One of the questions in our pub quiz last week was "Why was Georgia Davis featured in the newspapers recently". None of us have ever heard of her so we tossed up between The youngest person to win the lottery jackpot and Won a Brit award!

What a shame that she is famous for being 40 stone

I don't know whose fault it is ... but this poor girl needs help, and quickly

God - poor girl. I wonder what her state of mind is to get into such a state like that

It's her life!  She wants to ruin it by scoffing cream cakes and doughnuts, that's her business.  Her step parents are quite old for a girl of her age and as a rule ageing parents might not be the best role models for a teenager to encourage get up and go.  The step dad is 73, after all. 

Fat kids often have fat parents.

My guess is that her lifestyle is similar to that of her parents and indulged by her parents, who understandably, are taking things a bit easier at their age.  Perhaps it's attention seeking and depression (as hinted) on her part.  I suppose I can only speculate.  My guess is it's a combination of nature/nurture factors.

Its a bit more complicated than scoffing too many cream cakes.  Most people would not be able to put on that much weight no matter how much they ate, from that perspective it is an illness, and deserving of a great deal of sympathy for her plight.

Oh my GOD!    This is certainly not a normal teenager is it?  As you said, there's a lot of chubby teens but this is extreme.  And who is to blame? Hard to say..... it's easy to say 'the parents,' but the girl has a mind of her own.  To have gained this amount of weight, in such a short time, must take a great deal of effort: and eating!  Something very wrong psychologically and mentally here.  What to do about it though?  I don't know...   I have to say, (whether it's regarded as 'politicaly correct' or offensive or not,) that the sight of this girl is absolutely repugnant.

Sorry, I think its the parents fault. How a kid of that age gets to 21 stone at 14 or whatever she was (it was round about that mark) is down to what she is fed.  I look at my 14 year old and i am responsible for her size. I feed her, I buy the food and cook it. She is not responsible for the shopping or the menu. I am.

I guess you have a strong and valid point gypsie, but I think at 17 that she now has a mind of her own, and needs to take charge of her life... but yes, the fault does lie largely with the parents in the main.  I was playing devil's advocate.

I blame the parents, a 17 year old can't afford to feed herself like that on her own, and clearly it's been happening for years so the parent should have taken action a long time ago. I hope she gets some help cos she's going to die if she doesn't!

Oh no i wasnt disagreeing with what you said starbug, i didnt see your post before i posted

I remember watching the documentary on her when she went to 'fat boot camp' in america  a few years ago and did really well. It also said that she was a carer for her mum from a young age, so she had a lot of responsibility.  I think that now she is a young adult and looking back that may be a reason for her depression and constant weight gain but i cant help but be angry at the mother for when she was a dependant.

Agree.  I think that the parents have to take responsibility for this.  This is awful. 

Surely they will offer her a stomach band now, I do hope so.

There is no way a young girl like that set out to get that fat. But if it was so easy to slim there would be no fat people in the world. If she had anorexia it would be a illness, because she is fat she is a greedy cow. I feel sorry for her.

There's no easy (or single) answer for the poor girl's plight but the root of it has to be the parents.
It can't have been much fun for her being a carer at such a young age.  Seems like nothing about her life up till now has been 'normal'.   Poor thing, I hope she gets some serious help soon.

She's supposed to be her mum's carer, yet she lets herself get into that state?

I know what you're getting at, but with the article saying something like 'now she just sits eating cream cakes' you do sort of get left with the 'greedy so'n'so' impression.

i think it's heartbreaking.......

i also think she has major deep seated issues...she's been a carer for her mum for years....probably had to cook and it was fish n chips.or chips and something....as her weight increased she more than likely became the victim of bullying at school over her size..so turned to the very thing that is her demon......food..and comfort ate..then she's in the vicious circle..no confidence..no self esteem....just shuts herself away and finds comfort in food...i simply don't believe it's as simple as 'she's greedy'.....

this girl has an illness..an addiction and it's to do with her mind....it's not just her thinking 'i'll stuff a cream cake down me neck'...they can send her to 'fat camp' get her exercising,but until her mind is thinking the healthy way and stops her cravings it's difficult......she desperately needs help and i hope she gets it

Georgia Davis is innocent.

I saw her on TV a couple of weeks ago and she said she doesn't want one - she wants to do it herself.

She did lose a lot of weight at an american fat camp a few years ago but had to quit early because her parents were in poor health - I remember seeing it on TV. It's such a shame but I don't think she'll lose wait if she continues to live in that environment. Her mother is overweight and has little idea about healthy eating and yes I do feel that depression will play a big part. She doesn't seem to have much of a life.

i too feel very sorry for her - she needs help and support.

That thought crossed my mind ... I think you have to be a certain age

But that doesn't sound like a normal way to behave so therefore there must be something else going on that she needs help with.

Gastric bands and the like do not solve the mental problems that make someone do that to themselves in the first place and also they can be very dangerous.

Very true longcat but they do work for some and what is the alternative? 17 years old and with her life in ruins unless something drastic is done.

I agree something needs to be done but a gastric band is not a magic wand. Even as a last resort it doesn't solve the reasons for her overeating.

You have to be fit enough to undergo a gastric band op in the first place....she may well not be....

Initially I would say the mother.  She allegedly is ill and Georgina is her carer.  Nutrition has largely consisted of fast food.  The mother has not apparently cooked a meal for the child in years.  
However, Georgina was given the opportunity in the US to change her eating habits and she lost a substantial amount of weight but as soon as she returned to the UK and went back to the same environment of being her mother's carer (although what someone that size could actually do is another question) she fell into the same eating habits of fast food.

I would say that Georgina has been failed by to a certain degree by social services who probably should have arranged extra help when they knew she was struggling.  There is very little help available to people who are obese which is why it is at endemic proportions today.  To gorge yourself to this size is a sign that the girl is deeply unhappy.  However, I think she also wasted the opportunity to turn her life around when she came back from the states   If they could afford the money to buy the amount of food that they obviously must have to feed both of them (her mother is a rather large lady herself) then surely Georgina who is old enough to do sensible shopping, could have worked out meals etc., and bought and made them.  I have a feeling she's developed her mother's sense of 'it's somebody else's responsibility to look after me'.   A gastric band will not help the psychological problems to food this girl obviously has. 

I'm afraid (my opinion personally) that she will only do things when others help her but she won't help herself and she's developed this habit from her mother.  We don't know how ill her mother is supposed to be but I wonder if she became too reliant on Georgina and became lazy as a result?

It can be done without the help of a gastric band but it takes hard work and detirnination.

Anyone else remember Charley on 'This Morning'. He managed it and totally changed his life.

A friend of mine went from 25stone to 10 stone at slimming world - it took eighteen months but she had such a wonderful sense of achievement. When I saw this girl on This Morning she sais she really didn't want to do it with a gastric band or an operation. You have to admire her for that at least. I think a lot of overweight people look for the easy option and that really isn't facing up to the problem and re educating yourself re food.

As I remember - when the girl returned home from fat camp her welcome home meal from her mum was fish and chips. It's hard to change when everyone around you doesn't give you the much needed support.

Food is the only addiction you have to do everyday no matter what. Imagine giving booze to a drunk or drugs to a junkie.

 

Completely agree Gypsie 

True ........when you see fat kids - you see fat families. Whilst a very, very tiny bit of it may be down to genes - it's usually unhealthy/unwise food and lifestyle that is at the root of it. You rarely see a hugely overweight child with slim/normal parents.

It's quite easy really, don't feed them carp, cook from scratch, no sweets unless its Saturday, brown bread sandwiches when they come home from school. Animals they have to excercise and feed. Earlish bedtime, no chance to fall asleep on their desks in the morning. Weekends are for staying up and sleeping in
I count myself lucky that my children were born before the internet had taken root. Yes they had a few bags of Onion Monstermunch (yuck), but they were always out, either playing with mates or doing after school clubs. No chance of putting on too much weight..

Sorry but what a boring and dull life that would be..  ' No sweets unless it's Saturday' and 'brown bread sandwiches for tea.'  Exercising the animals (every day I presume).. and presumably no internet either???  And who has time to cook from scratch all the time?  It's OK if you stay at home all the time and have the time and inclination to do this, but most mums/parents who work have no time for this. 

It's OK to have this 'super healthy' earth mother 'I churn my own butter and grow my own potatoes' attitude, but for everyone to put this in to practice, is not practicable.  The only part of your post I agree with is 'early to bed in the week...'

Anything and everything in moderation...  Try and deprive your kids of everything, and be too strict with them, and they will rebel: you can bet on it.    You have to meet them halfway and reach a compromise.

cooking healthily and from scratch really isn't that time consuming or difficult and sweets and crisps in moderation is just common sense isn't i?. i GUESS THAT YOU'RE FAR YOUNGER THAN ME BUT tbh .....................convenience /packaged foods not only taste crap, are expensive and unhealthy and really aren't that convenient IMO.

Fresh fruit, fresh veg and a dinner from scratch isn't expensive, Doesn't have to be time consuming and really and truly is so much better for you. 

If you really think it's a boring and dull life - that may well be why we have so many overweight kids. A TV dinner full of fat and additives is no substitute for a good home cooked meal - there is no goodness, not very filling and it's really not satisfying - that's when kids turn to crisps and snacks.

My kids have never known a boring day in their lives. No internet, I'm talking about the 80s and early nineties. Sandwiches for when they came home, not for tea, don't put things into my mouth. I managed to cook from scratch every day, after Uni and before working in the evening. No father paid me anything, I had to keep the show on the road. No sweets apart from Saturdays saved their teeth when all their friends needed fillings, they didn't and they enjoyed what they got much more than the friends who took it all for granted. Sorry cc, but my children have never had a problem with obesity and neither have my 5 grandchildren. I'm not an earth mother, the only thing I've ever grown are a few herbs.

Actually convenience food should be called "inconvenience food".
It is without doubt horrible and if you can put a ready meal in the microwave then you can equally as easily put a jacket potato in .
Add beans and cheese, or tuna and mayo with salad - job done.


I work full time and cook from scratch every evening - always have done. It is not that hard, does not take that long and is infinitely more satisfying and healthy then the ready meal crud.

I am just giving my opinion Cologne.Issy, and I disagree with your points and think that most mums couldn't/wouldn't be able to put into practice, everything you have said....

If someone is able to and has the time to cook from scratch, then good for them, but not everyone can do it...., and I do tend to find some people that do this, rather condescending towards those that don't or can't... this 'if I can do it/did it, then so can you' attitude grates on me TBH.

Why?

I'd like to know why as well - there is so much easy food to cook out there now.