Generation Fat

70% of Millennials will be obese by their late 30s Being overweight linked to 13 types of killer cancer

MILLENNIALS are predicted to become the fattest ever generation with 70% obese by their late 30s.

That is the projection by charity Cancer Research UK from official data on our bulging waistlines.

The worsening epidemic will take a deadly toll from obesity-linked diseases, including cancer, on those born between the early-80s and mid-90s, say experts.

The National Obesity Forum’s Tam Fry said: “The horrifying figures are the result of successive governments paying lip-service to tackling an obesity crisis already making headlines 20 years ago.”

This poor health outlook for Millennials comes on top of stagnating wages and grim economic predictions for the generation, with many believing they will never be able to buy a home.

Compared with the more prosperous, property-owning, postwar Baby Boomers, Millennials will have a 40% higher rate of obesity by the time they reach the 35-44 age range.

Mr Fry added: “The Conservative government in 1991, even as today’s Millennials were being born, reassured everyone it aimed to hold obesity to less than 7% by 2000, but did nothing.

“Such appalling arrogance more or less ensured the 70% of unhealthily overweight adults now predicted.

“Until the UK gets a government that’s serious about obesity and implements the bold policies we have long been promised, 70% could well be an underestimate. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

The NHS views a body mass index of 30 and over, along with a waistline above 37in for men and 31.5in for women, as an indication of obesity. And being overweight or obese as an adult is linked to 13 different types of cancer, including breast, bowel and kidney.

Obesity is also the second biggest preventable cause of the disease after smoking. Cancer Research UK is launching a nationwide campaign highlighting this.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s Professor Russell Viner said: “The campaign is hugely welcome as, despite the well-publicised obesity problem, there remains limited appetite to take bold steps to combat it. There is a danger that being overweight is becoming normalised.”

One of the main targets is TV junk food advertising aimed at children.

Obesity Health Alliance’s Caroline Cerny said: “We are calling on the

There remains limited appetite to combat the crisis PROF RUSSELL VINER CHILD HEALTH EXPERT

Government to take stronger action, with a 9pm watershed to reduce children’s exposure.”

And government agencies are talking about doing something. Public Health England’s Prof Louis Levy said: “One of our major contributions is to review the model underpinning restrictions on advertising and we’ll consult on it soon.”

But Public Health Minister Steve Brine claimed: “We’re delivering the most ambitious childhood obesity plan in the world, taxing sugary drinks, helping children exercise more, funding more research and cutting calories.”