Rise in number of obese toddlers

[Demi]

BBC News Online
London, UK
3 March, 2007


Rise in number of obese toddlers

Children as young as three are being treated for obesity, an expert warns.
In a normal child 20-25% of their body weight will be fat but specialists report that they are seeing toddlers with up to 50% body fat.

Professor Tim Barrett of Birmingham University says that if these children are not treated they risk developing heart disease and diabetes.

His concerns follow the case of eight-year-old Connor McCreaddie who weighs more than 14 stone (89kg).

Professor Barrett, a paediatrician, says that the problem only began five years ago.

He is currently dealing with four or five cases of clinically obese children under the age of four, who have been referred to him by GPs.

He says his colleagues across Birmingham are dealing with similar numbers of young obese patients.

"They are always absolutely delightful. They sit there smiling at me, usually with a bag of crisps and can of pop, because that's their basic diet," said Professor Barrett.

He blamed a poor diet and lack of exercise for the problem.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6414451.stm

[potatofree]

"They are always absolutely delightful. They sit there smiling at me, usually with a bag of crisps and can of pop, because that's their basic diet," said Professor Barrett.

*sigh*....

[jamaicaker]

Yeah, it is sad. I am a preschool teacher and i see it everyday. Overweight kids, and the parents sending them to school with chips and candy for breakfast.

[potatofree]

It's no better than the school's idea of breakfast around here. Thee kind of sugary cereal or waffle "stix" with a vat of syrup to dip them in.

[CindySue48]

This is very disturbing.

[Lisa N]

It's no better than the school's idea of breakfast around here. Thee kind of sugary cereal or waffle "stix" with a vat of syrup to dip them in.

Or Pop Tarts, graham crackers, mini banana bread loaves or muffins washed down with apple and orange juice drink or milk.

My kids eat breakfast at home. No matter what they manage to get their hands on at school, at least I know they've started the day without a sugar buzz. :rolleyes:

[jamaicaker]

We actually serve a healthy breakfast for the kids, not sugary at all, but parents still send their kids with junk food in the morning. i have a obese mother, about 400-500 pounds, who sent her kid with cheese doodles the other day.

[potatofree]

We actually serve a healthy breakfast for the kids, not sugary at all, but parents still send their kids with junk food in the morning. i have a obese mother, about 400-500 pounds, who sent her kid with cheese doodles the other day.

So HER size makes the cheese doodles worse, how?

[dws1119]

So HER size makes the cheese doodles worse, how?

good question-----it disturbs me when those of us who have been there done that still discriminate based on size......

[jamaicaker]

sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone

[NixCarbos]

:tears: So sad.

[.muse.]

We actually serve a healthy breakfast for the kids, not sugary at all, but parents still send their kids with junk food in the morning. i have a obese mother, about 400-500 pounds, who sent her kid with cheese doodles the other day.

You know, that comment pissed me off.

Let me just clarify before I rant, that I am not directing this towards you. Unfortunately, what you said is how a lot of people think, and THAT is what pisses me off.

My daughter is 4 months old today. I am 325lbs. I also have a severe case of PCOS and was told I would never naturally conceive my child. Most people assume that because I am obese, that it's because of how I eat. Pre-LC, I was eating roughly 1200 calories a day. That should NOT sustain a person who is (at the time) 380 pounds. Period. But, it did.

All that said, I went to the doctor about 3 weeks ago for my daughter's 3 month checkup. She was 9lbs 9ozs at birth and 21.5 inches. She is now nearly 26 inches (the length of a 6 month old), and 16lbs 12 ozs (at that appointment). Her pediatritian told me, basically, to put her on a DIET. She told me I was feeding my child too much, and too often. She ignored the fact that Aura is as long as a 6 month old. She ignored the fact that when you look at my daughter, she does not have "rolls" of fat. She is extremely healthy. She told me I should be feeding her an 8oz bottle 5-6 times a day. That's about 40ozs a day. My daughter eats, at max, 28-32ozs. She's eating LESS than she should. She is 2 inches LONGER than average. But because -I- am obese, her doctor assumes that I'm just shoveling food in her mouth.

While I understand that some overweight parents will feed their children garbage, and will let them eat out constantly, and will serve pizza or waffles with syrup daily for breakfast, but just because the PARENT is overweight, doesn't AUTOMATICALLY mean they will shove crap down their children's throat.

Yes, there is an obesity epidemic. Yes, parents should be having their children spend less time in front of the TV and more time outside playing. Yes, we should all eat less garbage, but, when I eat a Snicker's bar, it's 280 calories. If I, as a "fat mother", give a Snicker's to my daughter, is it now 540 calories? I wasn't aware there was a modifier on food like that.

Again, this is not directed towards anyone, it's just me being pissed off with how so many people think.

[CindySue48]

just because the PARENT is overweight, doesn't AUTOMATICALLY mean they will shove crap down their children's throat.This is very true!!!

When my 2 were little (22 & 24 now) I HID things from them. I'd buy myself cookies, candy, etc but I'd hide it so they wouldn't see it and see me eating it. I knew it was bad for me, and bad for them, so I kept it away from them.

My 2 were quite long and thin when they were born, and were on the low side, weight wise until about 6 months. My DD actually had about a month of being "chunky", then slimmed down and to this day is tall and thin. My son was a bit overweight starting around 2nd or 3rd grade. At the age of 18 he grew several inches, but didn't gain any weight, so now he's also tall and thin.

My kids were fed the same foods. My duaghter was a picky eater, but wasn't allowed to dictate her meals. My daughter had a horrible sweet tooth, and would eat anything and everything in the cookies, candy, cake department if she was allowed to. Her brother, on the other hand, has never been much of a sweet eater.

I was threatened with DSS when my daughter was almost 5yrs old. Not because she was overweight, but because she was underweight!

[potatofree]

My daughter has always been thin, and even though she ate SOME junk, I tried to make sure 90% of what she ate on my watch was nutritious.

That didn't matter to the people who thought it was high humor to snicker about how she and my thin hubby had been "Crowded out at the trough". I also got basically called a hypocrite for saying no to some junk food at a ball game. WTF? An aquaintance leaned over and said "Oh, let her...SHE can afford the calories!"

Sometimes, you can't win. Had I said YES, I'd have gotten it for letting her eat the junk.

[dws1119]

I just have a problem with peole labeling anyone---for any reason---
do we also not get labeled for our WOE---people should just learn to worry about themselves not project onto others

someone on here---I forget who has this in their sig line--
Your neighbor's vision is as true for him as your own vision is true for you. -Miguel de Unamuno, writer and philosopher(1864-1936)
that says it all----we must all walk our own path----our destination may be the same but we choose the route we will take

[jamaicaker]

i want to apologize to everyone here. sometimes i say things and i don't think about how i say them. i guess i am brain washed like the rest of the world when it comes to people being overweight, i am one of them too, that is probably why i hate myself so much, but i am working on it. I didn't mean to piss everyone off

[.muse.]

Please don't apologize on my behalf. I am not offended by what you said, I'm offended by how so many people THINK. You may be just as guilty as the rest of them, but I was by no means trying to attack you, and I hope I clarified that.

[.muse.]

My daughter has always been thin, and even though she ate SOME junk, I tried to make sure 90% of what she ate on my watch was nutritious.

I think that's the key - to have a healthy balance. To make sure when you're giving your children treats, they aren't taken as rewards. You also cannot be so strict with eating that your child will go behind your back to consume the things you don't allow, else you're just defeating the purpose. I think the key is to teach children in a manner that they feel they're deciding that they don't want to eat all that garbage, and to limit their intake on their own.

That didn't matter to the people who thought it was high humor to snicker about how she and my thin hubby had been "Crowded out at the trough".

That's just damn hurtful, I can't imagine. :(

I also got basically called a hypocrite for saying no to some junk food at a ball game. WTF? An aquaintance leaned over and said "Oh, let her...SHE can afford the calories!"

"and YOU can raise your own children" would have been a proper response. I'm glad you said "acquaintance", and not "friend"

Sometimes, you can't win. Had I said YES, I'd have gotten it for letting her eat the junk.

You win some, you lose some. Just remember, you were born with 2 middle fingers :D

[fatnewmom]

So HER size makes the cheese doodles worse, how?

It just illustrates how desperately this mother needs education, since the mother herself has a weight problem and should be sensitized to how nutrition affects health. She obviously has a weight problem and then gives her CHILD the cheese doodles. Jamaicaker's comment was innocent.

[.muse.]

It just illustrates how desperately this mother needs education, since the mother herself has a weight problem and should be sensitized to how nutrition affects health. She obviously has a weight problem and then gives her CHILD the cheese doodles. Jamaicaker's comment was innocent.

So because the mother is fat, the child needs a diet of carrots and broccoli?

A snickers is 280 calories for me, but 540 for my child?

I still don't comprehend the math, nor the train of thought.

[potatofree]

It just illustrates how desperately this mother needs education, since the mother herself has a weight problem and should be sensitized to how nutrition affects health. She obviously has a weight problem and then gives her CHILD the cheese doodles. Jamaicaker's comment was innocent.
Innocent, as in not INTENDING to be hurtful, but ignorant of the fact the food is the problem not the size of the person handing it out. Would it magically be okay if the mother in question was thin?

Just because a person is thin, you can't assume they have extensive knowledge of nutrition and weight management. Just because someone is fat, you can't assume they're ignorant of it.

I know more about nutrition now than I ever did when I was skinny. Not that I'd have sent my kids off with a twinkie for breakfast in either case, but I just can't see where it matters to anyone who doesn't judge fat people as being dumb.

<shrug>

[jamaicaker]

Just because a person is thin, you can't assume they have extensive knowledge of nutrition and weight management. Just because someone is fat, you can't assume they're ignorant of it.

I know more about nutrition now than I ever did when I was skinny. Not that I'd have sent my kids off with a twinkie for breakfast in either case, but I just can't see where it matters to anyone who doesn't judge fat people as being dumb.

<shrug>


this is very true. through high school i use to hang around a lot of skinny girls, hoping to maybe become like them, but the truth was they ate worse than me, their bodies were just made differently.

i know a lot about nutrition, i could write my own damn book, but i have had people tell me, that i "look" like i don't know anything about nutrition or dieting

[potatofree]

this is very true. through high school i use to hang around a lot of skinny girls, hoping to maybe become like them, but the truth was they ate worse than me, their bodies were just made differently.

i know a lot about nutrition, i could write my own damn book, but i have had people tell me, that i "look" like i don't know anything about nutrition or dieting

So you know what I'm trying to say? I know you weren't trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but it's kind of de-humanizing to have your weight associated with being ignorant, isn't it?

[.muse.]

I figured this was on-par with this thread.

I'm a full time student in the medical field .. and in my Human Growth & Development class, I am currently reading about ..

"To support their steady growth and constant exertion, schoolchildren need, on average, 2,400 calories every day--more for older children and less for younger ones. Nutritionists recommend a varied diet including plenty of grains, fruits, and vegetables and high levels of complex carbohydrates, found in potatoes, pasta, bread, and cereals."

(taken from Page 318 in Human Development 10th edition, by Papalia Olds & Feldman)

Ahh, and we wonder why there's such an obesity epidemic...

[ojoj]

Next time you all go out into town, malls, etc. Have a look in buggies, strollers and pushairs. You will see babies with chocolate buttons, candy bars, cookies, sugary drinks.... If you hear a toddler cry, you can bet its mother will be there with a sugary treat to pacify it!