specialist help to get children to do sport?
just enroll them to a club and bring them there.
and expecially change your eating habits!
is it that difficult?

Surprise, surprise, obese children. Parents need to be held accountable, but getting them a specialist? Mother asked for help in "broken Dutch"...Not a Dutch citizen?

Kids are under stress as adults. Obesity is notjust of food. Hashimoto's disease, Graves can turn body to odd shape. One should start by blood test, continue with activity. Sport can kill obese child if it is done without long preparation- eassy walks etc.

Ahhh, "in broken Dutch".

I think that says it all...

Growing up in the late 60s/early 70s we spent all our free time outdoors. We played football, hide & seek, races etc.
We burned off exess energy every day.
Looking at friends with young children they (the kids) spend most of their free time on the computer. It may be entertaining but it doesn't burn callories the way playing outdoors would .
I have several friends with young children & for most of those kids the only exercise they get is PT at school!
This change in how children spend their free time is (imo) the major problem which we have to address.

According to the TNO research institute, about 3,000 twelve year olds in the Netherlands are obese. Why were these 3 children put under official social work supervision and not the tens of thousands of other obese children in the Netherlands?

That's exactly what I thought too, CW.

Is it a cardinal sin to be overweight in Holland? As for the broken Dutch indicating a foreigner? Fat and foreign, lethal combination! And the Dutch football team threatens to walk off the pitch at the first sign of racism? Do I detect double standards? Mijn nederlands is ook niet goed!

I totally agree with you donaugh.but the ractions from CW and company, what exactly are you trying to say? because your xenophobic generalisation without any valid comment, sust belies your narrow minded ignorance. Obese kids exist the world over, the British, being one of the worst!@ stupid, lol, you could'nt have picked a better name!

Part of the message from the government is that it is neglect that results in obesity. In the same vein, if you are obese yourself, your medical cover rates should increase - since it's all your own fault?

Xenophobic generalizations? No, merely experience. Bureaucrats have been trained in many cases to treat immigrants like disobedient children. I had to put up with it in my inburgeringscursus, gemeente and the IND. In other words, I am married to a Dutchman, so hardly Xenophobic.

Perhaps ask for a clarification before foaming at the mouth and insulting people?

BTW, neither one of us is British, so what's your point?

@Andy, what has the Dutch football team got to do with social workers. A typical reaction picking two completely unrelated facts just to prove something.

By the way, a bmi of 34,4 means that this 13 years old kid probably weighs 100 kilo.

A lot of people here seem confident of their ability to speak perfect Dutch. So why are you reading Dutch news in English?

It's too easy to blame the immigrant parents without any medical testing. I'm an obese person not fluent in Dutch ... and the problem is medical, not a result of diet or lifestyle. And getting help for it is like pulling teeth. I can't exercise at all without becoming extremely ill for a week or two afterward, and I got one visit with a dietician who told me to eat just like a normal Dutch person, even though I can problem only use a fraction of the calories.

The parents WANT help. Stop judging them.

Why the mention of 'broken Dutch ' ?
Why is it even vaguely relevant to the story ? Don't perfect Dutch speakers get fat ? Am I missing the point ???

Over feed and under exercised. Not only have portion sizes increased steadily over the last decade, but so has access to fast food. When I was a kid we'd get Mc Donalds once a year! The parents of obese children are more than likely obese themselves. The fact is these parents choose to ignore the health impacts of the foods they eat and feed to their children. Surely this borders on abuse! If nothing else, it's a lack of respect for a Childs life that they are solely responsible for. I realy feel sorry for these kids who don't have a choice.

Apparently not, Kat. I remember one of those studies a few years ago in which they blamed immigrants for causing an increase of the average weight of people living here...

I used to half-jokingly say "hey if tall skinny people are going to keep breeding with tall skinny people, of course you're going to keep having tall skinny people, no matter how much potatoes, bread and cheese you eat!"

But I know from experience that as soon as an expat or immigrant move here and adopts a Dutch diet, their weight goes up. They can blame us all they want, but I still think DNA influences their body shapes to a large degree...