One in 10 children in England 'will be obese within five years'

One in 10 children in England 'will be obese within five years' . An estimated one in 10 children in England will be obese within five years, experts have predicted.

The rise is likely to be most dramatic in youngsters from poorer families, they warn.

Obesity can lead to serious health problems, including diabetes and certain forms of cancer, and reduce lifespan.

Experts have warned that today's obese children could live shorter lives than their parents because their weight is storing up illnesses for the future.

The new figures were released just a week after statistics suggested that the proportion of children becoming obese and overweight was levelling off.

But researchers from UCL say in their research that that trend is apparent only among more affluent children.

They found that in 2007 around seven per cent of children in England were obese.

If trends continue the experts estimate that by 2015 that figure will be 10 per cent, an almost 50 per cent rise.

The Government-sponsored Foresight report predicts that by 2050 up to half of adults and one quarter of children could be obese.

The researchers warn that health messages, such as the need to eat five pieces of fruit and vegetables a day or for children to take regular exercise, are harder to get across to poorer families.

They looked at obesity trends among two to 18-year-olds between 1995 and 2007.

“If trends continue as they have been between 1995 and 2007 in 2015 the number and prevalence of obese young people is projected to increase dramatically, and these increases will affect lower social classes to a larger extent,” say the authors of the report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Last week figures showed that one in four children are now overweight or obese when they start school.

Obesity is calculated using the Body Mass Index (BMI), a ratio of weight in comparison to height.

A BMI score is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in metres squared.

A score of between 18 and 25 is considered normal, while 25 to 30 is overweight, 30 to 40 obese and over 40 morbidly obese. ( telegraph.co.u )

Blog : Everything For Money
Post : One in 10 children in England 'will be obese within five years'