# ‘Global Epidemic’ of Childhood Inactivity



## Ming the Merciless (29 Feb 2020)

This is very worrying .

'Global epidemic' of childhood inactivity https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50466061


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## steveindenmark (29 Feb 2020)

Its been going on for years.


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## screenman (29 Feb 2020)

There is a tv program on next week about this problem, it goes inside a children's obesity clinic.






Wednesday March 4, 9:00pm - 10:00pm on Channel 4 


* 100 Kilo Kids: Obesity SOS *
With half of Britain's children overweight, a look at patients and specialist NHS staff on obesity's front line, including 15-year-old Harry, whose hip has collapsed due to his weight.


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## Ming the Merciless (29 Feb 2020)

screenman said:


> There is a tv program on next week about this problem, it goes inside a children's obesity clinic.
> 
> View attachment 506459
> 
> ...



Thanks, have set it to record


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## Andy in Germany (29 Feb 2020)

I always surprises me when I go to the UK to see how tubby many children are.

I remember someone saying that in a normal class now, the two fittest children have the same level of fittness as the least fittest two children about 30 years ago.


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## screenman (29 Feb 2020)

Andy, just moving about the country gives you a change in size, we were down south, well Staines to be precise last week and obesity is certainly not as widespread as up north. Even standing in Turkey airport last year we noticed the size of people waiting for Gatwick were smaller by far than the people waiting for Leeds Bradford.


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## MontyVeda (29 Feb 2020)

I blame the parents! 

It's odd looking at the way my brother wouldn't let his kids go out to play unsupervised until they were about 10 or 11, but when me and he were kids, from about the age of 6 or 7, we were 'kicked' out after breakfast and told not to come back 'til dinner time, then kicked out again and told not to come back 'til tea time. We had so much fun building dams, climbing trees or onto sheds and garages, making ramps for our bikes, pretending to be stuntmen which was all the more fun because there wasn't a grown up watching over us. His kids weren't 'inactive' mind... they were taken out often enough to play and on walks and the like, and they're certainly not obese either... but i find it sad that his kids (and many others) didn't get the same freedom that we had in the 70s.


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## Drago (29 Feb 2020)

At Mini D's primary school 99% of children are driven there, despite the catchment being the 400 metre radius that encompasses the village. I mean, a 5 minute walk there and another 5 minutes back really is too onerous for most parents.

Anyway, the head teacher (and all credit to her) has become so concerned that after morning assembly any kids that were driven to school have to walk the "Daily Mile", 4 laps of the all weather running track. It's voluntary for children that walk to school, although most still do the walk, but they get the luxury of staying inside if it's chucking it down while the chauffeur driven sprogs still have to do it in the dire weather too

After the initial whining from overweight, self entitled, car driving, laze-bot parents, things have settled down. Attendance, academic performance and behaviour have all markedly improved.


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## MontyVeda (29 Feb 2020)

By junior school age, we were considered old enough to take ourselves to school. I think the media driven paedo-geddon of the 90s has got a lot to answer for.


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## Andy in Germany (29 Feb 2020)

MontyVeda said:


> By junior school age, we were considered old enough to take ourselves to school. I think the media driven paedo-geddon of the 90s has got a lot to answer for.



That's a good point. Children here walk to school from their first year (6) and by the time they are seven are walking alone. I think they have to be 9 or 10 before they can take the cycle training test (In school time, run by the police) and then they can ride to school, alone.


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## Julia9054 (29 Feb 2020)

MontyVeda said:


> I blame the parents!
> 
> It's odd looking at the way my brother wouldn't let his kids go out to play unsupervised until they were about 10 or 11, but when me and he were kids, from about the age of 6 or 7, we were 'kicked' out after breakfast and told not to come back 'til dinner time, then kicked out again and told not to come back 'til tea time. We had so much fun building dams, climbing trees or onto sheds and garages, making ramps for our bikes, pretending to be stuntmen which was all the more fun because there wasn't a grown up watching over us. His kids weren't 'inactive' mind... they were taken out often enough to play and on walks and the like, and they're certainly not obese either... but i find it sad that his kids (and many others) didn't get the same freedom that we had in the 70s.


One word.
Traffic.


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## Rusty Nails (29 Feb 2020)

I find it sad and ironic that the UK, where so many people buy and wear sports clothing, is getting to be the European capital of fatness and unfitness.

I read a quote a couple of weeks ago that described youngsters along the lines of "the first generation to not play outside".

I really am at a loss to understand what can be done to reverse this trend, but it doesn't augur well for the future.

Obviously the government and schools could help resolve some of the problems but, at the end of the day, parents must get their acts together if they do not want to see their kids live shorter, even unhealthier lives than them.


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## Drago (29 Feb 2020)

Exert some parental control over their games consoles and mobile phones, and stop driving them to school. It's that simple.



Julia9054 said:


> One word.
> Traffic.


Which by and large would not exist but for the school run.


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## Julia9054 (29 Feb 2020)

Rusty Nails said:


> I find it sad and ironic that the UK, where so many people buy and wear sports clothing, is getting to be the European capital of fatness and unfitness.
> 
> I read a quote a couple of weeks ago that described youngsters along the lines of "the first generation to not play outside".
> 
> ...


Traffic free residential streets. There are simply far more cars than there were in the 1970s You can't let your children out to play if they are going to get run over. This has to be built into town planning and traffic management policy. 
Parents haven't changed. I played out in the 1970s/80s but my mum didn't take me places - she was busy. Parents today are also busy. 
Blame government policy prioritising cars and street design not parents


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## Julia9054 (29 Feb 2020)

Drago said:


> Which by and large would not exist but for the school run.


If that were true, the roads would be deserted the rest of the time. They are not. There are simply far more cars now than there were in the 1970s


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## derrick (29 Feb 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> Traffic free residential streets. There are simply far more cars than there were in the 1970s You can't let your children out to play if they are going to get run over. This has to be built into town planning and traffic management policy.
> Parents haven't changed. I played out in the 1970s/80s but my mum didn't take me places - she was busy. Parents today are also busy.
> Blame government policy prioritising cars and street design not parents


That is total bulshit.


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## Julia9054 (29 Feb 2020)

derrick said:


> That is total bulshit.


So you disagree that there are far more cars now than the 1970s?


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## Mo1959 (29 Feb 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> If that were true, the roads would be deserted the rest of the time. They are not. There are simply far more cars now than there were in the 1970s


Yep.........I happened to notice on my way out of town for my morning walk today that there was 2 or 3 cars in every single drive on one street.


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## Rusty Nails (29 Feb 2020)

Drago said:


> Exert some parental control over their games consoles and mobile phones, and stop driving them to school. *It's that simple.*
> 
> Which by and large would not exist but for the school run.



Except it's not that simple. _How_ do you get parents to accept their responsibility to change _their_ behaviour for the sake of their kids.

I agree with you about the school run adding to the traffic problems.


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## Andy in Germany (29 Feb 2020)

Drago said:


> Exert some parental control over their games consoles and mobile phones, and stop driving them to school. It's that simple.



Easier said than done: We exert a lot of control for the local society, but the problem then, is that it causes social problems for the kids because they hear about what is happening through Watsapp or similar. This is in part because German catchment areas tend to be quite big so it's harder to stay in touch. I know telephones exist, but they just don't get used.

Less taking kids to school by car would be a step forward. Our schools tend to be pretty strict on that.



Julia9054 said:


> If that were true, the roads would be deserted the rest of the time. They are not.



They are here: school holidays are a dream on a bike. 

Mind you, Saturdays are pretty quiet too once the shops close at midday, and on Sundays _everything _is silent: supermarket car parks are deserted.


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## keithmac (29 Feb 2020)

I think you have to also take into account diet when talking about obese children.

Lack of exercise is a factor but also eating to excess, piling sweets and sugary drinks down etc. Seems that goes hand in hand with lazy parents though..

We walk to school on a morning, wouldn't let my 8 year old daughter go on her own though due to traffic which is bad outside school.

I've mentioned it before, one woman arrives 1/2 hour early so she's got shorted walk into school to pic kids up, needless to say they are all fat (real shame for her children imho).

Our lad hasn't an ounce of fat on him, active and reasonably good diet, we've managed to avoid getting both ours hooked on sugary drinks and sweets. They do still have both but not all the time..

Thinking about it we don't have any overweight Beavers Cubs or Scouts, maybe that's the parents taking care of their children...


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## derrick (29 Feb 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> So you disagree that there are far more cars now than the 1970s?


NO. You just need to educate your kids.


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## screenman (29 Feb 2020)

You cannot outrun a bad diet, but for sure too many kids are not moving enough, the responsibility belongs to the parents certainly not the schools.


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## Julia9054 (29 Feb 2020)

derrick said:


> NO. You just need to educate your kids.


Ok. So it’s fine for a child at any age to cross a busy road by themselves as long as they are „educated“ enough.
My favourite game aged about 7 was to string a skipping rope across the street. We would tie it to a lamp post on one side and one kid would turn it on the other side. It was an ordinary terraced street. About half the households owned a car - no households owned more than one car. At „work kicking out time“ we would maybe have to stop our skipping game to allow a couple of cars - mainly neighbours - to drive through. That same street now would have cars parked end to end both sides and be used as a rat run. Anyone who allowed an unsupervised 7 year old to play out would be highly irresponsible. 
Times have changed.


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## Drago (29 Feb 2020)

Rusty Nails said:


> Except it's not that simple. _How_ do you get parents to accept their responsibility to change _their_ behaviour for the sake of their kids



I find it very simple - Mini D has an hour on her iPad, max, and that's only after homework. Then for every hour on the iPad she has to spend an hour reading a book. I walk her to school. I ensure she plays physical games, and she's a champion cheerleader as a result (my eldest was a martial artist with 3 black belts in different disciplines, second a cross country runner, third a kick boxer). I feed her sensible food with of vegetables, and the occasional sweet treats don't come unless shes eaten her veggies first (her favourite sweet treat is actually raw carrot, which she often chooses over chocolate). Complaining, tantrums and whining dont work with me - i don't let the tail wag the dog. Start down that route even just once or twice, and you may as well not bother trying. Kids are master manipulators so you need to stand firm.

This is mind bending easy stuff, managed perfectly well by parents across the world, and the only reason not to indulge in thoughtful, balanced parenting is laziness. Easy, easy, easy. Anyone who can't figure this out probably doesn't have sufficient iq to know how to breathe. Christ, I've never had any lessons on the subject but I figured it out.

As for making parents take responsibility - that's easy. Carrot doesn't work, the biggest carrot being the physical and emotional welfare of their children. In that case it's time to wield stick - your kid is a persistent bloater and their health is suffering, have a fine. You've been seen driving your kid to school every day this week yet live only 3 streets away - have a fine. Your kid's not done his homework again yet but has found the time to be on his X station every night - have a fine...we need a series of adverse consequences for parents whose adverse behaviour is affecting their children's development. Of course, it will absolutely never happen - no government has the political will, and too many bleeding hearts will whine about having to suddenly take some responsibility for their parenting for a change. 

It will absolutely, never, ever happen - but the solution is easy. It's the will to do so that is lacking.


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## Drago (29 Feb 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> Ok. So it’s fine for a child at any age to cross a busy road by themselves as long as they are „educated“ enough.
> My favourite game aged about 7 was to string a skipping rope across the street. We would tie it to a lamp post on one side and one kid would turn it on the other side. It was an ordinary terraced street. About half the households owned a car - no households owned more than one car. At „work kicking out time“ we would maybe have to stop our skipping game to allow a couple of cars - mainly neighbours - to drive through. That same street now would have cars parked end to end both sides and be used as a rat run. Anyone who allowed an unsupervised 7 year old to play out would be highly irresponsible.
> Times have changed.


Not that that is entirely true (look how quiet the roads are at rush hour during school holidays, for example - 13% to 20% less, depending on which source you choose to believe, 10 million less rush hour car journeys for every week of school holiday ) but even so the solution is simple - parents walk their kids to school. Fitter kids, less traffic, safer roads, a virtuous cycle.


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## derrick (29 Feb 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> Ok. So it’s fine for a child at any age to cross a busy road by themselves as long as they are „educated“ enough.
> My favourite game aged about 7 was to string a skipping rope across the street. We would tie it to a lamp post on one side and one kid would turn it on the other side. It was an ordinary terraced street. About half the households owned a car - no households owned more than one car. At „work kicking out time“ we would maybe have to stop our skipping game to allow a couple of cars - mainly neighbours - to drive through. That same street now would have cars parked end to end both sides and be used as a rat run. Anyone who allowed an unsupervised 7 year old to play out would be highly irresponsible.
> Times have changed.


And you need to change with them.


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## Julia9054 (29 Feb 2020)

derrick said:


> And you need to change with them.


No practical suggestions then?


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## derrick (29 Feb 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> No practical suggestions then?


No its just common sense.


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## alicat (29 Feb 2020)

Too right, @Julia9054. And drivers drive faster and are multi-tasking more than they used to and are unlikely to be hurt in a collision in an urban area.


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## MontyVeda (29 Feb 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> One word.
> Traffic.


two words... Tufty Club


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## Milzy (29 Feb 2020)

My 4 year old is blitzing park runs. Hopefully ride the Fred Whitton with her when she's 18.
Blame the parents.


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## classic33 (4 Mar 2020)

Julia9054 said:


> One word.
> Traffic.


We've open ground nearby, that was fields before the park was built. Both were used as play areas, as well as using the river. Now it's considered unsafe. 

We used the area when it was being transformed from fields to park. Ruining our play area. The machinery in use we worked around, now I doubt that'd be allowed.


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## CanucksTraveller (4 Mar 2020)

Nobody's wrong here... yes parents are shockingly, astoundingly lazy, both in their habits (driving vs walking) and their parenting (allowing the children to rule the roost because that's the path of least resistance - Let's call that the Drago argument). But yes roads are also worse and traffic / car ownership is higher, and drivers are more distracted than ever before (the Julia argument). It's the perfect storm for bringing up a generation of even lazier, even fatter, even more selfish people. 

My daughter is 8, and just like pretty much everyone here I was walking to school unaccompanied at that age Monday to Friday and then playing out on my bike with my mates at all other times. 
It's not possible to push your child out of the door now like our parents did in the 70s and 80s and simply say "don't come back until tea". There's a much higher chance now that you as that parent will get a call from hospital, or a knock from the police because they've been hit. What responsible parent wants to increase that risk? 
No use saying "teach them", I've taught her, of course. But roads are much, much worse now, every pavement is blocked because of 3 and 4 car houses, there are distracted hassled Mums simultaneously driving Tabitha to school while checking Facebook and putting on makeup. Children don't always concentrate as well as they could. And they (we) never did concentrate all that well when crossing the road by the way, it's just that the chances of being hurt were much lower. Passing cars were rare, and the driver only had his eyes on the road. 

All you can do is walk with him / her to school, accompany him / her on the bike, don't be in that selfish lazy percentile. Get him / her out on weekends for walks and treasure trails, bike rides, whatever, and limit electronic / lazy time. I think if you're doing that, you're doing more than 90% of "parents" and that's the best you can do. 

I'm sad to say I think it'll all be in vain for the wider society, but at least you've brought up one person who can get off their backside.


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## oldwheels (4 Mar 2020)

Traffic can be a serious problem. My grandchildren cycled the couple of miles to primary school regularly on a cycle track but were supervised crossing the A848 as traffic tends to either be watching the traffic lights at Connel Bridge or gaining speed after leaving the bridge and not really paying attention plus possibly turning right up Bonawe Road. As an experienced cyclist myself this junction is fraught with dangers when turning right on to the A848 so it is understandable that some parents choose to use a car although I think there is a possible bus which passes the school but this does not give exercise.


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## Ming the Merciless (4 Mar 2020)

oldwheels said:


> Traffic can be a serious problem. My grandchildren cycled the couple of miles to primary school regularly on a cycle track but were supervised crossing the A848 as traffic tends to either be watching the traffic lights at Connel Bridge or gaining speed after leaving the bridge and not really paying attention plus possibly turning right up Bonawe Road. As an experienced cyclist myself this junction is fraught with dangers when turning right on to the A848 so it is understandable that some parents choose to use a car although I think there is a possible bus which passes the school but this does not give exercise.



This is a prime case where a bit of infrastructure to get safely past the A848 and it opens up cycling on their own for kids.


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## screenman (4 Mar 2020)

It is not just about getting out though, it is about how much goes in the mouth, young kids seldom go shopping or get their own food.


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## screenman (5 Mar 2020)

Did anyone else watch the program last night, I found it quite sad.


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## icowden (5 Mar 2020)

I think the schools don't help. When my daughters were at state primary, they did very little exercise, and when they did have pe or games, felt fairly discouraged / sidelined. When they moved to an all girls prep school in year 6, they found themselves doing an hour of fairly intensive exercise 4 out of 5 days (pe / games / dance / swimming) - and by that I mean swimming lengths, playing hockey or netball, cross-country runs etc in a positive atmosphere where everyone joins in and helps each other. 

Of course, the amount of time schools spend on things like exercise, music, art etc is driven by the Government who don't regard these things as being important. Strangely private schools think the reverse. 

It's more important to know about modal verbs, relative clauses, possessive pronouns etc.


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## screenman (5 Mar 2020)

icowden said:


> I think the schools don't help. When my daughters were at state primary, they did very little exercise, and when they did have pe or games, felt fairly discouraged / sidelined. When they moved to an all girls prep school in year 6, they found themselves doing an hour of fairly intensive exercise 4 out of 5 days (pe / games / dance / swimming) - and by that I mean swimming lengths, playing hockey or netball, cross-country runs etc in a positive atmosphere where everyone joins in and helps each other.
> 
> Of course, the amount of time schools spend on things like exercise, music, art etc is driven by the Government who don't regard these things as being important. Strangely private schools think the reverse.
> 
> It's more important to know about modal verbs, relative clauses, possessive pronouns etc.



Schools get the kids 30 hours a week the parents get them the other 138 hours, yet people often blame the schools. Also I bet a good proportion of the kids who need help the most will be the one's with a parents note.


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## Milkfloat (5 Mar 2020)

My personal view is that there is a mixture of causes. 1.) Technology, often means that kids don't even want to go outside and the never get bored forcing them to do something. 2.) Diet, not of their choosing but because is is actually very difficult not to be eating refined sugars and processed food at every meal 3.) Safety, traffic, health and safety plus fear of the paedo. 

I think I do pretty well with my kids, but to be honest it is hard, I cannot just turf them out until dinner time. What did surprise me a couple of days ago was just how unfit teenagers are. I am a scout leader and as part of our work on being healthy we did a bleep test with the kids. Out of 32 kids only one beat me. I have not run properly for quite some time and in my mid 40s and am currently built for comfort more than speed. Some of the kids gave up in less than 100m


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## All uphill (5 Mar 2020)

I don't think anyone has mentioned successive governments' transport and leisure policies.

With the huge majority of transport spending being on infrastructure for cars and lorries, rather than cycling and walking what would you expect?

I want a government that leads on policies that encourage physical activity, and in the meantime I will continue to campaign locally for that. I recommend campaigning if you are frustrated too.


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## Ming the Merciless (5 Mar 2020)

screenman said:


> Did anyone else watch the program last night, I found it quite sad.



Yep 100kg kids. It’s shocking the health problems the parents have caused the kids at such a young age.


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## derrick (5 Mar 2020)

All uphill said:


> I don't think anyone has mentioned successive governments' transport and leisure policies.
> 
> With the huge majority of transport spending being on infrastructure for cars and lorries, rather than cycling and walking what would you expect?
> 
> I want a government that leads on policies that encourage physical activity, and in the meantime I will continue to campaign locally for that. I recommend campaigning if you are frustrated too.


Carry on campaining. But get on with doing something positive. Dont expect the goverment or anyone else to do anything.


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## All uphill (5 Mar 2020)

derrick said:


> Carry on campaining. But get on with doing something positive. Dont expect the goverment or anyone else to do anything.



But I do expect local government to do something!

Our campaign and other local groups have had some really positive successes locally with changes to road layouts and getting adults and children back on bikes.

Thank you for your advice; my advice to you is to try some local action.


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## screenman (5 Mar 2020)

If one parent is obese then the child has a 50% chance of being the same by age 10, if both obese a 80% chance.


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## icowden (5 Mar 2020)

screenman said:


> Schools get the kids 30 hours a week the parents get them the other 138 hours, yet people often blame the schools. Also I bet a good proportion of the kids who need help the most will be the one's with a parents note.



Slightly disingenuous. Of those 138 hours, only 16 of them are really at a time when the kids could be out of the house. Schools can help with encouraging a healthy diet - but the government wants them to feed kids for less than £2 per kid. Parents can of course encourage their children to do things at the weekend, but the majority of waking time is at school, not at home.

If you make the kids feel included, parents notes go away. I speak as someone who managed to get a parents note almost every week. I loathed Games lessons, playing rugby in the mud. My kids on the other hand whilst they might not "love" Games and PE, they enjoy it, because they are encouraged and supported. No-one is made to feel that they can't participate. It's about attitude. You get better teaching attitude with happy staff and good resources. Until we fund education properly however this isn't going to happen. Finland has the best state education in the world. They spend £15000 per pupil. We spend £5000. 
We need smaller class sizes, better pastoral care, more varied curriculums, better paid teachers who can better inspire learning, etc etc etc.

Next step is to try and reduce our dependence on ready-meals and quick cook meals.


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

icowden said:


> Slightly disingenuous. Of those 138 hours, only 16 of them are really at a time when the kids could be out of the house. Schools can help with encouraging a healthy diet - but the government wants them to feed kids for less than £2 per kid. Parents can of course encourage their children to do things at the weekend, but the majority of waking time is at school, not at home.
> 
> If you make the kids feel included, parents notes go away. I speak as someone who managed to get a parents note almost every week. I loathed Games lessons, playing rugby in the mud. My kids on the other hand whilst they might not "love" Games and PE, they enjoy it, because they are encouraged and supported. No-one is made to feel that they can't participate. It's about attitude. You get better teaching attitude with happy staff and good resources. Until we fund education properly however this isn't going to happen. Finland has the best state education in the world. They spend £15000 per pupil. We spend £5000.
> We need smaller class sizes, better pastoral care, more varied curriculums, better paid teachers who can better inspire learning, etc etc etc.
> ...



I agree with those points apart from the 16 hour bit. Parents get the children all the time before they start school which is a time when many bad habits set in. How can schools help on the diet, when their hands are tied, kids eat far more at home than at school. Father of 3 boys, well men now, two are teachers, all 3 did and still do sport, likely because from a very early age we showed them it was fun. Sport alone will not keep a child thin though.


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## Andy in Germany (6 Mar 2020)

icowden said:


> If you make the kids feel included, parents notes go away.



Absolutely correct. I loathed games lessons: I wasn't fat, in fact I was fairly fit, but I was always one of the smallest in the year, and frequently felt humiliated for "failing" because of teachers for whom the point of the exercise was to "win". Rugby and basketball are a nightmare when you're a head shorter than most of your peers. This sort of experience can put a potentially fit person off exercise for life.

My kids had much better teachers who came up with creative sports lessons with far more variety and took care to include all of the children in their class. As a result my youngest is now planning to become a games teacher.

Now if I can just get them to eat less crisps...


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

Who buys the crisps? My youngest is 5ft2 or 3 played rugby for Lincoln 1st team at 18.


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## Andy in Germany (6 Mar 2020)

screenman said:


> Who buys the crisps? My youngest is 5ft2 or 3 played rugby for Lincoln 1st team at 18.



They do: Elder Son is a trainee bike mechanic, and that means he earns money.

Your youngest probably had a more positive experience of rugby at school than I did.


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

Andy in Germany said:


> They do: Elder Son is a trainee bike mechanic, and that means he earns money.
> 
> Your youngest probably had a more positive experience of rugby at school than I did.



They did not play rugby at his school.


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## Andy in Germany (6 Mar 2020)

screenman said:


> They did not play rugby at his school.



Lucky him.


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

Andy in Germany said:


> Lucky him.



Nor did the one who played golf do it at school, nor did the one who has now raced bikes for over 31 years, do you get where I am coming from.


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## Andy in Germany (6 Mar 2020)

screenman said:


> Nor did the one who played golf do it at school, nor did the one who has now raced bikes for over 31 years, do you get where I am coming from.



I think we're seeing the same pattern...


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

Another thing Andy, if both parents are obese a child has an 80% chance of being the same very early in life, the schools are not to blame.


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## mustang1 (6 Mar 2020)

Kids are at school 5 days a week for 6 or 7 hours. They get two breaks about 30 minutes each, and a 1 hour lunch. 
Eventually they go to work. They might have to commute an hour each way, work 10 hour days, 6 days a week. And they might get a quick break which is known as "lunch at your desk". So the obesity problem gets worse in adult life even for those who were very active as children.


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

mustang1 said:


> Kids are at school 5 days a week for 6 or 7 hours. They get two breaks about 30 minutes each, and a 1 hour lunch.
> Eventually they go to work. They might have to commute an hour each way, work 10 hour days, 6 days a week. And they might get a quick break which is known as "lunch at your desk". So the obesity problem gets worse in adult life even for those who were very active as children.



Only for those who in most cases cannot control what goes in their mouth, in kids cases it is the parents who control what goes in the kids mouth.


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## Andy in Germany (6 Mar 2020)

screenman said:


> Another thing Andy, if both parents are obese a child has an 80% chance of being the same very early in life, the schools are not to blame.



I'm not saying that schools are to blame for obesity necessarily, but they are where a child learns who they are and what they can do in many cases, and they have a massive influence on a growing mind. I learned to hate sports at school: one of my happiest memories was the day I realised I didn't ever have to do sports again, and I still dislike even entering a sports hall. 

I only got back into cycling because of necessity and now because I like exploring. If other people have a similar experience, then you are likely to get a reaction to physical exercise that has nothing to do with exercise and everything to do with bad memories, for which in my case about three sports teachers are solely to blame.

As to eating, I think as with many cases, it's become a generational problem. Parents are often obese for a whole stack of reasons from learning difficulties to over work to lack of money. If they don't know how to avoid this, then their kids won't either. In the workshops I work at we see how clients with learning difficulties are victims of advertising and will buy whatever they see in the adverts, despite our best efforts to show how unhealthy these things are. Then they end up with type 2 diabetes at thirty.


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

If a child learns at school why is it that only a minority are obese, the reason being is it starts at home, why do obese parents often have obese kids, oh yes it starts at home. Why are there kids out there obese before they even get to school, it starts at home.


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## Andy in Germany (6 Mar 2020)

screenman said:


> If a child learns at school why is it that only a minority are obese, the reason being is it starts at home, why do obese parents often have obese kids, oh yes it starts at home. Why are there kids out there obese before they even get to school, it starts at home.



You could equally ask, "If a child _doesn't_ learn at school, why do we have schools?" although I take the point.

I agree in principle, as I said, a lot of our current social problems are generational. I'm pointing out that schools do have a massive influence for good or bad: if kids have a good start at home, negative school influences can be mitigated to some extent, but school certainly can't mitigate problems from home.


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## Sterlo (6 Mar 2020)

I do blame a lot of this on parents. I know nowadays you can't "throw" them out of the door and say come back next meal time like we used to be able to do, however the parents have the chances to do things on a weekend with their kids but they choose not to because it's easier to be lazy. I went to a sports mad school and I hated it, because it was not an option, you were expected to do and like sports. I got more sporty after I left when I did things from my own choice. Even though I work all week in a sedentary job, I'll always try and do something on a weekend that's physical when it would be easier to sit with my feet up and have a break and I've encouraged my daughter to do the same.


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## screenman (6 Mar 2020)

The program I watched was about 100 kilo children, one was admitted into a clinic and put on a strict diet, the mother smuggled food into him. Exercise alone is not enough, although certainly a very good thing to do.


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## Drago (7 Mar 2020)

The mother should be locked up for child cruelty offences. Christ, 100kg is a fair sized adult, never mind a sprog.


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## Andy in Germany (7 Mar 2020)

Drago said:


> The mother should be locked up for child cruelty offences. Christ, 100kg is a fair sized adult, never mind a sprog.



You could be looking at diminished responsibility there.


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## Hicky (29 Apr 2020)

Completely blame parents, I have two sons(full brothers) the eldest lives with me. Different physiques aside the youngest is a chubby buttons, it wasn’t like that when he lived closer as he spent much more time with us. Ate better/cleaner and exercised more. It isn’t that he doesn’t want to as he’d happily eat veg all day and be out on his bike/playing or at a club doing sports it’s his mother doesn’t invest the time. So many of his class are the same.


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