Families need more help with tackling childhood obesity?!
Discussion
I went to pick up a neighbour's 13year old daughter from school yesterday....not as dodgy as it sounds, honestly! Parents are in USA on business and in Jakarta due to a family emergency; so wife and I are helping out.
It's Indonesia, where most of the population are slim. However; bloody hell there were some fat kids coming out of the school! Proper little porkers!
What's happening here is a slide towards western foods, lots of advertising of fast food, fizzy drinks etc. Plus they no longer walk anywhere, everyone has a scooter (and car ownership is increasing) and they've set up the roads now so it can be very difficult to walk anywhere; bit like a lot of the USA.
Exercise for a lot of people is just a no no as well. I get a lot of "mister why are you walking?!?" or people staring at you like you are from another planet if you run past them. I've even had a couple of people tell me that making the heart beat fast is bad for your body!
Green space is disappearing as well; to build hotels and offices and shops. Smart phone ownership is high ...all the kids sat staring at them.
You can just see an obesity bomb going off here in front of your eyes.
It's just like what happened in the UK - fat kids become normalised, excercise is just PE twice a week at school unless you are a sporty kid, no walking to the shops, crap diet etc etc....
My childhood like others here was out on bikes with mates all day in the summer, parents took us out walking in woods on a Sunday, games were active. Food was mostly home cooked - we had an allotment we worked on together as a family for many years as well.
I look back at photos of when I was eight or so and I look like a concentration camp victim (well that's what I tell my mum) - all ribs! I think we had one fat kid in our class at school - how times change.
I think it's a disgrace what some parents are doing to their kids and, personally, I think there should be active intervention.
It's Indonesia, where most of the population are slim. However; bloody hell there were some fat kids coming out of the school! Proper little porkers!
What's happening here is a slide towards western foods, lots of advertising of fast food, fizzy drinks etc. Plus they no longer walk anywhere, everyone has a scooter (and car ownership is increasing) and they've set up the roads now so it can be very difficult to walk anywhere; bit like a lot of the USA.
Exercise for a lot of people is just a no no as well. I get a lot of "mister why are you walking?!?" or people staring at you like you are from another planet if you run past them. I've even had a couple of people tell me that making the heart beat fast is bad for your body!
Green space is disappearing as well; to build hotels and offices and shops. Smart phone ownership is high ...all the kids sat staring at them.
You can just see an obesity bomb going off here in front of your eyes.
It's just like what happened in the UK - fat kids become normalised, excercise is just PE twice a week at school unless you are a sporty kid, no walking to the shops, crap diet etc etc....
My childhood like others here was out on bikes with mates all day in the summer, parents took us out walking in woods on a Sunday, games were active. Food was mostly home cooked - we had an allotment we worked on together as a family for many years as well.
I look back at photos of when I was eight or so and I look like a concentration camp victim (well that's what I tell my mum) - all ribs! I think we had one fat kid in our class at school - how times change.
I think it's a disgrace what some parents are doing to their kids and, personally, I think there should be active intervention.
jdw100 said:
What's happening here is a slide towards western foods, lots of advertising of fast food, fizzy drinks etc. Plus they no longer walk anywhere, everyone has a scooter (and car ownership is increasing) and they've set up the roads now so it can be very difficult to walk anywhere; bit like a lot of the USA.
That's the death knell for many places, the import of Western/US culture/food.I think Tonga became the fattest nation as a direct consequence of this.
Halb said:
jdw100 said:
What's happening here is a slide towards western foods, lots of advertising of fast food, fizzy drinks etc. Plus they no longer walk anywhere, everyone has a scooter (and car ownership is increasing) and they've set up the roads now so it can be very difficult to walk anywhere; bit like a lot of the USA.
That's the death knell for many places, the import of Western/US culture/food.I think Tonga became the fattest nation as a direct consequence of this.
KTF said:
Mutton flaps apparently: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35346493
I did hesitate before I clicked....walm said:
otolith said:
Mr Whippy said:
If the tiny portion is 140 calories, and you need ~ 2500 calories a day, then I'm sure you can have a huge bowl for breakfast and be fine.
Yes, on the same basis you can have nine Mars bars for breakfast and be OK.The point is that very many people systematically overeat. And we have an obesity problem. And we have cereal manufacturers quoting portion sizes that nobody understands to be a portion, not least because the adverts show a f
king great bowl of it. That's the problem with trying to pin the problem on one factor - it's many factors. It's not the fizzy drink, or the oversized cereal portion, or the 190 calorie cups of coffee, or the bits of crisps or biscuits or chocolate between meals, or the take-out or lack of portion control or the pint or glass of wine - it's all of them, cumulatively.If it is a bowl of cereal (with milk of course), a latte and a banana then you can get well over 500 calories very easily.
I don't get the issue?!
Unless you're sat around all day doing nothing and snaking and consuming in which case just stop it. When you go to shovel it in. Don't.
Mr Whippy said:
But if your RDA is around 2000 calories sat on your arse, then you've still got 3/4 of your RDA to go after a decent breakfast.
I don't get the issue?!
Unless you're sat around all day doing nothing and snaking and consuming in which case just stop it. When you go to shovel it in. Don't.
The issue is simply that people don't realise that they are eating a 1/4 of their calories for breakfast in a "healthy" cereal. It's not that there is anything intrinsically wrong with doing that, it's the awareness of what they are putting in their faces. It's all cumulative. I don't get the issue?!
Unless you're sat around all day doing nothing and snaking and consuming in which case just stop it. When you go to shovel it in. Don't.
Mr Whippy said:
walm said:
otolith said:
Mr Whippy said:
If the tiny portion is 140 calories, and you need ~ 2500 calories a day, then I'm sure you can have a huge bowl for breakfast and be fine.
Yes, on the same basis you can have nine Mars bars for breakfast and be OK.The point is that very many people systematically overeat. And we have an obesity problem. And we have cereal manufacturers quoting portion sizes that nobody understands to be a portion, not least because the adverts show a f
king great bowl of it. That's the problem with trying to pin the problem on one factor - it's many factors. It's not the fizzy drink, or the oversized cereal portion, or the 190 calorie cups of coffee, or the bits of crisps or biscuits or chocolate between meals, or the take-out or lack of portion control or the pint or glass of wine - it's all of them, cumulatively.If it is a bowl of cereal (with milk of course), a latte and a banana then you can get well over 500 calories very easily.
I don't get the issue?!
So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
walm said:
You were suggesting a "huge" bowl would be fine.
So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
Don't forget those cups of tea.So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
Jockman said:
walm said:
You were suggesting a "huge" bowl would be fine.
So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
Don't forget those cups of tea.So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
walm said:
Mr Whippy said:
walm said:
otolith said:
Mr Whippy said:
If the tiny portion is 140 calories, and you need ~ 2500 calories a day, then I'm sure you can have a huge bowl for breakfast and be fine.
Yes, on the same basis you can have nine Mars bars for breakfast and be OK.The point is that very many people systematically overeat. And we have an obesity problem. And we have cereal manufacturers quoting portion sizes that nobody understands to be a portion, not least because the adverts show a f
king great bowl of it. That's the problem with trying to pin the problem on one factor - it's many factors. It's not the fizzy drink, or the oversized cereal portion, or the 190 calorie cups of coffee, or the bits of crisps or biscuits or chocolate between meals, or the take-out or lack of portion control or the pint or glass of wine - it's all of them, cumulatively.If it is a bowl of cereal (with milk of course), a latte and a banana then you can get well over 500 calories very easily.
I don't get the issue?!
So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
Drop the dressing on the salad because it tastes orrible, boom, now I'm losing weight. Salad should naturally have lots of subtle and nice flavours without it. A bit like the salt thing, less is more if you give it chance on your tastebuds and eventually you won't even add salt to food.
Bread for lunch? And crisps? Drop carbs out every other day and eat fruit and veg and protein stuff, boom, more weight lost.
I honestly do get your point.
The truth is all that stuff is available and ok to eat. In *moderation*
Dave
Mr Whippy said:
the salt thing
Quite a few people I know reach for the salt and throw it all over their food as soon as it arrives on the table without even tasting it first.Theoretically the person who made it should have seasoned it anyway but they still throw salt all over it as it tastes 'bland' otherwise.
KTF said:
Mr Whippy said:
the salt thing
Quite a few people I know reach for the salt and throw it all over their food as soon as it arrives on the table without even tasting it first.Theoretically the person who made it should have seasoned it anyway but they still throw salt all over it as it tastes 'bland' otherwise.
Maybe I'm just used to not having it, but in doing so I can now enjoy the subtle flavours in most 'bland' foods, so win win for me... maybe?!
Dave
KTF said:
Quite a few people I know reach for the salt and throw it all over their food as soon as it arrives on the table without even tasting it first.
Theoretically the person who made it should have seasoned it anyway but they still throw salt all over it as it tastes 'bland' otherwise.
Ahhh....you've met the wife....Theoretically the person who made it should have seasoned it anyway but they still throw salt all over it as it tastes 'bland' otherwise.
walm said:
Mr Whippy said:
walm said:
otolith said:
Mr Whippy said:
If the tiny portion is 140 calories, and you need ~ 2500 calories a day, then I'm sure you can have a huge bowl for breakfast and be fine.
Yes, on the same basis you can have nine Mars bars for breakfast and be OK.The point is that very many people systematically overeat. And we have an obesity problem. And we have cereal manufacturers quoting portion sizes that nobody understands to be a portion, not least because the adverts show a f
king great bowl of it. That's the problem with trying to pin the problem on one factor - it's many factors. It's not the fizzy drink, or the oversized cereal portion, or the 190 calorie cups of coffee, or the bits of crisps or biscuits or chocolate between meals, or the take-out or lack of portion control or the pint or glass of wine - it's all of them, cumulatively.If it is a bowl of cereal (with milk of course), a latte and a banana then you can get well over 500 calories very easily.
I don't get the issue?!
So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
125 grams of Nestlé's finest Frosted Shreddies. (Some days I'll put even more into the bowl!
)Sugar coated so we're already on a sticky wicket health-wise. But go with me on this one...
Nestlé nutritional information
Per 40g serving with 125ml semi-skimmed milk:
| Energy | 207kcal |
| Fat | 2.6g |
| of which saturates | 1.3g |
| Carbohydrate | 36g |
| of which sugars | 17g |
| Fibre | 4g |
| Protein | 7.9g |
| Salt | 0.39g |
So despite being coated in sugar, it's not really an unmitigated dietry disaster, until you multiply those figures by four (and a bit!)
853kcal right there in that bowl! Near 11 grams of fat, and 70 grams of sugars too. (Un)helpfully, the box gives no percentages of RDA to compare with and I can't be bothered for the sake of this post.
This...
...though, is a measured 40 gram 'serving' of Frosted Shreddies. Definitely NOT what I'd describe as an 'adequate breakfast', although I'll admit I've perhaps gone too far t'other way.
As I've said already, I'm under no illusion that I'm overdoing it based on 'portion size' alone, but I do burn it off. That said, a 64 mile bike ride yesterday burned off only 1700 to 2200 extra calories (Strava v Garmin estimates). You have to exercise harder, and for longer than you think, to really shift extra calories,which is why I shun 'energy' drinks, gels and bars on the bike, in favour of regular cereal bars and 'no added sugar' squash.
Way too many myths about the need to "fuel" your exercise, and too many (even sensible, intelligent) folk are deluding themselves into believing that their portion size and calorie intake are under proper control. Too much access to too much nutritionally poor food, too little willpower, and too little exercise all combine in a perfect blend to encourage weight gain, and then modern life denies us the time and motivation to go out and do something about it...
Sad, but ultimately it's down to the individual to control what goes into the big hole under their nose. Although there does come a point,with real fatties where some mental health intervention would probably help with the willpower and self delusion. The medical solution though, is pretty simple, and it's that old 'energy in v energy out' equation, in the vast majority of cases, I'm afraid.London424 said:
Jockman said:
walm said:
You were suggesting a "huge" bowl would be fine.
So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
Don't forget those cups of tea.So let's bump it to what 7-800 calories for breakfast?
Then you have a sandwich for lunch with a packet of crisps - another 7-800.
Then Jamie's spag bol (550kcal) and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. 1,000 easy (before the fully dressed salad on the side - because it's healthy...)
Boom! 2,500 no probs and you are gaining weight.
Swapped to porridge and coffee and saved 600 calories a day and I'm never hungry before lunch. It's easy to get it wrong even when you're trying to be good
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