How holiday treats make children pile on pounds
PARENTS should avoid handing out treats in the school holidays to stop their children gaining too much weight, the health secretary has warned.
Jeremy Hunt is concerned that bored youngsters are allowed to eat junk food while spending more time in front of the TV or playing computer games at home.
He is due to publish a strategy aimed at tackling Britain’s obesity crisis next month, which will urge families to adopt healthier lifestyles.
It will be designed to ‘change the mindset of the next generation of children’ by urging schools to teach youngsters good habits that they pass on to parents and siblings.
In a speech yesterday Mr Hunt warned that in some schools, as many as a quarter of children are obese, and called the problem the ‘ biggest health challenge of our time’. He also highlighted how adults in the wealthiest areas of the UK can expect to live for 14 years longer compared to those in the poorest areas, partly due to poor health caused by obesity and smoking.
Mr Hunt said that while the life expectancy of men in East Dorset is 83, it falls to just 69 years in the most deprived areas of Blackpool. And women in East Dorset can expect to live to the age of 86, while those in pockets of Bradford will live for an average of just 76 years.
He also warned of a variation in obesity rates, with 24.8 per cent of 11 year olds in the poorest schools classified as overweight, falling to 11.8 per cent in the wealthiest.
And the health secretary said there was strong evidence from the US, Canada and Japan showing that children’s weight tended to increase over the summer holidays.
He highlighted a review of seven studies published last year in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease which showed that the gain was most noticeable in youngsters who were already overweight.
Experts said they tended to have more snacks to alleviate boredom, spent a greater proportion of time watching TV rather than doing PE and did not have healthy breakfasts or school dinners.
Addressing the Public Health England annual conference at the University of Warwick, Mr Hunt said: ‘ The obesity epidemic and particularly childhood obesity has now taken over as the biggest public health challenge of our time, and it’s a challenge we are determined to rise to.
‘We will publish the first government strategy to tackle childhood obesity by the end of the year to kickstart our campaign. But it’s a challenge for all of us – and I want to harness the collective efforts of everyone in this room to help.’
Obesity rates in the UK are among the worst in Europe, with a quarter of adults along with a fifth of 11 year olds deemed to be too fat. Earlier this week a report by Public Health England warned that poor diets were causing more deaths than tobacco.
But the Government has been criticised for being too cosy to the manufacturers of junk food products.
One of the key obesity initiatives – the Responsibility Deal – allows food firms to set their own rules on cutting salt, sugar and fat levels in their products. Doctors and charities are calling for stricter regulations, including compulsory labels stating calorie content and a ban on TV junk food adverts until after 9pm.
‘Public health challenge’