U.K schools to send letters home to parents of obese kids!!

[shropshire 0]

W.T.F... So who's stupid enough to need a letter to tell that their kid is fat?

Nanny State, or what?


clicky

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Casurf1978 0]

Maybe it'll piss off the parents into doing something. Hell we should do that here in the states. Just look at the following data from the CDC:

http://origin.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/economic_consequences.htm

[AWL71 0]

I don't know how it is in the UK but here in the states there are quite a few shit parents that think it is the school's responsibility to raise their children. So if the kid is obese then the school should do something about it. I don't subscribe to that theory. It is a shame a parent has to be told their kid is obese. More than likely the parent does not care and the kid eats when and where they want.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

[shropshire 0]

Actually, I can see the point (ish)...

If a kid was under nourished then the parents would be done for child abuse..... but not if the kid is overweight.

But... it's really not the schools job (ummmm Good question).





P.S Interesting to compare the replies to both yours and my posts....

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[freeflybella 0]

Quote

He added that more would need to be done in schools to in terms of the nutrition of the meals and participation in physical education.

While it is certainly NOT the schools job to "raise" our kids - we ARE required to send our kids into schools for a very significant portion of their lives.

It disgusts me to think that parents absolve themselves of the responsibility of raising their children because it's more convenient to blame others...

But it also disgusts me that kids are required to sit still for hours and hours, not required to participate in physical activity and are offered junk food and processed food all day.

Send a letter to the parents? Fine. It might be a wake up call for lazy/neglectful parents. It is a health issue after all. But make damn sure there aren't coke machines in that school, too.

Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

[kelpdiver 2]

"Meanwhile it emerged that membership fees on public gyms could soon rise as a result of VAT being added to the costs following a court case in Scotland."

Nice.

And really, what's the fucking point of telling parents their kids are fat if they're not prepared to offer solutions. Is PE mandatory in high school, or only for a portion of the years? If you want to accomplish something, you mandate first period PE for the overweight kids and then you work em.

[AWL71 0]

Quote

Quote

He added that more would need to be done in schools to in terms of the nutrition of the meals and participation in physical education.

While it is certainly NOT the schools job to "raise" our kids - we ARE required to send our kids into schools for a very significant portion of their lives.

It disgusts me to think that parents absolve themselves of the responsibility of raising their children because it's more convenient to blame others...

But it also disgusts me that kids are required to sit still for hours and hours, not required to participate in physical activity and are offered junk food and processed food all day.

Send a letter to the parents? Fine. It might be a wake up call for lazy/neglectful parents. It is a health issue after all. But make damn sure there aren't coke machines in that school, too.

Good points. Schools are not blameless. In the area where I live some elementary schools have done away with recess. That is crap. Kids need a chance to stretch their legs during an 8 hour school day. And the food they serve in the lunchrooms is beyond crap. Surely they can make food that is edible. I would be willing to pay more for luches for my kids if they were edible. Most of the times my kids pack a lunch since the food in the lunchroom is so crappy.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

[jakee 1,257]

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W.T.F... So who's stupid enough to need a letter to tell that their kid is fat?

Nanny State, or what?


clicky

Great! I fully support any measure to make the little chubbers and their fat fucking parents wake up and smell the BO

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[shropshire 0]

I agree... the p[roblem is (over here, at least) kids are not allowed (probably too strong) to be competitive.... Not allowed to lose races or games of any kind - It's DAFT - IMHO.

Me and our kid used to run around a punch the shite out of each other..... never hurt us and we were never over weight (as kids)

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[freeflybella 0]

Quote

I agree... the p[roblem is (over here, at least) kids are not allowed (probably too strong) to be competitive.... Not allowed to lose races or games of any kind - It's DAFT - IMHO.

Me and our kid used to run around a punch the shite out of each other..... never hurt us and we were never over weight (as kids)

Totally...that is my major issue with school systems in general. Kids spending 6-8 hours sitting in class with little to no physical activity, vending machines, crappy cafeteria food, no seatbelts on buses, etc. My son (while only 2 - but I'll bet many kids, at any age, are the same) learns more by doing than he does by reading/memorizing/watching. There should be a balance.

If the government is going to require that it have my kid in it's care for a large portion of the day - it better really care for my kid.

That doesn't mean that I expect schools to 'raise' my kid.

Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

[JohnRich 4]

How come you're always picking on England?

America's got fat kids too, you know.

In fact, there are more fat kids in America than in England, and until England's fat-kid numbers reach the proportions of America, then they just shouldn't worry about it.

[shropshire 0]

Caught out by a master - cheers Sir


Society has kind of brought this on it's self. When I was a kid... if you did anything wrong ... ANY adult would give you grief for it.... Now everyone is so busy minding their own business and turning away from problems. EDIT : Sorry, not sure what this has to do with my own OP.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[ExAFO 0]

If I were a Brit, I'd sooner pay the (however many pence a letter is in the UK) postage to guilt the fat shit into dropping a few tons than pay for the NHS to give the waste of space bypass surgery 20 years down the line, or diabetes treatment...

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[shropshire 0]

aye..... if it works, which I'm not sure (yet) if it will.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Andy9o8 0]

Sometimes it takes a mass public education campaign to raise awareness of - and then modify prevailing attitudes about - certain public health issues. The reduction in rates of smoking in much of the developed world over the past 50 years might be one example of that. So, if a little school-based public education about rising obesity might have a similar salutary effect, I'd say it's worth it.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Sometimes it takes a mass public education campaign to raise awareness of - and then modify prevailing attitudes about - certain public health issues. The reduction in rates of smoking in much of the developed world over the past 50 years might be one example of that. So, if a little school-based public education about rising obesity might have a similar salutary effect, I'd say it's worth it.

But they're not educating - they're just saying the obvious - your kid is fat.

The ill effects of smoking are much easier to show. Diabetes and strokes (the silent killer) don't demonstrate as well as lung cancer.

[DZJ 0]

I'm not sure how much good will be done by sending Mr and Mrs Chubbybutttocks a letter telling them their darling is a wobbling little bloater, but given how many schools send constant streams of pointless 'newsletters', I suppose this might be a worthwhile exercise.

[Royd 0]

Has anybody noticed that if the the child's head is the size of a pumpkin, so is the parent's, and the the dog can hardly walk?

[ExAFO 0]

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"...Mr and Mrs Chubbybutttocks..."

Why am I laughing my ass off thinking of this phrase spoken by someone with an upperclass London accent?

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[DZJ 0]

One cannot imagine why you would chortle so heartily...

[ExAFO 0]

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One cannot imagine why you would chortle so heartily...

Indeed. it is a riddle wrapped in an enigma, all covered by cheddar cheese sauce and salsa.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[vortexring 0]

With all the points made being taking into account, I think a point worth mentioning is that poor people tend to be generally fatter than more well off people - especially when it comes to their children.

I think they initially noticed this in America, and basically the reasons revolved around a cheap, nutrionally lacking diet. Considering cheap foods tend to be full of sugars and fats this was a significant reason for all the fat f....sorry, people.

Lack of nutritional awareness and being idle were of course, significant factors too.

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[jakee 1,257]

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But they're not educating - they're just saying the obvious - your kid is fat.

Depends how it's worded.

Lots of parents know that their kids are overweight but either don't think they're "that bad" or that it "isn't a problem".

So if they get a letter saying that their little darling already weighs more than most members of the England Rugby squad, has the body fat percentage of a pork scratching, is in severe danger of not making it past his mid forties without both a heart bypass and gastric surgery, and will never see his own dick without the aid of several strategically plavced mirrors and they might start to take notice.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[vortexring 0]

At the very least, it's a timely reminder that they're not exactly looking after their children isn't it?

'for it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.'

[ExAFO 0]

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At the very least, it's a timely reminder that they're not exactly looking after their children isn't it?

Perhaps post their picture on www.uglypeople.com?

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.