Children deprived of access to gardens in their formative years face increased risk of developing obesity, a major conference on diabetes heard yesterday.
A study conducted in England found that children without garden access between the ages of three and five were more likely than others to be obese by the age of seven.
The findings come from an analysis the Millennium Cohort Study, which is following some 19,000 children who are now in their early teens.
They were reported to the conference of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden.
The researchers said the risk of obesity increased by 38%, regardless of whether parents were poorly-educated or well-educated.
Researcher Annemarie Schalkwijk, of the VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, said: "The combination of a more disadvantaged neighbourhood and higher education increased childhood overweight or obesity.
"To conclude, we showed that limits on access to outdoor space is associated with future childhood overweight or obesity although moderated by education level. More research is needed to see how we can deploy these findings in the prevention of type 2 diabetes."
The British Heart Foundation said the findings reflected large numbers of children not getting enough activity.
Maureen Talbot, from the foundation, said: "The Government must do more to encourage our young people to get active to safeguard their future health.”
Leave a Reply