Obese in Britain

My DDiL was once in receipt of two letters telling her that one child was overweight and one underweight.

The underweight one still is. He is of a that very slight, almost fairy build and not a big eater - just like one of his DGF's a tall thin rangey man, with a small appetite. but he is full of energy and loves playing football.

DGD build is exactly the opposite, tall, broad shouldered and sturdy, a very good ballet dancer, there isn't an ounce of excess fat on her.

In fact neither letter is correct, the charts they use just do not take into account the variability of shape and build.

my D has just had a letter from school declaring that my GD, 10yrs) is overweight. She is 5ft tall and weighs 8st 4lb with a BMI of 18

Exactly the point I was making about “charts” jayelld . Sometimes they fail to see the full picture . How on earth could you expect a group of children of the same age to all fall into the same weight bracket without taking their height and fitness levels into consideration ?
I think you can just tell by looking if a child is overweight . Weight/height/ fitness levels all need to be considered not just some chart or other.

When our children came home from school, I would give them a glass of milk and a couple of biscuits to keep them going.Our DGC have the same.
The main problem now is not so much the foods that are at fault ( unless they live on take aways and sweets) but a lack of excercise, and this goes for adults as well as children.
GP’s sensible diet advice ‘ eat lesss and move about more’ !

same in Switzerland - we often help at the local primary school, and there are 2 overweight children, from the same family. Families eat together at the table- no snacking and lots of sport/activities.

I am not sure if British children are fatter than other European children. I think attitudes to food do vary, however. I grew up in Sweden and at the beginning of each autumn term we were all marched off to matron to be measured and weighed. I have always been surprised at the amount of snacking and grazing that goes on in the UK. Take crisps, do we really need that many bags on our supermarket shelves? Presumably the crisps get eaten. In Scandinavia crisps are sometimes served as a treat on a Saturday evening or at parties.

Free school meals started in the early 1900's in Sweden. Since 2011 the Swedish School Law stipulates that school lunches must be nutritious and equal a third of the recommended daily intake of energy and nutrients. Meals are hot; salad, bread, butter, milk and water are also on the menu.
I am not saying that there are no overweight people in Sweden but I do think our attitude to food can make a big difference.

Jura it’s not easy and I think that most of us that are quite slim know that. We have either been born with the type of metabolism that keeps us that way or we have learned to regulate our intake of calories.
I am in the second category and could easily become bigger.
Unlike a previous poster I do believe the what goes in calorie wise has to equal what goes out so I stop too much going in by saying no thank you and being aware of the hidden calories.
One biscut containing 100 calories over your calorie output per day over a year is a lot of calories. Lots of lbs.
This sounds like a lot of hard work but after a while it becomes a totally easy way to live and I just eat what I like and it isn’t an issue. I think some people equate restricting their food as a sort of punishment.
I am amazed at the portion sizes some people eat. For those who say they feel guilty about leaving food on the plate remember it either goes in the bin or down the toilet.

I was talking about this to a friend and we both felt that there is a lack of support for losing weight for a huge group of overweight people.
There is so much conflicting advice out there and unless one is prepared to do a bit of research it can be overwhelming. The two big slimming groups can be successful but they do have fees and they promote their own method.
We are floating a few ideas around. Her task is to find a celeb to kick start a community slimming club. She said she’d start with Tom Kerridge! We’ll see?.
How about it then gransnetters could we get it going?

agree, totally.

Having expressed understanding of fat people and fat communities, my sympathy only stretches so far. I get quite upset at what this obesity epidemic is costing the NHS in resources.

It all sounds so so easy, doesn't it ;)

Breaking the vicious cycle is anything but. If you have hippo thyroidism and you are diabetic on insulin - it is very difficult indeed. Same with steroids.

I have a lot of very slim friends- some are healthy, and some are not. Some are thin because the smoke like chimneys. Some of the healthy ones later realise they absolute obsession with not eating any fat- means they have ostéoporosis and keep breaking bones or having joints replaced. We come in all sizes, shapes, and everything else. And determination, courage, depression, whatever...

Also seen my vera slim friends becoming terribly thin and frail - without any reserves whatsoever - and it is not a good sight of thing either.

A bit of tolerance and acceptance would go a long way, for sure.

The higher the horse, the bigger the fall ;)

She eats smaller portions, Paddyann? If your daughter's medication causes her metabolism to slow then she needs fewer calories.

Yes it was quite simplified Jane and the issues is more complicated. But the link clearly exists and it behoves those trying to reduce obesity to look at the factors involved more closely.

Thanks greengran - a bit more evidence!

jennifereccles I do hope you never develop any medical condition or need any medication that results in your having to ‘eat a bit less’ to maintain your ideal body weight. You might find out just how difficult that can be.

Anja I’ve read your link, it was interesting. But like many articles in the Conversation these days, I think it’s perhaps an oversimplification.

I don’t doubt that that if you’re on a low income, your food choices are going to be limited and given what’s on offer in the supermarkets, you’re likely to choose calorie-dense, nutrient-low foods because they’re cheap and don’t need much cooking.

But that can’t be the whole picture, can it? I think if you look at photographs of school children in the 20’s and 30’s, when there was much more poverty and deprivation than there is now, there wasn’t any obesity then.

Why not? Because the processed food that forms a large part of many people’s diets wasn’t available then. The food manufacturers with their marketing skills and their use of chemicals to prolong shelf-life bear at least some responsibility.

And the author’s argument takes no heed of the fact that overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome are not by any means confined to poor people in deprived communities.

Our whole relationship with food has changed. As a child in the 50’s I was exhorted to eat things up because they were good for me. People ate to live.
Now food is largely a lifestyle choice. People virtue-signal by excluding nutritious food items because they think they are bad for them or because they think eating them is bad for the environment.
We have developed an emotional relationship to food. We no longer live to eat, we eat in some cases to reward ourselves, or in others we deny ourselves food as a form of control.

So although I accept there’s a link between poverty and obesity, I think it’s much more complicated than that.

And I think that it’s very sad that although we no longer have the type of malnutrition that existed in the 20s and 30s, it’s not been eradicated, so much as replaced by another form of it.

grannypauline My son spent a lot of time living in a remote village, high in the Himalayas. They grew almost all their own food. He confirms that what they ate seemed to be much more nutritious, and his body stayed fit and healthy on much smaller portions.

I do accept that there is probably a small number of medical conditions which predisposes a person to put on weight, and the same with some medications, but once that is known then all that is needed is for the individual concerned to eat a bit less to compensate.

The fact is we are all responsible for what we put in our mouths, but of course it is so easy for people to jump on some dubious finding or other which claims that 'addiction to food' or some other nonsense, is a real medical condition, and thereby claim 'it's not my fault'.

I was also going to make the point made by Lazigirl that it is not necessary to read any reports on the levels of obesity because the facts are there, staring us in the face every time we go out.

Not that it is a laughing matter, but I couldn't help being amused to read that there is a country (I wish I could remember which) with such a high rate of obesity that airlines weigh the passengers as well as the luggage!! Now there's an idea!!

Lazigirl, it's simplistic to demonise parents I agree. However parents are the most salient link in the chain for making a difference to what their own kids eat.
I'm wondering if there is an attitude of passivity and helplessness among poorer people.

Thanks for link Anja.

BradfordLass I believe you do not live in UK but if you walk down the street in any city here you will see that the statistics are correct. People and young ones are definitely fatter. I can only remember one fat child when I was in school, it was so unusual. I think the reasons are multi factorial, and it's simplistic to demonise parents.

Our weight is largely determined by our environmental circumstances and how we respond to a backdrop of cheap food, persistent advertising, living in areas of fast food retailers, and where high-sugar, processed food is plentiful and cheap.

Then factor in those on low wages, insecure jobs, the resultant stress and anxiety of trying to put food, any food, on the table and what do you get?

Esspee you didn’t read the link then!

Many parents manage well on limited budgets. I have been appalled by the number of children in supermarket trolleys this week. The children were all over 5 years of ages in trolleys used by parents and grandparents. I suspect it was because they could not manage the children. Shopping should be a learning experience - talk about the food and price, discuss menus. The children are driven to school daily.
Schools should ban all unnecessary vehicles within 200 metres to the school gates. Children expend energy if they walk to school and make friends. My mother, who is 98, manages a walk round her local supermarket every day even though she is in agony at times. Supermarkets should ban children from riding in supermarket trolleys. If these children do not manage a short walk every day - there will be unhealthy teenagers in the future.

The link between poverty and obesity is not cause and effect. Just as a spurious link between say, quinoa consumption and healthy body weight is not cause and effect.
The better educated eat a healthier diet. Pure and simple.

There are many studies that show the link between poverty and obesity.

Poverty driving up obesity levels

Poverty is another cause of obesity.

lets face it, life was very different, we played out all the time in the 50s and 60s and my children in the 70s also played out, went climbing, fishing, riding, walking as a family. Money was tight at times but many of us had gardens and grew our own food, so we ate lots of vegetables. We had a `cosy evening` only once a week, tea with a trolley, sandwiches and prawn cocktail crisps and a video

None of my AC are overweight, two of my dgc are slender because they go running and swimming. One dgc could be overweight because dad is a secret snack eater but her mum keeps it all under control for her

So if energy input = energy output then there will not be an obesity problem. Keep them active and busy and feed them properly