Childhood Obesity - Who Do You Blame?

[Opinionated Brit]

I think it's the parents, I mean I know that by the age you're talking about teenagers are aware of their own weight and therefore it's their responsiblity to do something about it. But they must have had some weight issues when they were younger - you don't just suddenly become obese once you hit your teenage years, it's a gradual process. So the parents are to blame for raising them wih the mentality of living an unheathly lifestyle.

It's easy to tell teenagers to just go and excercise but it's not that simple. First, they have to find something that they like doing because it's no use forcing kids to do excercise if it's not something they enjoy because then they will just stop after a few years. You need to help the kid find something they enjoy and that they can have as a hobby otherwise they will never overcome their weight problem.

Also, a lot of kids are quite self concious about their weight and so it may be diffiult at first to feel comfortable excercising. You can't just push people into this right away it has to be a gradual process of consideration and support. Also if the whole family is obese then it will be all the kid has ever known and so you can't blame him when he's grown up in that environment

Also I think understanding helps - you have to treat obesity like you would any other eating disorder without just labelling people as "lazy"

From what I've witnessed among people my age 16/17 they've only started putting on weight in the past couple of years and lot of it is down to laziness and greed.

Both boys and girls have been putting on weight (But to be honest it's more noticeably girls as far as I can tell) and it seems to directly correspond with them giving up the sports they used to do as a younger kid.

I mean seriously. All I have to do is go on my twitter and half the girls on there are constantly moaning about not having a McDonalds or something.

One thing I would say though, While in general I notice it's girls more than boys putting weight on at this age, the boys that do seem to be, are doing so in great quantity. Like serious big changes. While the girls seem to be more gradual and not as extreme.

Correct me if you think I'm wrong but this is just what I've noticed.

[xevista]

The parents has responsibility to guide what's best foods for their children to eat and the children on their part have been taught in the school on having healthy diet must also take responsibility on the foods they eat; which means avoiding obesity. I'm in between.

[NINO16]

Whoever voted for the food companies should take a good loot at themselves. Why? We should be beyond happy we have so many food companies where we can buy food not like some people that are starving and can't even dream about a big mac.
It's all parents and children themselves fault and societies because the standard what is considered fat is so fucking twisted.
I say if your health isn't in danger you do what you are doing. You can only be viewed as fat when your life is in danger by your body weight.

[imarockstar]

From what I've witnessed among people my age 16/17 they've only started putting on weight in the past couple of years and lot of it is down to laziness and greed.

Both boys and girls have been putting on weight (But to be honest it's more noticeably girls as far as I can tell) and it seems to directly correspond with them giving up the sports they used to do as a younger kid.

I mean seriously. All I have to do is go on my twitter and half the girls on there are constantly moaning about not having a McDonalds or something.

One thing I would say though, While in general I notice it's girls more than boys putting weight on at this age, the boys that do seem to be, are doing so in great quantity. Like serious big changes. While the girls seem to be more gradual and not as extreme.

Correct me if you think I'm wrong but this is just what I've noticed.

There is a difference between putting on weight and being obese. Most people will put on weight at some point in their lives but that doesn't mean they're obese, for that you have to be diagnosed. Just like not all skinny people are anorexic, not all fat people are obese.

Also, you notice girls putting it on more than boys because girls are more natually curvy, much more so than men and so they carry more fat. Also, things like during the menstral cycle (sorry if you're squeamish) can make women put on weight, also if they're using contraceptive pills then they starting eating more because of the nature of that medication (which really sucks for a lot of girls)

Maybe some of it is down to laziness and for girls I think a lot of the time sport isn't considered a "cool" thing to do and so most of the time they'll want to do what their friends are doing. With boys I think it's easier for them to get into things like football because that's more encouraged whereas with girls sport isn't always consdidered the girly thing to do.

I think it's easy to suffer from low self esteem when you're obese so what you might confuse as laziness could actually be embarassment. I think it's difficult to put an obese person into a sport or running group full of healthy individuals because their confidence will be at a complete low. At my local running club you can become a team motivator where people who have been diagnosed as obese come and run together and you run with them and help build up morale.

I know a lot of guys who used to be super skinny but when they hit 18 just put on weight like that! They always ate junk food but before they were 18 you would never have known so maybe that's similar to the kinds of guys you mentioned

[Opinionated Brit]

There is a difference between putting on weight and being obese. Most people will put on weight at some point in their lives but that doesn't mean they're obese, for that you have to be diagnosed. Just like not all skinny people are anorexic, not all fat people are obese.

Also, you notice girls putting it on more than boys because girls are more natually curvy, much more so than men and so they carry more fat. Also, things like during the menstral cycle (sorry if you're squeamish) can make women put on weight, also if they're using contraceptive pills then they starting eating more because of the nature of that medication (which really sucks for a lot of girls)

Maybe some of it is down to laziness and for girls I think a lot of the time sport isn't considered a "cool" thing to do and so most of the time they'll want to do what their friends are doing. With boys I think it's easier for them to get into things like football because that's more encouraged whereas with girls sport isn't always consdidered the girly thing to do.

I think it's easy to suffer from low self esteem when you're obese so what you might confuse as laziness could actually be embarassment. I think it's difficult to put an obese person into a sport or running group full of healthy individuals because their confidence will be at a complete low. At my local running club you can become a team motivator where people who have been diagnosed as obese come and run together and you run with them and help build up morale.

I know a lot of guys who used to be super skinny but when they hit 18 just put on weight like that! They always ate junk food but before they were 18 you would never have known so maybe that's similar to the kinds of guys you mentioned

Yeah, I take your point. Obviously I'm no expert on the development of girls at this age so I didn't really consider that too much.

I agree, putting on weight does not necessarily make someone fat but if it is a consistent, thing then it often does.

I noticed the 'laziness' kick in a few months before they started putting on weight big time though. Rather than actually when they were getting/had become fat/obese,

The sport drop out was the main thing I noticed. This hit a lot of people at around 13-14. I see you're point with girls as well, a lot of them dropped out of sports because it didn't seem like a girly thing to do. I may be biased, being a sports person myself but I'd be happy to argue anywhere that a girl competing in competitive sport is one of the most attractive things for me. However, when someone in a friendship group stops something, others seem to follow.

As for boys, video games seem to have taken over half of my friends lives. They'd much rather stay inside and play them than meet up outside, go to the gym or whatever. It pisses me off no-end and it seems to have a real effect on things.

Despite saying they love it, when I've been round to their houses I notice they start 'boredom eating' as well. When you're not active you've got more time to think about food and getting hungry, so you eat more and this is ridiculously noticeable.

As for the fast food obsession, if I could link you to a few tweets then I would but I don't want to unfairly give away any of their identities. It irritates me seeing them (mostly girls it has to be said but there are boys too) talking about it all the time as if they are toddlers.

I've done loads of volunteer work in the last 3 years trying to help Primary school kids get into sport as I still believe it is at this age that they develop their interests and attitudes to sport and exercise. It's just a shame that they seem to hit that age bracket (13-14) and suddenly seem to give it all up.

I probably sound a bit harsh, I've never really understood the problems with this fully myself as I haven't really ever experienced anything that relates to what they're saying.