General Chat

An 11yr old boy has been warned by doctors he could die unless he loses half of his 22 stone weight! He weighed 11lbs at birth and has lived on a diet of junk food, fizzy drinks and 3 puddings a day! He has to leave school 10mins earlier than anyone else due to severe bullying and may need an operation for an hernia..... couldnt believe what I was reading!! Bev

I saw that in the paper yesterday... very sad, who is to blame though? poorly educated parents (food wise I mean) health bods for not picking it up sooner, with so much hype around at hte moment its a case of too little too late, poor lad, I hope he gets sorted....:(

No child of that age does the household shopping. By making junk food readily available, I think his parents are largely to blame for these extremes.

my initial thought would be to blame the parents. isnt it up to us to educate our children in diet from the first time they put solids in their mouths? Arent we the ones who control their intakes and what they eat? All children occasionally 'pig out' on sweets etc when mum is not around... but what about the 3 meals a day we provide day in day out from todler to teenager... its down to us to provide our children with a healthy balanced nutritional diet. we all know the basics of what food is good and what is bad.

I don't think there is much point in blaming. It is better to address the situation now and educate people, as well as encouraging healthier lifestyles. When we were children we ate vegetables grown in the garden and freshly picked and cooked. Our meat came from a butcher who grazed his own cattle locally. We didn't have a car and walked a lot - we lived on a hill so got plenty of puff-making exercise. We ran around and were more active. This was not because we chose this - this was what there was. We didn't have tv - and when we did it was Watch with mother, Blue peter and it all finished around 6pm. Those days are gone and it is much harder to make the right choice. There is 24-hour tv with endless channels, computers, playstations etc which encourage sitting still for long periods. It isn't safe to play in the streets because of the traffic, awareness of stranger danger and the fact that children kicking a ball around are deemed to be a 'nuisance' by other adults. Fast food chains are in every town and most children have enough pocket money to eat there if they aren't taken by their parents. Sweets are readily available and many schools run tuck shops after school. TV is full of ads for fizzy drinks and fatty, sugary snacks. School dinners provide chips, pizzas, and other fatty foods as options. We live in a 'must have' 'buy now' 'throw it away if its broken and get another' world, instead of the 'make do and mend' 'grow your own' that I grew up in. It isn't enough to blame the parents, we need to change the way our society behaves. nell

well said Nell!

I do agree with you in part nell,but, I am a parent in this throw away society, my children are influenced by all around them, but they still know whats good and whats not. they have been brought up on healthy meals cooked at home. I do not let them have school dinners, i prepare their packed lunch, They are allowed crisp sweets etc, but in moderation. we do go out for meals... and they themselves choose their meals. they do have takeaways occasionally... that being the keyword. I as a parent make sure they dont spend all their free time in front of the tv... they have playstations etc, but these things dont consume their lives... i make sure they dont. they have a back garden to play in, they have friends to play with.. and i make sure i make the effort to go on walks with them,(even though i am disabled) . I believe its up to me to make sure they do not get swayed by media, peer, society pressure to conform to this junk food world. I brought them into this world and its up to me to make sure they dont leave it before me.

I totally agree Em. Of course it is hard to see other children having what yours have not, ie playstations, trainers, ice cream, macdonalds, BUT we know that in the long term we are doing our kids soooo much better favours by restricting these things. Does the blame lie in lack of education?? I don't know. I had all the info I needed readily available from Health Visitors, doctors, books, the internet, family ect, and if as a first time parent I could easily find the right advice, why can't others? Is there any excuse for laziness or ignorance? Sorry if this sounds harsh, but you can't blame society for everything. We ARE society!! Claire xx

How about blaming a government that has encouraged the selling off of sports field, and schools who have followed the politically correct route of banning competitive sports. As well the lack of food education by some parents, lack of money maybe to buy fresh food. or young mothers who don't know how to cook so find fast and convenience food easier. As well as all the previous suggestions which i agre with. Ann Glos

It all comes down to the cynical disregard for Society's health on the part of the food manufacturers. Do you realise how many bags of crisps they can make out of just one potato? Far more profit in that than in a nice jacket potato.

And parents have to be aware that the weight is going on. Mt daughter and her husband noticed the 12 year old was getting a bit of a paunch and askd him what he was choosing for his school dinners. he said burgers and chips (he loves burgers). So they stopped his school dinners and cook an evening meal forhim (and they both work long hours). They also encouraged him to accompany the older boy on his bike when he goes on his paper round and he has lost quite a bit of the weight. Ann Glos

I can't believe he got to 22 stone before someone noticed!! I agree that it is a parents job to encourage healthy eating. Like Em's family we have the occassional take away, we also use convenience foods. Both my partner and I both work full time, we all have sandsiches for lunch and manage to cook something relatively healthy most evenings. Fast food tends to be a weekend treat that we can pick up relatively cheaply on a family day out. It's a question of balance. Jack x

I have no sympathy. At 11 I knew that stuffing my face with crisps would make me fat and unhealthy. In fact, I don't know a single adult who thinks Coke and pizza are healthy. The chances are the parents know what veg is but they don't want to eat it and so don't buy it. The first thing I'd do if I were headteacher is stop this leaving school ten minutes earlier business. If he wants to avoid bullying then he can stay behind 30 minutes walking laps of the gym. It would be better if the boy was escourted to and from school, on foot, which would also make sure he didn't waddle to the nearest sweet shop. I don't think it's at all harsh considering the situation he's in.