Fat Kids

More news headlines today about the obesity epedemic that is taking over kiddies, with the story of 9 year old Sam, who weighs a staggering 14 stone (http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2007090577,00.html). This follows on from 8 year old Connor who also weighs in at 14 stone and who has been allowed to stay with his pasty, overweight unhealthy mother, instead of being taken into care and put onto a drastic nutrition and diet programme. His mum was quoted as saying "It's in everyone's best interests that Connor stays at home with me. I'm glad everyone is taking an interest in him."

Social Services should get a kicking for allowing her to keep her son. I'm presuming they will be watching her closely and putting her on a full dietary re-education programme, not to mention telling her to be more disciplined with her son, who screams and whines and nags if he doesn't get the junk food he craves.

I see so many fat toddlers waddling along with their parents nowadays and I marvel at the apparent blindness of the parents. Surely they SEE their children are already overweight, they can't put it down to "puppy fat" and just presume it will "burn off" (how can it burn off when all they do is watch telly and play video games). Many of the parents are overweight themselves and don't even watch their own diets. Lots of babies today are bottle fed, to me a heinous crime, for a mother's milk is of the utmost importance for immune and nutritious reasons. Tests have proved that powdered-milk bottle fed babies have obesity problems as young kids.

14 stone Sam's mother has tried padlocking the kitchen door, but Sam "tears the house apart" looking for the key, throws tantrums, and screams until she gets her own way. She eats 500g bars of Galaxy on the way home and says "I know I'm addicted to it but it's so creamy and yummy that I can't stop eating it. I love it." She is a sugar-addicted Pot-Noodle eating addict, and I think this is the tip of the iceberg with so many kids in the UK today.

All her pocket money is spent on sweets - why her mum has simply stopped giving her pocket money I'll never know.....Why she still BUYS the junky food and puts it in the house, I'll never know. Just buy healthy stuff and don't have anything junky in the kitchen!! And more importantly, learn to deal with the tantrums and screaming of a spoiled child in the grips of sugar withdrawal. Seek medical help, go on a diet yourself and make your child join you, take her to a fat camp, do SOMETHING!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately the mum is probably only doing what she KNOWS - if HER parents fed her similar rubbish then she knows no better herself, and the bad eating habits get passed on through the generations. I used to fry everything in LARD and didn't know any better, until I found out otherwise.

I don't believe for one minute that these parents can claim utter ignorance as to what is good for their children. EVERYONE knows that fruit and veg are better than sugar and Pot Noodles, EVERYONE knows there are cookery classes, nutrition classes, and books to help you understand more about healthy eating and living. Connor's mum had previously complained that Social Services were to blame for her obese child, because "they didn't intervene earlier". Oh, and you DID???? Why is it always someone ELSE'S fault?????

Nothing is mentioned about whether these kids do any exercise, but I'm doubting it. The size of their mums I'm guessing they don't go for walks in the park or bike rides. Connor has already broken half a dozen bikes and a few chairs.

I dread what state this country is going to be in when I'm an old woman and may need the NHS and some medical care. I fear that by then, the NHS will have collapsed under the (literal) weight of fat people - today's fat toddlers - who will be plagued with medical problems all their lives, at what financial cost to the rest of us. I fully agree with the MP who, a while ago, said that overweight people who make no effort to LOSE weight, should not be prioritised for operations and healthcare. Maybe such a rule would force them to take some action.