Children obesity, A concern for parents

[qimissung]

lol, Delta. I agree that parenting is a fashion. It also seems to be the case that they are very fearful of letting their kids go out to play unsupervised. It is true that sometimes very bad things happen to kids, but I don't think it's so much that it warrants the lockdown that today's kids experience.

Also. now the word is out about how bad fast food is for you. When my kids were young I fed them chicken nuggets and soda pop. Fortunately, they are not obese or even fat, so we dodged that bullet. If I was raising a kid nowadays I simply would not darken McDonald's door. They, and all their ilk, are the devil (I still eat Wendy's spicy chicken nuggets about once a week, yum).

[The Atheist]

Your welcome to your point of view Atheist. You obviously know that not wanting to minimise these things so you don't sound like a insensitive person allows you to follow on with the 'fact' that it is the small minority of the people.

I didn't think it was necessary to prove that mental illness causes only a small percentage of cases of obesity, because the numbers speak for themselves. The number of obese people is an order of magnitude higher than those who are mentally ill, so even if all mentally ill people were obese, it would hardly change the facts.

You know this because based on your fairy tale opinion, most fat people are fat because they choose to be - it's their target weight, there are no issues going on in their lives.

This is quite a disturbing sentence, because it gives some mythical "issues" with an excuse for being obese.

Please note that I don't give a flying rat for whether people are fat or not, just as I don't care whether they dye their hair or not. As it happens, mu mother-in-law is hugely obese and has type 2 diabetes and a raft of other health problems caused by it. It doesn't make her any less a part of my family and my kids don't love her any less because of it and I have a great relationship with her.

I won't, however, accept nonsense excuses for being obese. I'm not saying people choose to be obese, but I am saying they choose lifestyles that cause them to be obese.

I will even go as far as partly blaming the medical establishment for promoting unhealthy eating for decades with their insane "pyramid" where people are encouraged to carbo-load by eating more cereals and breads than anything else.

Hell they just sit around eating day in day out and to top it off, they actually want their children to be fat so that when their kids go to school, they'll get picked on and teased.

I find it sad that parents allow it to happen. They know it's going to happen, then they cry when it happens - go figure. Since my own kids will neither bully nor be bullied because of weight issues, again I don't personally care one iota.

It's so easy to avoid that I can only repeat the same statement: parents, etc.

That's the majority. So according to you most fat people are informed and have a healthy mind. It's just the minority that have 'stuff' going on and their body fat is the symptom of it.

It's not "according to me" so much as starkly obvious reality. If you have a scrap of evidence that more than an insignificant proportion of obesity is caused by some kind of issue, please present it. Even then, that does not impact at all on their children, unless you think it's reasonable for those parents to push their kids into the same trap.

Bad people, very bad people and to make matters worse, they're breeding more bad people. Where the hell is Hitler when you need him?

Lol.

Godwined in this thread and Stalined in another in consecutive posts. I don't think I've ever managed that before.

Look at it this way: from my perspective, I'm happy for Darwin to sort it out. The obese will live shorter lives; their kids will be less fertile and have fewer healthy children - no need for Hitler, they'll kill themselves off in no time.

I just think it's appallingly bad form to let your kids turn into Billy Bunters. It causes them lifelong pain, illness and discrimination. In a world with 7+ billion people on it, I want my kids to have a fair start in life, not be consigned to chronic disease and derision.

[Delta40]

It's not about nonsense excuses reasons for being obese. Of course the data is out there about the health risks just as it is for undereating. As I posted before, it's about understanding reasons behind it. Some choose to say pure laziness. That's fine but it doesn't really open up a pathway for the development of solutions.

I think it's appallingly bad how many young people slice themselves up because of parental pressure to perform but for as long as we give one word reasons for it, less will be done to tackle it. In my opinion these things are a societal issue more than we're willing to admit.

If you want to take yourself out of the picture for as long as it doesn't affect your immediate family, then feel free to do so. More often than not it is only when we're directly affected that we want to see something done about it anyway.

You want the best for your children - Is the bar you set too high and will it come at such a cost that manifests of any number of physical problems and negative behaviours in your kids? Who will be at fault then?

Parenting is the toughest ride of all. Good luck but don't deep fry those who struggle with one word explanations because your kids deserve better.

[The Atheist]

It's not about nonsense excuses reasons for being obese. Of course the data is out there about the health risks just as it is for undereating. As I posted before, it's about understanding reasons behind it. Some choose to say pure laziness. That's fine but it doesn't really open up a pathway for the development of solutions.

Well, if it's solutions you're looking for, then you need to advance genuine reasons for it. In the case of child obesity, the only one I can find is that people are lazy.

Parents are responsible for feeding their kids, so they need to feed them properly. How could anything be simpler than that?

Arguments that the modern lifestyle is more stressful than in the past are bunkum. Ask people who lived through WWII. My mother faced daily bombings for a couple of years, while my father faced death daily for the entire war. Millions of others had worse.

How come there was no epidemic of obesity then? Even better, some countries had rationing immediately after the war, yet when rationing ended, obesity didn't emerge, and most economies were thriving in 1950-60.

I think it's appallingly bad how many young people slice themselves up because of parental pressure to perform but for as long as we give one word reasons for it, less will be done to tackle it. In my opinion these things are a societal issue more than we're willing to admit.

If you want to take yourself out of the picture for as long as it doesn't affect your immediate family, then feel free to do so. More often than not it is only when we're directly affected that we want to see something done about it anyway.

You want the best for your children - Is the bar you set too high and will it come at such a cost that manifests of any number of physical problems and negative behaviours in your kids? Who will be at fault then?

I don't set a bar at all, so they have nothing to live up to.

Ensuring they eat well is not that hard, and requires no performance measures to be put in place. They don't exercise beyond any kid of their age. I encourage them to do some, but they can't be bothered and I don't force them.

Parenting is the toughest ride of all. Good luck but don't deep fry those who struggle with one word explanations because your kids deserve better.

I can only have utter disrespect for people who deny their kids the chance at a healthy lifestyle. So parenting is hard work? I agree, but it's the price you pay for having kids. If it's too hard, don't have kids.

[Delta40]

I agree with you in principle but the government has yet to issue people with a license to breed.

Coming up with 'because' for this that and other is most satisfactory for those who just don't want to deal. Why bother with psychology and sociology when 'because' is the sufficient answer to everything.

Your standard is not the world standard and suggests that we're all born at the same starting line and not influenced by family behaviours and patterns. Good for you for the role you play. I'm sure your family dictionary doesn't even list the term dysfunction.

You obviously don't respect the fat granny you inherited. Why don't you tell her that she's a fat cow because of laziness? Is it because your kids love her and you don't want to lose benefits with your wife? When are you going to teach your kids to disrespect the fat granny and all fat people? C'mon Atheist. I get the sense that you don't really lead by example - only when it suits your needs.

[The Atheist]

Writing nonsense because you don't have a reasonable response just won't work.

Coming up with 'because' for this that and other is most satisfactory for those who just don't want to deal. Why bother with psychology and sociology when 'because' is the sufficient answer to everything.

How on earth does that relate to anything I've said? It seems to relate a lot more to your apologetics: people are fat because they're comfort eating... people are fat because they're under stress.... people are fat because they are mentally ill/depressed/grieving....

It's pretty obvious that child obesity has a cause, and it's equally obvious that the cause is the parents.

Your standard is not the world standard and suggests that we're all born at the same starting line and not influenced by family behaviours and patterns. Good for you for the role you play. I'm sure your family dictionary doesn't even list the term dysfunction.

Again, completely irrelevant to the points I've made.

My family isn't perfect by any means, but I fail to see why dysfunction is a valid excuse for ruining your children's health.

Should I be feeling sorry for the poor saps who thrust a constant stream of sugar & fat down their kids' throats?

In what way does a person's upbringing/socio-economic status/family history have anything to do with child obesity? Even blind parents can tell how fat their kids are.

You obviously don't respect the fat granny you inherited. Why don't you tell her that she's a fat cow because of laziness? Is it because your kids love her and you don't want to lose benefits with your wife? When are you going to teach your kids to disrespect the fat granny and all fat people? C'mon Atheist. I get the sense that you don't really lead by example - only when it suits your needs.

Yet again, bearing no relationship to what I said. How can you get me lacking respect when I specifically said: "I have a great relationship with her"?

It's a pity that instead of reading what I actually typed you seem to have made your mind up that I am anti obese people. I took pains to note that I don't care what someone's body shape is - I treat people the same regardless of size, shape, colour, gender, disability or sexual preference.

In the case of children, however, if parents feed them sugar and fat and allow them to become obese, it isn't a path the kids have chosen. Instead it's a path to destruction designed by parents who are too lazy to do something about it.

I think that's a damned shame.

[Delta40]

You're the one who stated it was because of laziness. I don't subscribe to a one size fits all answer (pardon the pun) and sure you can put it all onto the parents shoulders and say it is their responsibility providing all parents are operating at the standard you think all parents should operate at. But they don't. Do we bring it down to the micro and leave it there or broaden our thinking and ask if there is more involved here?

I'm not excusing obesity because I agree with you about the health risks. My kids grew up on home cooked food and the occasional take out as a treat. But I can't hide the fact that I was a comfort eater when the kids weren't around. Having said that, the proof is in the pudding and you can't hide an overweight Mum.

I was overweight till my father passed away and then it all just fell away like a great burden had finally been lifted - usually there is an underlying cause. My father did me the greatest favour. The opposite happened to my brother who now weighs in at 200kg. Funny how life events will affect people differently.

Overweight people are often filled with self-loathing even if they do present a defensive attitude because nobody wants to be fat. Sometimes they're in complete denial because they're totally out of touch about the underlying issue.

Fat is the symptom. Like I said before, the symptom could just as easily be drugs, alcohol, self harm.

When any of those problems are inflicted upon children it's a tragedy but this is the real world.

A doctor doesn't treat the spots on somebody they treat the ailment that is causing the spots. We need to do that too.

[Emil Miller]

.
Britain is “essentially a nation of lazy porkers”, a top health expert claimed today. Professor Craig Currie hit out after new figures showed the number of Brits under 40 with type 2 diabetes had spiralled by 820% in the last 20 years

[cafolini]

.
Britain is “essentially a nation of lazy porkers”, a top health expert claimed today. Professor Craig Currie hit out after new figures showed the number of Brits under 40 with type 2 diabetes had spiralled by 820% in the last 20 years

That tells me very little. I want to see the per capita rate, not the con-fusing spiral. You just presented pork-barrel politics which, most likely, is a much bigger porker interpretation than the nation of porkers Currie has for sale.

[astrum]

It also has a bit to do with money, when you get a big and cheap meal at burger places but vegetables, fruits and lean meat is expensive it is easy to go with the big mac.

All the more reason I'm happy about the increasing number of families who grow food in their backyards. If they have harvest surplus, perhaps they could barter with each other.

Also, some public libraries participate in seed borrowing programs. See more here:
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/51296978

[The Atheist]

That tells me very little. I want to see the per capita rate, not the con-fusing spiral. You just presented pork-barrel politics which, most likely, is a much bigger porker interpretation than the nation of porkers Currie has for sale.

Yes, there should have been a link, as the answer was in the article:

In 1991, there were 169 cases per 100,000 people, rising to 515 in 2010.

Among under-40s, the incidence rose from 15 to 138 cases per 100,000 people.

Only the wrong kind of pork in that, sorry.

Link: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...fessor-1895290

[Darcy88]

What really bothers me is the fact that you'll never see a fat person in a fast food ad. They are all skinny. Yet if you walk into a Mcdonald's typically half the clientele are obese.

[Delta40]

That's because the food industry wants to transform the mythical beautiful people into fat people then we can finally have equality!!!!!

[Emil Miller]

I happen to live near a large green public space where I have often walked the two miles circumference as an antidote to a burgeoning waistline. I tend to avoid it at weekends and public holidays because it gets rather crowded, but yesterday I did the walk and was astounded by the number of people in running gear jogging the same route. Some of them may be limbering up for the next London marathon or simply trying to improve their general fitness but it was clear that the large number of overweight joggers were trying to do something about their obesity, so it would appear that more than a few of the 'lazy porkers' have taken the hint and are trying to do something about it. Their efforts are to be applauded by all who periodically take on the task of fighting the flab.

[Delta40]

Emil I hope you said 'Good oh' to them as they thundered past...