Childhood obesity, what should be done?

I agree that it is the parent's responsibility towards insuring that their children have healthy diets but from a friend's personal experience about not letting their child have "junk", I do feel that children should have some now and again.

I would also keep a close eye on my child and their eating habits if I noticed that their waistband was expanding but I would also keep an eye on their weight and height ratio and not do something until it started hitting the "obese" line.

Eating food isn't the only cause of obesity, it's lack of knowledge about the right type of foods, the cost of foods and the knowledge of cooking the foods. I am lucky to be a stay at home mum who loves cooking and trying new foods and we are lucky enough in that our children love eating and trying (most days) new recipes but I do know a lot of parents who don't know how to cook or don't have the time to cook healthy meals and buying "junk" food is quick and easy after a long hard day at work.

KD

My mom had 6 kids. I was ALWAYS overweight, ALWAYS. My mom never weighed in over 100, and my brothers and sisters were always on the thinner side. We all ate the same, participated in the same activities, etc. So, while some blame maybe on the parents, some maybe genetic/metabolic issue. I have hypothyroidism, and once diagnosed I had more energy than I ever had. I started spending massive amounts of time at the gym (before I had kids). I lost a lot of weight, a lot.

Now that I have kids, I can't stay at the gym like I used to. I am about 30# over weight now, but I can't spend the time at the gym to take the weight off (and it has nothing to do with my diet, I am already eating only 1200 a day).

We do eat out about once a week. My kids eat fries, burgers, and drink soft drinks; but they are also active. My kids are in swim 2 to 4 times a week, tumbling twice a week, tennis twice a week, plus time we go to the park and go walking. We don't spend hours and hours playing video games, or watching tv, which I think is the biggest problem is that kids don't go out to play as much, but in saying that and having experience... sometimes its not just a food or lack of activity issue that causes a person to be overweight.

I work with young children and families via Health promotion in what is classed as a deprived area

My view of it is that there are far too many take away places nowadays,compared to when I was a child

Lots of families literally hardly ever cook a meal, its either take aways, microwave meals or cheap food and instant meals from freezer shops like Iceland and Farmfoods

You'll also notice that supermarkets regularly promote unhealthy foods, they rarely promote fruit and veggies or decent food

Offers are always on for coke and Fizzy juice, crisps, sweets etc, so Supermarkets have a lot of influence and what people buy AND eat

If you ask parents why they don't cook, they'll tell you they don't know how to cook

, they haven't got time and a million other useless excuses

I'm a mother of 3 sons and try to give them a balanced diet, I threw out fizzy juice years ago and buy a take away on a Saturday night as a treat for cooking all week, even with a f/t job

All we can do is promote healthier options, encourage them to read food and drink labels and make them aware of fat,salt and sugar content in foods and drinks

Ok. I know I'm gonna get nailed for this one but...here goes...

The change in lifestyle that the women's movement has created. Before, mom was there to make healthy meals for children every day, morning, noon and night. Parents didn't use junk food as bribes or guilt-ridding measures. A parent was home when the kids got home from school to make sure that they had a healthy snack and got outside and played and didn't sit on their bums alone in their homes and play video games and watch tv.

Look at it this way: When I worked full time (which I did until my oldest daughter was 18 months old, she is now 5 1/2) when I got home from work at 5 or 6 pm, there was no time to make healthy meal from scratch - it was prepackaged, boxed, quick, easy, convenience, ready made, just bake, or take out. How many times do parents who have to work during a game or assembly or play justify it by saying to make up, let's go and have ice cream or pizza, or candy or whatever to make up for it. How many kids get enough exercise shut up in a daycare facility vs being at home and running around in their back yards, at the pool or at the park? How many kids come home after school to an empty house where no parents are home and raid the fridge and cupboards for unhealthy food and then sit in front of the tv, video game or computer and eat? How many kids are emotionally eating because they don't feel that their parents are giving them enough time? How many kids aren't being supervised in what they are eating because no one is there to tell them not to eat the junk food?

Mary Eberstadt makes a great point about this and other issues in her book "Home-Alone America". I've been on both sides of the fence - both a working mom and a stay at home mom and this is just what I've found growing up and in being a parent. I know it's not a popular view, but childhood obesity wasn't an issue until the fairly recent mass-exodous of mothers from the home... not saying that we should by any means push things back to the male chauvanist views of the 1950's, but sometimes we need to think of what is best for the people most affected by our choices. Our children. Once again, don't mean to offend, just stating facts. Sorry!

This childhood obesity is getting out of hand! I think it's the parents to blame, too. Even for older kids who should know good choices, the parents are the ones who taught them these bad ones! However, it makes me sick that some of you can't accept your child if they became overweight. It's good to have some meat on their bones, you know? Being a little overweight is fine! I'm kind of mad that you're all making it sound bad to be a little chubby-- it's very far from being obese.

I think while it is an issue some are going over board about it. I mean everyone has their own ideas about what's causing it. Chocolate milk in schools, fast food, everyone tries to pin point ONE THING. Thing is not a single one thing causes it. Every body is different. Some have trouble processing sugar, both natural and un natural and end up fat. Others have issues with carbs, some have issues with fats. Some people's body go into hybernation mode when they try to diet and end up gaining more weight. EVERYONE is different so who is to say fatty sugary foods are the only ones to blame?

So what's to blame in my opinion? The scattered opinions about what kinds of eating lifestyles are right. There are SOOO many! I think if we all just eat a well rounded diet of the basic food pryamid stuff then they're would be a big change. This includes the occational halloween candy binge and the extra helping of meatloaf.

It's because inexpensive foods are usually fatty and so the working class can't afford the healthy foods they would like to give their children. Consumerist society in general promotes bad eating too, all it takes is kids to watch a few adverts and they'll be wanting junk food. It's a sad reality which parents should strive against. Childhood obesity must be an awful start in life and I feel sorry for the kids who suffer it.

I can understand that the parent has to take responsibility for what there child eats, but at the same time if that parent has no idea about nutrients and a healthy diet how are they going to encourage good eating habits?

I know some people say it's cheaper to buy the convenient food, but I don't believe that. I buy fresh ingredients and my shopping bills comes out cheaper then my friend who buys all her food from Iceland. Also you are less likely to waste food or buy items you don't even need when you have to sit down and compose a list of what you need.

At my son's sports day one mother was handing out sweets for all the children as they did "such a good job" My son and 3 other children where the only one's that chose to have a tomato instead. It's little things like that. When ever we go to the supermarket my son is at his most happiest when we are in the fruit and vegetable section because I have tried to keep a balanced diet in my home and experiment with all types of fruit and vegetables within our meal times.

My mum used to feed me and my siblings the same meals. Yet I was the only one that gained weight. My brother and sisters never did. I've always had to work hard at keeping my weight balanced, and get regular exercise where as my brothers and sisters can eat what ever they like and never put on any weight.

In that sense sometimes it is generally down to the child's genetics. My son is the exact same way. In the summer holidays he drops weight as we are always out and about doing all different types of activities or visiting different places, then when he goes back to school he started to gain weight. And the meals we eat have stayed the same. But then I work a little harder in making sure he get's exercise ont he weekends. Going park, playing football. Swimming etc.

Also the school's need to take on some of the responsibility. Children spend more time at school then they do at home. My son does P.E once a week for 30 minutes. To me that isn't exactly promoting a healthy lifestyle. They have only just introduce healthy eating into his school.They need to teach them from a young age along side the parents.

I think processed food, over sized portions and to a lesser extent lack of excercise is the route of the problem in the US. I think aside from the large portion sizes, the processed food problem is hitting the UK hard. There has always been a few fat kids in every class, even during the ration years they somehow always managed a token fat kid. What I have noticed is a lot more obesity in tweens and teens in the UK. They come out of the local schools and walk home with a bag of chips or fried chicken. They have their own money and they spend it on junk food as soon as they are released from school. They don't go out as much or have as much freedom as previous generations due to media hype and general fear of gangs and crime. This coupled with an ease of fast food is adding to the problem.

I think part of it is the quick, pre-prepared high-calorie, high-sugar, high-sodium food that we eat today. But I think that's only part of the equation. My parents let me have fast food and the occasional sugary or salty treat, just like I do with my kids. But that's balanced by the fresh whole foods that I provide. I don't think it's totally the food that's the problem as much as it is a total lack of self-control or delayed gratification in my generation that we're passing on to the next generation. A little taste is never enough, we want it right now, we "deserve" it, and more is always better. I can't change that for other families, but I'm working on that for my children.

The other major part of the equation, as I see it, is a total lack of activity in children. It would be easy to blame TV and video games, but the truth is that it's simply unsafe to have kids "go out and play" anymore. In my grandparents' generation, a five year old would walk a couple miles down the road to visit a friend or relative after completing chores on the farm. In my parents' generation, after breakfast my grandma would shoo them out the door to go ride bikes and play with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood and wouldn't see them again except for meals until it got dark. In my generation (I grew up in a safe suburb), kids could play in their front yard but walking to school unescorted was a thing of the past. If I sent my three and five year olds out to play at the park without adult supervision, Child Protective Services would take them away and I'd be arrested for child endangerment. Both my husband and I work and we still can't afford a home with a yard. So, they take swim lessons, soccer lessons, gymnastic lessons, etc. to provide exercise and I take them to the park or hiking/biking on the weekend when I'm available to supervise. Schools don't have funding for physical education programs anymore and some parents just can't afford all the private lessons my children enjoy.

What do I do about it? As a teacher, I make sure to teach the value of goal setting and working toward something. I teach my students the value in taking care of their bodies and give them the opportunity to get out and run everyday. As a person, I support ING's Run For Something Better, which provides free running programs to public schools. http://www.active.com/donate/OrangeLaces_RnRSJ/LDo...