Overweight, low-IQ kids 'a wake-up call for society'

[Crushdepth]

I read a few years ago that diabetes would be the number one problem in Thailand based on the amount of sugar used in nearly everything they eat and drink.

Its not just a Thais it's happening all over the world with the kids and the internet games which they play for hours on end when they could be out playing and exercising and unfortunately parents are using these games to act as babysitters when they should be encouraging the kids to take up a sport.

Shame with the obesity with all the great healthy food that's available in

That's if they don't keel over from heart disease first from eating fried in recycled palm oil gloop 3 times a day, everyday. Plus snacks.

[wolfmanjack]

And can I just ask what this nonsense about drinking milk is all about?

Milk only provides the resources for strength in bones and other parts requiring calcium. It does not raise IQ, make one taller, slimmer ... where on earth do you people get these folk-remedy ideas?

seems a lot of readers tend to believe the milk mentioned is cowmilk.

No . .if THAIS write about "milk" and in terms of school-distributed milk, they mean SOYMILK.

Ever seen the tens-of-thousands of Lactosoy containers in the supermarkets ?? The small 80ml boxes with a plastic straw ?

Soymilk has indeed very different nutritional values than cowmilk . . . . plus the minerals added, soymilk makes a little good for the many mistakes most parents commit in feeding their kids.

I have no container at hand at the moment to certify, but I think they add minerals like iodium and calcium to the soymilk. Both minerals are said to have a positive effect on brain growth.

But since the elementary thai school system is so profoundedly in disfavour for children, nobody really learns anything useful, which keeps distorting the overall picture of the average IQ in Thailand. If you stick together with people that had a foreign school education or been abroad for studying, you would see them en par with other nations.

The milk my kids bring home from school is not soy milk. They do not drink soy milk.

This article and study was sponsored by foremost which is the brand of cows milk that I buy for my family as it seems to taste better than the other brands i have tried.

[MaxYakov]

It's a society that lives largely hand-to-mouth, day to day and cannot or will not visualize, plan for, educate for or work for a secure and safe future.

[Oziex1]

I read a few years ago that diabetes would be the number one problem in Thailand based on the amount of sugar used in nearly everything they eat and drink.

Its not just a Thais it's happening all over the world with the kids and the internet games which they play for hours on end when they could be out playing and exercising and unfortunately parents are using these games to act as babysitters when they should be encouraging the kids to take up a sport.

Shame with the obesity with all the great healthy food that's available in

Sugar is the new tobacco, as you point out it is in everything. It is also offered as a condiment to be added to food that already contains sugar.

We will eventually discredit Big Sugar as happened with Big Tobacco, but in the meantime they don't give a damn!

[Mister Fixit]

And can I just ask what this nonsense about drinking milk is all about?

Milk only provides the resources for strength in bones and other parts requiring calcium. It does not raise IQ, make one taller, slimmer ... where on earth do you people get these folk-remedy ideas?

If you can get kids drinking more milk and growing stronger muscles and bones, maybe they'll get off the couch floor and do something physical. It's also likely that as they drink more milk, they'll drink less sugar-laden beverages. So, while milk is not the magic bullet for the obesity problem, it's probably a step in the right direction.

And for chrissakes stop deep-frying everything. Even the omelets are deep fried here!

After a lifetime of being allergic to fish, I found some years ago that I could eat it with no problems - immune system finally matured, I suppose!

However, my fiancee fried everything and then I remembered that we have an oven! Now she poaches or bakes the fish with herbs, and I feel 100% better after a meal.

[YeaBiGgiEs]

AS IF the Thai IQ's can get any lower...

Now on a more serious note... Always so quick to run to the government to ban and restrict and create/make or limit our available choices in life rather than take personal responsibility for our choices and lifestyles we live and the results of such.

I've witnessed it myself in the last 8 years of my travels and living here in Thailand, the children are getting bigger, waddeling, big thick legs that are NOT from playing football. Western influence plays a big role in this. Last stats I recall were something like 66% of all Americans are overweight/obese and it was/is only a matter of time especially with the influx of fast food outlets moving into this country. (McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hutb etc) Again, the information is out there, its the choices we as humans are making. You say they are kids? OK fine, whatever % of responsibility you want to remove from the children for the poor eating habits/choices they have made can then be moved over to the adult/parents lack of informing/educating them. The presence and temptations will ALWAYS be in our lives and the information has been at our fingertips for decades now.

In the USA its very difficult to get a good healthy affordable meal yet dozens of fast food chains are conveniently everywhere. Here in Thailand you can walk out your door and within a few meters you can get a healthy, affordable, meal consisting of vegetables, rice and choice of meat whereas you actually have to go out of your way to go to a fast food chain after you have passed literally hundreds of other options.

As for diabetes and sugary foods, once again the information has been out there for decades... High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the MAIN CULPRIT and cause of diabetes. Companies/corporations in business for profit use HFCS because it's way cheaper than sugar hence increased profit. Once again we have profit as first priority over human health. The pancreas is the organ that regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism within the human body and produces insulin to adjust our sugars. The mere spike from the introduction of HFCS overtime literally SHOCKS the pancreas into hyper overdrivecauisng it to fail in producing the insulin needed thus you develop DIABETES. I suppose we could start cloning human pancreas and do transplants as a cure to diabetes. White sugar is better than HFCS, natural sweetners trump them all (ie. honey)

Milk? Sure is good for babies for calcium and bone development but overtime you really should steer away from milk. Why would you want to continuously drink something that turns a 90lb calf into a 1200# adult cow? Soy/rice milks are a healthy alternative.

Edited June 8, 2014 by YeaBiGgiEs

[Briggsy]

Research produced by milk manufacturer!!!!!

Where are the peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals?? Nowhere. Why? Because it is Thailand.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Briggsy

[Thai at Heart]

I read a few years ago that diabetes would be the number one problem in Thailand based on the amount of sugar used in nearly everything they eat and drink.

Its not just a Thais it's happening all over the world with the kids and the internet games which they play for hours on end when they could be out playing and exercising and unfortunately parents are using these games to act as babysitters when they should be encouraging the kids to take up a sport.

Shame with the obesity with all the great healthy food that's available in

Sugar is the new tobacco, as you point out it is in everything. It is also offered as a condiment to be added to food that already contains sugar.

We will eventually discredit Big Sugar as happened with Big Tobacco, but in the meantime they don't give a damn!

This is an absolute truth. Big Sugar is next and deservedly so

[harryfrompattaya]

O M G

How could Thai kids GET a lower I Q ???

The ones around here are as thick as 2 short planks

It maybe the Farang fathers that are lowing the IQ's most drink to much and everyone knowns how stupid they are to have family when they came here to play

Must be true since they constantly fall off balconies in Pattaya.

I can see you are deep think Keep up the good thinking

Edited June 8, 2014 by harryfrompattaya

[sometimewoodworker]

And can I just ask what this nonsense about drinking milk is all about?

Milk only provides the resources for strength in bones and other parts requiring calcium. It does not raise IQ, make one taller, slimmer ... where on earth do you people get these folk-remedy ideas?

seems a lot of readers tend to believe the milk mentioned is cowmilk.

No . .if THAIS write about "milk" and in terms of school-distributed milk, they mean SOYMILK.

Ever seen the tens-of-thousands of Lactosoy containers in the supermarkets ?? The small 80ml boxes with a plastic straw ?

Soymilk has indeed very different nutritional values than cowmilk . . . . plus the minerals added, soymilk makes a little good for the many mistakes most parents commit in feeding their kids.

I have no container at hand at the moment to certify, but I think they add minerals like iodium and calcium to the soymilk. Both minerals are said to have a positive effect on brain growth.

.

Humm Lactosoy good?? Not very, what's in it

Soymilk 89.3% , Sugar 7.0% Whole Milk Powder 2.0% , Vegetable Fat 1.7%

For regular Lactosoy no added minerals

So I litre of Lactosoy has 14 teaspoons of sugar

Edited June 8, 2014 by sometimewoodworker

[Thai at Heart]

And can I just ask what this nonsense about drinking milk is all about?

Milk only provides the resources for strength in bones and other parts requiring calcium. It does not raise IQ, make one taller, slimmer ... where on earth do you people get these folk-remedy ideas?

seems a lot of readers tend to believe the milk mentioned is cowmilk.

No . .if THAIS write about "milk" and in terms of school-distributed milk, they mean SOYMILK.

Ever seen the tens-of-thousands of Lactosoy containers in the supermarkets ?? The small 80ml boxes with a plastic straw ?

Soymilk has indeed very different nutritional values than cowmilk . . . . plus the minerals added, soymilk makes a little good for the many mistakes most parents commit in feeding their kids.

I have no container at hand at the moment to certify, but I think they add minerals like iodium and calcium to the soymilk. Both minerals are said to have a positive effect on brain growth.

.

Humm Lactosoy good?? Not very, what's in it

Soymilk 89.3% , Sugar 7.0% Whole Milk Powder 2.0% , Vegetable Fat 1.7%

For regular Lactosoy no added minerals

So I litre of Lactosoy has 14 teaspoons of sugar

Soy itself is debatable enough as a nutritious product. Soy milk is on a par with HFCS as franken foods go.

[Gandtee]

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

B.S.? I don't think so. Kids who read books or listened to the radio back when I was a kid were not addicted to it. Nowadays the majority of kids seem to have become addicted to hand held electronic devices and to a lesser extent, television. Look around you. Everywhere you look there are kids, and adults with mobile phones stuck to their ears or mesmerized by posted photos of themselves on Facebook. Anytime you are in a restaurant look around you and observe how many diners are indulging in conversation and how many are in their own little world with their phones. Who knows, one day in the future the art of speech will be lost. Certainly the art of written longhand has been diminished. I gave a note written in longhand to a young man to read and he said that he could not read 'joined up writing?' I would suggest that if batteries were unavailable the world would come to an end. Very few people would be able to calculate numbers without a calculator. And none would be able to write using proper language, as the text shorthand has taken over. UR well aware of that. Yes, I'm grumpy, and so should more people be when they observe the decline in social behavior.

[orc]

The milk lobby is fooling people for decades, with success. There are enough studies now that milk is not healthy and one if the reason cancer is more common in western countries.

Some people may be able to consume milk without seriously bad results, its very bad for most. There are to many bad things to list. The protein of course is helpfull to build muscle.and dont believe the calcium thing: the body needs to take more calcium out of your bones to neutralize the metabolism then the milk is bringing.

This study about bad nutrition might be true.milk is just not the solution.

[anon467367354]

Only fascists call for bans.

Damn fascists wanting to ban mercury from vaccines, and DDT from the environment.

screw those fascist anti-GMO and GMO labeling freaks!

what the hell are you talking about?

[Doc Blake]

Eating and drinking hot and cold food and drink out of plastic bags, a totally insane, poisonous idea that should be against the law.

Replacing traditional vegetable filled Thai foods with American and European garbage, out of fast food stores and restaurants.

Totally staying out of the sun to the point of cold weather clothing in the hot sun, wearing hoods and full head covers even when working in the hot sun (that sunlight gives you complete cancer preventing vitamin D, free of charge). With the lame idea (created by ads to sell you creams to turn you white) that you are not pretty unless you are white, BS!

Cooking on Teflon pots and pans (a teflon surface is worthless and poisonous) using metal cooking tools that scrape the teflon into the food (nuts).

Wasting money and health on soda pop, because the ads like coke and pepsi look cool! Those ads look cool because that is where they spend their money the soda might as well be sugar and water for all the good it does you.

Think that vaccinations are healthy for children? America vaccinates their children more then any country in the industrialized world. Yet America's death rate among children 5 years and under is the highest among all industrialized nations.

Happy Healthy Trails

Doc Blake

Ref
World Bank statistics, death rate among children 5 years and under

Edited June 8, 2014 by Doc Blake

[bigbamboo]

OK, so Thai kids may grow up stupid but least they'll be about to throw their weight around.

Plus ca change.

[Bluespunk]

Low IQ kids are a problem all over the world, not just Thailand. IMO, it is because low IQ people over breed.

How does that equate then?

[techboy]

This article is loaded with incomplete and therefore misleading scraps of information, speculation presented as fact and no concrete references to scientific research. Surveys? Give me a break. Example: A nutrition survey financed by the milk industry? Milk is one of the most highly disputed common forms of nutrition- How do you imagine that is skewed.

Ahh- sombody got paid to write that *#@$

[kuiburi]

They want the kids to grow taller , hope the shoe factory's noticed that .

My son will be 14 this year , his shoesize is 44 eurostandard , will be bloody hard to find his size next year.

And about sports , in there school they sport everyday WITH the teachers , even after school they go to sport with there teachers couple a times a

week .

There are about 3 chubby kids in all the school .

Its a small fishing community , with mainly poor people that not have the money to feed there kids Mc Sh*t or Kenfu*ky .

[Bluespunk]

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

B.S.? I don't think so. Kids who read books or listened to the radio back when I was a kid were not addicted to it. Nowadays the majority of kids seem to have become addicted to hand held electronic devices and to a lesser extent, television. Look around you. Everywhere you look there are kids, and adults with mobile phones stuck to their ears or mesmerized by posted photos of themselves on Facebook. Anytime you are in a restaurant look around you and observe how many diners are indulging in conversation and how many are in their own little world with their phones. Who knows, one day in the future the art of speech will be lost. Certainly the art of written longhand has been diminished. I gave a note written in longhand to a young man to read and he said that he could not read 'joined up writing?' I would suggest that if batteries were unavailable the world would come to an end. Very few people would be able to calculate numbers without a calculator. And none would be able to write using proper language, as the text shorthand has taken over. UR well aware of that. Yes, I'm grumpy, and so should more people be when they observe the decline in social behavior.

None the less they do not cause obesity or effect IQ negatively. In fact some of the more challenging problem solving games aid the children's learning skills. Obesity is caused by crap diet and a lack of exercise.

My reference to radio and books was sarcasm, just like "electronic screens" they are things we use, they are not responsible for kids being overweight.

[emilymat]

I'm an old codger, born during WWII and find these type of stories very depressing.

Currently I am reading a 900 page book "The political History of the UK 1945-1999' by Andrew Marr.(sad eh!) Having just completed the period 1945-1955 it states that the health of the British people at that time was almost the highest it had ever been. Yet this was during rationing and lack of most 'luxuries'. People cycled and walked a lot and, us kids, used to be out all day at week-ends and after school. You had to be 'called in' by your mom from the doorstep. We had free basic school meals, milk and a dollop of malt from a big tin.

Now I'm not saying 'the good old days' but there has to be a message there somewhere about exercise and diet.

Some posters, quite rightly, are saying computers I Pad's and the like are not the cause of the obesity. True, but they give modern children a dazzling alternative to what we had - which was nowt really, except "Journey in Space' and 'Dick Barton" on the radio and the Dandy on Tuesday and the Beano on Thursday! (For my American friends - these were comics).

I live in a semi rural spot, but I've never seen a Thai kid climbing a tree for example.

Of course, this is not confined to this country. I know one of the prime 'excuses' that parents will use is 'it's not safe for my child to be outside, better he/she is in front of the TV where I can keep any eye on them'. Maybe it's true, but oh so sad.

Finally, when I was in the bank recently to pay my monthly car instalment of 580 baht, the lady used the calculator to determine the change from a 1000 baht note. Now I know that seems normal but, for heavens sake, is there no mental arithmetic taught in schools any more.

Another poster referred to himself as a grumpy old man and I'm sure that applies to me, so forgive me !

[khunPer]

I instantly raise an eyebrow when I read the second sentance ...

"Citing the increasing problem of malnutrition in Thai children as alarming, the South East Asia Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) research - supported by Foremost milk manufacturer FrieslandCampina - revealed that the main reason for this was a lack of exercise and insufficient nutrients. Hence, children should exercise regularly, eat healthy and drink milk daily."

If I pay for a report ... I'm sure it can say enything I want it to say ... either in Asia or the West.

Many scientific studies show that milk is not that healthy and too fat – milk from cows is for feeding cattle, not children…

[bangon04]

I instantly raise an eyebrow when I read the second sentance ...

"Citing the increasing problem of malnutrition in Thai children as alarming, the South East Asia Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) research - supported by Foremost milk manufacturer FrieslandCampina - revealed that the main reason for this was a lack of exercise and insufficient nutrients. Hence, children should exercise regularly, eat healthy and drink milk daily."

If I pay for a report ... I'm sure it can say enything I want it to say ... either in Asia or the West.

Drinking milk daily in addition to everything else will only add to the obesity problem. However I think it should be obvious that drinking fresh milk (without huge amounts of added sugar) INSTEAD of Coke or Fanta, has to be an improvement.

The calcium argument , Vitamin A and D is already won in the west. Time to copy...

Milk prices are too high because junk drinks are cheaper.... supply and demand will hopefully change this eventually. We live in hope.

[Puwa]

http://www.ipensook.com/ipensook/

This group was set up by a few Thai doctors interested in promoting healthier lifestyles. One of their areas of research has been the link between white rice and diabetes. The modern strains grown and consumed in Thailand today have a very high glycemic index. It seems that rice is a greater driver of the diabetes epidemic across Asia, not just here, than sweet junk foods, which are of course also a problem but consumed less widely. The articles are mostly in Thai, but are worth passing on to Thai friends and family members.

Hopefully this is a trend that will pick up. Yes they have some products for sale, as well as smartphone apps for monitoring health, but the goal is more about public health than commerce.

[jucel]

Imagine a Thai society, well nourished, well educated, bilingual & articulate. Well keep imagining because there are those in power who are scared to death of that happening!

[AnotherOneAmerican]

And can I just ask what this nonsense about drinking milk is all about?

Milk only provides the resources for strength in bones and other parts requiring calcium. It does not raise IQ, make one taller, slimmer ... where on earth do you people get these folk-remedy ideas?

seems a lot of readers tend to believe the milk mentioned is cowmilk.

No . .if THAIS write about "milk" and in terms of school-distributed milk, they mean SOYMILK.

Ever seen the tens-of-thousands of Lactosoy containers in the supermarkets ?? The small 80ml boxes with a plastic straw ?

As the survey was conducted by "Foremost" (a dairy products distributer/manufacturer), I very much doubt they are telling people to buy Lactosoy, a rival company product.

http://www.frieslandcampina.com/english/about-us/worldwide-locations/asia-and-australia/thailand.aspx

"Every day Royal FrieslandCampina provides millions of consumers all over the world with dairy products that is rich in valuable nutrients. FrieslandCampina is one of the worlds five largest dairy companies."

Edited June 8, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[joshstiles]

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Banning the sale of junk food and running the fast food companies out of the country would be a good start to a more healthy bunch of kids.

yeah, this idea has been so successful in just about every other country....on another planet.

[joshstiles]

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What's with the picture?

The Westernization of Asia.....to be smart, successful and attractive....you have to look like a Westerner.

[Tomtomtom69]

""Don't let them stay in the house glued to electronic screens. These bad habits will lead to eating out of proportion, not eating on time and eating low-quality food," she added."

Electronic screens? Yeah, right, that's why kids are overweight. Heard same BS about TV when I was a kid. I'm guessing experts in the past blamed radio and those new fangled books back in the day as well.

Don't be too cynical. I don't know your age but I was born mid 60's and when I started school, if there was a fat kid, he/she was a laughing stock, a curiosity, very odd. By the eighties when I finished school, fat kids were no longer so odd as there were so many of them, especially in the younger generation. It correlates to the introduction of TV. In the 50's Australia, not everyone had one but by the 70's, everyone had one.

Now with the advent of electronic games and comms, in some neighbourhoods the sporty kids are the odd ones.

Yes, but it's not the games/tv that are to blame.

It's a society that doesn't value healthy eating, exercise and a healthy lifestyle. The games don't cause obesity, it's feeding kids crap food, drinking drinks full of sugar, allowing property developers to build on green spaces where kids could run around and play sports and not replacing them with facilities that encourage and develop a healthy attitude towards exercise.

The "electronic screens" are not the cause of any of these, they are just an excuse and something to blame for a whole host of other failings.

P.S. I am about the same age as you.

I'm less than half the age of you guys by the sound of it (I'm an 80s "kid" if that helps) but I do agree with you Bluespunk that video games alone aren't the cause of poor nutrition, lack of exercise etc. Video/computer games have replaced exercise for many kids, but it's possible to lead a balanced lifestyle composed of eating healthy, exercising, playing some strategy computer games for an hour or two in the evening and also doing their homework. It's all about maintaining a proper balance.

[solstan]

Though I fully agree with the article that the kids have to eat more healthy and do more sports, I always think it's strange that the government want to promote milk so badly but the prices are 110% higher than my country in europe... than I still not talk about the taste of milk here

Not that strange as some of the milk actually is from Denmark ... and the bestseller is with added sugar