Norfolk obesity study launched
MARK NICHOLLS
28 September 2006 08:36
A pioneering study of 2,000 Norfolk schoolchildren is being launched to help save a generation of youngsters across Britain from the scourge of obesity.
Data gathered over the next year will be used to try to identify why child obesity is soaring and what needs to be done to halt it.
The study is the first of its kind across the UK and will see researchers look at what children eat and put it in the context of the environment in which they live.
It will investigate how close children live to playing fields and sports facilities, fresh fruit and vegetable outlets and also temptations such as chip shops.
Researchers will look at the critical elements of diet for 2000 Year 5 pupils (aged nine and 10) from 90 Norfolk schools to build up a national blueprint to defuse the child obesity timebomb.
The collaborative project, between UEA and the Medical Research Council's epidemiology unit in Cambridge, will look at environmental and geographical factors that might contribute to the rising tide of obesity, as part of a major initiative funded by the National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI).
It will be used to provide UK data on the association between obesity, physical activity, diet and an individual's environment, and help form national strategies to halt the obesity crisis.
Professor Aedin Cassidy, of UEA's Medical School, said: “Obesity is an increasing public health problem and one which we need to address if we are to ensure a healthy future for the next generation. But there is surprisingly little UK data about the factors involved.
“We will be investigating what determines children's activity levels, and what they eat.
“Our colleagues in Environ-mental Sciences will also be measuring access to sports facilities, playing fields and shops, to see if there is any correlation between access to facilities and patterns of physical activity and food intake.”
The start of the study came as a leading paediatrician claimed that children's health would continue to suffer unless there was a radical change to the way towns and cities developed.
American expert Professor Richard Jackson called for more opportunities for children to exercise, less reliance on technology and greater leadership from parents.
Only then would major problems such as the growing levels of obesity be tackled in the UK and US, he said, speaking at the annual Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children lecture in London.
Figures published by the Department of Health in August show that since 2003 obesity has risen by 38pc in adults. Figures for children reveal that unless something is done to halt the rise, 22pc of girls and 19pc of boys between the ages of two and 15 will be clinically obese by 2010.
In Norfolk, that amounts to 16,000 children. That is up from 5pc of girls and 3pc of boys in 1995.
The project is known as the Speedy (Sports, Physical activity and Eating behaviour, Environmental Determinants in Youth) study and aims to recruit the children - from a cross-section of schools in the state and private sector - throughout October.
For the study, teams of trained fieldworkers will spend time in each school measuring height and weight, and the children and their parents will be asked to complete questionnaires about physical activity and diet.
Children will then be asked to wear an “accelerometer” - a hi-tech pedometer - for a week to measure their energy expenditure and they will also need to complete a four-day diet diary.
The findings, which will be anonymous, will be fed into policy-making and into the development of strategies to address the growing obesity problem. The study is due to report back in late 2007.
The obesity crisis costs the NHS ÂŁ1bn a year and is responsible for increases in cases of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, joint problems and other weight-related disorders.
That cost is destined to soar unless initiatives to hold back the rising weight of the nation start to have an impact In addition to the NHS costs it is estimated that obesity costs the country ÂŁ7bn a year in broader economic cost such as time off work and lost productivity with 18 million sick days and 30,000 premature deaths.
Prof Cassidy, who will be working with Dr Paula Skidmore on the study, said “We want to find out what children are eating and whether they are sedentary or physically active. It is important to find out what determines why obesity rates are rising so much and what interventions we need to do.
“We hope will have a science-based approach on how we can potentially improve the levels of physical activity in children and help to try to improve their future health.
“There is a public health timebomb in terms of increase rates of obesity in the population in general and particularly in children and we are starting to seethe chronic illnesses preparing earlier and earlier and we need to try to stop that and understand ,ore about how we can change that and improve the health of this generation.”
Children in the 9-10 year-old age group were selected because they have not SATs exams to content with and researchers felt they were also at an age where they were interested in their diet and would be enthusiastic about completing a diary and taking part in the study.
They are working with Norfolk County Council and Norfolk Healthy Schools in identifying 90 schools to take part in the study but are also keen to hear from schools that would be interested in taking part.
For more information, schools can contact Dr Skidmore at
p.skidmore@uea.ac.uk Childhood Obesity Study
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