Now stores launch plus-size ranges for the under-10s
HIGH street chains are launching plus-sized clothes for children as Britain’s obesity crisis deepens.
H&M is the latest to join the trend with a ‘generous fit’ range for children as young as eight.
The collection for those aged eight to 14 includes jeans, shorts and jogging bottoms. Shorts for the eight to nine age group have a waistband of 27.5-28in – more than 3in wider than a standard pair.
At age 13-14, the trouser waistband measures 33.75-35.5in – that’s 7in wider than a standard pair and closer to the average adult male waist size of around 37in.
The news comes as official statistics show one in three children is classed as overweight by the time they leave primary school aged ten or 11, and one in five is obese. And the problem gets worse as they get older, with 23 per cent of 11-15s classed as obese in english secondary schools.
It was revealed last week that the UK is on course for half its population to be obese by 2045. The obese have a higher risk of stroke and heart disease and die up to ten years younger.
Other high street favourites now offering ranges of plus-sized clothing for children as young as three include Next, Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
Next has a ‘Plus Fit’ range of trousers for boys and girls aged three to 16. The age ten trousers for boys have a waistband of 27in, compared to the 25in standard.
Tesco also offers a ‘Plus Fit’ school uniform for children aged three to 16. The trousers for five-year- old boys have a 25in waist compared to the regular 21in.
Marks & Spencer sells a collection of ‘Plus’ sized school uniforms, which includes blazers, trousers, shorts and shirts for ages four to 16. An age eight to nine girls’ pinafore dress has a 25-26in waist, compared to 23-23.25in for the regular fit.
The National Obesity Forum’s Tam Fry said: ‘It is shameful that so many chains now have to cater for plus- size children who are so very young.’
However, he points out that the stores are not creating the problem – they are simply responding to customer demand. Figures released last week by the annual Health Survey for england, which has been running since 1991 and involves interviewing and measuring 8,000 adults and 2,000 children every year, found the majority of overweight children were described as being ‘ about the right weight’ by 91 per cent of their mothers and 80 per cent of their fathers.
For obese children, 48 per cent of mothers and 43 per cent of fathers held the same opinion.