Pupils aged just seven too obese to fit into their uniforms

galljga1 · 03-07-2015 08:44AM

Odin Wrong Windowsill wrote: »

Why do people care that we have an "obesity epidemic", I couldn't care less if the country is full of fat feckers or stick men let people live their own lives.

I was expecting it to take at least 3 or 4 posts for religion bashing to start, but no second post. Your faith is infinitely more important than any PE class.

Eh....No!

Dravokivich · 03-07-2015 08:47AM

NIMAN wrote: »

As a parent of a child who started junior infants this year (with 2 more coming behind) I find it shocking that they get so little structured PE time.

1hr a week is not enough.

But then again we now live in a world where kids are told not to run in the playground. And we wonder why they are getting fat (although a lot of that is also down to how their parents feed them).

Eh... this no running in the school yard thing isn't a new thing. It's been going on at least 25 years.

mailforkev · 03-07-2015 08:52AM

The problem is that overweight is the new normal so if your kid looks the same as all their friends then it's not as immediately noticeable that he or she is too big.

As for PE in schools, in my school if you picked Geography for the leaving, as I did, then you had no PE.

PE was basically the least important subject while we had lots of Irish and religion classes. So at least if you were obese you left school a lapsed catholic who struggled to speak Irish.

Mandatory PE is not the solution to the fat kid epidemic but it would go a little way to promoting a more active lifestyle.

Shenshen · 03-07-2015 08:53AM

galljga1 wrote: »

My autonomous friend, how can you not find real food in a supermarket? The choice available is limitless: fresh veg, meat, milk, flour, oatmeal, fruit and plenty more, all additive free. However, I did have pizza last night because I could not be ar£ed cooking.

While I agree that real food is indeed still available in supermarkets (and thank the invisible pink unicorn for that), you sometimes do have to go looking for it a bit.
And when you compare what's being sold ready-made vs fresh ingredients, the ingredients you'd want to cook something similar to the ready-made meal are not necessarily all available in the store. Especially if you're talking about curries, or Thai dishes.

That said, I would imagine a lot of people would be scared to try to cook such dishes themselves anyway. So if they want them, they get the ready-made ones.

I think overall it would be a good idea as a start to offer free cooking classes to everyone. It really isn't difficult, nor is it hard or even overly time-consuming. You just have to know what you're doing. And as other posters have pointed out, there are a great many parents around who can't cook or won't cook, and their habits will of course massively influence their children.

As for more PE - I'm not convinced. PE turned me off sports for decades, I only re-discovered that it actually can be enjoyable to get a bit of exercise in my late 30s.
Maybe a better approach would be to address the quality of PE lessons over the quantity?

Del.Monte · 03-07-2015 08:58AM

Whatever about swapping PE for religion, the amount of time spent learning Irish would be better spent on the playing field or just going for a walk.

RobertKK · 03-07-2015 08:59AM

Fat children, often have fat parents.

They all need to get an education on what to eat and on exercise.

Grew up on a farm, we didn't need PE...and the parents never ate fast food so we didn't either and a soft drink was a treat, not something regular.

Menas · 03-07-2015 09:03AM

There have always been fat kids, its not a new phenomenon. But that is because there have always been bad parents....and weak parents who just give their kids everything they ask for.
If my 4 year old had his way he would have ice cream for breakfast, cookies for lunch and chocolate for tea. All washed down with a gallon of capri sun and interspersed with crisps thruout the day.

galljga1 · 03-07-2015 09:09AM

Shenshen wrote: »

While I agree that real food is indeed still available in supermarkets (and thank the invisible pink unicorn for that), you sometimes do have to go looking for it a bit.
And when you compare what's being sold ready-made vs fresh ingredients, the ingredients you'd want to cook something similar to the ready-made meal are not necessarily all available in the store. Especially if you're talking about curries, or Thai dishes.

That said, I would imagine a lot of people would be scared to try to cook such dishes themselves anyway. So if they want them, they get the ready-made ones.

I think overall it would be a good idea as a start to offer free cooking classes to everyone. It really isn't difficult, nor is it hard or even overly time-consuming. You just have to know what you're doing. And as other posters have pointed out, there are a great many parents around who can't cook or won't cook, and their habits will of course massively influence their children.

As for more PE - I'm not convinced. PE turned me off sports for decades, I only re-discovered that it actually can be enjoyable to get a bit of exercise in my late 30s.
Maybe a better approach would be to address the quality of PE lessons over the quantity?

Yeah, I would not get too hung up on the whole PE thing. Kids spend much more time running around outside school, cycling, playing with friends etc. Re making a meal from scratch, yes, all the ingredients are sometimes not available in the one supermarket but if you cook regularly, you tend to build up a stock of strange items in your kitchen, some of which you may only use once. I like cooking, so I am willing to experiment. Sometimes the kids don't appreciate it, sometimes I don't appreciate it, you live and learn (not to do it again).
Getting back to exercise, my 12 year old started cycling to school 2 years ago (approx 2 miles, on country road). One of the teachers told another parent that I was mad letting her cycle: and we are all getting fatter.

tigerboon · 03-07-2015 09:10AM

Dravokivich wrote: »

Eh... this no running in the school yard thing isn't a new thing. It's been going on at least 25 years.

Some schools maybe but our kids play football at school nearly every day. You have to ask the question why a school has this policy in place.

P. Breathnach · 03-07-2015 09:11AM

Shenshen wrote: »

... I think overall it would be a good idea as a start to offer free cooking classes to everyone....

Yes, with an element of education about nutrition.

And what is the best opportunity to get everybody to learn something useful? School. If I had to choose between mandatory PE classes and mandatory cookery classes, I'd consider cookery/nutrition the better option for long-term benefit.

That is partly because those kids most in need of PE become experts in avoiding it.

dirkmeister · 03-07-2015 09:11AM

How about parents take some responsibility?

Children are only in school for 5 and a half hours daily.
Perhaps they could go for a walk in the evening?

Schools don't feed children either, some of the sh!t that gets into lunchboxes would make you wonder.

Autonomous Cowherd · 03-07-2015 09:15AM

Menas wrote: »

There have always been fat kids, its not a new phenomenon. But that is because there have always been bad parents....and weak parents who just give their kids everything they ask for.
If my 4 year old had his way he would have ice cream for breakfast, cookies for lunch and chocolate for tea. All washed down with a gallon of capri sun and interspersed with crisps thruout the day.

That is the good point, Menas. Choice. People seem to think some sort of laissez faire parenting is modern, where their children are like mini-adults and get to make their own choices. But actually that is our job. To lovingly say no. It is a choice for us to engage fully with parenthood or to let it slip by in some strange lifestyle that does not recognise responsibility.

But then again, I think this whole obesity thing is merely evidence of systemic failure. A consumer lifestyle based on excessive hours spent treading a work hamster wheel interspersed with addictive consuming to quell the angst and ennui of a life that is essentially bereft of freedom will always show up as problems on the physical/emotional/mental level.

Lol, but hey that's another story

galljga1 · 03-07-2015 09:16AM

dirkmeister wrote: »

How about parents take some responsibility?

Children are only in school for 5 and a half hours daily.
Perhaps they could go for a walk in the evening?

Schools don't feed children either, some of the sh!t that gets into lunchboxes would make you wonder.

I cannot agree with you more. The same goes for basic manners. The ultimate responsibility lies with the parents.

Menas · 03-07-2015 09:18AM

Autonomous Cowherd wrote: »

That is the good point, Menas. Choice. People seem to think some sort of laissez faire parenting is modern, where their children are like mini-adults and get to make their own choices. But actually that is our job. To lovingly say no. It is a choice for us to engage fully with parenthood or to let it slip by in some strange lifestyle that does not recognise responsibility.

But then again, I think this whole obesity thing is merely evidence of systemic failure. A consumer lifestyle based on excessive hours spent treading a work hamster wheel interspersed with addictive consuming to quell the angst and ennui of a life that is essentially bereft of freedom will always show up as problems on the physical/emotional/mental level.

Lol, but hey that's another story

And dont even get me going on exercise! Kids should not be sat in front of a tv all day (this is what most would chose to do)...they should be out climbing trees!

LilRedDorcha · 03-07-2015 09:18AM

My primary school had this healthy eating policy, where certain foods were banned. I don't remember how much PE time we had, but it was definitely varied and everyone had to take part. The teachers also did their best to teach us about nutrition, and my 6th class teacher even got most of the class out of the habit of putting sugar in our tea by teaching us how to wean ourselves off of it. You could see the difference then when we went to secondary school. Most people (note: not all) from my school still kept bringing healthy lunches even though anything was allowed in secondary school, whereas people from other schools had unhealthier lunches (again, not all children from other schools). Obviously not the case for everyone, but there was a clear difference.

However, I will point out that my parents had and still have a great attitude. Time on the consoles and PC was limited, and they used to take us out walking when the weather was fine. We don't stock fizzy drinks or sweets in the house, and they'd be treats as opposed to being normal things to have. We never felt deprived or anything since we had a great balance. The school can do a lot, but if the parents don't meet them halfway, the children are still going to end up eating poorly and not getting enough exercise.

denhaagenite · 03-07-2015 09:19AM

Shenshen wrote: »

It really isn't difficult, nor is it hard or even overly time-consuming. You just have to know what you're doing. And as other posters have pointed out, there are a great many parents around who can't cook or won't cook, and their habits will of course massively influence their children.

This I agree with. As a young teenager the task fell to me of cooking all of our evening meals (family of six at that stage as two had already flown the coop). I can cook, amongst other things, spag bol from scratch in 15 minutes. It's really simple. We only buy brown rice and pasta because frankly, once you get used to it, there's no taste difference.

I do think workplaces need to be a bit more flexible so that parents can maybe make an agreement for one to be home early enough to cook a nutritious meal everyday, maybe allow people begin work between 7am and 10am and leave when their time is up?

Having said that, I believe it is really the fault of the parents. A lot of schools no longer allow junk, and creches often cook during the day to show small children how it's done.

anncoates · 03-07-2015 09:23AM

To be fair, we need a certain amount of fat and ginger kids to help draw the piss-taking away from the normal ones. Like slow-moving members of the herd.

Kev W · 03-07-2015 09:26AM

Odin Wrong Windowsill wrote: »

Why do people care that we have an "obesity epidemic", I couldn't care less if the country is full of fat feckers or stick men let people live their own lives.

I was expecting it to take at least 3 or 4 posts for religion bashing to start, but no second post. Your faith is infinitely more important than any PE class.

"Let people live their own lives within this very strict set of rules that if you break them you'll be tortured forever out of love."

Kev W · 03-07-2015 09:27AM

Del.Monte wrote: »

Whatever about swapping PE for religion, the amount of time spent learning Irish would be better spent on the playing field or just going for a walk.

Or sleeping or staring at a wall.

cloud493 · 03-07-2015 09:28AM

School PE is ****e, as someone else, it wasn't till I left school and started exercising independently I discovered its not ****e.

valoren · 03-07-2015 09:41AM

PE is not just exercising.
It's the education element that is also important.
You have to learn what works for you through your own trial and error.

PE in primary schools would certainly be more focused on letting the kids expend their energy. In Secondary, the shift to be more towards how to educate yourself to make informed decisions in terms of how to feed yoursefl, exercise yourself and be as healthy as you can be.

For example, a class might involve posing questions such as "How is it possible for someone to Run a Mile in under four minutes?", "How can a Premier League footballer get through a Season uninjured?" etc.

The answers would certainly not be "Sitting on my hole watching TV", "Eating a bag of chips and curry for dinner and a Magnum to finish", "Drinking 6 pints a night at the weekend" etc etc.

Cuddlesworth · 03-07-2015 09:49AM

valoren wrote: »

PE is not just exercising.
It's the education element that is also important.
You have to learn what works for you through your own trial and error.

PE in primary schools would certainly be more focused on letting the kids expend their energy. In Secondary, the shift to be more towards how to educate yourself to make informed decisions in terms of how to feed yoursefl, exercise yourself and be as healthy as you can be.

For example, a class might involve posing questions such as "How is it possible for someone to Run a Mile in under four minutes?", "How can a Premier League footballer get through a Season uninjured?" etc.

The answers would certainly not be "Sitting on my hole watching TV", "Eating a bag of chips and curry for dinner and a Magnum to finish", "Drinking 6 pints a night at the weekend" etc etc.

PE would be better spent in a kitchen learning actual important things not how to hate exercise.

Teaching children initially the difference between good food and bad food, portion control, basic cooking skills, budgeting and shopping skills. And then moving through the years into advanced cooking techniques and concepts like macronutrient ratios and calorie counting.

galljga1 · 03-07-2015 09:51AM

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

PE would be better spent in a kitchen learning actual important things not how to hate exercise.

Teaching children initially the difference between good food and bad food, portion control, basic cooking skills, budgeting and shopping skills. And then moving through the years into advanced cooking techniques and concepts like macronutrient ratios and calorie counting.

Now, that would be good. I would still prefer "Sitting on my hole watching TV", "Eating a bag of chips and curry for dinner and a Magnum to finish", "Drinking 6 pints a night at the weekend" etc etc.

LeinsterDub · 03-07-2015 09:51AM

Drop religion and use that time for pe/nutrition

doulikeit · 03-07-2015 10:05AM

Forget about PE its not the schools responsibility to keep your kids healthy, and I have yet to see a 7 year old get into a car drive to the shops do the shopping and drive home, everything they eat we give them. People who say cooking healthy is time consuming and expensive I say aldi best fruit and veg range in any supermarket, and learn to prepare yourself for the week ahead. I cant cook, well fcuking learn you have a responsibility to your kids not fill them with processed sh1te, and im a father of four my wife and I work full time

denhaagenite · 03-07-2015 10:10AM

LeinsterDub wrote: »

Drop religion and use that time for pe/nutrition

I don't think that's the answer, religion is important, cathecism is not. I think children need to learn about all religions- but maybe a module in first year, or just a year or two of classes (an hour a week or so) is enough. But they should be learning PE, nutrition, fitness for at least a half an hour per day in school.

MathDebater · 03-07-2015 10:34AM

Shenshen wrote: »

As for more PE - I'm not convinced. PE turned me off sports for decades, I only re-discovered that it actually can be enjoyable to get a bit of exercise in my late 30s.
Maybe a better approach would be to address the quality of PE lessons over the quantity?

My experience was with two heavily qualified PE teachers that said fcuk it and let us play ball. Just over half the class demanded to play five a side winner stays on so that's what went on.

fleet_admiral · 03-07-2015 10:34AM

I was listening to a talk about this on the radio a while ago. A mother was saying she cant afford to feed her 3 children proper meals. She then went on to say most days she either feeds them Mc Donalds or chipper.
Thats just pure laziness. A bag of potatoes, veg from the super six that Aldi do (other supermarkets have similar deals) and some meat on the side and she has a meal that is far better than chipper and Mc Donalds, and costs a hell of a lot less too

Micky Dolenz · 03-07-2015 10:36AM

Don't be blaming God for fat kids.

Kev W · 03-07-2015 10:39AM

fleet_admiral wrote: »

I was listening to a talk about this on the radio a while ago. A mother was saying she cant afford to feed her 3 children proper meals. She then went on to say most days she either feeds them Mc Donalds or chipper.
Thats just pure laziness. A bag of potatoes, veg from the super six that Aldi do (other supermarkets have similar deals) and some meat on the side and she has a meal that is far better than chipper and Mc Donalds, and costs a hell of a lot less too

I've never understood this idea that the poorest people supposedly eat at McDonalds all the time. It's not that cheap at all. That definitely sounds more like laziness to me rather than financial difficulty. Of course you can gain sympathy by crying poverty that you can't get by admitting you can't be arsed.

Pupils aged just seven too obese to fit into their uniforms

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