obesity in children
 

Because of the rise in the number of obese children the goverment of Ontario Canada is now making a stand. So as of Sept it is mandatory in all elementary schools for children to exercise for a mimimum of 20 mins per day, this is above gym and recesses. So the way it was explained to me is that the teachers have to come up with a work out routine that the kids can do in the classroom. I was curious as to what you make of this as I believe that obesity in children is high in the UK also. I have mixed feelings I think it is important that children learn the importance of exercise and healthy eating but I think education is important to. My four children are all very active and eat very well that is because as a parent I see that as my role. I think I would rather have my children being taught those 2hrs per week as opposed to exercising.What do you think?

Re: obesity in children
 

I think that it is reasonable to give kids extra exercise in schools but this should not be at the expense of their education. If they want the kids to have 20 minutes exercise then the school day should be 20 minutes longer or the lunch break 20 minutes shorter.

Re: obesity in children
 

I think they should have lunchtime compulsory hopscotch & skipping for the girls. How often do you see that in playgrounds now? I would also have compulsory footy for the boys. I seem to recall that when I was a 7 year old we played world war 2 stuff...messersmidts and spitfires. That kept you pretty fit, running around the playground shooting each other up. These days I suppose it would be Israeli F-16s and Hezbazollah rocket launchers.

Re: obesity in children
 

i heard on the radio today about children getting asbos for playing football in the street

now with no decent parks and no ball games sighns on every piece of grass around its no wonder kids dont get half tehe exercise we did when younger

personaly i think anyone dialing 999 to report kids playing football in the street should be locked in the cells for 24 hours for wasting police time :mad:

i wouldnt mind but half the idiots that ring up the police reporting children probably played football , kerby etc when they were young

i remeber a few months ago that a man and his 2 year old son were served with an asbo for kicking the ball along the pavement to each other because neighbours complained

Re: obesity in children
 

Sadly because of all the electronic stuff for the kids these days they all have very little imaginations, let's face it a game of hopscotch or elastics is pretty boring comapared to all the fancy toys now.I can't respond about them playing football on the street having not lived there for 18yrs but here the kids all play street hockey and I couldn't imagine anyone phoning the police. 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.

Re: obesity in children
 

It is sad that kids cant play on a street when there are no other places to go. Was the "nieghbour who did the "grassing" on them not a child once or did they grow up in a home that was like a prison. One way to stay healthy is to give them a bike but unfortunately most roads are too dangerous for that activity. Then there is swimming at the sports centre or is there a whole set of rules stopping this? Maybe it is uncool to be running around like kids should because of what society has become?

Re: obesity in children
 

Re: obesity in children
 

I agree that for parents it is difficult to feed them healthy with all the conveniance foods that are available. I do not agree with putting any child on a "diet" unless doctor recommended, what I do think though is that as a parent you can encourage and model healthy eating. I do the shopping so as the Mum I am responsible for what I buy and what foods are prepared.Don't misunderstand me , my kids do eat some sweets and crisps but will also eat a healthy salad for their tea. It is sometimes easier to make subtle changes rather than a crash diet.

Re: obesity in children
 

Well there are some kids who like salad Busman my young niece loves it the only snag is the "emissions" as a result of all this good food. :eek:

Re: obesity in children
 

look, all this talk is total rubbish, pysical activity, pe, gym has always been part of the education system because it is part of being educated They will be educated, for two hours in how to keep themselves fit and active.

Also we had two breaks 'play time' and lunch too. We spent that walking around in the later years, and playing british bulldog in the earlier years.

It's about time this country went back to the way of thinking that kids health is part of the education system, and so is teaching right from wrong. Too many bloody do gooder wanting to 'improve' everything or give kids 'rights' that are detrimental to their well being.
It scares me cos these people will be looking after me if I live that long. when I'm 70 kids being born now will be 35 yr old carers, what am i gonna do, get up and go to the front door cos they are so fat they can't fit though it.

Re: obesity in children
 

Madhatter you are right that pe has always been part of the education system but the post was about the fact that in Ontario they are saying an additional 20mins a day. So my kids will have gym twice a week, music twice a week, two 15min breaks as well as lunch and now another 20mins per day doing some form of exercise in the classroom. I just feel that I would rather have my kids being taught academics as opposed to fitness. Judging by one of the other post about how some kids struggle struggle doing basic maths I think it says it all. I know that this additional exercise is not practised in UK schools but you never know they may implement it at some point.

Re: obesity in children
 

You should be worrying about how they are wasting the academics teaching time that they do get Magily.
Personally I think the school should be doing something with them during morning break instead of this, or extend one of the gym classes.
Also If it's needed with two gym classses a week I'd be asking questions as to what they do in these gym classes.

I think your looking at it from the wrong angle.

Re: obesity in children
 

I am totally confused with your reply. Why do you think that I am looking at it from the wrong angle? I do not have a problem with the academics that my kids are being taught at the moment, I just have a problem with my child doing jumping jacks as opposed to times tables.

Re: obesity in children
 

Twenty minutes a day exercising in lesson time? That is ludicrous. Far better to ban parking within 200 yards of the school, to discourage the idle parents and children who won't walk that far, and have compulsary games lessons.

In the ''bad old days'' of discipline, when I was at Primary School not long after the war, we had to line up in the playground to march into school at the end of each break. This march was often preceded by 2 minutes of star-jumps or toe-touching, instigated by ex-service teachers who believed in fitness. P E lessons often consisted of ''drill'', quick-marching, running-on-the-spot etc., or running and jumping round the draughty hall, and we had games twice a week. Playtime was outside in all weathers and if kids hung around, inactive, they were made to run a circuit of the playground by the teacher on duty.

All that activity, combined with a fairly austere diet due to rationing (''Eat your greens or you'll go hungry'') and the lack of private transport so you had to walk to school, meant there was little obesity.

Re: obesity in children
 

Thank you west ender, I also think it is ludicrous. This is to start in Sept because of the concerns regarding obese children. I honestly think it is some of the parents that need educating on health issues not the kids.

Re: obesity in children
 

I think rather than concentrating on the angle of they shouldn't do it because they should be learning accademics, you should be looking at it from the angle of why aren't they getting enough exercise in the gym lessons, what are they doing in their gym lessons and why aren't they using their brake times to get them active. If you find out that the gym lessons are being used correctly then then they should be getting enough from the hour a week, plus the breaks. That is unless they let kids sit about on pc's in their breaks.

Re: obesity in children
 

Now I understand where you are coming from. I can only speak regarding my children's school, gym is similar to what we did at school, organized games, races etc... My son plays football at all his breaks, my daughter skips and runs around. In winter as there is snow on the ground most of the time they are out building forts, slides etc.. I think that the goverment see that in general kids do not get enough exercise, hence the higher levels of obesity so this is a way to promote healthier lifestyle. I personally feel that today we live in a world of conveniance, so parents tend to give their kids processed foods and then the kids play computer games or tv for hours on end. Lets face it when we were growing up we had kids tv from 3.30pm till 6pm now there is 24hr cartoons etc..

Re: obesity in children
 

Part of the solution coul be to re educate the parents. Unfortunately both sets of parents work full time and find the easiest way to feed the kids and keep them quiet.

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To keep it realistic do you have to run a lot faster than when you played as a spitfire?

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Nope they get to pedel a winged bike like a maddy. :eek:

Re: obesity in children
 

Obesity is a tricky subject. Blackburn with darwen council weighed kids in class as part of pioneering scheme and my friend's daughter who is a large girl came home crying from her school after being teased

Re: obesity in children
 

Another case of schools being insensitive. What did they do line them up like in a dinner queue so that all the others could here the results? Kids should not have to face that it could give them a complex and drive some to trying to loose wieght at a dangerous rate.

Re: obesity in children
 

Yes, and her parents then probably gave her a bag of crisps to make her feel better!

Re: obesity in children
 

Lets be honest, in this day and age with everything we know about Obesity, fitness and health, healthy eating, exercise etc, unless you have a thyroid problem there is no excuse for being obese. Its a choice and put what ever excuse you want on it, my kids won' eat this, they don't like that, all you are doing is pandering to their whims and when it gets out of hand then its the schools fault because they don't have enough games, gym etc or the teachers fault for not educating them on nutrition. It starts at home when they are young, plonking them in front of the telly while you do your chores, stuffing them with sweets to shut them up, making what they want for dinner and tea, which they saw on the telly and hey it only takes a couple of minutes to heat up a burger and chips and then you can get back to Corry.

Re: obesity in children
 

Very scathing comment for you Gayle - how would you know that without knowing the girl's parents!

Re: obesity in children
 

Quite right, and those parents could be extremely responsible parents who always try to encourage the child to eat apples or equally the child may have some medical problems that makes her overweight. I could well have been totally wrong about it but I'll bet I wasn't the only one thinking it.

I think the school probably handled it incorrectly but if she was teased about her weight after being weighed then I'll guess she was being teased before she was weighed at school already.

Re: obesity in children
 

Obesity is a multifaceted problem....and needs a multifaceted approach.
Yes, exercise is important....children should also have cookery lessons at some point in the curriculum. I am not talking food technology....I am talking good basic cookery skills. Many children grow up not knowing how to cook a meal from scratch, using good fresh products. Fizzy drinks should be banned in schools and children should be encouraged to drink water.
How many of us older folk were ferried to school each day....I know that I was given the bus fare, but frequently chose not to catch the bus so that I could save this money for other things....like a visit to the pictures on a Saturday....so I got my exercise by running a couple of miles to school.
We also did competitive sports, cross country running, netball, rounders.
We didn't eat a lot of processed foods......though we did have butter and full cream milk...we rarely got sweets and hardly ever saw fizzy drinks.

I know mothers who send their children to school with a well balanced lunch box, but the children ditch the healthy food in favour of a bag of chips....so you can give the child a healthy diet..... but it doesn't mean they will eat it.