that even if their kids were overweight or obese, the vast majority of parents were likely to see no problem with their child's weight.

Roger Hassenforder

It wasnt me123 wrote: »

And its nothing to do with budget - in fact its a damn sight cheaper to feed a family of 4/5 on stew (a bit of stewing steak and loads of veg), a curry (same but change steak for chicken) than it is to buy takeaway - its laziness that is the problem. A chicken can cost €4 in lidl, you could have a lovely dinner for less than €10.

Shame the parents into buying healthily - add a huge sugar tax on biscuits and multipacks (not the single pack for a person having the odd treat) - add a salt tax on the takeaways, McDonalds, Chinese - make the lazy fe*kers cook

People buying a treat, as a treat, would be penalised because fat lazy lardarsed fcukers won't cook for themselves and their diet consists of treats.

We've a limit on the amount of paracetamol someone can buy. Apply the rationale to the fizzy drinks and sh1te.

Our kids' schools have healthy eating policies, so while it's a pain in the hoop to chop fresh fruit for them in the morning, its worth it. Some kids parents won't comply, (probably because of tantrums etc) so some kids have a few bars and crisps thrown into lunch boxes. Guess what, the kids are fat as fcuk. The schools are trying, but it begins at home.

While there are some fat kids around I don't see them in anywhere near the numbers people claiming here. Through work I've visited quite a few primary schools over the last few years along with other events where there are lots of kids and I see very few even over weight kids never mind obese.

blacklilly

I think what we are beginning to see over the last number of recent years is a bigger discrepancy between very healthy and very unhealthy people. Whereas previously the majority were somewhere in the middle ground. This is just my observation.

Obesity is regarded as a medical disease. It's complex in nature and more often than not has physiological anchors. For those who are not obese it is difficult to understand the route cause and issues surrounding it and generally see it as an over eating / bad eating issue.

Food is seen as a comfort and is unavoidable as we need it to survive. If you are addicted to food and overeat due to sadness/depression/lack of confidence etc it is incredibly difficult to control.

I genuinely feel very sorry for those who struggle with their weight. I know it's not as easy as telling them to make healthier choices and move more. Firstly many are in absolute denial, secondly there is usually a complete lack of confidence which doesn't lend itself to going to the gym/exercising and thirdly their crutch, food, is everywhere.

Educating parents is where the main focus should be. Our schools should assist in informing children of healthy eating/exercising but ultimately it is the parents responsibility. It is shocking to know how many have not even a basic grasp of nutrition which results in unhealthy kids and the circle continues.

Perhaps some system could be put in place in schools (primary schools) whereby if a child is overweight/obese supports are put in place for the child/family to educate them, early intervention is so important.

joey100

If the child is really obese they are sent to the obesity clinic. Doctors and nutritionists come up with a meal plan for the whole family to try and help the child lose weight. Repeat check up is held around 6 months after, more than likely the child has put on weight. Cue the parents saying they stuck completely to the plan, lot of time the parent and child seen going to the vending machine after the appointment (them even being in hospitals is another argument). A child being obese or overweight is purely down to the parents. If your obese by age 12 you will nearly always be obese. the damage done to your system is nearly irreversible and you will live with it for your life time.

As for taking obese children off families cos it's child abuse, it's very very hard to get children taken out of families situations where they are underfed, next to impossible to get them taken out for being overfed.

Roger Hassenforder

blacklilly wrote: »

Perhaps some system could be put in place in schools (primary schools) whereby if a child is overweight/obese supports are put in place for the child/family to educate them, early intervention is so important.

We could employer PE teachers as SNAs. Get the fat lads to run around the yard

Lollipops23

There was one MASSIVE guy in my year at school and he was an absolute twat. He constantly made fun of me for my nose (I, eh, *grew* into it).

One day I snapped and called him some names relating to his sizeable carriage. The next day my year head confronted me and said the fat bast*rd's dad had complained about the name calling. I calmly listed the recent incidents of this kid calling me names and harassing me.

Thankfully I was a decent kid and was never in trouble, whereas this kid was well known as being a pr*ck, so I didn't get punished.

The guy is still a MASSIVE asshole.

It wasnt me123

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

People buying a treat, as a treat, would be penalised because fat lazy lardarsed fcukers won't cook for themselves and their diet consists of treats.

We've a limit on the amount of paracetamol someone can buy. Apply the rationale to the fizzy drinks and sh1te.
QUOTE]

I agree in relation to the amount people should be allowed to buy - like paracetamol - but you can get around that - I go to the self serve and put the packets through separately if buying for home/work etc and need multiple packets.

But I think the sugar tax/salt tax should be on the multipacks/multi bottles. If you are buying a bottle for a treat, no tax. If you are buying 3 x 2L bottles because you drink it 24/7 then tax it. Same with salt and fat at takeaways/fast food.

Don't get me started on the cost of the health implications of obese people - Diabetes, hypertension, heart problems, vascular problems, mental health problems due to lack of self-esteem - diabetes affects every organ in your body and if you have an amputation due to diabetes - you have a 95% chance of having a further amputation within 5 years. These are huge costs to any failing health system.

Eat what you like, drink what you like, take as many drugs as you like as long as you pay for your medical treatment. If society has to financially pay for you, then society gets to have some say.

Galwayguy35

blacklilly wrote: »

I think what we are beginning to see over the last number of recent years is a bigger discrepancies between very healthy and very unhealthy people. Whereas previously they majority were somewhere in the middle ground. This is just my observation.

Obesity is regarded as a medical disease. It's complex in nature and more often than not has physiological anchors. For those who are not obese it is difficult to understand the route cause and issue surrounding it and generally see it as an over eating / bad eating issue.

Food is seen as a comfort and is unavoidable as we need it to survive. If you are addicted to food and overeat due to sadness/depression/lack of confidence etc it is incredibly difficult to control.

I genuinely feel very sorry for those who struggle with their weight. I know it's not as easy as telling them to make healthier choices and move more. Firstly many are in absolute denial, secondly there is usually a complete lack of confidence which doesn't lend itself to going to the gym/exercising and thirdly their crutch, food, is everywhere.

Educating parents is where the main focus should be. Our schools should assist in informing children of healthy eating/exercising but ultimately it is the parents responsibility. It is shocking to know how many have not even a basic grasp of nutrition which results in unhealthy kids and the circle continues.

Perhaps some system could be put in place in schools (primary schools) whereby if a child is overweight/obese supports are put in place for the child/family to educate them, early intervention is so important.

Well actually in most cases it is as easy as telling them to change their eating habits and move more.

While it's true they won't be able to take up jogging or start doing press ups any time soon they can walk and cycle.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

Funny how there were no fat kids with illnesses when I was a kid huh?

What an idiotic argument.

Diseases come and go over time, due to many factors. Just because hypothyroidism wasn't a thing when you were a kid doesn't mean it's made up.