[user104658]

Originally Posted by the truth

millions of parents dont take their kids outdoors enough nor do they feed them well enough
which is a national disgrace and the social services , schools perhaps even the police in extreme cases, should step in more often
these parents are bums

First though the people IN those roles need to be educated about what is and isn't healthy for children. I'm not disputing that there are parents who are outright negligent and their kids are lacking in daylight exposure because they're sat indoors all of the time, and lacking in nutrition because they're fed freezer junk cooked in a microwave.

However, the "health" mindset of the government, schools and social services is still that:

- Kids should be head to toe in sunscreen before going out in the sun and...

- Kids should be packed full of fruit, vegetables and whole grains and low-fat spreads and avoid fatty red meat and dairy.


This is making kids unwell. You can have your kids outdoors all day, but if they're caked in factor 50 it's going to seriously limit any benefit, and sun exposure is the single best way to ensure sufficient Vitamin D production, regardless of diet.

Secondly, Vit D is a fat-soluble vitamin and kids need to be getting plenty of good saturated fats (meats & dairy mostly, but also things like avocado, coconut oil, olive oil) in order to get the full benefit. But saturated fat was demonised years ago and parents still believe they're doing the "right" thing by using half-fat milk, Flora instead of butter, limiting high fat meats, encouraging high consumption of vegetables and wholegrain carbs. Even EGGS are still feeling the heat from "health concerns" that are several decades out of date.

But the parents who dutifully break out the sunscreen bottle, or pile plates high with veg instead of meat, or offer apple juice instead of full fat milk, are not being neglectful or bad parents; in fact they believe they're doing the right / responsible thing. It's because outdated information is being passed through the years. The social services, the NHS (health visitors, midwives), the media... all peddling misinformation. I am inclined to say that it's part of parental duty to ensure that you ARE knowledgeable about these things but... let's face it, most people live their entire lives in a bubble.

So how do you solve that problem? How do you convince parents who wholeheartedly believe that they've been doing the right thing by their children for years that they have actually been risking their health? You CAN'T! It's impossible. Defence mechanisms go up and people refuse to listen, because they can't handle feeling "wrong" or "judged", so they just carry on as ever.