I think eating habits slip into your life and in general all parents want to be healthy and give their children the best. I have 5 children and work full time. None of them are overweight and xbox/playstations have never been allowed in bedrooms or on during week unless raining. Eldest 2 were boarders for last 3 years of their schooling and didnt gain weight and same should apply for the younger 3.
Due to new curriculums at primary/secondary schools, computer time is a necessity every night but I am in control of it as I pay the bills.
Being single, I have a fridge with pizza coupons on it, lol. I also have frozen junk not just for them. It is always about moderation.

I do believe that takeaways are more upfront and allow children to be responsible not just the parents. Lets face it kids are easy until they reach the age of independence.

I do not agree with the one in four australian children being overweight and would like those figures to be broken down into trouble spots. I rarely see an overweight child, and out of 350 primary children, I would hazzard an exaggerated guess that 4 of them are in an overweight situation where I am located.
My 10 year old son is not overweight but can gain weight easily. He can play sports and run around for 1/2 hours a day and all weeken and still be 3/5 kilos overweight. Stomach weight.

I believe that the new active programmes in schools will help the young ones learn to play team/solo sports, gain confidence and find something they like out of all the activities they learn. If they can focus on confidence and getting a reward out of doing sports it will help children who are not born atheletes not to give up later.

I would if I could but I cant so I wont is my lazy motto and I need to change that. Maybe when it gets warmer....

Chindia,
I believe the problem starts the day a child is born. The poor thing is bombarded with a plethora of needles, supposedly to guard against every conceivable affliction known to man. ( It is still a very "grey" area as to exactly what effects all these needles cumulutively have upon a growing child?)
We then have the situation in the home where the child is growing up. Both parents are, (if the child is "lucky" enough to have both parents in the home) generally working to service a mortgage or to service the cost of a very materialistic lifestyle, thus the child is "farmed" out to a Child Care Centre, relative or child-minder and is influenced for a large part of the day by an outsider instead of the parent.
Society and the attitudes of society plays a very large part in the upbringing of the child, thus the child learns very quickly all the bad things in life, and there are many, that are practiced detrimentally by its peer group.
Television certainly does little to help children as the commercial channels are absolutly devastating with the amount and quality of ads, (so many focus on junk food!). Children being what they are tend NOT to watch educational programmes, but prefer violent and rubbishy themes, similar to their peer groups.
Another "grey" area is in the food that we are consuming. It seems that virtually every single consumable item of food contains some form of chemical that is dangerous to us in one way or another,...consider the short period of time that today`s fruit and vegetables last before dissolving into 'slush',....the amount of preservatives, pesticides and antibiotics etc that we are now consuming.
We have become a lazy race opting for the easiest way to do everything and if we continue down this path, eventually evolution will see our legs waste away and become useless!

I don't blame fast food for the obesity epidemic as much as I blame technology in general. I grew up in the 50's & 60's and life for my generation was a lot more active then compared to now. We were always outside come sunshine or rain. We rode a bike or walked everywhere. We ran, laughed and played, sometimes in a rough and tumble kind of way, boy's, girls and toddlers all together, all covered in grime, most with skinned knees. No over-protection with our lot.

But that was back in the industrial age where dad worked to provide enough money for our daily needs. "Wants" were few and far between. Mum stayed home, but had an extended family of friends and relative/visitors to keep socially satisfied. Then society began to change. Industry and hard work gave way to machines that took the jobs of laborers. EG: Instead of a track laying gang, we now have giant machines to lay sleepers, rails and pack the ballast. Hand tools have given over to labor saving devices and whole generations of workers have been displaced as a result.

On top of that we have what I refer to as Sick Society Syndrome (SSS). SSS manifests itself as a society where slow motion shots of bullets passing through flesh fills our prime time viewing. Mind numbing reality TV shows dull our senses. Because of what we watch on TV, we're too scared to send our kids out into the street to play and those who get their ideas from the TV take full advantage of those fears. So mum drives her kids everywhere in an over sized "status symbol" called an SVU (American speak, once again from the TV).

SSS manifests itself in countless thousands of other ways, but I'm running out of word space. Then again, maybe I'm simply getting too old for this brave new World?

I was never apart of that generation, but technology sure has taken over. Kids sit inside on the computer and playing games more than over. I try my best to condemn but its quite inevitable, there are internet cafes everywhere. I understand u completely Aimee, your not too old lol.

Hello and new to this but have opinions on everything health related.
Overweight comes of too much input and not enough output. I agree with others who said plenty of lard sandwiches were eaten in the 'old days' and well, they needed it because with that fatty intake was the output of play. Yes play. So sad the generation now don't 'play'. My brother and I (70s kids), spent half the day long climbing trees and making up games with a single solitary tennis ball. We were ACTIVE. Parents need to put a finger on the off button of the PC and TV. Who rules the household anyway. Who pays the bills.
Digressing, diets do not work. The body puts itself into 'starvation' mode and will slow metabolism down if it senses the person isn't eating well enough. A vicious cycle of weight fluctuations can only come of it. Something to think about. Output has to be greater than intake. Fullstop

Dieting is becoming less and less common. What are the good dieting companies out there? Has anyone here had any experience with them?