Obese in Britain

Exactly Paddyann I used to attend hospital regularly to have intravenous steroid treatment and gained a lot of weight over that time in my life . My consultant said it was a very common side effect .

Of course I accept that Paddyann, you are absolutely correct. Further up this thread another poster was accused of passing judgement when it wasn't intended. No offense meant and I'm sorry your D has these problems - it must be so hard for her.

paddyann I agree with some medication increasing weight, I am often on steroids and my weight shoots up!!

and some medical problems cause obesity mrsmopp its good to remember that before passing judgement.My D has almost doubled in weight because of medication she takes ,she doesn't WANT to be overweight but she cant stop the meds ..what do you suggest she does?

A few years ago there were lots of patients needing hospital treatment due to smoking. They had breathing problems, they had lung cancer, and smokers were being blamed for the high costs of running the NHS.
Now it's overweight people, this was rare when I was young. There were fewer overweight people then for whatever reason. Sugar was rationed, there was no fast food outlets, ready meals or takeaways. Children played out, running around and exercising. We had no TV. Obesity causes many medical problems, knee and hip replacements for example.
It's in our own interest to keep our weight under control.

Riverwalk you are my dream...yes it is hard but your weight is pretty near perfect i would say.
I am your height but nearly 3 stones heavier, and I too am,and always have been, very careful what i eat, which is why when I see small children with whole packs of biscuits, handfuls of sweets and crisps etc every day etc I worry.

RosieLeigh being obese is not always a choice. There are medical conditions which contribute.

JenniferEccles I too think people should take responsibility for their weight and health but, believe me as a life-long dieter, it's not easy.

At 5.2 I struggle to stay under 10 stone, currently 9.6 and have to be mindful of what I eat, every day. I have to do it though as have a family history of Type 2, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, etc. Much of our general health is in the genes but figure that if I at least keep my weight in check that that will help to live my healthiest life as possible.

But as I said, it's not easy - you sound smug.

OOOpsie posted too soon.

Meant to add that my eldest DGD has the opposite problem.

She is classed as very underweight for her age without taking into account her height, which is on the 2nd percentile (so very small for her age). Turn this on its head and many taller than average children could be classed as obese.

To be fair JenniferEccles There are a lot more charts and tables around these days compared with when I had my children. I have also noted a trend for comparing weight and age but failing to compare height. This is even true in baby clinics which raises false concerns of obesity.

RosieLeah Yes, and that negative comment about my first post surely proves my point about how people are in denial.

I can't for the life of me understand why so many people don't take responsibility for their own health, and that of their children.

After all there is a wide range of what constitutes a normal weight isn't there? No-one is saying we should all be ultra slim but everyone knows when they are very overweight, and its their refusal to do anything about it which infuriates me.

Of course I am not perfect mumofmadboys. I never said I was. This thread is discussing the increasing problem of childhood obesity and that was what I had commented on.

Exactly JenniferEccles, weight is one thing over which we DO have control. If people are obese, it's because they choose to be..simple as that. Unfortunately, they are passing on their eating habits to their children...and this is the next generation we are talking about.

Are you perfect then JenniferEccles with no sins or aspects of your character you need to work on??

As a child, sweets and crisps were a treat, we also walked to and from school each day as few owned cars.
Something I noticed in American TV shows is that the children would open the fridge and help themselves, this used to astound me. When we were kids we asked for permission - even if it was just a glass of milk.
Practically all meals were cooked from scratch - I'm sure the proliferation of ready meals doesn't help. A whole generation has lost the art of cooking. We were taught at school. We may not have enjoyed it at the time.
These days many mothers must work and don't have the time or energy to cook each day.

It’s a mystery to me that I wasn’t a fat child. White bread, margarine and sugar sandwiches with sugar sweetened squash after school. A cooked school dinner and in the evening a cooked dinner with my parents as dad took sandwiches for lunch. Puddings included! I suspect it was the mile walk to school and back via the playing field.

I feel that as we have now got to the shameful levels of childhood obesity in this country, that parents of such children should be charged with child neglect.

After all fat children are very likely to become obese adults with all the associated health problems putting a massive strain on an already overstretched NHS.

The trouble is though, invariably the fat child has fat parents who of course are in complete denial about their size.

I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever with those who claim that they can't lose weight.

We had pop delivered by the pop man every 2 weeks but bro. and I weren't fat nor are we now. We didn't have crisps though and sweets weren't exactly plentiful either apart from the sherbert dabs with a stick of liquorice.
We cured our hunger pangs from the apple trees in the garden, or raspberries and gooseberries. On the hoof.
Better diets back then. As kids we were too busy playing to sit and eat apart from teatime.

My 3 oldest DGC (13,11 and 9) are always starving when I pick them up from school. Tea/Dinner is still a few hours away so I can't see the problem with a snack to tied them over. Having said that they are all very lean and sporty with not a pick of fat between them.

They all have a very balanced diet that does include treats .

silverlining I agree with most of your post but not every child has a cooked lunch at school.
Children, including my GSx2 always seem ravenous when finishing school but healthy snack options are the way to go.
Neither DGS like fizzy drinks and will usually choose a savoury snack rather than sweets on the rare occasion they are offered.

America is the worst!
silverlining48 I agree with you.

When I was a child it was the height of bad manners to eat in the street. Food came on a plate at the table. An apple would be OK, or an ice cream or lolly on a hot day - but had to sit down to reduce chance of dropping it.

I wrote a while ago about my honest surprise that on school pick up ( primary) every child starting from 3 or 4 are all given chocolate bars, biscuits, crisps cakes....and have even seen hot greasy chips, but once i saw a child with an apple and felt like shouting hallelujah.
This is nothing to do with being hungry, they will have had their cooked lunch only 3 hours before, and sweet things do nothing for hunger anyway, but it is because they see what others have and want it too.
To my surprise I got fairly short shrift from grans. Off to duck...

Shouldn’t that have read ‘Other European Countries’?

It is quite simple less sugar, no processed food and fizzy drinks should be a rare treat as should take away meals.

I grew up living above and in a shop selling fizzy drinks sweets biscuits the lot and was never overwight. It is down to the parents to choose what the children get to eat . My GC are seldom if ever bought sweets and never fizzy drinks and they do not question it .