£8billion cost of kids obesity
Bad habits from pandemic fuel health worries for older children, study finds
BAD habits which led to weight gain in kids during the pandemic could cost the country an extra £8billion.
Research outlines the lifelong impact on secondary school age pupils which could influence their reliance on the NHS and ability to earn a living.
Obesity rates in England surged among four to five-year-olds and those aged 10 to 11 from 2019 to 2021.
More recent figures show a slight drop during primary school but the proportion of obese children aged 10 to 11 is still higher than before the pandemic.
Author Prof Keith Godfrey, of Southampton University, said that overall, obesity in older children is rising. He said: “Covid obesity rates have reverted to approximately pre-pandemic levels in reception age children but not in older children.
“We think it’s because behaviours associated with increased rates of childhood obesity – reduced physical activity, poor diet and so on – become more embedded in older children. Younger children reverted back to habitual diet and levels of physical activity.” Researchers say overweight youngsters tend to become obese adults, and the NHS will have to spend more on treating complications, such as diabetes and heart disease.
They added that obese people often die early. The study concluded that rising obesity in the pandemic could be due to more time indoors, fewer physical activities and its effects on sleep and screen time.
Prof Godfrey said that early intervention to prevent childhood obesity must be a “national priority”.
Prof Simon Kenny, NHS England’s national clinical director for children, said: “Obesity can have a major impact on a child’s life. The NHS cannot solve this issue alone. Joined-up action by industry, local and national government and wider society is needed.”
A WORRYING legacy of Covid could be a generation of overweight children.
Research found obesity rates surged among young people while constrained in lockdown.
Treating associated conditions such as heart disease and obesity could end up costing the NHS an extra £8billion.
This can be avoided if the Government invests more in school sports and opportunities for young people to exercise. And we need more emphasis on teaching the importance of a healthy diet and ensuring all families have access to affordable, nutritious food.
This Government has failed to provide sufficient support to help children catch up with lost learning from the pandemic.
To stand by in the face of this looming health crisis would be a second betrayal.