The Fabian Society report says around 10 per cent of children in the UK are obese. It also claims that poor lifestyle habits mean they have lower life expectancy and a shorter “healthspan” – the years spent free from chronic or debilitating illness – than their parents.

Such poor health has a financial and social cost to the nation, the report says, with 9 per cent of the NHS budget for 2000 absorbed by diabetes alone – a disease related to obesity.

The report was co-authored by Dr Howard Stoate MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Primary Care and Public Health, and calls for a ban on confectionery and fizzy drink advertising targeted at children, specifically adverts placed near schools or shown before the broadcast watershed.

Other recommendations include offering tax credits to food retailers in “food poor” areas and the government provision of nutritional advice and daily menus to UK households.

The report also says new food stores should only be given planning permission if they are accessible by foot, and that responsibility for school sport should be transferred to the department of health.

“Not only do we stand on the brink of an obesity epidemic that could wipe years off children’s lives, but poverty still condemns thousands of children every year to a lifetime of poor health followed by an early death,” said Dr Stoate. “We, that is the government, parents and companies, have a responsibility to act now if we are to avoid this time bomb,” he says.

Adrian Harvey, deputy general-secretary of the Fabian Society, commented, “At this time of traditional overindulgence it is important to remember the consequences of child obesity to their future health and life expectancy and to take this opportunity to draw to the government’s attention the need for a children’s public health strategy.”

© HMG Worldwide 2002
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