Child weight alarm

Thursday December 16th, 2010

British children are piling on the pounds during their primary school years, according to disturbing official figures published yesterday.

Nearly one in five of the children who left primary school this year was obese, according to the NHS Information Centre.

This was almost double the rate among children starting school - just under ten per cent of these were classified as obese.

The figures, involving nearly a million children, come from a recent drive to weigh and measure all children when they start and when they leave primary school.

The highest rate amongst primary school-leavers was in London, where 21.8 per cent were found to be obese - compared with 16.1 per cent in south-west England.

In total more than a third of school-leavers were overweight or obese.

Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: "The study suggests that weight problems continue to be far worse for older children than for younger children, with one in three Year 6 pupils being either overweight or obese and nearly one in five obese.

"These statistics suggest that more needs to be done at a younger age to combat obesity within primary education and positively encourage healthy eating and participation in physical activity, to reduce future health implications for these children."

* Meanwhile nurses have warned that some primary school pupils are beginning to show signs of eating disorders caused by not eating enough.

A Royal College of Nursing conference heard specialists in Wales have treated patients as young as eight.

Newport specialist Wendy Clarke said some children were "manipulating" healthy eating messages to avoid food.

And a school nurse Tracy Buckland said she was observing pupils in the dining room to try to spot those not eating enough.

Tags: Child Health | Diet & Food | Fitness | UK News

Printer friendly page