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obese children, parents to blame ??

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This is by no means directed at any one.
I was watching TV the other day and it raised the issue that should parents face abuse charge for allowing their children to become obese?
I understand at some point children will get to an age where they can get their hands on junk food.
But before then, should if a child becomes obese should it be the parent that faces prosecution?
The damage that a bad diet does to a Childs body is huge; it can cause irreparable heart damage that can lead to early adult hood illnesses, shorter life span, and many other factors.
I know there are worse examples of child abuse that will be given, and I am not ignoring that but just musing on this point about obese children.
Now I’m not advocating that all the children who are now adults should sue their parent’s lol
But just as it is so obviously wrong for a child can be starved to death shouldn’t it be wrong for a parent to over feed a child to an early death?
I also remember thinking as a child I wish it was against the law for adults to smoke in the same room/car as a child. Funny how they have banned it in pubs to protect staff etc, but its still ok to sit in a room and smoke 100’s with a baby there. Anyhow that’s a whole other issue.
So what are your thoughts, sould a parent become liable for prosecution if their child is obese, Or is it another step to a nanny state?
Xx fem xx
I think it is alot to do with the family/ parents but i also think life is a big factor a few years ago many kids had atleast 1 full time parent who would cook a wholesome meal for the evening tea - now many have 2 working parents and there is less time for the wholesome meals etc.
Playstations wii's nintendo's tv's in each bedroom didnt exist kids went out to play and burned of the energy, i remember as a kid being in the house used to be pretty boring. We as a nation are scared to let our kids out because of things that may happen or things we hear about in the news but if they stay in things like obesity can occur.
Tan
Quote by flower411
I think it is alot to do with the family/ parents but i also think life is a big factor a few years ago many kids had atleast 1 full time parent who would cook a wholesome meal for the evening tea - now many have 2 working parents and there is less time for the wholesome meals etc.
Playstations wii's nintendo's tv's in each bedroom didnt exist kids went out to play and burned of the energy, i remember as a kid being in the house used to be pretty boring. We as a nation are scared to let our kids out because of things that may happen or things we hear about in the news but if they stay in things like obesity can occur.
Tan

Sorry Tan, I really must take exception to this !!
Both Mrs f and myself are single parents who work bloody hard. One day we`ll get ourselves organised and all live in the same house, but right now it`s just not happening !! :cry:
We both cook for our children. For me it`s easy as I only have the one but Mrs f has 3 and she cooks good food and there are always home baked buscuits and cakes in the house ( not so many when I`m there lol )
It`s not really that hard and is, in fact a lot cheaper than feeding children junk food !!
Too many people seem to think that because they work outside of the home it`s an excuse to be lazy !!
There are washing machines, dishwashers, refridgerators and all sorts gadgets to make life easier nowadays and cooking a decent meal doesn`t take any time at all, it just takes the will to keep your children healthy.
I never meant to cause offence and wasnt trying to say working parents dont cook, it was more a time thing i was trying to get at and yes easyness/lazyness is part of it
i grew up in a house where everything was cooked in lard.
full fat butter, everything cooked with salt then more added once on the plate. full fat milk.
but hardely ever any sweets, pop crisps etc.
i was sooo active as a kid, lucky to live near woods, walked everywhere, parents didnt have a car.
i wasnt a fat kid but ive put on weight since, pregnancy, lazier lifestyle (i work full time but drive everywhere and then sit in a office) medication induced weight gain and now the love of wine, and crisps and love sweets lol all the things i wasnt allowed as a kid.
i am a single mum but cook healthy meals from scratch.
my daughetr is active and has sweets and crisps in moderation.
but i see so many kids in my line of work and a lot are covered in streatch marks from excessive weight gain. they wear age 10 trousers at 5 and take them up to the knees so they fit the waist.
its sad and appears abusive in my eyes. but many would say well at least they are well fed?
xx fem xx
When I was a kid we had all home cooking, soups with dumplings, suet puds slathered in custard and all that fattening stuff but the main problem these days is so much food we give our kids is processed and full of crap! We also took more exercise. Pcs and playstations et al weren't even thought of! You ate your tea and went out to play so burning off all the calories you just ate.
A healthy diet is the responsibility of the parents first and foremost but that doesn't mean starving the poor buggers, just healthy as in fresh fruit and veg and home cooking. As so many parents work full time these days ( and have to more to the point! ) kids have too easy an access to junk food and that's where the problem lies.
I think we ALL need to rethink our diets, not just our kid's food. A chippy dinner should be a treat not the norm but sadly this isn't the case for a lot of families. The argument that it's cheaper is complete bollocks! A healthy home cooked meal costs a fraction of a meal for 4 at the local chippy so again it's sometimes down to time but mostly the inability or know how of parents of how to cook!
Bring back cookery classes as compulsory in schools. A whole generation seems to have lost that 'hand me down recipe' train of thought and I reckon that's where the rot set in.
we try to feed our child a healthy and varied diet. we substitute highfat for lowfat where possible. but our son has a condition that makes it very hard to give him as varied a diet as we would like him to have, we do have full support of our doctor. but he is still looks overweight, but our doctor is not concerned because he is within paramiters for his height,and he is healthy. he is 5ft tall and only eight. but to outsiders i know they look at him and see an obese child. so i don't think you can generalise and say that it is always the fault of the parents and they should be done for child abuse. when too many people are willing to point an accusing finger without knowing all the facts. and cause irrepairable damage to families. lets face it the state of social services is highly questionable and i have lost all faith in them due to recent headlines and past performances.
We need to teach parents how to cook again - it's all very well teaching cookery at school but it isn't the kids who make the tea.
Quote by gothicpunk
We need to teach parents how to cook again - it's all very well teaching cookery at school but it isn't the kids who make the tea.

True but they are the parents of the future
No, and they aren't going to cook either, if they have not been used to good home cooking at home. Schools are not home, and are not as important as home, and can not have the same effect on a child's life as home experience does.
Blaming parents is wrong, enabling parents is much better.
Quote by flower411
I think it is alot to do with the family/ parents but i also think life is a big factor a few years ago many kids had atleast 1 full time parent who would cook a wholesome meal for the evening tea - now many have 2 working parents and there is less time for the wholesome meals etc.
Playstations wii's nintendo's tv's in each bedroom didnt exist kids went out to play and burned of the energy, i remember as a kid being in the house used to be pretty boring. We as a nation are scared to let our kids out because of things that may happen or things we hear about in the news but if they stay in things like obesity can occur.
Tan

Sorry Tan, I really must take exception to this !!
Both Mrs f and myself are single parents who work bloody hard. One day we`ll get ourselves organised and all live in the same house, but right now it`s just not happening !! :cry:
We both cook for our children. For me it`s easy as I only have the one but Mrs f has 3 and she cooks good food and there are always home baked buscuits and cakes in the house ( not so many when I`m there lol )
It`s not really that hard and is, in fact a lot cheaper than feeding children junk food !!
Too many people seem to think that because they work outside of the home it`s an excuse to be lazy !!
There are washing machines, dishwashers, refridgerators and all sorts gadgets to make life easier nowadays and cooking a decent meal doesn`t take any time at all, it just takes the will to keep your children healthy.
I never meant to cause offence and wasnt trying to say working parents dont cook, it was more a time thing i was trying to get at and yes easyness/lazyness is part of it
Awww I wasn`t offended passionkiss
Just annoys me a bit when people say they haven`t got the time to cook. My computer is in my kitchen and I`m often cooking while chattin in here :lol:
Same here although i dont work im forever baking and cooking delights and when i did work i worked as a cook then went home and filled my freezer with meals id make for those busier days which came in handy when i broke my arms evil rendered useless for a few weeks :lol:
Quote by fem_4_taboo
This is by no means directed at any one.
I was watching TV the other day and it raised the issue that should parents face abuse charge for allowing their children to become obese?
I understand at some point children will get to an age where they can get their hands on junk food.
But before then, should if a child becomes obese should it be the parent that faces prosecution?The damage that a bad diet does to a Childs body is huge; it can cause irreparable heart damage that can lead to early adult hood illnesses, shorter life span, and many other factors.
I know there are worse examples of child abuse that will be given, and I am not ignoring that but just musing on this point about obese children.
Now I’m not advocating that all the children who are now adults should sue their parent’s lol
But just as it is so obviously wrong for a child can be starved to death shouldn’t it be wrong for a parent to over feed a child to an early death?
I also remember thinking as a child I wish it was against the law for adults to smoke in the same room/car as a child. Funny how they have banned it in pubs to protect staff etc, but its still ok to sit in a room and smoke 100’s with a baby there. Anyhow that’s a whole other issue.
So what are your thoughts, sould a parent become liable for prosecution if their child is obese, Or is it another step to a nanny state?
Xx fem xx

I dont know about prosecution but without doubt education!
Every Sat we go shopping in a supermarket and see the same family at the same time. Both the adults are well overweight and the kids are about 11 and 8 I would say. The girl who is the younger is obese without doubt and the boy is def heading that way. When they come in the kids are just gagging to get to the cake counter. When they do they have a nice large cake each. :shock: In this instance are the parents to blame for the kids weight problems? You bleeding bet they are. mad
Every week I say the same things. Those parents just do not have a clue at all what they are doing to their kids. For the girl to be that much overweight is just dreadful, but the parents as they are also overweight probably see no harm at all in it.
This Government needs to EDUCATE those irresponsible parents. It is not always about junk food as it can also be good food, but just far too much of it. Too much food and not enough exercise is the main cause of things and until those parents wake up and smell the coffee and see the damage they are doing, there will be no hope for the overweight kids of the future.
Quote by gothicpunk
No, and they aren't going to cook either, if they have not been used to good home cooking at home. Schools are not home, and are not as important as home, and can not have the same effect on a child's life as home experience does.
Blaming parents is wrong, enabling parents is much better.

So where do you start enabling parents? Do you wait until they're in a bad food habit rut or try to educate them before they get to that stage?
There are so many cookery programs on tv these days but they're passed over for the likes of chat shows and Jeremy bloody Kyle or whatever his name is.
Where DOES the blame lie if not with the inital source of family food......ie. the family?
My point earlier was it's not WHOLLY the blame of parents as a lot aren't there for mealtimes due to work commitments but there are so many families who have at least one parent home all day. What would their excuse for not being able to cook a meal be?
I know there are kids with certain conditions and symptoms that control their weight and no amount of healthy food is going to alter that. I think the 'blame' so to speak, is more aimed at those parents who are in the 'can't cook, won't cook' category so yes, they ARE to blame for their child's obesity becuase they are filling them with processed junk food day in and day out. There are so many cookbooks out there these days, many can be bought for as little as 50p in some charity shops and the basic ingredients cost a fraction of ready meals.
Example.....my son loves lambs liver. I can cook liver, bacon, mash, peas and onion gravy for as little as £3 for 3 people! A chicken can be roasted one day with veg and a curry made from the rest. Total? Maybe £7 for 2 people for 2 days.
The emphasis has to be on educating parents in how to cook healthy meals and yes, on a budget if need be. Parents of today AND of the future
Parents shouldn't be prosecuted. It is a social problem that shouldn't be sorted out in the courts, but through education. Eating food is a luxury to us all, but for some of us junk food or not, it becomes a nightmare. Medical conditions, that go undiscovered for years are usually the root cause of it.
You start enabling parents with offering them free practical cookery lessons, supported with the input of a chef and a dietician, and you make healthy food cheaper, and you take into account cultural and nutritional needs.
You stop blaming parents, you stop relying on schools to sort out problems that stem from home.
You stop worrying about the kids that are a bit overweight but otherwise healthy. This society seems to hate obesity even where it is not a health issue, you value people for who they are and if there is a health issue then you you help them to overcome that through information, advice and real, practical help.
You involve dads as well as mums.
You don't patronise people but actively try to help and educate them, and you make it easy for people to afford to feed thier families good wholesome healthy food instead of sugar and salt laden convenience foods.
That's what I'd do, anyways :>
Quote by Digitalknight
Parents shouldn't be prosecuted. It is a social problem that shouldn't be sorted out in the courts, but through education. Eating food is a luxury to us all, but for some of us junk food or not, it becomes a nightmare. Medical conditions, that go undiscovered for years are usually the root cause of it.

Sorry but I dont agree with that in the majority of cases. I watch tv programmes a lot about overweight kids and adults and the main reason is too much food and not enough exercise. In a few cases of course it can be medical but if people are honest it is all about how much food they do eat, not always what kind but the ammount.
i used to work 14 hours a day 5 days a week, saturdays doing 18 hours at 2 jobs with a 2 hour break for travelling inbetween, living 20 mile from a supermarket i didnt have the time or luxury to go supermarket shopping when i wasnt working the buses didnt run and i didnt drive - the luxery was when my parents used to take me on an odd occasion all my shopping was done at the grocers and small spar style shop my son always ate home cooked meals made from scratch and yes food was a hell of a lot cheaper because its not perfect it was all i could get but in the same respect it could have been easier to buy fast food or ready meals
Quote by flower411
You start enabling parents with offering them free practical cookery lessons, supported with the input of a chef and a dietician, and you make healthy food cheaper, and you take into account cultural and nutritional needs.
You stop blaming parents, you stop relying on schools to sort out problems that stem from home.
You stop worrying about the kids that are a bit overweight but otherwise healthy. This society seems to hate obesity even where it is not a health issue, you value people for who they are and if there is a health issue then you you help them to overcome that through information, advice and real, practical help.
You involve dads as well as mums.
You don't patronise people but actively try to help and educate them, and you make it easy for people to afford to feed thier families good wholesome healthy food instead of sugar and salt laden convenience foods.
That's what I'd do, anyways :>

In my experience, healthy foods are cheap already.
But people are fixated with shopping in supermarkets where the fruit and vegetables are picked for their colour, size and shape, thus making them expensive !!
Go to any market or farm shop and you`ll find "real" odd shaped fruit and vegetables, with some bruises and Heaven forbid !!! some of the tomatoes might be different sizes !!!
Try to educate people into shopping in places where they can`t buy televisions and apples in the same shop and if they say thay haven`t got the time, tell em to get up earlier or maybe switch the television off !!
Spot on smile
When I have run cookery lessons for parents, I always take them shopping first. The looks on people's faces when we cook enough food to feed 10 people for under a fiver from fresh ingredients is always a winner.
Quote by gothicpunk
The looks on people's faces when we cook enough food to feed 10 people for under a fiver from fresh ingredients is always a winner.

Exactly my point! Fresh food costs a lot less than ready meals, tastes better and is much better for your health. The problem is trying to get parents interested and involved enough in their family's nutritional welfare for them to understand
The difficulty is, though, convincing people of that.
Not everyone has the time or knowlege of cookery to be able to do it.
There are a lot of people who just buy whatever packets of food are cheapest - the smart price beans, the buy one get one free frozen pizzas, and so on - not because they don't care, but because it's easy and the kids like it.
When the veg is all organic and it's a quid for 4 tomatoes in the supermarket, and all the lettuce is pre washed and in bags, and you just want to get the tea done quick because you've been at work all day and you have a limited budget, it's really easy to fall into the trap of fish fingers, chips and beans - and when the kids get used to that and start to refuse fruit and veg - especially fruit and veg that doesn't come in a thomas the tank engine box, or with a free toy from macdonalds, then it's hard, and a happy meal and pint of lard is easier, and it's also
That's why I say that healthy food should be cheaper - yes, it is at the market, but not eveyone can get to the market or know what to buy there or how to prepare it when they have got it - that's where education needs to come in, but it's a bit of a losing battle.
Yes, there are a ton of cookery programmes - as an ex chef who now works with families I tend to watch them - it's rare that even I bother to try and cook stuff from them, though. Way too fussy, on the whole, and expensive - Maket Kitchen today, for one recipie for making fresh Chinese takeaway style food, listed ingredients that would have cost about &20 to get in - most of which I would have to throw away after a few weeks of having them sat in the cupboard doing nothing... all this, 'Use fresh beef stock' nonsense - the only time I have ever made fresh beef stock was when I was working in restaurants and we had plenty of bones to boil up and all the required herbs - at home I just use a cube! - point is, cookery shows are unhelpful as they _aways_ demand you use about 20 ingredients that you'd need to buy in especially - fennel and fresh basil and root ginger and rice wine vinegar... cheaper and more practical to just get a takeaway, for the majority of people.
Point is, it all need to be practical and do-able, and you have to recognise the fact that people actually do have limited time and resources - I am a trained chef and can not be bothered messing about to make the majority of the stuff I see on cookey shows.
Keep it simple, promote fresh, home made cooking with decent ingredients and teach people how to make it, and you can make a start.
I brought my daughter up on my own for the first 6 years. It was actually cheaper for me to cook home cooked good meals. Veg and meat was actually a cheaper option for me as it lasted two days.
My daughter has in fact inherited the 'metabolism gene', she's piled on the weight lately but at 16 it's her lazy lifestyle to blame, not me. She didn't actually have a weight issue until she started getting out there in the world on her own and eating her own choices.
So no... it's not always down to the parents.
Quote by Digitalknight
Medical conditions, that go undiscovered for years are usually the root cause of it.

Im so happy someone, at last, has mentioned this. Although I dont agree with your statement entirely
Quote by kentswingers777
Sorry but I dont agree with that in the majority of cases. I watch tv programmes a lot about overweight kids and adults and the main reason is too much food and not enough exercise. In a few cases of course it can be medical but if people are honest it is all about how much food they do eat, not always what kind but the ammount.

But thats only in the tv programmes youwatch and you cant say in the majority of cases as that is too much of a sweeping statement, unless of course, you actually know the stats.
In this thread its assumed that someone is to blame. Why does it always have to come down to blame in discussions like this? Some cannot help obesity and it isnt always as simple as what goes in someone's mouth.
Quote by Sassy-Seren

The looks on people's faces when we cook enough food to feed 10 people for under a fiver from fresh ingredients is always a winner.

Exactly my point! Fresh food costs a lot less than ready meals, tastes better and is much better for your health. The problem is trying to get parents interested and involved enough in their family's nutritional welfare for them to understand
Almost an impossible task! cool
Quote by Whipsnspurs
my son is 14 next week. he has learnt bugger all in cokking at school other than how to make a bloody pizza using 4 different bases. at the third one i stopped sending the ingredients and said i wouldn't untill i was told he was going to cook something that i actually concidered as cooking.
i have nothing against pizza but don't see why he has to make it at school instead of learning how to actually cook real food.
he's like a waste bin at the mo and never stops eating. but then he is growing, out on his bike to school and back, walks the dogs with his mates, helps doing the horses and chickens and does get to play on his play station.
i have taught him how to cook with me at home so that he can fend for himself. when his teacher asked the class what they had learnt that year in cooking he got told off for saying 'that my mum is a great cook!'
whips

good for you
Quote by X_fanny_x
Playstations wii's nintendo's tv's in each bedroom didnt exist
Tan

i though the whole idea of wii's was to get your kids moving?!
Children learn their eating habbits from us and if not sorted will in turn pass it onto their own children, i have been over weight most of my adult life, my own fault i just liked food and wasn't very active, i had kids and put on weight each time, tho my children have never been over weight to a state of concern they was slightly bigger than normal for their age, a couple of years ago i decided to turn my life round and loose weight as it was getting me down so i joined a slimming club and over the next year lost just over 7 stone but the biggest supprise to me was the weight my kids lost without me even thinking about it, because i wasnt eating junk i didnt buy it, because i was eating take outs i didnt buy them, because i was eating healthy real rood so was my children.......so yes it is our fault our kids are over weight and we need to do something about it before they are their eating habbits for life.....thats my opinion anyway lol
Quote by naughtynymphos1
Children learn their eating habbits from us and if not sorted will in turn pass it onto their own children, i have been over weight most of my adult life, my own fault i just liked food and wasn't very active, i had kids and put on weight each time, tho my children have never been over weight to a state of concern they was slightly bigger than normal for their age, a couple of years ago i decided to turn my life round and loose weight as it was getting me down so i joined a slimming club and over the next year lost just over 7 stone but the biggest supprise to me was the weight my kids lost without me even thinking about it, because i wasnt eating junk i didnt buy it, because i was eating take outs i didnt buy them, because i was eating healthy real rood so was my children.......so yes it is our fault our kids are over weight and we need to do something about it before they are their eating habbits for life.....thats my opinion anyway lol

So what about the kids who come from healthy eating homes? Like I said before I've always done healthy eating here at home, my hubby has had a glowing report from the docs few years back about various levels. I carry weight because of lack of exercise and PCOS.
I do agree with you on the teaching habits NN, the basics we teach our kids do carry on into their adult life with their kids. BUT, my daughter eats healthily at home then goes out to meet her pals and they go buy chips. Is that then my fault?? dunno
As Hel rightly points out... why is there always a finger to point and blame to be held? Could it just be the kid and their preference from peer pressure?
If anyone's to blame, blame the 'choices' the kid makes.
thank you for all your input, had me thinking.
i taught my kids to cook, and budget.
the whole meal planning for a week, buy a pack of mince and make a spag bol have half on the monday, split it and have cottage pie for the wed. buying a chicken, having a roast on sunday , then curry on the monday etc.
they have been given the healthy eating outlook at home, go to school and get taught how to make bloody pizza and profiterols. they get taught how to cook for a dinner party not how to cook healthy and survive on a low budget. im sure they will thrive on profiterolls when away at uni lol.
the programe i was watching was regarding 0-8 year olds, an age they presumed the child would only be eating what the parents were cooking.
once a child grows up and have more choice why do they then choose bad foods? could it be that money is so tight future bleek, crappy stressfull day they "treat" themselves to a takeaway, but those crappy stress days get more frequent?
i know families on benefit get the healthy living vouchers 2 per child under 5 at a face vaule of £3 each. should all families get this? is it helping, if so why do some low income families in reciept of these still not have fresh fruit or veg ever?
again i want to say ths came from a tv programe and my musings, no intention to say who is doing it right or wrong in here.
xx fem xx
Quote by naughtynymphos1

Playstations wii's nintendo's tv's in each bedroom didnt exist
Tan

i though the whole idea of wii's was to get your kids moving?!
They didnt used to exist but nintendo cottoned to to a gap in the market, and i do beleive the whole game console thing is a factor in some obese kids and i admit my son has a telly in his bedroom and a nintendo ds but from coming in from school until 5 pm he is outside running and climbing trees using the trampolene riding his bike all healthy things for kids to do after tea he goes back out games console use should be moderated and i really cant see how any games console can beat outside exercise and fresh air
Well we all know junk food is not healthy, but we both think obesity is more down to laziness and lack of exercise, but is parents to blame? We think it’s more a problem with society, kids have to many luxuries nowadays, they don’t even need to leave the house, could even say they are spoiled, yes everyone should have healthy meals but even eating healthy meals without any exercise won’t stop obesity.
Quote by creampie_couple
Well we all know junk food is not healthy, but we both think obesity is more down to laziness and lack of exercise, but is parents to blame? We think it’s more a problem with society, kids have to many luxuries nowadays, they don’t even need to leave the house, could even say they are spoiled, yes everyone should have healthy meals but even eating healthy meals without any exercise won’t stop obesity.

I agree with most of what you have said but please dont ever assume that obesity is down to laziness. This is not always the case.