[Busman747]

Originally Posted by magily

After watching Jamie Olivers school dinners there is no doubt that kids need educating regarding healthy eating and exercise but lets be honest it has to come from the parents.

Yes, it should come from the parents, but often it is not as easy as that.

I have two lovely step-daughters aged 12 and 15. The eldest is slim and fit, but the youngest already has a major weight problem. They both eat the same meals and enjoy the same activities (2 hours Irish dancing each week, they come out pretty kna****ed) They walk part way to school most mornings and the same in the evening, so why are they so different?

Their mother (Willow) is well over-weight, she acknowledges this and tries so hard to lose the pounds - - but how do you explain to a 12 year old that she faces major problems in the near future if her eating habits are not changed?

At the moment, there is no incentive for her to lose weight, her health is good, no interest in boys (or very little.) We "dabble" in foods that are low calorie but BOTH the girls hate it Is it fair to put one sister on a low calorie (horrible) diet while the other enjoys normal food, or do we put BOTH on a strict diet which will cause resentment from the older sister.

In our particular instance, I think that the best solution would be for the school to "round up" all the over-weight kids and use their teaching skills to educate these youngsters so that one day (dream ) she would come home from school and say: "Mum, can I have a salad tonight?"

I expect the reply to be that we should concentrate on the youngest, put her on a diet - - and put up with the screaming, but anyone that has brought up teenage girls will probably agree that there is more than enough screaming and tears from them without this additional problem.