Obesity in Kids , Who's to blame?

CJhaughey

according to this article it claims that 40% of schools have banned running in the playground. Is this mad or what ? I mean where is this "health and safety" stuff going to stop?
Surely it's only natural and right for kids to burn off energy by running around to stop on grounds of safety or litigation is plain madness.

http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/story.asp?j=50709120&p=5x7x9384&n=50709412&x=

Gilgamesh

I;m to blame Mwahahahaha


next the school canteens will be Burger King and Mc Donalds

koneko

Unfortunately schools have to protect themselves to an extent aswell. I'm sure this was all brought on by (a) previous lawsuit(s).

I personally think the blame lies mostly with the parents. Any time I've seen obese children on any talkshows/programs, the parents would always say "I don't know what to feed him/her" or "I don't want her to be unhappy, so I give her what she wants", or "He throws a tantrum if he doesn't get it, and I just give in eventually". I see parents with large children all the time in places like McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut.

It's a parent's responsibility to make sure their child eats a healthy balanced diet, and is educated in what is healthy/unhealthy to eat and that excercise is good for them.

CJhaughey

koneko wrote:

It's a parent's responsibility to make sure their child eats a healthy balanced diet, and is educated in what is healthy/unhealthy to eat and that excercise is good for them.

Agreed But what I am getting at is what kind of a society are we creating for our kids?
I am not sure I want my little boy to grow up in a place where normal activities are banned for fear of legal action.
In a word I believe that this society has a sickness = litigation and the chase for the buck.

Scarinae

Well the trend I've noticed is that fat kids tend to have fat parents, which would suggest that the bad eating habits are passed on by the parents. However, I think kids are targeted by the media, and a good advertiser would never underestimate pester power - I know when I was little and in the supermarket with my mother, we'd whinge for chocolate biscuits

Kids are definitely getting more sedentary though. More and more children are playing computer games and watching satellite TV, it's getting less common for them to use simple toys like skipping ropes. In my primary school they banned games such as British Bulldogs because they were thought to be dangerous, but we were allowed to run. They had to separate the infants from the rest of us though because so many small children would get knocked over. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there had been some sort of lawsuit. But why should kids be wrapped in cotton wool like that? Falling over and grazing knees is a normal part of childhood play. I mean, would you stop your kids from climbing trees in case they fall out? If you tell them not to then you're mollycoddling them and stopping them from learning through play. If you try to overprotect them, of course they're going to get sedentary. Yes, running around and playing can be dangerous, but judging by the effects of obesity it is far more dangerous in the long run to prevent them from exercising

Stark

I remember the rule about no running in the playground was there in my day too. Personally I think the teachers were just being pricks about it, laying down who's in charge etc. I could understand not being allowed run on the tarmac, but there was loads of soccer pitch right next to us which we weren't allowed near, we had to stay in the tarmac section at all times.

My parents had a rediculous rule in our house as well that food is shared out "fairly", ie: each family member gets the same amount as everyone else. The result - I (the oldest) am relatively thin, my younger brother is heavyish and my youngest sister is obese.

I saw a rediculous article in the paper the other day about a school canteen which had a fairly wide ranging menu. They were complaining about high fat foods on the menu, when the menu wasn't particularly in fat, it just had a lot of meat and egg options. They even admitted themselves that girls in particular need red meat. The menu they recommended instead of it was quite high in sugar and refined flour as is typical for those type of people. In our school canteen all we had were chocolate bars and cakes.

[ Daithí ]

Stark wrote:

In our school canteen all we had were chocolate bars and cakes.

Mmhmm. In my school the canteen serves mostly soft drinks, chocolate, sausages, re-heated burgers and hot-dogs, as well as rolls. Luckily I go home for lunch.

Parents are to blame for their kids being obese. My little brother (13) is obese. He refuses to even try any kinds of vegetables (except the processed kind i.e. tinned peas) and my mam ends up having to cook seperate vegetable-free dinners for him.

Honestly, I'd give the little sh!t the same as the rest of the family (my parents and I eat pretty healthily) and if he doesn't like it, tough. It really gets on my nerves. And then he goes off crying and whinging when we point out to him that he'll be dead by the time he's 50 if he doesn't lose weight. I think he's getting even fatter. He used to be quite thin. In fact, I remember him being thinner than me, and I'm just average.

My uncle is also obese. He has no desire to lose weight either.

In my primary school, I remember the no-running rule. There was a large tower between the junior and senior schools which housed the central heating boilers and such. If you were caught running, you had to stand at the tower for the whole of break/lunch. It was (and still is) ridiculous. Even light jogging was banned. So, if you ran, you didn't even get to walk; you had to stand in one place for 40 minutes. Helpful.

Khannie

koneko wrote:

It's a parent's responsibility to make sure their child eats a healthy balanced diet, and is educated in what is healthy/unhealthy to eat and that excercise is good for them.

Just found this forum. Hello

Totally agree with this, but I will caveat it...

If yourself and your partner work, it's a pain in the hole to cook fresh food in the evenings. We do it, but we have to make a concerted effort to do so (in large part because it's better for the environment as well as your health...double bonus). I can see how convenience food has become pervasive (just look around in the supermarket....it's amazing), and it is generally higher in fat and lower in nutritional value than home cooked food. Also, not all parents have a good understanding of nutritional requirements. They should give you a food pyramid poster with your baby

Still....when I see an obese 8 year old on the street, I don't blame the kid.

KdjaCL

Definitley the parents, most kids cry for comfort food most parents feed them to shut them up.
I know of 3 kids around same age as mine who are monsters, kids school doesnt allow sweets (plyd tbh) and these kids at home time will scream for Mc Donalds or sweets and parents always give in.


Or newest one i heard which i LOLed at, "their sugar free sweets so its ok" But they still giving them becasue kid crying for them. If kids eat their dinner they can have sweets, thems the rules dammit!


Shouldnt cut out sweets altogether as they need their sugar just like we do, just make sure its in moderation and as a reward NEVER give in to them.

Im a bastard really i make them play football and run a lot just to exercise them or am i secretly spending time with them....

kdjac

johnnyc

who is to blame good question i blame most sectors of society parents, children and goverment. If you are in a big school and lets say it has a canteen most of the food will be junk food.. healthy food should be made available no junk food or drink machines should be allowed in school. Most primary schools cannot afford the expensive cost of insurances if children cannot exercise how are they going to be fit. The goverment is going to tax junk food i am wondering what are they going to do with the money the first thing i would do is to make sure secondary and primary schools would receive cash for healthy canteen food, the money could also help schools pay for insurances and sport equipment. The parents could also encourage children at a young age to eat healthy foods play sports. They should also encourage children to cycle walk. But then again our society is going like america where u drive everywhere to school to sport events etc. The bike raks in towns dont exist for example if i cycled into tralee how many places would have bike raks not many theres my point

Khannie

My sons school has a healthy eating policy. I think they're becoming very popular. No crisps, no chocolate, no sweets, no fizzy drinks. You're allowed to drink water from a bottle at your desk at any time, but not squash (for example).

Also, we cycle to school on the two days a week that I work from home when weather permits. I'm considered a "cool dad" because of this (ask your kid(s) if they'd like to do it...I was amazed at the response I got).

Most primary kids do get dropped to school, and this is a fairly small town with a centralised population. The longest you'd reasonably be walking is around 25 minutes (though even that can tire out the little legs).

Drag00n79

CJhaughey wrote:

according to this article it claims that 40% of schools have banned running in the playground. Is this mad or what ? I mean where is this "health and safety" stuff going to stop? Surely it's only natural and right for kids to burn off energy by running around to stop on grounds of safety or litigation is plain madness.

Madness? No, merely a response to an increasingly litigious society. Schools are being taken to court everyday of the week due to events on the schoolyard. Why should any school put their heads on the block in this day and age?

Nevyn

If you care for your kids you say NO to too many chocolates, sweets and bickes, fizzy drinks and you have fruit for them to eat at anytime. You cook them health food and tell them what thier body needs to grow big and healthy.

You also you go for a walk with them, enroll them in sports and get up of the sofa and take them.

I have the oppsite, I have a seven year old boy who sees how the chubby kids get treated esp of late and was refusing to eat what he was given for fear
of getting fat. He wants to grow up tall and skinny. It took a talk with the doc and a chart on healthy eating for him to realise the same way I would not strave
him of what he needed to grow up healthly I would not over feed him,
or feed him rubbish.

iguana

Khannie wrote:

If yourself and your partner work, it's a pain in the hole to cook fresh food in the evenings. We do it, but we have to make a concerted effort to do so (in large part because it's better for the environment as well as your health...double bonus). I can see how convenience food has become pervasive

A good way to get around that, if you have a large freezer is if you are going to make a curry, make 4 times more than you need. Then put 3/4's of it into containers and freeze it.

Your very own home cooked convienence food.

ether

The parents are to blame, its up to you to make sure your child gets sufficient exercise and nutrition. There really isn't any excuse, other than parents not having enough time to ensure their children are getting both of them. Parents do have to work longer to provide for their children, but there needs to be a balance between the two.
Children should be walking or cycling to school where possible, if they can't play out in their area then there are parks and playgrounds which cost nothing.
As for food, frozen vegetables are convienient and healthy. I know most kids don't like veg but you have to make a stand and say no to too much salty or sugary foods.
Adverts are getting the blame as well, parents can't say no to their children. The way I see it the parents in charge not the child.
I know as a parent a lot of this is easier said than done, but we are shaping our children for the future.

~Rebel~

That whole No running thing is pretty insane alright. We had it in my school when i left 11years ago too but not very seriously. Rule was no running on the concrete, but could run you're little heart and soul out on the grass! Wasn't actually enforced to any point anyway.

Really though regardless of what happens with the schools, the buck stops at home. Im a student in college and so am lazy as fcuk when it comes to cooking, but still manage to eat healthily. My plan for whenever kids come along is just to show how being overweight affects your life. I personally can't even imagine being overweight, the limits it would put on what i could do, for instance i play a lot of soccer, and that would be a massive part of my life just cut out. Its great just to be able to walk/run comfortably without wheezing or dropping of a heart attack, just plan to convey this message to my kids whenever/if i have them. And no McDonalds!

LFCFan

we had the no running in the yard rule aswell and that was 20 years ago. One of the teachers who used to supervise would have a whistle and every now and again he'd blow it and everyone had to stand still. It wasn't a game. If you moved you had to stand against the wall for the rest of your break. It was the most rediculous situation ever. Of course, as a 7 year old, you don't question your teacher, especially when he's a nutter

As for kids being obese. IMO, it's 80% down to the parents 10% the school and 10% the state. The most we ever had in primary school was corned beef sandwhiches and milk. In schools where there are school dinners, they should remove all the crappy food and do something like Jamie Oliver has done in the UK. He quoted some Stat over there that the average spend on kids meals in school is around 50p whereas the average for prisoners is around £5 or something like that.

Ireland has an awful record when it comes to the treatment of children. Not only in the past with all the institutional abuse that went on but also now with the way kids are thought of. Same goes for old people!

kasintahan

Stark wrote:

My parents had a rediculous rule in our house as well that food is shared out "fairly", ie: each family member gets the same amount as everyone else. The result - I (the oldest) am relatively thin, my younger brother is heavyish and my youngest sister is obese.

Your parents need help.

Rozie

1) Banning most physical activity in schools due to insurance reasons(Teachers want their money)
2) Bad parenting. Apparently, homosexuals would make much worse parents than the current slob family. Haha. Good one.
3) Oppression. Fat people get made fun of, they'll only get fatter. Plus, the actual statistics don't tell the truth as the border level for obesity decreases and decreases.

Video games? No. No more than TV, books, or just plain lazing about did before it.

Lack of interesting things to do for young people has a ****load to do with it too. I know I'd be a little fitter. Gyms aren't the nicest place to go for everyone. At all.

I'd love to be thin in some ways, because I could go mad and stuff myself and get all pudgy again. I'm weird like that.

thegloriousend

No running in the yard is entirely created by ignorant greedy parents. There is some sort of anti-fun law in this country. Skateboarding, cycling and rollerblading are banned in public parks and look what they have become - Basking areas for old people.
Shame on parents overconcerned with safety to the point where fun is banned. Obesity is parents fault

BrookieD

Parents are o blame for fat kids, no doubt in my mind if they do not give in to demands and set a better example to the kids they would not be in such a state.

We (My fiancee and me) make an effort every night to cook fresh meat, spuds and veg for our little boy(2 yrs old) and he has a very health diet, anything from meat and 2 veg to spag bog, meatballs, and so on.

Just the other day myself my little boy and his nan went for a walk and went passed Mc d's to which dylan shouts, " Look daddio, Mc'Donalds..... Daddio Mc'donalds is Minging" what a great start :-)

josh40

Parents can control what their kids eat to a certain extent and to a certain age but after that tjhey have little control.
Both my husband and I work long hours which means our two kids are home alone a lot. My 15 year old son is overweight and eats too much , my 11 year old daughter on the other hand has to be forced to eat.
It's easy to control their intake when they are small , much harder when they are older.

seamus

Realistically though, you can control the bulk of what they eat, until they are getting money from somewhere. Obviously, as they get older, they'll get food from friends' houses, and can/will just take whatever food they want when in the house, but this is easily limited by simply not having the things there in the first place. If you're worried your 15-year-old child eats too many biscuits - don't buy them. If they're not there, they can't be eaten.