Teachers feeding hungry children

Even Nigella doesn't really know

I don't even strain it. It's fine. Its a thermostatically controlled deep fat fryer. Only do chips in it.

jeni, yes. It was my advice, and I'm sure it's as good as any she'll get from the food police

absent, you've made life worth living again, now that I know raw celery has a use! (love it cooked in stews)

DH keeps blethering about sugar and insulin surges.

Do not try this at home.

absent I'm pretty sure six times is the recommended thingie. (I hope) [smikle]

jeni No! Washing up liquid usually.

I'm confused! Is jing eating soap to unclog her arteries?

Why is being judgmental regarded as a bad thing? We make dozens of judgements about things and people everyday. Bias and prejudice are bad things but reasoned judgements aren't.

j04 I hope you were joking about the number of times you reuse oil for deep-frying.

Bags I found eating sticks of celery invaluable when I gave up smoking.
On the other hand, I cannot and never have been able to see the point of kohlrabi.

I thought the latest research showed that it is a myth that consuming lots of sugar causes hyperactivity. (Of course, it does cause swings in blood sugar levels but that's another matter.)

petallusi think my version says plank?

granjura Are you sure that there is nothing wrong with margarine? What about trans fats which are thought to be carcinogenic?

j no need for . There has been and still is a lot of propaganda. Hardly surprising if people are influenced by it

It's never been easier in this country to have a balanced diet. Perhaps it's also never been easier for people to eat too much. I agree with greatnan about fad diets. I know people who have been on diets all their lives and who never lose the weight they want to lose.

I don't avoid any kind of food as being bad for me, but I do tend to avoid raw celery as being a bit pointless as well as noisy.

No, of course giving children chips occasionally is fine - we were talking about a diet of virtually nothing else!
All the evidence is that people who go on 'fad' diets (i.e. restricting certain food groups) not only put any weight lost back on, but gain even more.
We all know, don't we, that the only way to lose weight safely is by eating a little less and exercising a little more and not expecting any quick results.

There are, of course, some children (and some adults) who appear to flourish even though they have a very restricted diet. Our bodies are strange and wonderful things.

Bags I DON'T FLIPPIN' KNOW!!!!

sorry

But they probably do try to help themselves. It's just harder for some than it is for others. I don't think fat people can necessarily be labelled 'self-indulgent'. So much in health is down to luck. And poor living conditions wouldn't help.

this is interesting

jing, what about Eskimos and Masai (only two examples) who eat virtually only high fat animal products and don't have clogged arteries?

Yes, jingle, or perhaps they are big-boned. Nobody in Belsen appeared to be genetically fat.

But jj that would imply that they 'can't help themselves' ...whereas, we never used to have this amount of obesity in this country.

Surely it is still a matter of opting for a high fat fast food diet?? As a nation are we including too many processed foods in our diet?

j04 there may be a genetic element but it is difficult to differentiate between nature and nurture isn't it? Whatever the reason surely parents should deal with it. I did everything I could to fatten up my son and i do everything I can to try to get to a healthy weight despite having no thyroid gland and therefore a very slow metabolism. We can't just blame ourbodies we have to deal with whatever we have. I once watched a programme about dieters who couldn't lose weight and in every case it was because they were eating more than they thought.

I think the word 'abused' is overused these days. Giving your child chips is child abuse?

Isn't there something in the bible about not going on about the log in your neighbour's eye when you have one in your own?

How many of us are overweight, eat chocolate, drink wine, knowing these things aren't good for us? Self-abuse?

I think genes come into it somewhere. I do NOT believe that all obese children and adults eat themselves into that state. I feel sure there must be a genetic element somewhere.

Jess I'm afraid some teachers do label children, one was labelled as going too late to bed but was bored and it wasn't until he got a scholarship at 11 that the schoole recognised how bright he was. Another was labelled good at maths because his brother had been and turned out to be really thick! Neither was mine.

My son was also gifted at sport and became a professional ballet dancer despite being very, very thin up to and beyond puberty.

On the subject of being judgemental I think we should be tolerant but only up to a point. An undernourished or obese child is being abused, whether or not the parents know it. I believe the state should intervene in these cases just as much as when a child is physically abused. The child's welfare is paramount. Surely intervention can include education?

What about young soldiers who were found to have clotted up arteries through the high animal fat diet the army dishes out? [worried] (what I wouldn't give for a bit of bread and lard with sugar on it)

Lot of sweeping generalisations in your second and third paragraphs, jess.

jings animal fats are not "bad for you". There isn't a shred of scientific evidence to support that belief and guess who promulgated the belief in the first place? — the corn oil giants in the US. What a surprise!

Sorry Jess. Leading the thread astray again!

Bags

I sometimes resort to neat washing up liquid.

Yes. Thank you. I make a point of never using the same chip oil more than six times. After that it becomes just as bad for you as the animal fats. We only have chips once a week though.

They are very enjoyable.

j04 the way in which fats is used in the body is rather more complicated I think than whether it sticks to a surface. For instance cold vegetable oils in moderation are deemed good for us - but it those oils are heated to a very high temperature, as in repeatedly used vats of chip fat, the chemistry of the fat changes slightly and they are less beneficial. All those different omegas - and I have to confess I can't remember which is which.
It was my red herring, masquerading as a baked potato that swam into this discussion. My point was that one smallish baked potato with a small filling plus say a small yoghurt (which is the kind of thing you get for a school meal) is not enough for a teenager who may have had no breakfast and may not have a cooked meal in the evening. School dinners used to be fairly filling and you could have seconds. I remember some weedy boys who used to wait till the final sitting so they could get the extra helpings. Oh the joys of being a teacher when you had to supervise the dinner queue. (I never get an opportunity to really shout like that any more - OY! YOU! except the rare occasions when small boys are attacking young trees or something)
Alison - I'm sure teachers don't label kids that are small. But on average the slowest ones appear less well nourished in their teens. Or they reach puberty later - which I think does, on average, relate to how well nourished a child is. I know at least 2 people who are very small of stature and very gifted at sport by the way - but if you want to field a rugby team, you need a few big ones as well.