Carers of young children should get obesity support, experts say
Laura Marcus
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
A cross-party parliamentary group has called for carers of young children to get support on nutrition, food choices, physical activity and sleep to help combat the UK’s obesity crisis.
The fifth report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on A Fit and Healthy Childhood advocates a child-centred and holistic obesity strategy, focused on prevention and early intervention.
Baroness Floella Benjamin, who co-chairs the APPG, said the report aims to be a ‘pertinent and timely’ reminder ahead of the Government’s National Obesity Strategy, due to launch next month.
The APPG, which uses evidence from leading experts on obesity, wants the Government to spend more on obesity prevention programmes.
At the moment it spends less than £638 million per year on prevention, while treating diabetes costs £10 billion.
The report also calls for a new cabinet minister for children to oversee the national strategy.
‘Above all, we are calling for an anti-obesity framework which is integrated, co-ordinated and properly holistic,’ she said.
‘Government departments, the food and drink industry, local government, health and education professionals, and media and advertising outlets must cease operating in isolation and join together to combat the detrimental effects of obesity that are destroying the lives of successive generations and costing the NHS over £5 billion each year dealing with the health problems associated with excess body weight.’
According to the Department of Health’s statistics one third of children, two thirds of adult men and just over half of adult women are either overweight or obese.
The report said that past attempts to tackle the obesity crisis have failed because they have not tackled all of the key factors influencing child nutrition, which are:
- an excess intake of low nutrient, high energy food/drink encouraged by an obesogenic environment (one that promotes weight gain);
- a lack of understanding of the role and importance of physical fitness;
- increasingly sedentary behaviour;
- a massive reduction in the ability and opportunity for children to play freely and actively;
- excessive consumption levels;
- insufficient sleep;
- insufficient fruit, vegetable and fibre consumption;
- early introduction of solid food;
- maternal smoking during pregnancy;
- insufficient formal activity.
Speculation about whether the Government will bow to pressure and introduce a tax on fizzy drinks also continues, as the food industry comes under increasing scrutiny.
Most recently, The Food Foundation published a report entitled Force-Fed: Does the food system constrict healthy choices for typical British Families?
The findings support those in the APPG report about the food industry and food environment playing a central role in rising obesity in both children and adults.
The Food Foundation found that diets of British families posed the greatest threat to their health, a multitude of factors in their environment got in the way of healthy eating, and the balance of food prices were wrong, tipping them even further towards unhealthy diets.
The APPG report is sponsored by four healthy lifestyle brands: MyTime Active, Danone Nutricia, Quorn, and Slimming World.
