Obesity

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7055735.stm

I heard about this plan in the news today. I have no opposition at all to it. I think its a good idea.

I think it is a big waste of time and money as if you do not know if your child is becoming obese then a letter from the government / school is not going to help. An active parent would spot the signs of obesity anyway and an inactive parent is no more likely to act when they receive notice.

dididave wrote:

I think it is a big waste of time and money as if you do not know if your child is becoming obese then a letter from the government / school is not going to help. An active parent would spot the signs of obesity anyway and an inactive parent is no more likely to act when they receive notice.

I'm not so sure, some parents might be shocked into taking some action, at the very least it will not do any harm, although I think for it to be most effective it should come with information about things that can be done to make children healthier.

the trouble is people may perceive it as one step closer to the nanny state...and not like the fact they are being told what to do.

I doubt it will have much effect TBH.

Unless you are stupid I dont see how you can not tell if a child is over weight.

In this day where we are always being told what is good for you and what is bad, I don thtink there are any excuses for letting your child get over weight.

For example, I thought that was a good idea about bringing in healthy school meals, but around here, and it was in the papers, there were mothers passing chips and other crap through the school gates, the mothers thought they were 'helping' the children- that just makes me mad, and in my opinion feeding children rubbish like chips and burgers all the time is as bad as smoking around them.

To go even one step further, I would say that I think letting your child eat crap is child abuse.

Another thing, I think that children have a really bad relationship with food and that is down to the parents. kids are taught from a very early age that if they are good they can have a McDonalds or sweets, what sort of message does that send?

We used to eat quite a bit of rubbish until I got pregnant but it doesnt take 20 minutes to make something and even with Caleb now I use fresh fruit and puree it. People are just lazy and pass their bad habits on to their kids.

oo and also, there is a health visitor drop in twice a week in Conisbrough which I take Caleb to every 2 weeks to get weighed, you are ment to go to that until you are 20, which maybe is a bit too old, but if you dont go then nothing gets done, maybe it would be better to say you have to be weighed once a year and if you dont go then we will come to your house, like they do with younger children at the moment.

helencbradshaw wrote:

the trouble is people may perceive it as one step closer to the nanny state...and not like the fact they are being told what to do.

I doubt it will have much effect TBH.

I dont think its the nanny state at all. If a child is underfed, the authorities would rightly get involved. If a child is obese through overfeeding/ junk food then I dont think its wrong for the authorities to get involved too. The health/ mental and social problems linked to this could be endless. The obesity thing could be a timebomb.

I think fattening your kid up on crap/ junk food is tantamount to child abuse. Remember that kid last year who was allowed by his mother to eat what he wanted - hes not alone by a long stretch, shocking.

I didnt say I think it is a nanny state and I quite agree feeding crap is no good. I just think that is what will be said about this initiative and therefore by and large I dont see it being a success...! I can see the headlines now, and hear the interviews on BBC (whose news stories get worse by the day...!)

helencbradshaw wrote:

I didnt say I think it is a nanny state and I quite agree feeding crap is no good. I just think that is what will be said about this initiative and therefore by and large I dont see it being a success...! I can see the headlines now, and hear the interviews on BBC (whose news stories get worse by the day...!)

Well these days anything the government does is either 'PC gone mad' or the Nanny State!

helencbradshaw wrote:

I didnt say I think it is a nanny state and I quite agree feeding crap is no good. I just think that is what will be said about this initiative and therefore by and large I dont see it being a success...! I can see the headlines now, and hear the interviews on BBC (whose news stories get worse by the day...!)

I know you didnt Hel, i was referring to the people who you mentioned would automatically think that