‘Millenniums’ set to become heaviest generation ever

A while ago a thread was made asking why children today seem to need snacks every couple of hours, and grandparents seemed to think that's quite normal.

When I go back to the UK from my home in France, I do notice that people in general seem much more overweight than here.
I notice that people seem to graze much more, eating in the street and in all the cafes in town centres. Portion sizes seem to be huge. There seems to be a culture of cake with everything.
You do see overweight people here, but it seems to be much more associated with urban poverty. I think people generally do not eat between meals, cafes do not have cake or biscuits on sale and patisserie is a treat rather than an everyday thing.
Older people do talk with disapproval about the younger generation buying pizza, but I think this is more to do with the deep reverence (annoying at times) for traditional, local dishes.
It is still very rare to see obese people here.

I think there are many factors. Portion size being one of them,we went out for fish and chips as a family last month and were shocked at the portion sizes, they were huge needless to say we wasted such a lot of the meal but just could not eat that vast amount. Children used to play outside a lot,but many of them play computer games while eating snacks ,unfortunately if they don’t excercise they will pile on the weight. Parents would need to take the lead and show the children that they can enjoy the nice things in moderation,and also teach them that excercise will keep them fit and healthier in later life. I hope it happens soon, as the young people of today will have a miserable middle age if they end up with illness due to the weight problems starting while they are young, and they may never reach old age.

I'm not in favour of my taxes keeping an overweight/obese unemployed man or woman (or any other gender) in permanent 'victim' mode. Street food is available virtually 24/7 in many big cities and, where it was once thought disgraceful behaviour to 'eat on the hoof', that has been replaced by an 'any time any place' acceptance of consuming food.
Coffee in one hand and food in t'other is something we see regardless of the time of day. On buses, trains, coaches, even short flights.
If people aren't chatting they're chomping.
Desperate days and, if you look at today's pics of the DoC visiting a hospital, just look at the nurses.
The very people who have no right to lecture.

Yes grandma KT. I and my 3 flatmates had one pie between us.
Though MrA and his 3 flatmates had two pies between the four of them.

There have been a couple of mentions of portion size. This was brought home to me last week when I was watching a local TV programme called Back in Time for Tea. It's one of those things where a family lives as if they are in different eras. This programme very much focusses on food. Anyway, last week it was the 60s. The parents went out one evening and the teenagers were left to cook the tinned Fray Bentos pies (to much hilarity of course!) The thing is, they had one pie each! I remember sharing pies like this between four of us in the 60s.

oldmegi agreemarpau i was thinking the same thing.as a 4th generation seamstress/tailor i watched this change along with changing the measurements per size.
had a lovely lady i made leather and suede clothing for.did it for a decade,than she got very large and i refused to sew for her(remember this is leather clothing).i had to get rude with her.she eventually lost the weight (a grandchild was the incentive) and i made her an item for free to celebrate.
best friend is morbidly obese-have flat out told her i would like her to be around past 50.

That is something which (unofficially) falls to the teachers.

Very sneaky look at hair ?

Sadly Nitty Nora is No Mora

Defining children as overweight or obese is a complex process, given that their height and weight change at the same time. An individual's BMI is calculated by dividing their weight (expressed in kilograms) by the square of their height (expressed in metres).

The method of assigning a BMI classification is different for children and adults.

This from above website, which is what I was trying to explain before.

content.digital.nhs.uk/ncmp try this link

I wonder if they check for nits at the same time.?
Remember the Nit Nurse?

Quite right Jalima x posts

Don’t believe everything you read in papers try following this link National Database

I was actually in school before half term hearing readers and they were being called out to be measured by a health professional who had come into school. I assure you it was not in the teacher’s remit ???

I think parents realise that this is a government initiative.

It is carried out by the School Nursing Service so parents could assume that the letters come from the school and the results letters are sent via the school.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/fat-letter-sent-by-schools-to-parents-should-be-scrapped-say-experts-a6728891.html

Seized upon!

And it’s not schools who decide if children are overweight. It’s health professionals who weigh the children and send information home. Just because the weighing is carried out at school (which is the only place that children can easily be accessed) doesn’t mean it is the school itself that is issuing warning notices,

Do people really think teachers are behind this FGS?

Unbelievable!

Only when that information is imparted with a degree of explanation Jalima.

I expect that anyone with a modicum of understanding will already know what Jane stated, yet I hardly think it applies to your average GNetter nor podgy youth.

But while truisms like this (which might apply to gym bunnies, athletes and other superbly fit individuals) are ceased upon by those who don’t want to recognise that their BMI of 30+ means they are verging in the obese.

Some posters may not have done though, so any information may be useful to someone OldMeg.

Yes, I know that Jsne?

Nonnie - I fear schools may be using BMI to decide if children are overweight.
Well, if they are, that is a worrying trend because I thought they used to use the WHO Growth Percentile Calculator.

Smoking became socially unacceptable, why can't over eating become the same? I do think portion sizes have gone up, no one ever has a fairy cake anymore, always a muffin which is much bigger. One of the garden centres we go to has lovely scones but they are so big we have one between us.

amma is right though oldmeg that the BMI was intended for populations and is not that reliable for individuals.
It’s possible for example, for someone who trains a lot with weights to have a high BMI but this is because they have a disproportionate amount of muscle compared to the general population. The BMI only measures weight & doesn’t distinguish between fat and muscle.