A seaside donkey owner has courted controversy by insisting that all children are weighed before riding one of his animals.
John Nuttall, from Skegness, has installed a set of scales next to his mobile paddock and insists that youngsters must be under ten years old, less than 4ft 6ins tall and weigh no more than six stone (38kg).
The 61-year-old, who has been in the donkey rides business at Skegness and Cleethorpes for more than 40 years, had the following to say:
“We introduced the scales because we noticed that the kids were getting larger if you like.” Everything is at the entrance to the pen – the height, the signage, the scales – and you can actually see the parents checking their own kids.”
“But if the odd one or two come through, we do just say, ‘Can we check you please?’ with our guidance, and if they’re too heavy, they’re too heavy, and that’s it.”
It all sounds very reasonable. We are a nation of animal lovers, after all, and surely any decent person would be aggrieved at the thought of a donkey suffering due to an overpowering weight.
Of course, this was only ever going to stir the hornet’s nest. While the majority of people are understanding, according to John, the weighing has incurred the wrath of Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance.
It’s “completely unacceptable to weigh a child in public and then say they can’t go on a ride”, she argued.
“The environment that surrounds children” is to blame for high obesity levels, she said, adding: “It’s the unhealthy food and drink that they have on their plates, in their high streets, in their schools.”
On her second point, she is largely correct. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure their children are eating healthily and so many are failing in this simple task. Less are taking the time to cook nutritious meals, opting instead for a diet of fast food, Uber Eats and snacks and drinks loaded with fat and sugar.
It has also been well documented that British school dinners tend to lag behind those of other European countries, with concerns about nutritional standards and the availability of healthy options.
It’s not just our calorie intake that determines our weight; it is also exercise or lack thereof. Parents seem quite content for their children to habitually remain indoors, no doubt glued to some electronic device. Compare this to a generation ago, before the advent of smart technology, when it was a far more common sight to see youngsters playing and running around in the local park or in each other’s gardens.
Again, it is the parents’ responsibility to wean their children off this unhealthy tendency as they certainly will not do it themselves, but why do so many fail? Perhaps it’s a case of “out of sight, out of mind”; it’s so much easier when little Johnny is silent in his bedroom, not requiring any form of parental input.
And this is where Katharine Jenner is perhaps wrong when she asserts that weighing a child in public in “unacceptable”, clearly alluding to the cardinal sin of “fat shaming.” But what if the only way to force change upon these families is through shame?
Throughout history, shame has been a strong persuader in maintaining high standards and strong societal morality. It was even used by our ancestors in pre-societal times to ensure the survival of the tribe.
It all comes down to consequence. When they are consequences for bad behaviour or going against the “rules,” whether written or unwritten, people are far more motivated to keep in check and maintain high standards. This is what kept spouses loyal, families together, deterred crime and encouraged personal responsibility across the board.
Naturally, when consequences disappear, the inverse is true. People will regress to a baser nature when shame is removed from degenerative tendencies.
The sexual revolution led to the spread of STDs, unwanted pregnancies and the breakup of the family unit. Britain’s booze culture led to an increase in violence and alcoholism. Victimhood mentality, coupled with a soft criminal justice system, has led to an increase in crime, and so on.
Fat acceptance has led to 25.9% of adults in England being obese, and a further 37.9% are overweight but not obese. In children, 21.3% of 4 to 5-year-olds in England were overweight or living with obesity, and 36.6% of 10 to 11-year-olds.
This is unacceptable, and we are calling it out. As nationalists, the Homeland Party wants our citizens to be physically healthy. Accepting (or even celebrating) the above statistics is highly irresponsible, if not malicious.
If shaming is what it will take to help our people improve their health, then so be it.
