Childhood obesity

Childhood obesity

What do you think should be done to tackle this?

We've had the Jamie Oliver approach, the first children's 'fat club' was opened this week in Ealing and now apparently it's been suggested that children's clothes which are esp large should come with a health warning...

I assume this is meant to remind parents they are feeding their children too much.

Anyway, thoughts?

And from today's Independent:

"More than 12 million adults and one million children will be obese by 2010, according to figures to be published today.

Around a third of adults and a fifth of all children will be obese, statistics from the Health Survey for England - published by the Department of Health - will show.

As a result thousands more people will suffer related diseases like cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The cost of obesity to the NHS is also expected to rise above its current £1 billion.

A total of 22% of girls and 19% of boys aged between two and 15 will be regarded as obese by 2010, the figures will show."

well health warnings on cigarette packets dont deter smokers will it deter parents?

I should have put this in the News section, shouldn't I?

you should do what they do with donkeys - tie a band round there head and at the end of it attach a cream cake and then make the fat little sods work for it. RUN BITCH RUN!!



seriously though - i think it's down to family's not making any time for each other, i'm 25 and still every night me my mum and my dad sit down at the table for a meal, sunday's are a tradition (it was a nightmare after clubbing) - but parents today are too busy to monitor what their kids are eating, and sitting in front of the xbox/ play station/ tv etc for hours won't do them any good. they reckon by the age of 8 an american child has watched millions of tv adverts. Kids eat what's quick and easy and sugary, how many of us actually spent their dinner money on food and not chips, sweets fizzy drinks etc. I think they should be doing more sport @ school.

Ok, rant over

When i was young children played out nowadays the streets are empty - its a convenient life style we have now

Meals can be cooked within minutes

We can get from A to B without much effort

I reckon money should be spend educating Children + Parents on the benefits of healthy eating and the consequences of not eating healthily

I know around my area they have a fun run held yearly which is free for all and is only a mile but you get something for completing more initiatives like this but on a regular basis would be a good start - maybe cooking classes for parents and children to participate together so people dont see cooking as a chore and children definitely need to be eating vegetables etc from the day they are weaned

Re: Childhood obesity

The change in school diet needs to be countrywide and enforced despite the problems it will no doubt cause initially. If kids learn to enjoy new, healthier foods at a young age they're more likely to continue eating them into adulthood.

There also needs to be a MASSIVE increase in the encouragement of sporting activity. This covers many issues including the lack of available, quality space for activity to take place, a lack of qualified coaches to supervise, a dismal amount of and variety of compulsory Physical Education in schools, and a lack of meaningful competition.

It requires serious long-term commitment by the government, both financially and in terms of keeping it high in the political agenda and public conciousness

What about outside school? If a child was massively undernourished, social services would be called in. Yet this doesn't happen if a child is massively overweight. Not that I'm saying it is a solution, but the difference is interesting.

I think part of the problem lies in the fact that so many young adults simply don't know how to cook, and are clueless about nutrition. How are they supposed to feed a young child when they can barely look after themselves? I place the blame for this with their parents. When I was a kid I had to help my mum in the kitchen, and could cook a limited range of food by my early teens.

People also bemoan the fact that eating healthily is expensive, but it doesn't have to be if you don't simply buy all your food in the supermarket. I used to go to Grainger Market in Newcastle and buy enough fruit and veg to last me a week for about £5 (and I eat a lot of fruit and veg).

You think? When I was little I was always outside running around. We didn't have computer games (I know, I'm old), children's tv was only on for a couple of hours, so if you didn't go and play there was nothing else to do!

I cant remember as a kid doing other things than playing out unless i was grounded, my grandparents were the same except they had to work from the age of 14

The street im living in now is full of children but you never see them out unless its Halloween

They should put those shock-impact adverts on t.v. like they did with smoking.

If parents see what the pizzas they are feeding to their kids do to them in a particularly horrifying and disturbing manner then I think it'll do the trick.

I feel particularly strongly about this. As a nation we're becoming a collective of fat, unhealthy bastards. We've spent the last ten years or so mocking Americans for being so obese, and now we're getting exactly the same.

The reasons for such common obesity can be linked to many things. There are some valid points in this thread, obviously those about children being a lot less active than I was when I was young (it was pointless staying in to play on the computer when all you had was a Commodore 64), and the fact that families no longer seem to have time to sit down and eat proper meals anymore. The development of an economy in our country and the fact that jobs/careers now dominate most peoples' lives gives rise to an increase in convenience foods, and a lack of time for exercise. This is illustrated somewhat by the icnrease in gym use/gym memberships over the last ten/fifteen years or so. Years ago, people would have just gone for a run, gone to play football/rugger/tennis/etc., however now this is now impossible in a lot of cases, which is why people have to use gyms, to fit inexercise in 'insociable' hours.

To tackle the obesity problem, I feel a little more extremism and sincerity must be undertaken. All we've had so far is some half-arsed publicity campaigns from the government telling us not to get too fat, and Fat Tongue Oliver ranting about school meals on the telly for a few weeks. The majority of people aren't going to take it upon themselves to lose weight and eat better, thus I suggest reducing production of unhealthy foods, or taxing the purchase of them massively. That's a little bit of a controversial one, as it could be seen somewhat as the removal ofa human right, but when that human right is costing the NHS an absolute fortune, I feel something like this may be the only way in which to tackle the problem.

Obesity-related illnesses (CHD, type II Diabetes Mellitus, respiratory problems, liver problems, etc.) are now one of the largest costs to the NHS, and these are problems which could be so easily prevented, thus freeing up capital to be spent on other areas of medicine. The NHS is in a shambolic state as it is, the last thing we need is more obese people costing us more money, and detracting more care and services from equally as needy people.

Until your last sentence that was one of the most reasoned and rational posts I've seen on this board. It is time to stop mincing about and tackle the issue full-on. If more draconian legislation, or shock tactics, are needed then fair enough - the staus quo isn't working

me 2 little brothers are proper fat like

me mam needs to sort it out

I was fat when i was a kid, although i lost alot when i started going out all the time when i got a bit older, then i lost all of it when i left school

What's wrong with the last sentence? It's true, really; the large cost at which obesity-related illnesses are treated could be reduced massively by a little more effort from the government. Other important areas of medicine (oncology, neurology, psychiatry, research in all three fields, etc.) may suffer somewhat due to the large costs run up by preventable illnesses.

Speaking of shock tactics, I was particularly fond of the anti-smoking television advert that was around a little while ago, with lipids/fats literally dripping out of the end of tabs. What happened to that? Similar things should be done to promote how bad for the body food high in saturdated fats really are.

That ad was excellent. Almost made me give up smoking!

Would you show the anti-fat ads during children's programmes, or just aim them at the parents?

I kind of agree with putting a higher tax on higher fat foods, and possibly using the income to subsidise healthier foods, but I'm not sure how the voting public would take it.

Probably both to be honest. It's manipulation of the highest order, but kids are a lot more likely to be affected by such things as being told they'll die if they don't eat healthily and run about a bit.

I imagine the voting public would be horrified. To be honest, if I wasn't an aspiring Cardiologist, I'd probably be horrified by such a movement also, but it unfortunately seems to be the only option.

I'm confident that we might see a bit of a change once we get Dave C and his Conservatives in (the optimism of a Young Conservative, eh?). Blair and his wife probably aren't helping the cause much by being photographed on holiday looking hideous. Not to mention the other 'pleasantly plump' high-profile members of the Labour party.
Cameron, as optimistic and unrealistic as he may be, at least seems to have more of a concern for such things and may enforce more harsh decisions. The only problem with this, however, is that it's another three years until we even have the possibility of seeing a Conservative government.

There was this kid on the radio this morning saying how he was 20 stone at the age of 16 and the only health problem he was concerned about was diabetes :spangled:

Saying that though I should be obese, I never exercise eat shit loads of shit junk food always have done, when I was a kid I didn't play out in the streets too much, I've never ate healthy food sor vegetables or anything yet I'm not even close to being fat yet alone obese. Therefore, I continue going on eating the same way and not exercising because I'm lucky and don't get fat. I do tend to forget that just because i'm not fat I am very unhealthy and I am very unfit, but I like the taste of junk food and i'll keep on eating it. I think it's jsut unfortunate that these kids get fat and if they're surrounded by other kids who are eating sweets and pies and chips all the time then it is a bit cruel to be told as a kid that you can't have any Poor kids

That's a good point, actually. In fear of being prejudiced and getting a class war going, obesity seems to more affect those in poorer areas, more working-class people, etc.
Obivously, you're going to get fat people and fat kids everywhere, but it certainly seems to be more prominent in poorer schools/poorer areas. I'm not really sure of the reasons for this, mind, but it definitely seems to be the case. Opinions?