| Subject: Re: Think tank adds more ... article |
Author:
pjk
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 02/17/05 7:50:38pm
In reply to:
pjk
's message, "Think tank adds more perspective to obesity issue" on 02/17/05 3:36:52pm
Child obesity 'no problem' - food firms' think tank
LOUISE GRAY
Key points
• Obesity not such a problem says think tank
• Research carried out by Social Issues Research Council
• ....that does work for large food manufacturers, amongst others
Key quote
"Childhood obesity has been on the increase in virtually all developed countries over the last two decades. The statistics are truly frightening. In Scotland, some 20 per cent of 12-year-olds are classified as obese and 33 percent are overweight. This carries huge health implications for them in later life." - Catherine Hankey, Glasgow University
Story in full
A THINK tank that suggested Britain’s childhood obesity epidemic is based on little more than "unsupported speculation" receives part of its funding from leading food companies.
The Social Issues Research Council (SIRC), which carries out work for the likes of Cadbury Schweppes, Mars and Kellogg’s, said the scale of childhood obesity has been grossly exaggerated.
Contrary to the accepted view, they said average child weights have increased only marginally in recent years.
Medical experts last night reacted furiously to the findings, warning that we should not play down a health timebomb.
Rhona Brankin, Scotland’s deputy health minister, insisted the scale of childhood obesity in Scotland is "truly frightening" and must be addressed.
The SIRC team, who insist their research is independent, looked at children’s average weights using the 2003 Health Survey for England.
They found Body Mass Index (BMI) trends have been broadly static for girls and boys aged under 16 from 1995 to 2003.
An average 15-year-old boy weighed 9st 5lbs in 2003, compared with 9st 2lbs nine years earlier. The average weight for a 15-year-old girl was just under 9st 3lbs, nearly a pound higher than in 1995.
The SIRC concluded there has been no "epidemic weight gain in children" in the UK, despite reports childhood obesity has tripled in the last 20 years with one in ten six-year-olds classed as obese, rising to 17 per cent of 15-year-olds.
The Oxford-based analysts also challenged the way obesity is measured in the UK.
British children are classed as obese if they fall into the top 5 per cent in relation to the weight range for their age. This method suggests obesity rates in children aged two to ten have increased from 9.6 per cent in 1995 to 15.5 per cent in 2003.
However, there is an international measurement which looks at height/weight distribution across six countries, including the UK. This method suggests obesity rates in children increased from 3.9 per cent in 1995 to 6.75 per cent in 2003.
Using the UK method one in six children is deemed to be obese, while the international standard sees the figure fall to one in 15 children.
Dr Peter Marsh, the co-director of SIRC, said the data brought into perspective "lurid warnings" that the current generation would die before their parents due to an excess of fast food and lack of exercise.
"There are some overweight and obese kids and yes that is an issue we need to tackle. But it is a slight increase, not the alarming rate people are trying to convince us of."
Dr Marsh said middle-aged people - the most "at risk" age group for obesity according to the report - should worry about their weight, and advocated a "natural attitude" to food for children. "You are never going to persuade kids not to eat Mars bars or drink Coke because that will not work," he said.
"Yes, we should be concerned, but maybe we should be going about this in a different way. Rather than playing nanny nutritionists, we should be more sensible."
Dr Colin Waine, an executive director at the National Obesity Forum, said the report was an attempt to "obfuscate" the real problem - the quadrupling of obesity in Britain in the last 25 years to 22 per cent.
"I just think it is playing down a problem in a very unhelpful way, when people are just beginning to sit up and take notice," he said.
Catherine Hankey, a lecturer in human nutrition at Glasgow University, said obesity remains a growing problem for children in Scotland.
She said governments should work towards preventing a further increase in fat children as well as managing the problem in adults.
Ms Brankin said the Executive was "working hard" to reverse the soaring rates of childhood obesity in Scotland.
"Childhood obesity has been on the increase in virtually all developed countries over the last two decades.
"The statistics are truly frightening. In Scotland, some 20 per cent of 12-year-olds are classified as obese and 33 percent are overweight. This carries huge health implications for them in later life."
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 