22/10/2007

Obesity Warning For Parents

Parents of obese children in England could receive official warning letter, under new proposals being considered by the government.

All children in England and Wales are weighed and measured at the ages of five and 10, but, currently, parents are only given the results if they request them.

Under the new proposals, parents may be given the results automatically if their children are found to be overweight.

The announcement follows a recent report by the Foresight Programme, which suggested that the majority of Britons could be obese by 2050 unless urgent action was taken now.

The report's authors predicted that by 2050, 60% of men and half of women would be obese, if weight gain in the population continues to rise at the current rate.

Earlier this month, the latest figures from the Department of Health showed that, on average, a quarter of children are already obese or overweight by the time they start school at the age of five.

(KMcA)


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