Why are 1 in 5 children in Ireland overweight?

Oniontops

simu wrote: »

If it came to it the TV might magically break as well.

LOL!!!

pink fluffy bunny

pink fluffy bunny wrote: »

If it came to it the TV might magically break as well.

Ha! Would it magically start working again at 9pm

Do kids not prefer to go out and play rather than watch TV? it's a genuine question by the way, I have a 4 year old who would MUCH prefer to be outside than watching the telly, is that not the way all kids are? I think I was the same when I was a kid....

^^^^^^
Emmmm: why is that showing up as a quote from Pink Fluffy Bunny????

lostinnappies

RosieJoe wrote: »

Just got that impression from

Strange what people (me in this case) can interpret when reading posts

not to worry, when i said she fed her alot .. i ment ALOT. lol. she had between 6-8 jars a day with eight 8oz bottles. You could understand my concern.;)

John Mason

Deleted User wrote: »

Ha! Would it magically start working again at 9pm

^^^^^^
Emmmm: why is that showing up as a quote from Pink Fluffy Bunny????

LOL, i was just wondering that myself - thought i was having a break down there for a moment

all kids are different my friends daughter hates being outside, she would rather read and paint yet her sister cant abid being inside, so would rather be outside dig worms up.

its all about moderation

Dudess

That weird quoting stuff happened somewhere else recently - strange...

simu wrote: »

If my kid was fat I'd never say it to his face but he would find that over the next few months, we ended up walking places more often and taking the long route that involved a steep uphill climb and that the amount of junk food let into the house would diminish. If it came to it the TV might magically break as well.

Very good point. It's dreadful when parents tell their young kids they're fat when it's not even the kids' fault.

lemon_sherbert

Funny, coming from the other side of this, I was very overweight as a child (still am, but I'm working on it), and I really don't think this was my parents' fault, but a combination of a lot of other reasons.

I'm an incredibly picky eater, something I still haven't overcome. Apparently as a baby I would eat whatever I was given, but this changed when I was very ill at about 18 months, and I regressed, stopped talking and walking with a bad flu, combined with a number of infections.

I was almost constantly ill until I was 6, at which point my appendix burst, was misdiagnosed. I almost died due to the last diagnosis, and even after surgery, I was given antibiotics which I was immune to, and developed a fairly bad infection. Since then, I've been in perfect heath, only a few colds, and never to the doctor. Up until then I was at a normal weight.

I think my eating preferences probably played the biggest part; my mother is an excellent cook, and she almost always cooked from scratch, both my brother and father eat very healthily, but as I don't eat meat (ie refused to eat meat), I ended up eating starchy vegetables. I was fairly badly behaved, food wise, I snuck food, bought sweets with money given by aunties and uncles. I didn't really get pocket money, until I was a teenager, but I managed to find anything unhealthy in the house, even when my mother tried to hide it.

Unfortunately, I think my weight issues are entirely my own fault. My parents did their best, I did dancing lessons, was a member of a sports club, briefly played golf, tennis, hockey among others. But we had little play space in primary school, and all my friends live far away from my home, and in secondary school, I was away from home between 7 and 5 every day, so when I got home was very tired, and in little mood for heading to the gym. But I was a stubborn child, and my mother is very protective of me, and I don't blame her or my dad at all for being overweight. I'm not making excuses for my weight, and I know the health ramifications. But as a teenager, when I became more self aware (and more self conscious!) I chose to focus on my academics, and time went into that. I don't regret it, and now I'm working on improving my weight.

I'm not a parent yet, (and it'll be a good while off) but I think there are huge difficulties with being a parent, lack of nutritional education, in some cases, mcDonalds etc. seem a cheap alternative, lack of time together due to commuting, parent and child, and that obesity is a larger issue than parental responsibility.

Quality

Over the last few years, I have noticed a lot of effort being put into schools towards healthy eating.... My daughter has come home over the years with lots of brochures etc on healthy eating, the food pyramid, 5 a day etc.

But there is no point in educating the children.. The parents are the ones who need educating.

vincenzo1975

There are so many good point being made her, and some strong views being challenged. Very good debate folks...;)

Something to clarify from an earlier post, I said that if you look at a playground you dont see heaps of fat kids, someone thought I meant a swings and slides playground, I actually meant a school yard. Anyone who goes to a school yard will see the vast majority of kids are fairly normal.

Some of the blame seems to have been put into the following catagories.
1. going to fast food outlets (child abuse ...ahem)
2. Not real cooking of healthy foods in the home
3. Not walking to and from school
4. too much TV, too little excercise.
5. making poor shopping choices because of the cost of healthy food
6. The cost of child related activities
7. fat parents passing on bad habits.
8. advertising of junk food focusing on kids
9. self esteem and laziness.
10. snacking on sweets and crisps.
11. Giving junk food as a reward

cant think of any more off the top of my head.

I would like to add that as far as focusing on the issue of Obesity. the word Obesity seems to be used way too much for my liking. There have always been chubby, plump , puppy fat kids. these kids may be slightly overweight, but childrens weight can fluctuate. If they become Obese, then there is something wrong. The other direction is rarely talked about either. Too skinny, wish there was a name as bad as 'obese' for that. Just as dangerous and just as common as obesity, especially amongst teenage girls. The level of people that fall into these catagories in children is not 1 in 5. that is a ridiculous number. I see kids out on the street, in the school yards, in the shopping centers, not 1 in 5 of them is OBESE. [Edit, just realised that the post says 1 in 5 is overweight and not obese, so I am wrong on this point...]Some are overweight, some are underweight, but the vast majority of kids could be described as generally normal.

The problems listed above are encountered by most parents at some stage. Most families will encounter Lazy days, weather forces drop offs and pick ups, busy days may cause fast food. Its all part of Celtic Tiger Ireland, two parent working and a generally affluent busy society.

IMHO....The Real issues that causes obesity and malnourishment, and consequently poor performance in school, and a degenreration in behaviour and health and developing into anti social behaviour and lack of empathy and respect for others, is when the problems listed above have become the norm and are encountered on a daily basis. Its only then that the issue of bad parenting and potential child abuse can be labeled. There is no doubt that Obesity is becomming a bigger problem, but it is related to a general attitude in society of I want, I get. It is the society that is producing the attitude. How to stop it? not sure, but parents have to stand up and be counted and inform themselves of whats going on. There are too many peoplke having children without long term plans or any idea of what to do.

I think one of the terrible things with kids are parents who both go to work and leave the child in a Creche for 6-8 hours a day. How can good parenting exist in that situation. Theres more to this arguement then just controlling food, good parenting goes a lot further. I am not sure if some people see that. they are mor preoccupied with how someone looks then seeing a bigger picture going on.

I am assuming most people here are speaking from experience with their own kids and not just from a PC soapbox of what they will do.

Oh yeah, did the heading on this thread change???????

littlebug

Quality wrote: »

Over the last few years, I have noticed a lot of effort being put into schools towards healthy eating.... My daughter has come home over the years with lots of brochures etc on healthy eating, the food pyramid, 5 a day etc.

But there is no point in educating the children.. The parents are the ones who need educating.

It amazes me that despite the healthy lunchbox policies and all the education and leaflets some parents still send fizzy drinks with lunches. i'm talking about 4-6 year olds here.

littlebug

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

Anyone who goes to a school yard will see the vast majority of kids are fairly normal.

Good point vincenzo. There are approx 120 children in my kids school. I see most of them coming and going on a weekly basis. I can honestly say that not one of them is obese. In fact there are only 1-2 that I would even call overweight and they are aged 11/ 12.

vincenzo1975

here are the facts.....It would be nice to hear it from an independent study though.

According to The irish heart Foundation.

http://www.irishheart.ie/iopen24/pub/factsheets/obesity.pdf

1 in 10 are OBESE.

However 1 in 5 is considered overweight or obese.

I would like to see the actual method and sample size used, that would be really interesting.

some other interesting reading:

http://www.bodywhys.ie/t.php?c=faq/faq10.html

http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=14465

https://www.tribune.ie/archive/article/2006/sep/24/is-the-bmi-index-the-right-way-to-tell-what-our-we/

RosieJoe

lostinnappies wrote: »

not to worry, when i said she fed her alot .. i ment ALOT. lol. she had between 6-8 jars a day with eight 8oz bottles. You could understand my concern.;)

Jesus, the mother probably did nothing other than feed the baby non stop! I'd hate to see the nappies produced in that house

beth-lou

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

I could just as easily put forward the arguement that any parent who does not have a real interest in their childrens education is a bad parent. And by real interest, I dont mean dragging yourself to a parent teacher meeting once or twice a year, or dropping your kids at the school gate before you rush off to work. I mean how many parent know what kind of maths level their kids are at, know the english books their kids are on, and what social science stuff they are learning. How many of them know the class structure and groups and how their kids are getting on with other children, who their freinds are, how well do they know the teacher, what day is PE and what other activities are their kids into. how many parents give support to the homework on a daily basis and get involved. I would say a lot of stay at home parents may have info here, but a lot of working parents dont, does that make them bad parents? Is it fair for me to say that a parent who is not fully on top of their kids education is commiting child abuse. Ridiculous. Its unbalanced and elitest.

I know all of the stuff you have mentioned about my daughter, all of it. And I work full time and have an 11 month old too. I sit with her every night and talk to her, look through her homework, make sure she's done it all, ask about school, her friends, who she gets on with, if she's having problems. That's your job as parent, working or not, to take an interest in your child. That is not elitest. It is just taking the time to spend getting to know your child.

In relation to food, well I blame the parents if a young child is obese or overweight. It is the parent who feeds them. Who else are you going to blame? Who introduces food to a child? The parent. You don't have to give your child food issues just because you feed them healthy food. Anyone that claims that is what you are doing is in denial about their role in their childs health and attitude to food. It's as simple as just giving them fruit, veg and unprocessed foods on a daily basis. You shouldn't talk about weight ever in front of a child. Just serve them their dinner every day, with no fuss.
As far as treats go, they should be allowed them, but not every day. Hence the word "treat". Mine knows Friday is treat day and she looks forward to it. Occasionally she'll get something mid week or if she's been really good etc, but definitely not on a daily basis. The habits you give your kids now will stick for life. As for McDonalds, it's rare, but I do let her have a happy meal now and then and she loves it. But againit's a treat. But 9 nuggets is far too much for a child. And fizzy drinks are never in our house, other than parties or special occasions. again, they're a treat, although she's not botjered by them.

Parents need to cop on and realise that if their kid is over weight, it is their fault, not the kids. And to address the problem they need to serve healthy food and get them out there in the fresh air. It's so bloody simple.

RosieJoe

I am surprised that we are this far into the thread and not one person has mentioned a medical reason for kids being overweight.

My attitude on this would be it is still the parents responsiblility. If, as a parent, you are looking after what kids eat & how much excercise they get and you notice that they are still overweight then the onus is on the parent to get them checked out to see if there are any underlying issues.

barbiegirl

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

I think one of the terrible things with kids are parents who both go to work and leave the child in a Creche for 6-8 hours a day. How can good parenting exist in that situation. Theres more to this arguement then just controlling food, good parenting goes a lot further. I am not sure if some people see that. they are mor preoccupied with how someone looks then seeing a bigger picture going on.

?????

I agree with a lot of what Vincenzo says BUT the above quote is very unfair. A lot of parents, both need to work to make ends meet. I know many mothers who would prefer to be at home and can't be. I know I won't have the support system in Dublin that I would have had at home, whereby a family member minds the kids for those who are working, for a few bob. I will have to work, I will have to use a creche BUT I will on the basis that I only cook food from scratch and love sports be engendering a healthy attitude to food and exercise.
Both my parents worked and raised 6 healthy, happy children, all of whom are healthy, happy, confident adults. So I do get annoyed at the premise that 2 working parents equals bad parenting.

Kernel32

I have a couple of kids, one 6 and one nearly three. At some point before kids I would have said that picky eaters are a myth but my mind has been changed on that. Our son, the 6 year old was a struggle from early on to get him to try different foods. We did the whole bit or making our food, bought jars of very expensive organic products and wasted a lot of money on wasted food.

When he was in preschool his preschool teacher alerted us to some sensory issues with texture she observed which we also suspected. He didn't like anything squishy and he still doesn't like to get particularly dirty. At age 3 he wouldn't walk on sand in his bare feet. He is over most of those issues now. But he is a picky eater. It doesn't mean he is obese. He is lean and very active. We made a conscious choice to figure out what he would eat and we made available the healthiest options. He doesn't drink fizzy drinks which I think is a huge problem for kids but he has his fair share of sweets and ice cream. But again we provide the best possible options when we can.

When number 2 came along we worried that we had done something wrong and should we change our approach. In the end we didn't really and tried to same approach to solid foods as the first time around. It's been like day and night. She eats just about everything. She also love squishy stuff, dirt and has never shown any sensory issues.

So my own personal conclusion is that the picky eater is real but it doesn't have to lead to unhealthy diet or obesity. For those of you without kids who have these grand ideas of all the great home cooked food your child will eat, I hope it works out for you, but as with all aspects of parenting be prepared for the possibility that reality will not match what you expect.

RosieJoe

Kernel32 wrote: »

For those of you without kids who have these grand ideas of all the great home cooked food your child will eat, I hope it works out for you, but as with all aspects of parenting be prepared for the possibility that reality will not match what you expect.

Have to agree with you on this point!

Sleepy

On the schoolyard idea, I passed by my own secondary school last weekend and it was quite clear that more of the young lads there were heavy than whilst I went there a little over ten years ago. I'd imagine it's more in the secondary schools you'd notice heavier kids, as it's later on in or after primary school that kids tend to get heavily interested in computers, movies and other sedentary activities versus their earlier physical play with cars / dolls / legos etc.

beth-lou

Kernel32 wrote: »

I have a couple of kids, one 6 and one nearly three. At some point before kids I would have said that picky eaters are a myth but my mind has been changed on that. Our son, the 6 year old was a struggle from early on to get him to try different foods. We did the whole bit or making our food, bought jars of very expensive organic products and wasted a lot of money on wasted food.


So my own personal conclusion is that the picky eater is real but it doesn't have to lead to unhealthy diet or obesity. For those of you without kids who have these grand ideas of all the great home cooked food your child will eat, I hope it works out for you, but as with all aspects of parenting be prepared for the possibility that reality will not match what you expect.

Indeed all kids are differernt and you are doing the best that you can for your son.

But some parents are just lazy, and don't have picky kids. They have just fed them nuggets and pizza, fish fingers and chips, fizzy drinks, cordial etc as part of their every day foods . A packet of crisps every day for lunch, a bar after school. And some are just unaware of the effect of these types of food day in and day out on a kids health and the life long reprecussions of bad diet and lack of excercise.

It's still, 90% of the time, down to the parents. Everything in moderation as has been said. But to feed your kids like that is to spoil them, literally. Spoil their health, their teeth, their metabolism, their immune system, their concentration and if they become overweight, possibly give them a life long battle with food. One of the best things you can do for your kids is give them a love of it and a healthy attitude towards it.

littlebug

Kernel32 wrote: »

I have a couple of kids, one 6 and one nearly three. At some point before kids I would have said that picky eaters are a myth but my mind has been changed on that. Our son, the 6 year old was a struggle from early on to get him to try different foods. We did the whole bit or making our food, bought jars of very expensive organic products and wasted a lot of money on wasted food.

When he was in preschool his preschool teacher alerted us to some sensory issues with texture she observed which we also suspected. He didn't like anything squishy and he still doesn't like to get particularly dirty. At age 3 he wouldn't walk on sand in his bare feet. He is over most of those issues now. But he is a picky eater. It doesn't mean he is obese. He is lean and very active. We made a conscious choice to figure out what he would eat and we made available the healthiest options. He doesn't drink fizzy drinks which I think is a huge problem for kids but he has his fair share of sweets and ice cream. But again we provide the best possible options when we can.

When number 2 came along we worried that we had done something wrong and should we change our approach. In the end we didn't really and tried to same approach to solid foods as the first time around. It's been like day and night. She eats just about everything. She also love squishy stuff, dirt and has never shown any sensory issues.

So my own personal conclusion is that the picky eater is real but it doesn't have to lead to unhealthy diet or obesity. For those of you without kids who have these grand ideas of all the great home cooked food your child will eat, I hope it works out for you, but as with all aspects of parenting be prepared for the possibility that reality will not match what you expect.

Ditto with my two except it's the other way round. THe 6 year old will eat anything and always has done. We assumed number 2 would follow her lead but oh no he's as picky as picky can be. Like yours he won't eat anything squishy (and as far as I can see anything with a taste other than bland!) and will NOT try anything new. Short of stuffing it down his throat there's little you can do although we make sure not to give him junk as a last resort (though I can see why some parents at their wits end would). He usually ends up just getting plenty of the reasonably good things that he likes even if it seems odd. Yes we get funny looks if we're out having a meal and he's having toast with grated cheese We do our best to lead by example without fuss and hope to goodness it works someday. His fussiness actually extends to sweets/ choc etc which is interesting.

To LittleBug and Kernel, I definitely agree there are genuinely picky eaters, but unfortunately some parents will say, my kid will only eat chicken nuggets, but the kid could be 3 so how have they learned to only eat this processed food.
Of course your case sounds completely different, and difficult!

littlebug

Deleted User wrote: »

To LittleBug and Kernel, I definitely agree there are genuinely picky eaters, but unfortunately some parents will say, my kid will only eat chicken nuggets, but the kid could be 3 so how have they learned to only eat this processed food.
Of course your case sounds completely different, and difficult!

It's back to education and skills. I remember seeing a documentary about this HUGE man who was having his stomach stapled. After he had the op and all the info he got about eating very small portions he sent his (very downtrodden) wife out to get a bucket of KFC. He ate a small portion and told her to put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow. She looked at it and said " yeah... chicken.. that's good for him... protein" :eek:

littlebug

littlebug wrote: »

It's back to education and skills. I remember seeing a documentary about this HUGE man who was having his stomach stapled. After he had the op and all the info he got about eating very small portions he sent his (very downtrodden) wife out to get a bucket of KFC. He ate a small portion and told her to put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow. She looked at it and said " yeah... chicken.. that's good for him... protein" :eek:

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Kernel32

littlebug wrote: »

Yes we get funny looks if we're out having a meal and he's having toast with grated cheese We do our best to lead by example without fuss and hope to goodness it works someday. His fussiness actually extends to sweets/ choc etc which is interesting.

We have that same issue. He eats a very narrow set of foods and tend to be on the bland side. He does eat nuggets and pizza and things like that but we buy very good quality brands from a grocery store that only sells organic based products. His fussiness also extends to sweets. There are a lot of sweets he has tried through friends that he doesn't like. He enjoys ice cream as an example but has no problem leaving a half dish behind whereas most kids would lick the dish clean. But when it comes to cookies there is never a crumb left and he usually starts asking his younger sister if she is going to finish hers.

I'm not sure how schools in Ireland are dealing with lunchs these days. Back in my day no one cared what you ate. In his elementary school here in the US once a week the teacher does a project with the kids whereby they examine there lunchs and snacks. They build a chart based on the major food types and catalog them. From week to week they can compare the charts. They use it to highlight good food choices. I know that certain foods are banned like fizzy drinks as well.

Quality

A lot of the schools over here have adopted a healthy lunch policy.

No fizzy drinks, sweets, choclates or crisps.

This even boils down to not having Jam as a filling in their sandwiches!

Nevyn

My kids school have a healthy lunch policy and did the food worshop with kids to get them to try different fruits. The head mistresses will do a check on lunches ( as well as teacher every day) once everytwo weeks in each class. and the kid deemed to have the heathliest lunch gets a sticker.

My daugher won the last one for her class, cos she had a brown bread bun with ham, an apple and some carrot sticks, which lets face it isn't that hard to do.

marti101

IanCurtis wrote: »

Well I don't have children and I don't know what I would do. People will say "ah it's only once in a while" but you're setting that 'treat' idea in your daughter's mind. Treat = chicken nuggets and chips. It's not a treat - it's deep-fried ****e.

A treat to me is fresh mussels steamed in white wine, a fillet steak, irish stew...you get the idea.

Like I said, I'm not a parent and don't know the trouble that raising a child on a healthy diet brings.

Exactly you dont know so who are you to judge.And you can control all you like but if they want it they will find a way do you not remember putting one over on your parents.Also my kids dont do this/that you are in for one hell of a shock.

TargetWidow

To be honest I have a problem with the whole idea of food of any kind as a treat. It led me to weight issues with rubbish food for years on the basis that "I deserve a treat." Why can't children be rewarded with an extra story at bedtime, or a special day out with their parents or an hour in a jungle jims type place?

I also have issues with jars of baby food. Good for you Lostinnappies that you pointed out to that woman that 6-8 bottles and as many jars of baby food a day is child abuse for a 12 month old. No two ways about it. Having said that the stuff in jars is just bland rubbish with tonnes of fillers like water and other stuff designed to bulk it out. I work a 44 hour week as does my hubby. My nearest decent supermarket is a 15 minute drive away and by the time DD is in the car, I'm there, have the stuff bought and am home and DD is out of the car and the shopping in it could take me and hour and a half. In an hour and a half at home I make up about 6 batches of different baby food and freeze them for use during the week. It really isnt anywhere near as hard as it looks or sounds. And it is so satisfying to see her eat such a wide range of homemade organic food. And it's definitely not expensive. The jars are way more expensive and less satisfying for a child. I'm making as many different types of food for her as I can, so that when at one and two she cuts back (as most seem to do) she'll still have been exposed to a huge range of foods and will still have more choice.

About chicken nuggets, there's a great healthy recipe for home-made ones on the BBC site under ... get ready for it... cos it's very appropriate to this thread... "Honey I'm Killing the Kids"!:D
Also Thaedydal that sticker idea is brilliant! I've heard about the lunch inspection policy (at the local school and my daughters creche) but I've never seen such a positive way to encourage compliance. I'll be passing that one onto the creche.Thank you!

CDfm

my daughter has a wheat and dairy allergy - ithe wheat ive known for a while but all the other stuff is nightmareish and shes a teen