General Chat

There is also the possibility that he might not have been ill, but that one of his parents/relatives is...don't know about everyone else but I turn to comfort food in times of stress !

I don't like to see this trend for labelling kids obese at a young age, ( especially when in some of the cases publicised they are so clearly NOT obese) it's not the way to help those who DO have a real problem...

Encouragement to take some exercise for FUN.

Something to look forward to if they are stressed.
Knowing that even if they are and remain 'fat' they are valued as a person.
That they are not considered 'fat AND lazy' the two words used together often and far from being the case.

I have to say things were very different in my day. It was "why isn't this child putting weight on" but you never hear that today! why ~ its the norm to be skinny but that too carries risk which are very real and scary.

your right there mel ..back in my childhood you was said to be a bonny child and well fed ..

Yes footie and I was saying how I felt.

Well said Ice Ice Baby . I completely agree with you : )

spoken from the heart claire xxx

Wow - sorry, I didn't mean to start WW3 on this.

I am amazed by the reaction to this because everyone (yes, everyone) is making excuses for this kid who (I admit, even me) doesn't know. Why am I wrong?

I have seen kids over this school holiday doing nothing else but playing computer games with fizzy drinks in one hand and crisps in the other. And this was on our local beach where they should be running around and playing.

We live in a small village and there is a green opposite us that used to be used all the time during the holidays for football, cricket, running up and down etc. That green hasn't been used all summer. Some people tried to have ball games stopped on that green but most of the local people fought that to give kids somewhere to play (it is a designated play area so they can play ball-games). No kids have played there at all although there are a lot of kids in the area.

There is a problem with childhood obesity in this country. You only have to look at some children to see the problem. OK, some may be on meds but not all of them.

yes claire i agree with you
a few weeks ago on this morning a child had been sent a letter home
to say she was over weight


and she looked normal to me

No-one is making excuses we don't know why this Child has put on weight

but yous are quick to assume that this Child has been spending 6 weeks pigging out......whys thats then ??

i think its the word horrific in the title, yes childhood abesity is a problem but you dont know the background of this child your just assuming hes sat on his computer when you dont know, i find it offensve that you havent even seen the child yourself, but your judging him,

were not making excuses for him as we dont know him, and neither do you by the sounds of it, yet your putting up on a forum inviting us to comment so we have,

I think the thing is, unless we actually KNOW why a child has put on so much weight, then we shouldn't conjecture (ie gossip, lol).... he may have just sat indoors and slobbed for the entire 6 weeks, but it is still unlikely that he would put on as much weight as that in such a short space of time.

As no-one actually knows whether there is an underlying problem, then I don't think it is kind to criticise, and maybe your friend could have been a little more discreet... he is just a boy.

Lots of people have made an assumption that I am fat because I eat too much and am lazy... but that just isn't the case. Even my GP (ex, GP) made a comment to the effect that there couldn't be a lot wrong with me as I was so fat... yes, she used the word fat. She sent me to the dietician 3 times in 10 months. It was a fluke that my illness was caught, and I am here....

So we just don't know, and unless we do know, we maybe shouldn't comment.

I have a nephew who is large because he is greedy, very very greedy, but he is greedy because he is unhappy. He will slim down now he is happy again, hopefully.

Love

Daff xxxxx

I'm sorry you have had such problems Ice-Ice-Baby.

I'm also sorry I put the word 'horrific' in the title so if you want me to change that I will.

However, I am more sorry that parents feel it is better for kids to spend all their time playing computer games than being outside playing and enjoying themselves and eating healthily.

I just feel computer games have taken so much of children's lives away. It is all some kids seem to do. They will reach adulthood without any social skills at all the way it is going and with unhealthy diets, it will only lead to early death for many of them.

That is obvious to me and I assumed would be obvious to many.

There was a report in our local paper (OK, I don't know this kid either but here goes) about a seven-year-old who's only topic of conversation was the violence level on his computer game. He couldn't talk about anything else.

How is that healthy?

EDIT - The comment from my friend were only to myself and my OH. No children were present at the time.

beverley this friend of yours .. how does she know this child as put on 2 stone..as the parents of the child told her... or is it a wild guess..

might i say my g/daughter put over that in 3 months at 13 years of age ..the problem was thyroids ..and is now on thyroxine for life..

must say its the worst place for gossip at the school gates i know cos heard them talk ..do they forget these are children..

also lots of moms works ..some children could be with grandparents or childminders..

Beverley no one is making "excuses" they are giving possible REASONS...

If i see you walk down the street covered in bruises do I automatically assume you have a wife beater for a husband, that you are a drunk who falls over a lot, or do i think you may bruise easily because you have leukaemia?

When I was at school I was as skinny as a whippet...I hated sports and still do it was my natural metabolism that kept me skinny then and a dash of poverty thrown in...

I do more dashing about now than I did then, but I am NOT now as thin, I eat too much of the wrong things :) I am not fat fat or lazy lazy...but I could be overweight for lots of reasons...and you wouldn't know them any more than you know about this kid.

Why do you think it is esential for kids to play ball games? God i hated them ... there are more interesting ways to stay or get fit .

Yes we live in a different world , some kids do stay in too much and spend hours on PCs etc..but putting them down isn't going to change that...do you know the kid's situation? No. nor do I...

I see lots of much younger women who are more overweight than me...I see a lot of skinny women who smoke 60 a day...they won't stop eating/ smoking or drinking just because I throw my hands up in horror will they?

They might if they feel valued for who they are though and encouraged to be 'healthy'...which is NOT the same as being thin.

Hi Daff

That has been said about my Mum before people assuming she is big cos she eats so much

In fact she eats less than me & before i had my children i was only 8st 7, which was very skinny considering im 5ft 10

Juliex

I have changed the title of this thread to avoid upsetting anyone.

I don't accept that it is cheaper to buy junk food than healthy food. I'm not talking about organic (personally, I think that is a bit of a con) - just fruit and veg etc.

I have seen people in supermarkets (yes! Seen!) saying to children 'no you can't have those sweets they are too expensive, what crisps to do you want'.

I fear it is a problem that many people are just not seeing.

with respect Beverley I don't see how WW3 has broken out unless of course I'm missing something. I have to agree with Ice on this and think it is perhaps time the thread were removed as it is unfair to the child and his parents for others to be discussing what is in fact a minor. Yes, have yourselves a debate thread about obesety among young children, but please be prepared to listen to what others have to say on the subject. It seems to be you feel that it is a black and white issue that is a child is overweight then it must be because they have spent 24/7 piggin out whilst attached to a computer (and yes we know it happens we just don't know whether it has happened in this instance) and in which case the parents are at fault. Leave the gossip at the playground gates an show this child some respect whatever the circumstances he is after all a child.

The kids i see play football, they go fishing, they do paper rounds, they 'hang out' ... and yes some kids spend time on games and the internet... just like some of us used to sit and read for hours or draw or play with lego lol.

There were fat kids and skinny kids 40 years ago too, just as there were fat parents and skinny parents.... there IS a general obesity problem in this country now , it is down to the diet we now have which 40 years ago wasn't the case so much, it is down also to the increasing reliance on the car ... if the only way to get somewhere was to walk or cycle then you automatically got 'exercise' thrown in.

talking about people presuming something to be the case.

Years ago I was travelling on a bus the E1 no less between Ealing and Hanwell. It was a nice warm day and I was in short sleeves. I was sat on one of the seats facing in the aisle.
Two old biddies were loudly discussing junkies and how disgusting it was and they shouldn't be allowed on the bus, to wear short sleeves etc etc making very pointed looks at my arms that yes were covered in needle marks.
Somebody sitting next to me actually got up and moved.
I kept my head up just, but didn't stop the tears.
When I got off the bus I left them with one of my appointment cards to Hammersmith hospital and the IVF programme. I was on my 7th day of blood tests 4 times a day.

I was in my 20's and believe me it hurt like hell being discussed so openly like that.

i can remember eating a bag of crisps as a child.... plus a bottle of vimto ..long time ago.. lol