Childhood obesity ‘at epidemic levels’

The National Obesity Forum has today said childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions.

Dr Colin Waine, chair of the forum said: “The growth of childhood obesity has to be regarded as one the most urgent public health problems that we have to address.”

According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, childhood obesity in America has levelled off at a total of 16 per cent, but in Britain, Dr Waine says rates are still rising and “16 per cent is epidemic proportions.”

He said the UK government had vowed to reverse the trend by 2010 but it has had to increase this to 2020 because rates are continuing to climb.

Obese children were at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and several common cancers, he added.

According to the Tackling Obesity: Future choices” report published by the government, about ten per cent of children are now obese.

The National Obesity Forum was established by 2000 to raise awareness of the growing health impact that being overweight or obese was having on patients and the National Health Service.