I sat on the beach and read a newspaper, and in the Letters section one lady wrote that she was shocked to see the number of obese families in Britain after returning from living abroad. She went on to say that she had to leave a cinema mid-film because of the unpleasant aromas of food and the amount of people eating, rustling food wrappers, crunching, chewing, and slurping.
I have to agree. Obese children more often than not have obese parents, whose idea of a treat for good behaviour is a trip to a branch of that infamous hamburger establishment that put the nation on the road to weightiness back in the 1970s.
My own granddaughter Hayley is obese. Kelly, her obese mother, is a size 24 and looks with suspicion on any green foodstuffs, or anything that isn’t sweet-tasting. Their fridge is full of chocolate bars, as apparently they taste so much better when they’re cold. Hayley is 11 years old, but already has a painful back and has had to give up her combined bed and desk to her younger cousin because she has trouble climbing up the ladder to the high bed at night-time. Kelly has made an appointment for Hayley to see the GP because of her back problem.
And do you know what? I know the GP will not say a word when he sees how obese Hayley is. Doctors are so frightened of offending the patient and being sued that they will gloss over the fact that Hayley is now wearing clothes for 16 year olds. I once stuck my neck out and mentioned Hayley’s weight to my son, who agrees with me. However, it’s like the elephant in the room – nobody tends to talk about it and nothing ever seems to get done about it.
Hayley is permanently hungry. When she was at the van last week she was asking when it was going to be lunchtime at 10am. She knows we do not eat between meals except for fruit, but she complained that oranges and apples tasted sour. We stuck it out and put up with the sulks. We took her for walks, but she complained her legs ached. Unfortunately we know we cannot make much of a difference to her weight because most of the time she is not with us.
It’s so sad. Hayley should be playing out in the street and running about. Instead she sits in front of the TV eating huge bowls of crisps and popcorn. There are so many other young people whose lives are being shortened by this type of child cruelty. It’s all down to parental ignorance, and we as a nation are worse off for it.
My solutions? Fast food outlets should either be made to close for the health of the nation, or if that smacks too much of the nanny state then be forced to open their doors for only a short time only each day. They could also be hit with heavier than average business rates. Supermarkets need to stop selling aisles of crisps and sweets. All junk food advertising should be banned, and first-time parents should be made to attend courses on healthy eating and nutrition. I know many people will complain about this, but we were all so much healthier and thinner before junk food increased the nation’s blood pressure and waistlines. We now have a third generation of children being raised on this crap.
As I sat there on the beach, I heard a child complain when his mother said it was time to go home because she had to make some jam. What kind of parent forgoes building family memories by the seaside to go home and make jam? Goodness me, if you really have to eat the stuff, you can buy a jar of it for a pound or two! Why not make a healthy casserole or salad instead? I know why, because the kid already has a sugar addiction and won’t eat it.
Oh dear. What’s to become of all these poor children? My heart aches for them.
Shared on Esme’s Senior Salon 13/8/18 https://esmesalon.com/senior-salon-roundup-august-13-17-2018/
Pingback: SENIOR SALON ROUNDUP: AUGUST 13-17, 2018 ~ Esme Salon
EsmeSalon (@EsmeSalon) said:
Thanks so much for sharing at Senior Salon and also for adding the SHARING, INSPIRING, & PROMOTING BLOGGERS logo on your blog. ♥
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Stevie Turner said:
You’re welcome, Esme.
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ellenbest24 said:
indeed it is very sad to see. We disagree, Stevie, that fast food should be extra taxed or shops should not sell rubbish. Parents need to take responsibility for teaching guiding and giving choices. Doctors should hold the parents accountable. I like an odd treat but know when to stop… most of the time. A blunt post though understandably so, it, after all, is your grandchild.
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Stevie Turner said:
Generally speaking, doctors won’t say anything for fear of upsetting the kid or its parents, who might then complain.
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macjam47 said:
Stevie, rant on! Obesity rates are climbing at a horrific rate here in the US. Doctors complain to patients and parents, but all falls on deaf ears. Gyms are filled with the young and healthy, but they are a minority. When we go out for dinner, my husband and I are always amazed at the number of families where all are overweight, and not by just a little. It’s so sad that parents don’t realize the best way to show their children they are loved is by teaching them good health habits. They should be telling their children to unplug, grab an apple, and go outside an play.
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Stevie Turner said:
A lot of people equate love with food, especially comfort food. They’ll feed their kids with all the bad things because they love them …
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macjam47 said:
Exactly, but that really makes no sense. I always had fruit and veggies washed and ready for my sons to grab. If it’s handy, kids will eat it.
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Stevie Turner said:
It all comes down to the education level and the likes and dislikes of the parent in charge of cooking, usually the mother of course. If she has no idea of healthy nutrition and doesn’t like fruit and veg, then the kids won’t get any either.
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dgkaye said:
You know I’m with you on these thoughts. It must be hard to watch being that you are so good with watching your health and good eating habits. I always feel sad when I see heavy children, there always seems to be a reason for their food addictions. It sounds like your granddaughter follows the pattern of her mother. I watched my sister’s daughter gain too much weight as she approached 10 years old. My sister isn’t heavy, but my niece is a sensitive soul and grew up in a bit of dysfunction, I think food was her solace. It never ended. She is now a single mom of a 6 year old and although she loves to eat healthy food, I must suspect there is more than that going on because she’s 30 years old and also a size 24! It’s sad. 😦
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Stevie Turner said:
People do not realise how addictive sugar is until it’s too late. It’s a terrible habit to try and break.
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dgkaye said:
It is. 😦
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tidalscribe said:
We mothers were also paranoid our daughters would get anorexia and didn’t dare mention the word fat while their brothers were eating as teenage boys need to. Coke was banned in our house ( teeth reasons as well ), home cooked meals when their friends came round – then when they had been to eat at their friends’ houses it would turn out they had had burgers and chips!
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Stevie Turner said:
I don’t remember Mum ever buying any fizzy drinks, although my grandmother used to buy me Tizer when I stayed with her. Mum wouldn’t have considered burgers and chips a proper meal, and to be honest, it isn’t really, is it?
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tidalscribe said:
I used to pass a corner shop on the way to school with a big ad for Tizer – how I longed for it, especially on a hot day. I don’t think I ever did get to taste it!
My youngest came home one day from his friend’s house and said, full of amazement ‘Do you know you can make chips at home’!
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Stevie Turner said:
Ha ha, yes I remember the thrill of drinking Tizer. Is it still around today I wonder? Nan also gave me cream soda, absolutely not allowed in our house! Mum sometimes cooked oven chips, but she never had a deep fat fryer.
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Stevie Turner said:
The cul-de-sac might have something to do with it; a quiet street where kids are not bothered by cars or strangers?
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rachaelstray said:
Everything in moderation is something we seem to have forgotten. A treat like popcorn at the cinema is a treat – not to be had every single day. There’s so many children obese now – it’s really worrying.
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Stevie Turner said:
They don’t run about in the streets like we used to. They tend to exercise their thumbs in front of a video game these days.
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rachaelstray said:
Our street seems to be the exception. We live in a cul-de-sac and the kids are playing out almost every day.
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jenanita01 said:
It is time something was done to wake people up to the danger of being overweight. They don’t seem to care that they are shortening their lives and risking terrible medical ailments… Besides, life is so much more fun if you can actually move about and enjoy it!
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Stevie Turner said:
Absolutely. The obese parents have no idea what they’re doing to their obese children. It’s child cruelty and it’s heart-breaking. A little education could go a long way.
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Darlene said:
I agree with this. My grandson also suffers from a sugar addiction brought on by eating junk food as a child. I do applaud the young mom for making her own jam, even if the timing was off. This is part of the problem, everything is store bought and laden with sugar and who knows what. I was raised in a home in Canada where if it wasn´t homemade, we didn´t eat it. No bought cookies and cakes etc. Hubby, raised in the UK, didn´t get anything homemade until he married me and lived in Canada. I cut the sugar way down when I make anything and it still tastes good and even better than the bought junk. My inlaws still have a fridge full of chocolate bars, biscuits, and overly sweet cakes. I would love to see those aisles of junk food eliminated in the supermarket. It is a huge problem.
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Stevie Turner said:
Yes it is, and our nations on average are getting fatter and fatter. I tend to stick to lean meat and fresh fruit and veg as I hate cooking, and (as you say) so much food is laden with sugar. People would say my diet is bland, but it suits both Sam and I and we don’t put on too much weight.
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franklparker said:
I approve of your general thrust Stevie but have to disagree on two points. Firstly, I think you are wrong about doctors; from what I read and see in the media the profession generally is very worried about this problem. Secondly, home made jam is far healthier than the kind you buy in supermarkets and a good old traditional way of preserving summer fruit for eating later in the year. Although I wouldn’t necessarily curtail a walk in the fresh air to make it – rather do it at night in stead of watching the box!
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Stevie Turner said:
Frank, it’s the thought of being stuck in the kitchen making jam when I could be outside walking in the fresh air! I worked in a Department of Pain Medicine for 7 years. The consultants all agreed that the best way of solving patients’ back pain was to wire their jaws together. However… did they tell them to lose weight? No, they just gave out opioids and performed facet joint injections, which is what the patients wanted as they were averse to changing their lifestyles.
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jwebster2 said:
😦
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jwebster2 said:
just sad, so sad
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Stevie Turner said:
Yep.
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