dotty

Just sitting here reading posts, and TV in the backround (Current Affair) is saying how Aussies kids spend more hours a week watching TV and doing Computer Games than hours attending school. Now this is on Australias top current affairs show.

Skipping through the sunshine theory just went right out the window again, seems Aussie kids are the same as elsewhere after all.

pommiesheila

Hi Dotty,

3.45 p.m. today. 10 year old son finishes homework, switches on Playstation. "Not swimming dear?" I ask. "Nope - got to get to the next level..."

Ho hum...

Bernard

Kids in Oz have much the same interests and exposed to the same 'McDonalds' culture as elsewhere in the world. From my experience they are not notably fitter and healthier than in UK.

Santa

Your dead right about the Sunshine Theory, the way I see it is that it's easy to let your children sit and watch Television or play the latest 'lets kill everything' Playtsation game, but not so easy to get them out and about. People complain about the lack of facilites, but even when these facilities are provided, a lot of people would still prefer to sit at home because it's raining or a bit cold. I appreciate that if it's a bit warmer or the Sun's out then you may feel like getting out more, but hey ....... we've all got coats

Devlin

Australia has the second highest rate of obesity after the US.

Santa

And the UK must be third in the 'fat table', trouble is, most things that come out of the good old US of A are crap, and food is no exception.
If you feed your children up on cheap fatty food and don't get them running about then you don't need to be bright to see the outcome. I guess Australia must have it's fair share of 'can't be arsed' parents, so we are not alone !!!.

baldbutts

Ever thought about encouraging the kids to get out more or even,God forbid,joining them in some activity or other ?

Just a thought-BB

Herman

On a current affairs show here they said the 'trend' in the shape of the population is that Aussies are getting fatter, because of the pies/fast food culture, and Europeans are getting bigger because of the growth hormones contained in the meat we eat from the intensive "efficient" high yield animal farming in Europe. I thought that was interesting.

The sunshine theory is a load of old crap. If you are the kind of person who sits on their arse watching TV every night and moaning that there's nothing to do then in my experience within 6 months in Australia you'll be sat on your arse watching Blue Heelers doing the same thing, wandering what went wrong! I shared a flat in Sydney with 7 other Brits for a year, right next to the beach, and I've seen it all before - most of them sat there watching TV each night and all weekend with hangovers, mugs of tea and cigarette in hand.

The person who said we've all got coats summed it up beautifully. My folks did an Autumn walk at a well known beauty spot in the south west of England on Sunday and because there was the occasional bit of drizzle there was no-one around. As a family we have always done a lot of outdoors type stuff and its remarkable how many people who sit on their fat arses all day whinge about the UK being a cramped miserable little island with nothing to do. It really annoys me how these people go on about the outdoors lifestyle they dream of when they could do that in their own backyard if they really wanted that lifestyle. Most English are lazy people with a habit of blaming anything and everything but ourselves. Blame the weather, blame the traffic, blame England. NO - blame yourselves you lazy bast.......

Tez

HERMAN
Dont make sweeping statements like the english are lazy bastards,its highly offensive and thats why ive replied for the first time on this site.
Where you live people may be lazy and always moaning about this and that
I live in east anglia and all the people i know and who have kids do not sit on their arses all day, let alone watch tv all the time.
Your inaccurate ramblings are those from a truly ignorant view point.If people in this country are lazy bastards then why do people work longer hours in this country than anywhere in europe!!!!
Why is this country the fourth largest economy in the world,you dont get to that posistion by being lazy
People in this country are moaning more and more, and most because they are frustrated at its decline,people expect good public services,good roads etc etc,because thats what we pay for.
Listen my friend, i have travelled around the world twice in my forty years, and there are very few places in it that are overall better to live in than the uk.
Its not the people thats the problem, its these absolute muppets in power that are doing the real damage.Thats one good reason why i and my family are in the process of emmigrating abroad and also because of people like you who have tunnelled vision of what the english really are.
Most of the crap ive seen on this site about how everything is so bad in the uk is posted by people who dont have a f---k--g clue about how most of the rest of the world live and have to put up with.If they had they would not speak such utter dross on this site.
Now i know why the aussies call the brits whinging poms!!!!!
PS where do you come from ???????

mazzy

Hmmm, this is an interesting one. I think it is correct that just moving to oz won't make you a healthier person - you will alwya find an excuse not to go out and do something if you try hard enough, but it is definitely more enjoyable to do it in the sun and there seems to be more opportunity to do things.

We never exactly sat around doing nothing in England (i remember one xmas day we were mountain biking in shropshire in the snow) but we moved to oz so that we could do all these things without having to worry about what weather. We spent many a holiday in the rain & mud in the Welsh hills 'doing our thang' and thoroughly enjoyed it but are enjoying ourselves even more being able to do it in the sunshine.

Just come back from a day out where we saw sea lions, dolphins, whales and quokkas. Now where can you do all that in one day in the sun in England in November??!!

m x

Don

Fourth biggest economy doesn't really mean too much when you analyse it logically. What matters to you and me is GDP per capita, ie what Joe Smith might see as the real importance of national economy to the individual.

The UK was 16th in terms of highest GDP per head (USD, Economist 2002). Ahead of the UK were (in order) Luxembourg, Bermuda, Switzerland, Japan, Norway, USA, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Singapore, Germany, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands. I make that (very roughly) 500 million people who are better off than the average Brit. In terms of purchasing power per head, UK did worse (21st).

FYI, Australia did slightly worse than the UK in terms of GDP per head but better in terms of purchasing power per head.

Carrianne

I think it is a peron thing i live in scotland it is cold and but beautiful and love walking cycling no matter what the weather.

People are either active or not. My husband and I play the playstation, watch tv, but mix it with football, yoga, swimming, days out and travel abroad frequently.

Kids today with advances in technology have a diffrent world open to them and parents feel that children are not safe outside culture, doesn't help.

However to combat this like my auntie does with my cousins, thay have a different activity every night on completing homework, either swimming lessons, football, scouts or cubs. etc. On weekends the family go out together both days.

I think they have it right but as noted it takes the parents to arrange it.

regards


Carrianne

Herman

Look, the laziness I was referring to is in terms of activities outside of work - sports, outdoor activities etc. I quite a agree with you that there are very few places better than the UK and my post reflects my frustration at people who think the UK is the worst place in the world. I read time and time again people slating the UK and saying how shit their life is and how once they are in the paradise that is Australia everything will be rosy because the sun shines.
I speak from personal experience - I live in Australia now and previously lived in London and before that in Bristol. I have to say that in terms of being active in personal time I found the Aussies and South Africans who I knew in London to be inspirational and likewise here in Sydney. That is my point - Britain is a TV and pub culture and most of the poms I know here in Sydney spend their leisure time in the pub or watching TV, as they did in the UK. The exceptions are a couple we know who spend their entire time doing outdoor activities, which is exactly what they did in the UK. I do not think people with a tendency to do nothing will suddenly change when they step off the plane in Oz. My irritation was at earlier posts from people who say they look forward to a life where they do not sit on their arses every night watching corrie and eastenders. My point is that people who do that are quite likely to sit on their arses here watching some other TV programme. My frustration is that the UK is full of fantastic places to visit, glorious countryside and a wealth of sporting/outdoor activities but the vast majority of people do not take advantage of them and then moan that there's nothing to do in the UK but watch TV!!!!
Personally, also having seen most of the world, I rate the UK very highly. We are returning there in April, eyes wide open and no tunnel vision. If you think there are very few places where overall it is better to live than the UK, and I completely agree with you, then why would you want to emigrate? I find it funny that people say the country has gone to the dogs - my parents and grandparents would somewhat disagree with that view and talk of a life far harder than people currently enjoy. I personally believe that people have higher and increasing expectations than ever before and that is what is causing the perception that everything is getting worse.

dpr21

I am one of the 'pro-Australia' posters on this forum, but would have to agree with you that Brits are not all lazy. Wrt to outdoor/leisure activities one of the major difficulties is a lack of facilities or perhaps easy access to these facilities. The following (shortened) extract relating to sending out UK swimmers to train in Oz was on the BBC news website this am.

... ASA chief executive David Sparkes told the Sunday Telegraph: "We were looking to send out six youngsters, but we will see if we can increase that number. "So much of the budget goes into pool hire that it would be better to send kids to Australia, where the pools are free."
Sparkes added that the Western Australian government are willing to provide assistance. He also claimed that he has been guaranteed unlimited access, free of charge, to a pool in Perth.........

pommie bastard

Being a big economy means more money is floating around in it , its up to you to get your share better to be a small fish in big pool than big fish in small one?
Also more is spent by the public purse its a case of more creates more , the bigger the economy the bigger say the country has in world affairs,.
Add all that to the fact UK companies own a lot of big Australian companies because of of more cash turn over even the big Aussie is now the Brit owned BHP.