CHILDHOOD OBESITY

You might want to read this article - there's been much talk in the UK recently about whether allowing a child to become extremely obese is child abuse and therefore should they be taken into care.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19267308

And for those that immediately think no, it's not abuse, would you feel the same way about a parent starving a child to the point of malnutrition?

Thyroid problems and diabetes can make a child obese

Perhaps, but these problems do not lead to significant weight gain.

There are very very few conditions that cause children to be overweight, and diabetes is not one of them, if anything, type 2 diabetes is caused by diet, not the other way around. I work in child health and in almost all cases children who are very overweight are overfed and don't take enough exercise, that is the bottom line.

Parents have no idea about portion sizes and how little a child needs in comparison with an adult, a childs stomach is the size of it's own fist, and if overfed it will grow, and thus need more to fill it, and thus feel more hungry...a vicious circle. Many parents 'love' with food, reward with food, use food as a way to pacify etc

Food does not equal love...I never reward my children or grandchildren with food or sweets, love is taking care of someone, not feeding them, its just that so many parents think that by feeding their child 'well' they are being good parents, it does not work like that, and it breaks my heart at how well intentioned so many women are, they will sit with me telling me their child eats next to nothing, when the child is clearly over weight, unfit and does not do enough activity...We are trying to educate parents, but there is a great deal of resistance and anger

Thyroid problems and diabetes can make a child obese

As others have said, no these may cause a slightly higher than average weight in kids but boy obesity.

Some children have traits that just make them obese. It's not always the parents fault.

Oh c'mon! What are these traits? A love of pizza and computer games? I have a friend with a morbidly obese child and the above two quotes sound exactly like the excuses she comes up with for her child's weight problem. Much easier than taking responsibility for it herself.

Kids can be emotional overeaters but obviously not every single obese child is.

It's child abuse. Plain and simple. Nobody is dumb enough or ignorant enough not to know that eating too much junk = major health problems. Hope these parents can look their kids in the eye as they're sitting in a hospital bed as young teenagers with cardiovascular problems; orthopaedic problems, breathing difficulties etc., etc.

Some people in general are genetically built to be big. But as a parent of a very healthy little girl, I don't understand how people can just give in to their children. Yes, my daughter gets the occasional happy meal or ice cream and candy, but i don't make a meal out of the stuff. She'd rather drink water than anything else because thats what mommy drinks. If you set the example the child will follow.

I took my son to a children's party today, it was at one I those fun factory kids places and was all catered for and yoour not actualy allowed to take your own stuff in.
In my opinion the food was pretty crap to start with, the basic kids party food , but fine what ever rs just a one off type thing.
But there was a woman there who had taken a heap of stuff in her handbag, her two kids were noticeably a lot bigger than the others there, every time they went to get a drink she would fill their glasses with coke or soft drink even though they seemed perfectly happy with the water the other kids were having,
And when it came time for them all to sit at the tables and eat their food, her kids were happy to have the same as the others, but she piled their plated up with stuff from her hand bag like crisps and Lollies.


I found this really sad.

The kids were all about 5Years old at the party

That's horrible! :frown: That's 100% the parent's doing, not the poor child's.

I'm with you we can control what our children eat and their activity levels. I have a cousin who is 17 and was never taught to eat properly, she already has type II diabetes. Her parents were always to afraid to help her take control. While I don't think we should push kids to the point of disordered eating etc, you have to be a parent. As for hypothyroid etc, yes get checked for things like that but know that ultimately it is the responsibilty to get the kid eating right and moving more.

There are very very few conditions that cause children to be overweight, and diabetes is not one of them, if anything, type 2 diabetes is caused by diet, not the other way around. I work in child health and in almost all cases children who are very overweight are overfed and don't take enough exercise, that is the bottom line.

Parents have no idea about portion sizes and how little a child needs in comparison with an adult, a childs stomach is the size of it's own fist, and if overfed it will grow, and thus need more to fill it, and thus feel more hungry...a vicious circle. Many parents 'love' with food, reward with food, use food as a way to pacify etc

Food does not equal love...I never reward my children or grandchildren with food or sweets, love is taking care of someone, not feeding them, its just that so many parents think that by feeding their child 'well' they are being good parents, it does not work like that, and it breaks my heart at how well intentioned so many women are, they will sit with me telling me their child eats next to nothing, when the child is clearly over weight, unfit and does not do enough activity...We are trying to educate parents, but there is a great deal of resistance and anger

this ^^

I was bigger as a child, but not fat really, but when I got to my teens I put on loads of weight and I got really big. I don't know why really as my mum has always made healthy food and we never had take-aways, plus she didn't learn to drive until I was 14 so we walked everywhere, and I did swimming, badminton etc.

I did lose loads of weight when I went to university, but I hardly ate at all, and walked or cycled everywhere,

My parents are overweight - my dad is massive - and both my grandmas were overweight etc. I have to work incredibly hard at being thinner, as do my brother and sister. I've put weight on over the past few years from having 2 children close together, but have managed to lose it again. I am just predisposed to weight gain unfortunately.

It does scare me that my children will end up overweight, but I think I know a lot now about nutrition and exercise. Luckily, so far, my kids are both tall and slim. My 3 year old is way above average height, and underweight for his height. He doesn't eat a lot, and won't even eat chocolate! The only thing he asks for when we go to the supermarket is alpro soya chocolate milkshake and yoghurt! His favourite foods (apart from milkshake and yoghurt!) are baked beans, scrambled egg, broccoli, banana, chicken, fishcakes, melon and tuna!

My 16 month old will eat anything, but she loves fruit and veg, so she is easy to give healthy meals to. She really loves peas, grapes, carrots, strawberries, fishcakes and banana.

Both children are incredibly active and my son can walk for miles. He stopped sitting in a stroller not long after he turned 2. I hardly ever use my car because we just walk everywhere.

So I do think it's up to parents to lead by example, and obviously parents are in charge of what their children eat, and it upsets me when you see a child sitting in a stroller eating Mcdonalds fries, but I also think that some kids will be overweight no matter what. I will be making sure my kids continue to be active and as soon as they're old enough they'll do some sort of lessons. My son will start gymnastics soon as he loves it.