LONDON: Fatter children is a cause for worry among Britons. An international study on obesity carried out among the 11-15 age group recently reveal that British children tend to be the fattest in the world.
Britain, however, came third in an obesity league table after America and Malta, which was first. European countries Latvia and Lithuania were found to have the least number of fat children from among 34 countries covered by the study. In these countries only one child in 20 were found to be overweight.
In Wales in Britain, 16.7 per cent of the population in the selected age range was found to be overweight and 4.8 per cent obese. In England, the figures were 13.3 per cent and 5.1 per cent and in Scotland 13.1 and 3 per cent.
The figures are "truly shocking", said National Obesity Forum's Dr Ian Campbell. "It is going to be some time before we turn the clock back if we are so high up the obesity league."
The study also showed that obesity among children went up from 9.9 per cent in 1995 to 13.7 per cent in 2003.
The experts who conducted the study say childhood obesity is a cause for concern because studies had shown that childhood and adolescent obesity can persist into adult life where the health risks of obesity are more severe, like predisposition to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The study revealed that children of parents who were themselves obese were much more likely to be overweight. About 20 per cent of children whose both parents were overweight or obese were themselves obese compared with 6.7% of children whose neither parents were overweight or obese and 8.4% of children where one of the two parents were overweight or obese.
Dr Campbell said it was down to children consuming more calories and being less active than they ought to be. "It's the fact that calories have become cheaper and exercise expensive."
"Now is the time to stop it. The optimal time to intervene is in childhood, before irreversible damage has been done and while lifelong good habits can be learnt."
