Overweight Children

[Royster1911]

It ha been reported that a child who is 14st in weight could be put in to a care home. Whats your view on this? Is it right? Should not the PARENTS be put into care? Let us know!!!!

[brandy]

now heres the question how old is the child and what size are they?
my 2 year old weighs 3 stone.. and hes not a bit fat.. hes solid as a house.. and built like a tank. hes also 3 ft 2 inches..
so it really dep[ends on the build of the child plus there matabolismn..
some children actually have medical prob. that casue them to gain weight and have prob. loosing weight

[Royster1911]

:confused I do not thint that they (who) would be talking about puting a child in to care were it a medical problem. However, your point is of course valid and this is the response that I was hoping for in this thread. Not everything is black and white. Oops, hmmm, shaded and not shaded, two tone????:confused

[connieb19]

People can get taken to court for cruelty if their dog is obese so why not children?
I watched ONE LIFE the other night, it was about a 19 year old girl who was over 34 stone. What she was eating in a day was unbelievable, she had an operation to have most of her stomach removed and fair enough she was losing weight but she was left with psychological problems. I think her parents should have done something to help he long before it got to that stage.
Banning adverts for junk food is a step in the right direction but it's not enough, theres too much cheap processed crap on the go just now and some parents will quite happily let their kids eat what ever they want rather than cook a decent meal. [disgust]

[Penelope Pitstop]

People can get taken to court for cruelty if their dog is obese so why not children?
I watched ONE LIFE the other night, it was about a 19 year old girl who was over 34 stone. What she was eating in a day was unbelievable, she had an operation to have most of her stomach removed and fair enough she was losing weight but she was left with psychological problems. I think her parents should have done something to help he long before it got to that stage.
Banning adverts for junk food is a step in the right direction but it's not enough, theres too much cheap processed crap on the go just now and some parents will quite happily let their kids eat what ever they want rather than cook a decent meal. [disgust]

Hi Connie
I seen that programme as well. It was shocking to think that the girl was only 19 years old. What got me was even after she had had the operation she didn't seem to be eating healthy food. She had been given the operation, but left to carry on as she had been doing before - just eating smaller amounts.

Why do people pick conveniece food over home made, eg. roast chicken and veg, mince and tatties, vegetable soup, etc. Is it purely a time element? or don't they know how to cook like they did 30 years ago? It's cheaper to feed a family on a home made meal.

I'm with you I think alot of the junk food adverts should be scrapped.

[connieb19]

I couldnt believe that a 19 year old was given this operation, surely it would have been better to show her how to prepare healthy food. She was doing no exersize and the mother didnt seem too keen on helping her either, no wonder she had problems. :confused

[cuddlepop]

Once again it looks like a responsibility issue here of parents taking"responsibility" for their childrens diet and not letting them eat excessive convience foods just because it suits them.:roll:

[Torvaig]

I'm afraid a lot of people think that buying a pizza or whatever and heating in up in the micro along with oven ready chips and serving it with some fizzy drink think that they are cooking!

[Torvaig]

P.S. I like pizza but only if freshly prepared!

[©Amethyst]

Well, I ate a lot of junk foods as a child. My doctor still thinks I should gain weight. Easier said than done. Now that I'm older, my weight does fluctuate a lot, but not enough to keep the doc happy.

The important thing, I think, is getting the balance between food and exercise right.

My youngest brother is 11, and a bit on the chubby side. He used to go swimming every day, and he was never off his bike in the summer, still he didn't look like he'd lost much weight because he turned lots of his chub into muscle mass. Muscle itself weighs more than fat, does it not?

Simply put, a childs weight depends on a lot of factors. But I don't think homes for 'fat' kids are a suitable answer to the problem. Banning ads for junk food may help but I doubt it. I believe it's a mixture of common sense and encouragement on the parent's side that makes the difference.

If a child's parents are active, and get their children involved in activities, that should help a lot.

I'm adamant that if I ever have kids, I'll be taking them for long walks around the village and up Fyrish plenty! lol - Whether they resent me for it or not, I'll feel good about it 'cause I know it's good for them!

[caithness lad]

It ha been reported that a child who is 14st in weight could be put in to a care home. Whats your view on this? Is it right? Should not the PARENTS be put into care? Let us know!!!!i think the labour goverment should all be put in a care home.

[©Amethyst]

i think the labour goverment should all be put in a care home.

Couldn't agree more!!! :roll:

:lol:

[pat]

Caithness Lad

Hope you mean a secure care home, so we do not see them again.

[Whitewater]

Putting any over weight child in a care home is nonesence, but it is just typical of Labour to come up with such an idea, Tony Blair and Co. seem to have lost the plot altogether.

A lot children nowadays seem to live on fast food diets, comfortably seated in font of the TV, or playing some hand held computor games. They need to be encouraged to get out and about more, take part in physically exausting games. Parents should ensure that they sit down with their children, and enjoy properly cooked meals together. Mealtimes should be regarded as Prime family time. It is good for both parents and children to get talking in a relaxed atmosphere. Many problems can be resolved around the dinner table.

[sweep]

i was driving through wick the other day when the high school pupils were going home and i was shocked at how many looked overweight. at least half of them could do with some healthy eating/exercise--or as my dad would say keep out of the kitchen

[caithness lad]

Caithness Lad

Hope you mean a secure care home, so we do not see them again.good one:Razz

[brandy]

*laughs* my kids never stop!
but when it comes to the stage of a teenager..
im sorry you can not force feed them.
what are you going to do..
sit on them and make them eat healthy food.
ir follow them around to make sure they dont go into a chippie?

[danc1ngwitch]

all my children eat their meals and they eat all their 5 a days etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc :roll: etc etc etc etc etc:roll: Some people are prone to getting larger... Parents do have a responsibility... Maybe educate the parent or parents so they know how to handle the over weight child... but still the true beauty is held within

[hairydog]

I had 2 kids both ate the same meals, got the same snacks more or less, played on their bikes , played outside a lot,and yet both very different in size , i still say the younger one burnt off the calories with her mouth! she never shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!Its not easy telling a child they have to loose weight and unless you have had a weight problem yourself you cant understand:~(

[caithness lad]

I had 2 kids both ate the same meals, got the same snacks more or less, played on their bikes , played outside a lot,and yet both very different in size , i still say the younger one burnt off the calories with her mouth! she never shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!Its not easy telling a child they have to loose weight and unless you have had a weight problem yourself you cant understand:~(i agree with u.im sure it wont be long before the goverment tell us what to feed our kids[ plenty of fat polaticians ][lol]

[JAWS]

Just to put things in perspective, have any of you been watching the developments over the last few years about the body of the Stone Age Man who's body was found frozen in the Alps?

During the last week the most upto date programme I have seen about him. It would appear that they have used an endoscope to examine him.
He is in his forties and suffered from hardening of the arteries and very high cholesterol.
I cannot believed this was due to excessive smoking so I must assume that he was addicted to junk food from fast food outlets and was stuffing himself full of sweets and fizzy drinks.
Well, that’s how you develop such things because that’s what we told it is.

I can’t understand why, if our lifestyles are so terribly unhealthy, people keep living for longer and longer and longer. I find it very strange that the more we are supposed to be doing to hasten our deaths the longer we end up living.
Something doesn’t add up.

[JAWS]

The period when he live was the New Stone Age which was the period just before the Roman Period. By the time humans had ceased to be hunter gatherers and had become agricultural. They were eating far less meat by then than had been usual prior to that.
Yes people died earlier than now because of the more difficult life they had but a 40 odd year old body was still a 40 year old body even then.
Yes, people should be encouraged to be healthy, but the moral bullying which is occurring at present is just another example of politicians being determined to take control of every aspect of everybody's life.
Advice yes, but indoctrination is a different matter altogether. "Fit the norm or be made an outcast!"

[fred]

I find it extremely difficult to find "real" food (unprocessed, no additives, no preservative, organic & preferably local). When this happens you know something is gravely, gravely wrong in our culture. Look at the big problems of our society... violence & crime, mental & physical illness, apathic youth, stress, environmental illnesses... all could be dramatically improved with proper nourishment.


I agree.

At the same time as we are seeing a huge increase in obesity in children we are also seeing an increase in other eating disorders such as anorexia.

The problem isn't in the food and it isn't in the child it's the system that is the problem. This isn't a disease it's just a symptom, just one of many symptoms of a terminally ill society.

[squidge]

The thing is not to get too strung up about a childs weight. My middle son at 13 was a chubby wee thing - at 16 he is 6'3 and slim as anything. Focussing on weight is a bad thing for any child. Ensuring our children get balanced meals and excercise whatever their size and shape is the most important thing. Teach children how to cook nourishing and healthy food and dont feed them exclusively on ready meals and we will improve the health of the kids. there is nothing wrong with junk food, It has a place and it can be dead useful when in a hurry. Its just no good for every meal

[©Amethyst]

Focussing on weight is a bad thing for any child.

Well, I completely agree with you on that!

I know too many people who've developed eating disorders at a young age due to people focusing on their weight. I knew one girl who overate because she was under a lot of stress at home, she then got picked on for putting on weight, became depressed and comfort ate. I know one girl whose in her 20's now and still can't shake off some of her old anorexic tendancies. I think she had her eating problem because she was bullied in school for being really short, so she didn't want to be bullied even worse if she became short AND fat.

Just keep healthy, and I'm sure your kids will be, too :)

[sweetpea]

People can get taken to court for cruelty if their dog is obese so why not children?
I watched ONE LIFE the other night, it was about a 19 year old girl who was over 34 stone. What she was eating in a day was unbelievable, she had an operation to have most of her stomach removed and fair enough she was losing weight but she was left with psychological problems. I think her parents should have done something to help he long before it got to that stage.
Banning adverts for junk food is a step in the right direction but it's not enough, theres too much cheap processed crap on the go just now and some parents will quite happily let their kids eat what ever they want rather than cook a decent meal. [disgust]
Have to say I agree with what you say, saw the programme and have to wonder how she got into that state. Parents must be feeders and the junk doesn't help. It frightens me when I see what goes in the mouths of some kids.A lot of parents can't cook these days especially young ones. I never got sweets or chips or anything like that and if I didn't eat what was in front of me there was nothing else and my parents worked as well as kept house so that wasn't an excuse to fill me full of poison.

[Torvaig]

There are lots of factors in the way people eat these days and not just children.

Everything now is "family size". When was the last time you saw a family share a bar of chocolate? Me, I can eat a whole bar myself!

Same with "offers", two for one etc. When we were not so well off, we only bought what was absolutely necessary and only on a special occasion did we get a "treat" like an ice-cream or a wee bar of chocolate.

There were no freezers groaning with processed foods or fridges to keep goodies in. Nowadays we don't have to make a trip to a shop to have a treat; we just look in the cupboards and there it is, family sized everything just waiting for us!

Believe me, I know what I am speaking about! :lol:

[sam]

I strongly believe that the parents are to blame for there children being extremely over weight and the sad fact is that more and more children are becoming over weight purely down to their parents feeding them fast foods and sweets like they are about to go out of fashion.
These parents who's children suffer through extreme weigh gain should be charged with cruelty and neglect.
not only is it affecting their kids health it's rotting their teeth and these kids are being picked on and bullied at school.
In my childs class (primary 1) there are atleast 5 children that are seriously over weight one child has to wear clothes to fit a 13 year old and its not because she is tall, I find it really upsetting to see this child trying to run about with the others only to be called names and made fun of.
when are parents going to learn that they are doing more damage than good to their childrens health, It takes no time atall to make a proper home cooked meal, so why do less people seem to make the effort surely their childs health should be more important to them

[Torvaig]

I agree Sam; the phrase killing with "kindness" comes to mind.

[_Ju_]

It's cheaper to feed a family on a home made meal.



Actaully it's not. I home cook with fresh ingredients and it is darn expensive. That is part of the problem...a bag of chicken dippers and frozen chips is dirt cheap. Buying fresh vegetables is very expensive.

[Torvaig]

When I was young (groan......) my father always grew his own vegetable thus making it very cheap for us to eat well. Living in the country, we were spoilt with free food (well except for the initial outlay and the labour!)

Even when I grew up and had a home of my own (still in the country) I still took these things for granted.

We had potatoes, carrots, turnips, peas, cabbage, brussel sprouts, eggs, chicken and when freezers were invented we even slaughtered an animal and divided it up between the families. There was also game and fish though not in large quantities.

When, in later years, I moved into town, I was shocked at what I had to pay for all these things and it made a big hole in my budget.

The thing is, as Ju says, nowadays the cheap convenience foods appeal to some who have to watch their budget or just can't find the time to prepare proper food.

[danc1ngwitch]

Many people are larger than they should be, and thats ok.
I think genes have alot to play in this also.
It's true our cupboards are full of goodies and there is very few people that now says " oi if you eat all ur dinner I;ll take you ta the shop for a treat "
A pack of mars bars 99p
Lets face it when its there it will get eaten, but, but in sayin that my kids are all very slim and very fit and they eat more than anyone else i know... ( all o em )
we need to work on it together. I take them exercising wea me, when i do go lol way forward, exercise wea the kids ... let them race you, My daughter will not race me, she knows i will leave her way behind...[lol] wait till she reads this, NO SHE AIN'T SLOW, I'M FAST:eek:

[Angela]

As a society we've lost a sense of the natural connection between producing food, cooking fresh food at home, and eating for health.

There's far greater enjoyment in eating food that doesn't taste the same every time, and in sitting down and sharing a meal with family and friends.

However it's not easy with financial and time constraints to cook fresh meals from scratch every day. I don't think the odd readymeal is a sin and I do think there's a place for foods labelled "bad" to be eaten as an occasional treat.

Parents who're already providing their children with a good diet are the ones most likely to be concerned that they're maybe not doing enough. Parents who live on a diet of junk food themselves aren't too likely to change what they give their kids IMO.

An obsession with weight isn't a good thing - size zero is not healthy - but again as a society we appear to have lost sight of this. I've lost count of the number of articles I've read about anorexia where there are adverts in the very same magazine showing frighteningly thin models.

Everyone's different and there's a wide range of healthy weights for everyone. My kids were brought up on about 95% fresh home cooking, all ate basically the same food, and were all different sizes, shapes and weights as they grew up!

[mccaugm]

Putting any over weight child in a care home is nonesence, but it is just typical of Labour to come up with such an idea, Tony Blair and Co. seem to have lost the plot altogether.

A lot children nowadays seem to live on fast food diets, comfortably seated in font of the TV, or playing some hand held computor games. They need to be encouraged to get out and about more, take part in physically exausting games. Parents should ensure that they sit down with their children, and enjoy properly cooked meals together. Mealtimes should be regarded as Prime family time. It is good for both parents and children to get talking in a relaxed atmosphere. Many problems can be resolved around the dinner table.

With regard to the obese child, I feel that the child should be put on the at risk register and the parents educated in how to give him the correct types of food. In general, I notice that children who are fat have unhealthy parents (not always I admit). But after watching Gillian McKeith this seems to ring true.
With regard to mealtimes, I abhor the way families all eat at different times and get different meals if they are fussy. My kids know that tea is approx 6.30 and that we all eat together. They also know that what they eat waht is put in front of them. My children are slim and get healthy food with the occasional takeaway as a treat.

[justine]

It would be unfair to take this child from his parents.It has been noted that the boy has lost 1 stone 7lb since he was put on a diet before christmas...There are far to many social workers trying to take children away from their parents and some do deserve to loose their children, but how many parents out there do not think that allowing the child to reach such a wieght would harm the boy, now that they have realised that ,they are taking measures to help him loose the weight.........Social workers need to go find the people out their that leave children alone, abuse them and leave ones alone that make a few mistakes..alone...We all make mistakes in parenting but then some learn by their mistakes........ Maybe we should take the overwieght social workers and stick them on a fat farm...

[danc1ngwitch]

I saw the lad on the news and I really dunno, If there was nothing else in the house but fresh fruit and ved then i think the lad would eat that... She claims the lad won't eat apple etc, he tryed it once and spat it out... I dont normally feel strongly about something but yes this is another form of abuse...

[brandy]

what about that show on the telly.. the farm of picky eaters or summit like that..
it made me sick watching them boke.. and gag just looking at food.. and acting like they were tasting it.. as if it was poison!
my mum always thought i was a picky eater cause i didnt like spicy foods.. and wouldnt try a lot of new things.. yet i ate meat fish veg fruit cheeses breads and all that. was just the more exotic things i wouldnt try .
given that i had never even heard of a curry until i came over here!
and yup i still dont like spicy foods.. and hate peppers.. but i will eat onions now.. and like korma.. which im having as i type *G*

[Penelope Pitstop]

Actaully it's not. I home cook with fresh ingredients and it is darn expensive. That is part of the problem...a bag of chicken dippers and frozen chips is dirt cheap. Buying fresh vegetables is very expensive.

Have you tried Lidl for vegetable - they are very reasonable...compared to Somerfield.

I don't really agree that a bag of tatties is more expensive than a bag of chips. I would need 2 bags of the chicken dippers to make up a decent size portion for my lot[lol] . Mind you there is no way that they would eat it....they won't eat burgers, chips, turkey dinosaurs, etc even if I wanted to feed it to them!! ....because they know what they're made up of...!

I wouldn't mind spending a few extra pence to give my family a good wholesome meal. Hopefully they will continue the tradition when they have a family of their own.

Personally I think a good bowl of homemade vegetable soup is a meal in itself. My youngest one has been know to have a bowl for her supper!!

[connieb19]

This boy's story will be featured in ITV's Tonight With Trevor McDonald, which followed Connor and his mother for a month.

[danc1ngwitch]

did anyone else watch the tv show?.
Depression... The mother suffers from depression...
Very sad all round indeed... They need help and support

[Torvaig]

I saw the lad on the news and I really dunno, If there was nothing else in the house but fresh fruit and ved then i think the lad would eat that... She claims the lad won't eat apple etc, he tryed it once and spat it out... I dont normally feel strongly about something but yes this is another form of abuse...

I think he would learn to eat good food if that was all that was available. Not all at once of course; poor kid has a big problem (no pun int..) and needs all the help he can get.

If someone were to take his mother and himself on a prolonged holiday where he could have gentle exercise in the form of real fun and a decent diet which could be gradually introduced over a few weeks as well as keeping up with his schooling.

Difficult problem though...

[squidge]

You are absolutely right Dancing witch. The mother was apoor soul who was struggling to cope with life, not simply her eight year old son, Suffering with severe depression and other health problems her own mother was at her wits end with the whole thing. One thing that puzzled me is that the mother said the problems were evident at the age of 2 and a half but she had no help or support. She was told what to do and left to get on with it.

This family needs intensive support and help to addressnot only the 8 year olds weight problem but also the health of his mother

[Torvaig]

So true Squidge; amazing how so much is spent on some part of society and yet others slip through the net and are left floundering.

Lets hope that all this publicity will get them the help they so desparately need.

[connieb19]

Oh well, it's been decided this boy can stay at home....just in time for dinner. :roll: