Ex-minister: Poor, fat children may become unemployable underclass

POOR, overweight children could become an ‘unemployable underclass’ if the obesity epidemic is not solved, a former Tory minister has warned.

Conservative MP Andrew Selous said those from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to gain weight.

He added this would give children low selfesteem which would harm their job prospects and could lead to a life on benefits.

Urging the Government to be bold and ‘grasp’ the issue of childhood obesity, he warned: ‘We cannot allow an unemployable underclass to grow up.’ Instead, he pointed to the positive example of the cartoon character Popeye who inspired children to eat spinach.

Mr Selous said about 10 per cent of the budget of NHS England was used to deal with obesity-related issues.

Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on the impact of junk food advertising on obesity in children, Mr Selous said: ‘It’s also an issue of social justice in that we know, unlike at any time throughout history, it is now the poorest children who are the most overweight.

‘We’ve flipped what has happened through- out history when it used to be the poor that were thin and emaciated and the better off who were plump and well fed, and there has been a reversal of that.

‘We cannot allow an unemployable underclass to grow up, children who are obese who go on into adult life being obese, having a low self-image, low self- confidence, struggling to get work as a result, being on low income or benefits. We are talking about a lifetime of opportunity if we don’t grasp this issue. So it really, really matters.’

Mr Selous, under-secretary for prisons and probation between 2014 and 2016, said the sugary drinks levy had been successful and could be extended to other foods.

He added: ‘We know from a recent study by the University of Bangkok [what happened] when Popeye was featured a lot on television in Thailand. Of course, Popeye ate lots of spinach and in this particular television programme it showed children developing fantastic muscles through eating lots of spinach. Those children [who] watched lots of Popeye programmes doubled their intake of spinach and other green vegetables.’

Evidence from the House of Commons Health Committee has found that the more deprived a family is, the more likely the children are to suffer with obesity.

MPs have also urged celebrities like Simon Cowell to use their ‘star power’ to stop the advertising of junk food at prime time.

Tory MP Maggie Throup called on household names including Ant and Dec and Amanda Holden to ‘take some corporate responsibility’.

She said stars who front prime-time shows such as Britain’s Got Talent should stand up and say they will no longer be ‘used as a hook to sell harmful junk food’ to children.

She called the obesity crisis a ‘ticking time bomb’ that society should address, but she also encouraged personal and parental responsibility. Miss Throup said it was not a coincidence that such ads were run alongside some of the biggest TV show such as The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and I’m A Celebrity.

‘If we are truly to affect change as Jamie Oliver has already demonstrated, we need some of that star magic on this issue,’ she said.