I was honoured to speak to @stormhuntley yesterday live on @jeremyvineon5 about childhood obesity.. Ive cut down the full 10 minute segment into 5 minutes and popped some of the facts and my take homes below I would love to know your thoughts on this subject.STATS - More than 1 in 5 children age 4 to 5 years are overweight or obese and for children in the most deprived areas obesity prevalence is twice as high (12.4% vs 5.8% in the least deprived).2 in 5 children leave primary school overweight which increases the risk of chronic illness, mental health issues and even shortens life span Obese children are 5 x more likely to become obese adults i.e. those with a BMI of over 30.MY MESSAGES - Childhood obesity is something that we need to take seriously, but it isnt about assigning blame to a single entity, because childhood obesity is multifaceted involving genetics, our environment, socio-economic status and lifestyles too, including sleep habits. So parents, schools, communities and governments all play a role in shaping a childs relationship with food and physical activity too.We need to remember empathy before education and the childrens obesity charity @Henry.healthy.families are doing amazing things nationally helping to translate knowledge into practice, and the NHS campaign @betterhealthfamilies is also a wealth of information and inspiration.Research shows that children are only eating on average 2 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, which is less than half of what guidelines recommend, and there was an NHS campaign a few years ago which was around smaller tummies, smaller plates which is to do with making sure that our children are given appropriate sized meals and perhaps most importantly not made to clear their plate which overrides their internal hunger and fullness cues.We should 100% NOT be putting children on diets, as this could be both psychologically and physiologically damaging - what we want with certain children isnt for them to lose weight, its to slow down the rate of weight gain so that ultimately they grow into their bodies.Its a sensitive subject, that we need to be non-judgmental about.
