Ways to tackle child obesity
Editorial Comment June 27 2006
It would be dangerous to rush to conclusions on the basis of a study into the relationship between childhood obesity and physical exercise, reported in The Herald today. According to controversial research from a study that included Scottish schoolchildren, improving opportunities to take physical exercise will do little to tackle the country's child-obesity crisis. The implication is that genetic make-up, rather than opportunities to exercise, combined with cultural and socio-economic factors, dictate how much exercise a child is likely to take. The policy of providing extra PE is dismissed as "bringing horses to water". Naturally inactive children will find ways of avoiding exertion. The author also rejects the notion that long spells of inactivity in front of the television or computer screen will have a detrimental effect on a child's health.
This does not stand up to close scrutiny. Only a small proportion of Scotland's supersized children have a genetic predisposition to obesity. The rest are simply consuming more calories than they burn through exercise. It is a simple calories-in, calories-out calculation. Scottish children consume more fizzy drinks than anywhere in the world except Israel, according to the World Health Organisation. They are also near the top of the confectionery league (and consequently, the tooth decay league). If social, economic and cultural factors are irrelevant, why do other countries not share Britain's child obesity problem? One-third of Europe's young fatties are in the UK. Why is the country that produced Billy Bunter – memorable because he was so unusual – now full of Billy Bunters? The Scottish figures are frightening: one-third of 12-year-olds are overweight and 11% are obese.
The study is based on a small sample: just 600 children of whom barely 70 live in Scotland. Also, all of the Scottish children were six, an age at which most children retain their restless energy. It may be that at this age, children who do not receive adequate PE lessons let off steam elsewhere. That certainly does not apply to the country's largely sedentary teenagers, the point being that healthy habits, such as walking to school and taking regular strenuous exercise, are practices that need to be ingrained at a young age. Exercise is also an important weapon in fighting the increasing problem of stress and mental illness among young people.
Nobody doubts that poor diet is a – perhaps the biggest – factor in the Scotland's child-obesity crisis. Initiatives by the Scottish Executive and some local authorities drastically to improve the quality and content of school lunches have blazed a trail. And the debate over the advertising of junk food to children – dropped before the last election – must be reinstated on the political agenda. However, no healthy lifestyle is complete without physical activity, which has the useful side-effects of burning off the calories children are taking in and setting them up to become healthy adults.
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