Lack of garden could be growing waistlines

YOUNG CHILDREN who do not have access to a garden are more likely to become obese, experts have said.

Children aged three to five who have no garden are more likely to be overweight or obese by the age of seven than those who have a garden, the researchers said.

Experts behind the study, on almost 6,500 children from England, said a child’s level of education could lower their risk of becoming fat.

After adjusting for the influence of parents and socioeconomic status, they found that no garden was linked to a 38 per cent increased chance of obesity aged seven among children with lower levels of education.

There was also a 38 per cent increased risk of being overweight or obese at the age of seven for children of higher educated households living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

The authors, from the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, concluded: “Not having access to a garden at age three to five years for lower educated households increased childhood overweight/obesity at age seven years.

“Also the combination of a more disadvantaged neighbourhood and higher education increased childhood overweight/obesity.

“To conclude, we showed that limits on access to outdoor space is associated with future childhood overweight/obesity, although moderated by education level.”

The experts presented their findings, using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference in Stockholm.