parents do control what gets put into the mouths of their children as they buy it or cook it so ultimately the parents. Why this happens is a more complicated reason but parents can give their kids less or healthy stuff. it is not expensive to but vegatables I could eat healthily or a week on what you would pay for a nice roast
My little vegan kids certainly eat their veg and have no concept of McD’d . We went in once, every vegan child should have their first Mcpoo and on the way out the eldest asked in a very loud voice why everyone was fat. trying to prevent a conversation I ignored him …he said is it because they eat unhealthy fatty food and dont excercise? he was 5 he had a point tbh.
Eat well excercise it is not rocket science so lack of education is not the sole reason plenty of fat middle class educated folk they just did it with better wine and nicer cheese.

he was 5 he had a point tbh.

At an age where he should know better than to be that rude in public. Skinny and ignorant. I blame the parents.

It’s the parents.

Also now that women no longer ‘know their place’ people generally have less time to cook the convenience stuff has taken over.

Complete and utter bollocks of the highest order. I work full time and still manage to prepare most of the meals from scratch. There is a wonderful invention called “refrigeration”. Look it up, you’ll be impressed. To save you time from your obviously busy schedule, I’ll summarise. You can cook up stuff at the weekend, i.e. curry, Bolognese, lasagne etc and either refrigerate (or “freeze”) to be served up at a later date. From scratch, an omlette with either frozen or fresh veg, salad or sweetcorn can be knocked up in next to no time. Beans on toast is reasonably healthy. Frozen meals are for exceptions only, not the norm.

Some people are bone-bloody-idle, end of. Fat kids? Parents’ fault.

I’d estimate that one in five kids of pacific Island extraction are that size over here, the NZ health system is clogged woth obese cases from as early as 4 years old. Again education (or lack thereof) is to blame.

Parents.

I blame it on the car. That and all involved in the car industry. Particularly driving instructors.

parents fault, they should have some control over what their child eats. IMO it’s verging on child cruelty, a child of the size the OP mentions will already have serious health issues, such as a massive risk of diabetes

Healthy food is cheaper than processed junk, as TJ says you just have to get off your lardy ass and prepare it. pretty much all my meals (we have pizza on friday as a treat, rock n roll!) are made from scratch from fresh ingredients. For me, my wife and my 8 month old son we spend 60 quid a week on food, could do it cheaper if we bought value brands

Unless the kid is doing the shopping and stocking the larder with junk food, parents/carers buying the food has to be the major factor; kid can’t eat cake etc if it’s not there to be eaten…

On the +ve side, going swimming will help to address the issue, if done regularly.

It may genuinely be a genetic thing though – who knows?

They don’t seem to have genetic or glandular problems in many third world countries.

Personally I think the answer ia quite complex and there are several factors involved, for me;
I do blame it on sunshine
I do blame it on moonlight
I do blame it on good times
But I don’t blame it on the boogie,

Which I think does contradict the common belief.

surely its the teachers fault? dont the schools have some responsibility to bring our kids up right?! us parents dont have time to cook dammit… how would we get our time on the X-box in at night if we had to spend time cooking vegetables! 😈

So to sum up, its everyone else’s fault. Not mine. I guess that’s a good summary to the UK in 2011.

I may not be expensive to eat a healthy diet, but you can eat an unhealthy diet cheaper.

I spend circa £20 on fruit a week to go with my pack lunch and the odd bit at home. I could by crisps a lot cheaper.

Vegetables are the same, they used to be a lot cheaper they are extortionate now.

But for the life of me I can not understand why anyone would consider a Macy D a treat !!!!

Bazzer

But for the life of me I can not understand why anyone would consider a Macy D a treat !!!!

That’s because you don’t understand how the magical and wonderful marketing machine works. 😈

Eating McDonalds will make you an athlete NOT fat see! 🙄
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmrTDZy3f2M[/video]

Ultimately its the parents.

However as humans have evolved we are making life easier for our selves so we have to do less physical activity, whilst making foods that make us fatter.

a lot of the time they just can’t afford higher quality healthier food

Nonsense. Maybe theyre not educated in where to look and how to cook it, but it is FAR cheaper to cook from half-decent quality fresh ingredients. Myself and my other half (neither of whome have small appetites) live happily off meals that cost 4-5 quid for 4-6 large portions. Stir fry, sausage jambowhatsit, mince dishes with fat fried off etc) We generally live off about £40 a week food budget (breakfast, evening meals and some lunches in that.) and not through trying, we buy what we need. We have some beers, we have some nice pre-made desserts, but not often. I really can’t see how people spend so much unless they buy everything pre-made.

Coyote – Member
They don’t seem to have genetic or glandular problems in many third world countries.
POSTED 2 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

I think the point is that genetic disorders can cause massive weight gains from relatively small amounts of food. So is the solution to starve people if they have such disorders or manage it in sensible ways – ie letting them eat normal amounts but ensure they take exercise. Such as swimming.

Of course he MAY just be a bloater but let’s not assume that.

Of course he might be a bloater who has decided he needs to do something about it and, if so, good on him.

mastiles_fanylion

I think the point is that genetic disorders can cause massive weight gains from relatively small amounts of food.

Such as? I can’t think of one. Its very simnple – you only get fat if you overeat. Calories in / calories out

there is a genetic disorder whereby people are always hungry – but they only get fat if they overeat. If they eat normal amounts they don’t get fat.

You cannot get fat from a normal amount of food

its not as simple as ‘parents to blame’. yes, in many cases, yes partially in many cases, but when, like me you have a daughter who is lardy (not as bad as the kid in question i hasten to add)and has no interest in exercise or doing anything even slightly active (like her mother) at all without a huge strop and fight what the f@ck can you do. if anyone has the answer please post because i don’t know what to do.

cut down her calorie intake?

I think the point is that genetic disorders can cause massive weight gains from relatively small amounts of food

I don’t think there are to be honest, IIRC all of the genetic “tendencies” identified actually are just appetite issues – i.e. you don’t feel as full as someone else would when you actually are. I’m fairly sure there’s no disorder that snaffles energy from the air and makes you store it as fat. If there were such a disorder that made you super-efficient at converting food to energy to store as fat, I’m sure athletes would like to know, but they can’t store more than they take in.

but when, like me you have a daughter who is lardy (not as bad as the kid in question i hasten to add)and has no interest in exercise or doing anything even slightly active (like her mother) at all without a huge strop and fight what the f@ck can you do

Tough question. Maybe get the mother doing something first as she is old enough to realise the damage she’s doing by being a poor role model. Make exercise a fun family day out? If it’s not possible to make exercise a fun family event, fix what’s up with your family dynamics/peoples self esteem first? Stop her eating as much, and if she moans tell her she needs to exercise before she can eat more – surely being a parent involves being the bad guy at times.

Let her walk to school.

Don’t drive her around in a car.

Cut calorie intake.

Go out at the weekend as a family for a walk.

Find some physical activity she enjoys.

Have you tried any of the above?

Fair enough – must be my misunderstanding of how these genetic disorders effect weight.

surely being a parent involves being the bad guy at times.

Nail on the head.

Not having a go at gavtheoldskater as what I’m about to say might not apply; but it really gets me when parents\kids say ‘jessica\mum\dad is my best friend’ – we do not need to be our kid’s best friend

Such as? I can’t think of one. Its very simnple – you only get fat if you overeat. Calories in / calories out

there is a genetic disorder whereby people are always hungry – but they only get fat if they overeat. If they eat normal amounts they don’t get fat.

You cannot get fat from a normal amount of food

Very true Teej. It’s been proven that a healthy lifestye can overcome ‘fat genetics’. Yes, there are a very few people that have glandular or other problems, but it is VERY few.

I’m overweight, becasue I like to eat a lot. But it’s 90% home made and just sooooooo tasty!

Re: ‘Not being able to afford healthy food’ – It’s utter, UTTER shite. The 2 of us live on about £40-50 a week including all our food including 10 packed lunches, the odd beer and me spending £30 every few weeks at the butchers. We can cook a healthy meal for pennies and it’s rarely more than as few quid for the two of us. Mrs PP is veggie, but I won’t eat battery chickens any more and my meat comes from a local butchers and is TOP quality. Fresh vegetables are dirt cheap!

People that claim this are either lazy, or just don’t know how cheap and easy it is becasue they were borught up on takeaways and ready meals. They just don’t know how easy uit is to do. Even I can do a nice spag bol from fresh ingredients (Not a jar of sauce) in 20 mins or so… including my own garlic bread! Mrs PP makes small pies. Veggie ones for her, meat for me. She makes 5-6 of each (And she’s fast, cirtainly under an hour) and frezzes them. Whip one out of the freezer in the morning, come home, oven on, veg chopped, 25mins later we eat. That’s 30 mins including making the pie.
But people just can’t be bothered. if they put as much effort into cooking as they do moaning, they’d be OK. But they’d rather moan for 10 minutes about something than work for 5 on doing it!!!!!!

Sorry. Rant over. 🙂

+1 PeterPoddy

I want to start making pies this year…

But surely the food manufacturers should be brought into line? Advertising on TV at kids programme times should be controlled surely?

I wouldn’t hold your breath on this one.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/12/mcdonalds-pepsico-help-health-policy

I want Mrs PP pie recipes too!

They just don’t know how easy uit is to do. Even I can do a nice spag bol from fresh ingredients (Not a jar of sauce) in 20 mins or so… including my own garlic bread! Mrs PP makes small pies. Veggie ones for her, meat for me.

I’m guessing from what you’ve written that there’s just the two of you ? Time is much scarcer when you’ve a few kids to ferry around and look after. Cooking properly is time consuming as is shopping at smaller shops for decent ingredients. It’s not all about the cost of food. It’s hard to have the time to eat well, even more so when you both have to work.

it is poor to blame manufacturers for the purchases their customers make no one forces them to but the crap they make.
gav is it just the teenage years and being lazy or has she always been like this?
I have no great advice some people are different i have a friend who is happy to overeat and not exercise – he gets out of breath going up two flights of stairs but it does not bother him. People , even our kids, get to make their own choices you can only do your best/try but it is her choice good luck.

Its the advertising industry, supermarkets and fast food places to blame

I think this is what’s wrong with our society, no one is encouraged to take any sort of responsibly for their own actions. So much easier to absolve yourself from blame and point the fingure at someone else so you can sleep easy at night. Of course the industry should take some responsibly but the but of the blame for fat kids lies pretty much with the parents.

Cooking properly is time consuming as is shopping at smaller shops for decent ingredients. It’s not all about the cost of food. It’s hard to have the time to eat well, even more so when you both have to work.

I’ve got an 8 month old, my and my wife both work, I do it. I Make all of Juniors meals on the weekend and freeze them, maybe make a fish pie and freeze that, we make quick meals every night, takes about 30 mins – 1 hour.

Time is much scarcer when you’ve a few kids to ferry around and look after. Cooking properly is time consuming as is shopping at smaller shops for decent ingredients.

Back in the 70s both my parents worked full time, we ate home cooked meals almost every night. It wasn’t an issue.

Mind you my parents did not “ferry us around” we cycled / walked and got busses

+1 trailmonkey

The condescending nature of some here is quite funny. There are far more fundamental reasons than laziness when it comes to obesity. Yes, it is a factor. At the same time, I know a fair few people who are overweight who are certainly not lazy.

Why is there no outcry at McDonalds being the “official restaurant” of tge 2012 Olympics?

deadly Darcy such as?

It really is simple – if you eat more calories than you use you get fat – me I am at least 10 kg overweight

I agree parents are often responsible, but they can’t be with their children 24 hours a day.I’m sure my mum and dad thought I was buying healthy school meals, not a couple of bars of chocolate, crisps and cherry coke!

I want Mrs PP pie recipes too!

Mostly meat to be fair. There’s not many gaps in it! 🙂
Ham ends (Cheap) from the supermarket in a pie with a bit of parsley sauce is good. Stewing steak, bit of onion and mushroom.
You can get packs of small foil pie conatainers from Wilkinsons, which makes it easier.
I’m hungry now. 😉

Can we get a “healthy + cheap” recipes thread? I’m a pretty good cook (Tartiflette is my special) but inspiration is severly lacking. Usually end up buying something on my way home to eat which means something in a tin/box/carton.

“Can we get a “healthy + cheap” recipes thread”

Make that quick too !