Were kids this obese when we were young?

belle204

I have never seen so many heavy kids. Boys with little man boobs, little girls who look pregnant. Hell, I wish A would gain some weight but she never sits still. However, I can't imagine how unhealthy they must be. Joe, stats? I know you have some.

EliseB0323

Nope, kids are getting fatter.

*itsmepin*

No they weren't. I blame it on tv, lack of parent involvement and just plain lazy.

summerbrideDC

I had 2-3 chubby class mates growing up.  But in general, no.  In my 11 years of teaching, I saw the percentage of heavy kids go up a lot. 

bchgrl977

No, kids are huge these days. My two look malnourished compared to their school mates. I only feed my kids good healthy meals. Most people feed their kids junk and let the veg in front of TV or video games. I make mine play outside. It makes me physically sick to see some of the kids in our area. It's bad. 

emiliemadison

Nope, not even close.

gracendantho26

I remember a few chubbers. DH was fat, they called him "paper weight", then he shot up 10 inches and has not been fat since...in fact he's much slimmer than most 37 year old guys I know. My son is a little chubbers (and he has little moobs), DH says he looks *just* like he did when he was  a kid, and I know he'll be tall too. My kid has actually been called fat by other kids. Real nice! Wonder where they get that it's okay to call people fat to their faces? But I know that my kid plays a TON outside and I'm pretty anal about food so I guess he's just destined to be this way until he grows taller. I do try to be very mindful because he's prone to easy weight gain. My DD on the other hand is a bean pole.

 Here's DS

gracendantho26

bchgrl977:

No, kids are huge these days. My two look malnourished compared to their school mates. I only feed my kids good healthy meals. Most people feed their kids junk and let the veg in front of TV or video games. I make mine play outside. It makes me physically sick to see some of the kids in our area. It's bad. 

Wow! I guess you are just the picture of perfection..move over Mother Teresa!

KoriBrett

ahh no.

More processed foods, more ways to veg at the tv/computer (hell I knew ONE person with a computer back in 1978whatever*cough*.  More double working parents, or single parents, less time to do stuff, cook stuff, etc.

ppl can be whatever size they want, just don't make me wear 70s plaid again mmkay?  tanks :-)

erin1102

Think about it, our food supply has been chemically engineered to grow bigger, better, faster.  Take chicken for example, everything from their egg cycle to breeding to growth has been modified to be done faster and result fatter birds and in more profits.  Not to mention the soybean (cheap and loaded with GMO's) diet they are fed.

I think a lot of that has to do with our children sprouting breasts at 10 years old and some of the obesity issues.

JOEBunny

Nope.  The daycare behind my house is chock full of the largest kids I have ever seen.  It is really sad. 

Here are a couple of studies for you.

Among pre-school age children 2-5 years of age, obesity increased from 5 to 10.4% between 1976-1980 and 2007-2008 and from 6.5 to 19.6% among 6-11 year olds.  Among adolescents aged 12-19, obesity increased from 5 to 18.1% during the same period.^{1, 46}

https://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/2009.2012

This is adults, where you can see that it isn't new to be overweight, but that Obesity is on the rise

There is a strong correlation between obese parents and obese kids.

 

JOEBunny

erin1102:

Think about it, our food supply has been chemically engineered to grow bigger, better, faster.  Take chicken for example, everything from their egg cycle to breeding to growth has been modified to be done faster and result fatter birds and in more profits.  Not to mention the soybean (cheap and loaded with GMO's) diet they are fed.

I think a lot of that has to do with our children sprouting breasts at 10 years old and some of the obesity issues.

The second study I posted would seem to disprove this, since all of this stuff has continued to increase, while obesity rates have plateued. 

EliseB0323

bchgrl977:

No, kids are huge these days. My two look malnourished compared to their school mates. I only feed my kids good healthy meals. Most people feed their kids junk and let the veg in front of TV or video games. I make mine play outside. It makes me physically sick to see some of the kids in our area. It's bad. 

You are so awesome -- clearly superior to "most people."

EliseB0323

Just to throw this out there (and no, I don't have "stats"), but the obesity rate in adults has actually leveled off in some states, and decreased in a couple of them (Washington, DC, for example.)

And people generally eat MORE fruits and veggies now than they did 20-30 years ago, because they are more readily available. The problem is crappy food is also more readily available, and the accepted portion size has grown.

REOM

No, kids are definitely bigger.  I think a lot of it is due to HFCS.  It was really mainstreamed in the 80's, and we are seeing the effects of overconsumption now. 

I love people who get 'physically ill' by looking at kids aren't as perfect as theirs

EliseB0323

REOM:

No, kids are definitely bigger.  I think a lot of it is due to HFCS.  It was really mainstreamed in the 80's, and we are seeing the effects of overconsumption now. 

I love people who get 'physically ill' by looking at kids aren't as perfect as theirs

I agree with the HFCS thing.

And the "physically ill" thing.

peekaboo716

No. The rates is kids is increasing. In fact, I just was watching the news the other night and there is a retailer that has started a plus-sized children's line in response to the increased number of overweight and obese children.

shouldbworkin

I remember one kid with love handles when I was a kid on swim team.  I'd never seen love handles before.  And, there may have been one over weight kid in my class. 

snickerdoodle27

My friend and I were talking about the other day. I told her how sad I am for kids who are overweight at such a young age. They're just being set up for problems later on. My dh was heavier when he was younger, b/c he's short too, and he said he was teased a lot. He played sports and by the time he reached high school they left him alone, b/c he could have taken on any of them! But he was by no means obese. I think nowadays kids are just lazier. Parents don't cook as much and get take out or fast food, or prepackaged meals. With schools taking recess and sports away, kids don't have that outlet anymore. Sometimes I don't feel like taking ds outside as much as he wants, but then I realize that he's active and this is a good thing. I'd much rather him run and play than sit inside in front of TV and eat all day.

belle204

I was a fat kid so I know what it's like and it makes me sad. But, a skinny kid isn't nec any healthier, kwim? The ones I saw seemed comfortable with themselves and that's a good thing. I just hope they thin out as they get older.

Scooter359

Not at all. But girls weren't as voluptuous At such a young age either, which I suppose go hand in hand.