Almost a quarter of UK children under five are overweight

Many are unhappy with their bodies, study shows

Nearly a quarter of children under five in the UK are overweight or obese, research has found.

The European study found the UK has the second highest proportion of overweight children out of the 28 countries that were able to provide data.

With 23.1% of youngsters in the age group classed as overweight or obese, the UK was second only to Ireland at 27.5%. They were followed by Albania (22%), Georgia (20%), Bulgaria (19.8%) and Spain (18.4%).

Kazakhstan had the lowest obesity rate (0.6%), with other low prevalence nations including Czech Republic (5.5%) Belgium (7%) and Sweden (8%).

Another study, which is also being presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Prague this week, found that children as young as six are dissatisfied with their bodies.

The research, carried out by Leeds Beckett University, found that children who were classed as overweight or obese on body mass index (BMI) growth charts had higher body shape dissatisfaction scores than normal-weight children. Girls also had higher scores than boys. Data were collected from more than 300 pupils (52% boys) from eight primary schools in Leeds and found that girls had a higher desire to be thinner than boys.

Lead researcher Professor Pinki Sahota said: “Obesity prevention programmes need to consider psychological wellbeing and ensure that it is not compromised.

“Further research should be conducted on how interventions can help improve psychological wellbeing in this age group.”

Further research should be conducted on how interventions can improve psychological wellbeing in this age group