Why have UK kids got fatter over the last few decades ?
is it down to more junk fast food outlets
is it down to range of media [playstation/nintendo etc.]
and because parents dont believe it is safe for their kids to play on the street
combination ?
Answer:
Hello.One of the basic answers to your question is simplistic. Kids get fat because they eat too much and exercise too little. When I was growing up in the 1960s,it was very rare to see a fat child in school.Sadly,in 2007,at 53,all I see around me are fat children. In the 1960s, there were 3 TV stations namely ITV, BBC1 and BBC2. They were not air all day and night. From memory,all the channels of the day had school programmes and regular broadcasts didn't start until 3.30pm and which usually ended around midnight. Sadly,it seems,24 hour TV and hundred of channels to choose from,makes kids lazy when it is simply easier to do nothing than to do something. Also,there were no fast-food restaurants in the UK until the Wimpey burger bars set up. Meals were had at home in a family environment. Now we have excessive junk food outlets serving up bland, salt & sugar ridden fatty foods. The whole ethos of eating habits has changed beyond any recognition from my youth and,sadly,for the worst.Given that home entertainment in which people don't need nor want to go out,is also a contributor to kids obesty. Twiddling a console or pushing keyboard buttons is not helpful. Sadly,playing out in the street is also a no-go area now.How different it was when I was a child when you could play in the streets without too much fear from criminals.Thanks to Health & Safety legislation,everything has to have a risk assessment and expensive insurance.A far cry from my childhood when going swimming on a Monday morning was the only highlight of the week! (I hated football and cricket and despised P.E. with a vengeance!) The bottom line really is this: kids are overfed and under exercised. It really is a compex subject.
AMERICAN INFLUENCE!
Why are you targeting people from the UK? Tp the dude above: People can choose what they do. British got fat all on their own. Of ourse they d like to blame everyhting on Americans because they are too immayure to take the blame for things of their doing.
Fat parents have fat children.
If people taught the parents how to eat healthily. How to work out. They would pass that onto their kids and the world would be a much healthier place.
But nope.
So much more fun, eating microwave meals and take aways in front of the tv.
Don't you just love people.
you forgot bad parenting, and additives in the food supply
Combination of all of that, plus parents are now busier (2 parents must work to make ends meet) so they have been giving them easy to cook food like nuggets and chips etc. Most people have forgotten how to cook so its all ready made stuff, full of hydroginised fat and salt.
all of the above & treats every day & all you can eat & having the burger as well as the chips & desert & softdrinks & palm oil in a lot of foods which has twice the calories
Combination of everything you've mentioned.
Parents are the biggest influence on fat kids and children. My aunt and Uncle are both fat, and they have fat children. My dad didn't want my brother to be fat so when he hit 6th grade, he encouraged him to run everyday and he lost 20-30 pounds of fat. Parents should encourage kids to play sports and stay fit
It's for the same reasons why the average UK citizen is fatter now, not just kids.
More cars, more car journeys for short trips (oh, we can't let the kids walk 500 yards to school, that's a 100% guarantee they'll be kidnapped and murdered), the closure of local shops leading to driving out of town to do shopping, the disgusting American food "culture" that has pervaded Europe (nothing sadder than going somewhere as old and cultured as Prague or Geneva and stumbling across the 10th McDonalds of the day blighting the landscape), more houses being built on green land taking away play opportunities, and because of the parents own lax attitudes to all of the above and thus allowing their kids to become fat little piggies.
End of the day, kids follow examples. When finding a fault in a child (and yes, being fat is a fault - it is simply unnatural) always look to the parents for blame, and that goes for kids or animals.
People dont get taught at school how to have a balanced diet, and if you believe a lot of programs on TV a lot of people dont know how to cook proper meals. This lack of knowledge then gets pased down to their kids, who then think a normal diet is full of junk.
Also busy lifestyles, with both parents working and a high level of stress doesnt help.
But as far as the computer games goes, buy your kids a Wii, then they can not just sit on their bum playing, but have to move around, its great!
Indolence; Indulgence; Indifference; Indiscipline. Combine large amounts of each to have the perfect recipe for obesity.
Thats a good question! Any kids these days are becoming fatter because of all the fast food chains opening, computer game consoles, parents who dont care, kids who are usually fat have fat parents so there parents probably just cant be bothered.
I SAW A GIRL THE OTHER DAY WHO WAS ENORMOUS SHE MUST OF BEEN ABOUT 10 YRS OLD AND SHE WAS ON AN ELECTRIC SCOOTER. SHE WAS EATING A BIG BAG OF SWEETS AND A CHOCOLATE BAR! I FELT LIKE SAYING YOU SHOULD BE WALKING OR AT LEAST ON A BIKE AND EATING AN APPPLE! I JUST COULDNT BELIEVE IT SHE WAS WITH HER MOTHER AND SHE WAS ALSO FAT EATING A CHOCOLATE BAR. ITS JUST UNHEALTHY. AND WRONG. ITS NOT HARD WORK TO TAKE YOUR KIDS TO THE PARK OR ON A BIKE RIDE. STOP FEEDING THEM RUBBISH.
Its down to the progression of media - such as tv programmes, PS2/PS3, the internet
kids dont wanna go out anymore and play
my brother is nearly 18, he is stick thin but he invites his friends over so they can sit around and play on their Nintendo ds's
When i was 17/18 i was out with my then boyfriend and my mates every night!! not sitting in!!
I`m a parent my children are fit and healthy at present but I think it is change in life style
the car, taken everywhere even if its just down the road, diet we can afford junk food more often,buy processed food such as cakes no longer a treat but classed as a necessity now . play station say no more
yes with all the stories in the press reluctant to let them out of my sight to play like we did when we were kids
The kids in the UK are fatter because they don't do any form of exercise either in or out of school, they go home, chuck their school bags on the floor, sit on the sofa most of the night playing on a PlayStation or computer, demand sugary and fatty foods that their parents are all too willing to give to them just because it keeps them quiet for a while, kids could play out if they had parents who used their brains once in a while, the parents in the area could have a rota that has a couple of them watching out for the kids while there playing out thus keeping them from harm, thing is as most of the parents are bone idle themselves why would they want to do something so strenuous.
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