In my humble opinion we’re killing our children. That’s a powerful statement, I know, but bear with me.
Increase in childhood obesity will see a greater probability of asthma, back pain, fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes and so much more.
It’s certainly not done with intent to harm, but allowing them to consume the level of ultra processed foods especially with the regularity that millions of children do,
the lack of movement, the constant attachment of all devices are all leading to a shorter life span.
The stats I am about to share are truly horrific.
If this just impacts one family, it will be worth it, but I sincerely hope it impacts many more.
Please share this blog and video so we can help wake parents up and educate them to the horrendous life consequences for them and their children.
Taking apolitical stance, we can’t rely on any government or manufacturer, but ourselves to take ownership of this situation as individuals and as parents.
There are 1.2 million children in the UK who are clinical obese.
1 in 3 children leave Primary school overweight or obese.
In girls, internationally we have the 4th highest rate behind Chile, U.S.A and Mexico. This is not a proud title we want to have.
You can see from below that the portion sizes are getting larger and therefore consuming more calories, often more fat, salt and sugar. Which sees an increase in weight, waist circumference and likelihood in diseases such as type 2 diabetes, strokes, heart attacks etc.
Both Jaclyn and I firmly believe the food industry is the tobacco industry of 50 years ago.
What do I mean by this. When we look back in decades we will realise what damage we have done.
Here are a few examples:
1842 protecting children from working in coal mines
1875 protecting children from working as chimney sweeps
1965 protecting children from cigarette advertising
1989 protecting children by requiring the wearing of seatbelts in the back of cars
2015 protecting children from smoking in cars.
Let’s discuss marketing spends: I’ve covered this numerous times about the way children are explicitly targeted with sophisticated techniques.
Cartoon characters, bright colours etc.
Companies pay extra money to position their goods centre stage in supermarkets where they are most likely to attract children’s attention.
Another thing which I can never get my head around is the advertising of these poorer products sponsoring the World cup, Olympics etc.
Things like Coke, big take away brands, unhealthy snacks, sugary cereals etc
Advertising even for unhealthy products, still receives tax relief, meaning some advertising is effectively free.
Research has shown that when unhealthy foods were removed from checkouts, the purchase of sweets, chocolate and crisps fell significantly.
Affects being overweight or obese can impact your child:
2017/18 38,385 tooth extractions for children due to tooth decay. Which cost the NHS £33 million a year.
Amongst 5-9 year olds tooth decay was the 2nd most prevalent non infectious condition.
Early puberty
Early stages of developing cardiovascular disease
Fatty liver disease
Sleep apnoea
Knee and lower limb joint pain
Back pain
Type 2 diabetes, I could go on.
Our environment has slowly changed which does make it more challenging.
Compared to 1990- 2019 pizza has increased 53% from 200g to 305g
Bagel from 70g to 90g
Cottage pie increase 113% from 200g to 425g
Packet of crisps 50% from 100g to 150g
The temptation is even greater than ever before and foods are made more palatable and delivered within minutes from an app.
How many fast food outlets do you think are in England?
And how many are within a 400m radius of a primary school?
There are 53,000 fast food outlets and a staggering 62% are within 400m radius of a primary school.
Takeaway portion sizes: A recent survey in Liverpool found that 25% of all takeaway meals sold exceeded 1,800 calories, or 3 times the recommended meal size.
Average Indian nearly 1,400 calories
Average portion of fish and chips 1,657 calories
Average Pizza 1820 calories
Hopefully, you can see with what I’ve shared why so many millions of people are in the position they are in.
They are all the reasons why.
What can we do as parents as a solution?
Take ownership
Encourage being more active by setting the ways for our children
Workout as a family over the weekend, long walks, just move more
Eat nutritious dense foods more often as a family
Set an example ourselves, become a product of the environment and your children will naturally follow suit.
Take time to educate yourselves about nutrition
Look at portion sizes
Choose the language you use wisely, with words such as ‘treat’
You can only have a dessert/pudding if you eat all your dinner etc
Make better choices more of the time than not
Research from Harvard children’s hospital showed in a randomised trial that , if provided with easy access to alternatives to sugar sweetened beverages, kids would reduce their intake of sugar sweetened drinks by 82% and as a result have significant weight loss.
Reach out for help with people you trust within the health and wellbeing space if all appears overwhelming and you are committed to learn how to live healthier and happier lives for you and your loved ones.