Debate: Childhood obesity

(Post deleted by OpenLearn Moderator 01.05.12)

I'm probably not adding anything new to this thread with this post but just wanted to join in.

Stupid, lazy and irresponsible parents are spoiling their "fruit" and helping to generate huge cash flows for companies who are very willing to exploit.

Weak parents, immoral marketing and child sovereignty.

Chimney Sweepers Regulation Act 1864 ...was this the beginning of the end for skinny kids?

Divorced parents set a bad line on self indulgence being acceptable.

Use GM to make vegetables taste like chocolate.

Both my daughters were born relatively heavy(8.3bls, and 9.1bls) but initially lost weight in the first fortnight after birth. I breastfed on demand(and I mean on demand) and they still both only put on 1 or 2 lbs per week. The health visitor got quite fidgety, even though she could see each baby was thriving(i.e. growing in length, looking very alert, weeeing and pooing, and good strong muscle use).
With the first I broke down at 8 weeks and started supplementing with a bottle feed in the afternoon(she developed asthma, go figure), with the second after the Paediatric GP told me she wasn't getting enough calories, I tried 8 or so different bottles and teats which she just refused point blank so I gave up and just continued on demand feeds.
I started both on baby rice at 15 weeks(well they were each born a week overdue!) and miraculously they started putting on weight as per the 'well researched'(not) growth chart centiles. First child is a skinniy minni and tall compared with her parents, second child is even taller than the first and following the same growth pattern.
OBESITY starts with interfering health 'experts' insisting a child isn't thriving because they may not be following a predetermined(usually formed on 'average' weights of bottle fed babies) weight growth chart which in no way allows for the 20% or so that just don't conform to the norm. I breast fed for 8 and 12 months respectively, felt enormous pressure with both about their weight gain(whilst I believd both babies to be thriving since they were achieving some motor and sensory skills 2 months early), as if weight was the only positive indicator in progress.
The pressure mothers feel to FEED their babies in the early months, continues through into later infancy and then into childhood, without regard to the childs' need for nutritional sustinance. I have seen mothers feeding their children when what they really need is a nap, or a drink, or some attention. Others will feed a child unsuitable foods as a comfort because they(the mother)feel the need for comfort and interpret the childs' cry in this way.
You have to give permission to mothers that it is OK to let their baby get a bit hungry now and again. We are so caught up with the 'conveying the message to the lowest common denominator that we have lost all sense of proportion and common sense. No I don't propose starving children, I just advocate not over-feeding them, or rather not feeding them endless snacks that totally ruin any hint of appetite they may develope for their meal.
It starts at birth and the attitudes we all have to diet and what our weight 'should' be.

Childhood obesity stems from western choice. Parents need to teach defered gratification and not claim their kids pay no attention to them.
My son can't eat whatever he wants because I don't buy it and he can't afford it so he eats well.
I also forced them both as very young boys to run around and play out and get a bit of mud under their nails!
Get mentally used to activity and then later they have no hangups about exercise.
This worked quite well for me as they now go running and to the gym at times to keep slender.
Balance in life is everything. Moderation is the key.
If you really are a concerned parent simply take their money away and buy whatever shopping is wholesome.
You can't make excuses then unless your child is a hedgefund manager who buys his own lunch!
It is the parents fault out of laziness and self imposed ignorance.

Sue

Lyndon,

I wonder if anyone has given any thought to the stricter line taken with name calling in schools?

When I was at school during the 70s, calling someone a bit pudgy fatso was something to which a blind eye would be turned. Nowadays, I understand from my nephews that this would be termed bullying and dealt with as a serious issue.

I do wonder what the effect of, effectively, outlawing peer pressure against putting on weight has been?