A fresh assault on obesity has been launched by health leaders in England who have called for an emergency taskforce because, they said, “an entire generation is being destroyed by a diet of junk food and sugary drinks”.
Currently in the UK, about one child out of every three under 15 is overweight or obese. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health estimates that this problem costs the NHS around £4.2bn a year.
Out of the global population of all ages, 671 million people are obese, with the US, China, India, Russia and Brazil home to the majority.
But in western Europe, the UK has the third highest level of obesity after Iceland and Malta.
The plea comes from the Royal College of General Practitioners, joined by 11 other organisations, pushing for better obesity treatment services, including education aimed at families. A spokesperson said that child obesity treatments were a postcode lottery with many areas having limited or no child obesity treatment services at all”.
Dr Rachel Pryke said a consistent national approach to treating obesity was needed.
"The nutritional patterns laid out in early years can define a child's health for life and the stark fact is that overweight children are being set up for a lifetime of sickness and health problems.”
Obesity can contribute to or cause cancer, heart disease, strokes and Type 2 diabetes.
Some GPs point to a culture of denial among parents who do not recognise that their children are obese.
