Obesity among children aged 10 to 11 years in England has increased by 30% since 2006, and this rise is one aspect of the decline in children’s health since the beginning of this century, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The study, conducted by the Food Foundation, described the increase in the number of children suffering from weight problems as “deeply worrying.”
Other results of the study showed a steady decline in the height of five-year-old children since 2013, and a 22% increase in the last five years in the number of people with type 2 diabetes among people under the age of 25.
The report’s authors suggested that this increase was due to “appalling levels of poverty and deprivation” and the food sector’s adoption of “heavy promotion of cheap fast food.”
They added that the country’s recent cost of living crisis “exacerbated” the difficulties faced by many families in providing healthy and nutritious food for their members.
Former government food advisor Henry Dimbleby said in the report that this decline in children’s health was “shocking and very sad.”
Dimbleby urged whichever political party wins the UK general election on July 4 to take “decisive action to make healthy and sustainable food accessible to all” and curb the rise in junk food consumption.
The report showed that one in every 5 children suffers from obesity between the ages of 10 and 11, that is, in the primary stage of schooling, which exposes them to a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes later.
The report noted that “no progress” had been made despite the publication of 14 government plans to address obesity between 1992 and 2000, “containing 989 policies.”